FLEET executives in the tank truck industry have shown over the years that they are very good at taking a proactive approach in dealing with existing and emerging safety threats. Overall, the industry does an excellent job of safely moving an estimated one million plus hazardous materials shipments every day.
In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently estimated that fatalities related to heavy-duty truck accidents fell 3.7% to 5,018 in 2006 compared with the previous year. The NHTSA estimate also showed that the number of injuries in heavy truck crashes dropped by about 0.9%. The tank truck share of these accidents was very small.
Unfortunately, those achievements are being obscured by a campaign of misinformation and outright lies from a myriad of anti-trucking groups that often operate under the guise of being trucking safety advocates. It's time for fleet executives to become more proactive in responding to the threat posed by these groups. It's time to fight back.
One of the most vehemently anti-truck groups is the so-called Truck Safety Coalition, comprised of Citizens for Reliable & Safe Highways (CRASH) and Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT). This truck-bashing consortium staged a press conference earlier this year to call for tougher commercial truck regulations.
A key part of the press event was a state-by-state statistical report on truck-crash-related fatalities per 100,000 people for a five-year period from 2001 to 2005. The materials handed out during the press conference looked impressive, and many media outlets swallowed it all without question.
An Internet search showed that many newspapers and broadcast outlets regurgitated exactly what they were given by CRASH and PATT. It would appear that most of the media made little or no effort to provide balanced coverage. Just a handful questioned the validity of the statistics used by CRASH and PATT.
The Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal was one of the few that solicited a comment from the American Trucking Associations. Clayton Boyce, an ATA spokesman, pointed out that the CRASH report card on truck-related fatalities by state was based on a faulty premise. States, such as Wyoming, with a small population and lots of roads look very bad in the CRASH study. Boyce pointed out that instead of measuring deaths per 100,000 population, the groups should have measured deaths by miles traveled. Doing so would have shown that the rate of deaths per miles traveled actually declined over the five years used in the study.
Why would so many media outlets accept a statistical report of this kind without question? One reason is because many reporters are just plain lazy. In addition, there is an anti-truck bias within many media outlets, and CRASH knows how to play on that.
Statistical disinformation is a hallmark of CRASH, which originally was established and funded by the railroad industry. The railroads claim they cut their ties and funding years ago. CRASH is headed by Joan Claybrook, who also sits at the helm of anti-business group Public Citizen.
It's important to understand that Claybrook bears a grudge against the trucking industry that dates back to her years as National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator during the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter. Her ire stems from the fact that she tried to force antilock braking on the trucking industry before the technology was ready. ATA sued, and the Supreme Court voided the NHTSA regulation on the grounds that it put public safety at risk.
Hatred and bias seem to drive Claybrook and others like her, making them formidable foes for the trucking industry. When their message is examined, it becomes apparent that these groups seem to care very little about real truck safety improvement. They are anti-truck zealots who want to cripple the industry any way they can.
Claybrook and CRASH led the attack in federal court that overturned the driver hours of service rules. They want regulations that severely limit what truck fleets can do, what they can haul, where they can go, and when they can go there. They seem to be doing their very best to chase truck drivers out of the industry.
These are smart lobbyists who know how to work the Washington DC establishment. They have excellent connections with the Democrats who now control both houses of Congress. They also have outstanding media contacts.
These groups and their message pose a clear and present danger to the trucking industry. Truck fleet executives simply can't ignore the anti-truck groups in the hopes that they will just go away. They must do more to fight back.
Fleet executives need to be proactive by participating in media outreach efforts coordinated through state and national trucking associations. They need to participate in community outreach through programs such as TransCAER.
Finally, they need to take quick action when they see biased anti-truck reports in the media. Through letters or phone calls, they need to raise concerns about biased reporting with the managers of local media outlets. They need to point out the local economic benefits of the trucking industry and present the positive side of truck safety.
The trucking industry can beat back the onslaught from the anti-truck forces, but only if they are willing to work at it.