In an already tight freight market, shippers should prepare for scarcer capacity next week as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has scheduled Operation Safe Driver Week to take place from July 11-17.
This year, the event will focus on speeding, and law enforcement personnel will be monitoring the speed of commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers. Identified unsafe drivers will be pulled over and issued a citation or warning.
“Data shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors,” said Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police. “By making contact with drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel aim to make our roadways safer by targeting high-risk driving behaviors.”
CVSA selected speeding as its focus this year because despite a drop in roadway travel last year due to the pandemic, nationally, traffic fatalities increased. According to the National Safety Council’s (NSC) preliminary estimates, the estimated rate of death on roads last year increased 24% over the previous 12-month period, despite miles driven dropping 13%. The increase in the rate of death is the highest estimated year-over-year jump NSC has calculated in 96 years.
In addition to speeding, law enforcement personnel will be tracking other dangerous driver behaviors throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, such as reckless or aggressive driving, distracted driving, following too closely, improper lane change, failure to obey traffic control devices, failure to use a seat belt, evidence of drunk or drugged driving, etc.
CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Program was created to help to reduce the number of crashes involving commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles due to unsafe driving behaviors. Operation Safe Driver Week is sponsored by CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and with support from the motor carrier industry and transportation safety organizations. This initiative aims to improve the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner – either in or around commercial motor vehicles – through educational and traffic enforcement strategies.
Fewer Trucks Translates to Tighter Capacity
In addition to out-of-service orders that take drivers off the road, many commercial operators choose not to drive during the week, which can have a drastic effect on capacity.
One of Zipline’s mid-sized East Coast and Midwest-based carrier partners reported that last year somewhere between 30-40 percent of their owner-operators were not driving during the week’s inspection period.
These drivers frequently opt to forgo a week’s worth of work rather than face potential fines that result from a failed brake inspection or other various violations.
Regardless of the rationale, fewer trucks on the road means limited available options to haul your freight. This can translate into higher costs for customers booking orders. According to data collected at Zipline Logistics, rates were inflated by an average of 6 percent during last year’s inspection period. This number can fluctuate further in markets where capacity is atypically strained.
Along with tighter capacity and higher rates customers can also expect to see:
- An increase in transit time for orders
- Possible service failures
How Zipline Can Help Get You Through Operation Safe Driver Week
Reach out to Zipline today to discuss the steps you need to take to adjust to strained trucking capacity. We can work with your organization to create scheduling, routing, or mode solutions for any foreseeable disruptions and keep your shipments on schedule.
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