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By Greg Bartlett

It seems that a week doesn’t go by without an accident involving an 18-wheeler making the headlines. The drivers of these trucks, as well as other professional drivers, are often very skilled and have years of experience; however, in a failing economy, many are forced to take on loads for less money or to make more deliveries in order to make ends meet. GPS tracking of professional vehicles would improve highway safety by enforcing the pre-existing laws and regulations governing how far and for how long a driver may operate his/her vehicle.

This is not to say that the driver’s of these vehicles are at fault for the accidents. Often it is the average commuter who is not paying attention and cut off these road behemoths. The wide-spread institution of GPS vehicle tracking devices would help to ensure that the drivers of these rigs are fully alert and better able to respond to their surroundings and the often erratic behaviors of drivers. The laws that are in place are effective, but too many drivers are forced to carry “back-up” logs when time is short.

These forged logs are used to make up time lost due to repairs, or when a driver cannot afford to abide by the laws. As the number of hired drivers has gone up, more and more these are used because the owners of delivery companies are unwilling to pay hourly rates and force the drivers to break the law in order to make unrealistic delivery times. So not only would we be protecting the safety of all road users, we would also be protecting the rights of these workers who often go unnoticed and are rarely unionized.

Under the current system, if a driver appears to be tired or their log book shows that they have driven for too long they can be ordered to rest for an eight hour period before they are allowed to travel again. GPS tracking would simply give investigating officers more accurate information to make their decisions. It would still be within their discretion to issue a ticket or a warning.

This would be a simple program to implement, and one that would not financially hurt delivery companies too badly. In fact, the cost of monitoring their vehicles may be offset by the savings in insurance they receive.

If you agree that professional vehicles should be tracked to improve highway safety write your congressional representative and tell them. If enough of us make enough noise this use for GPS fleet tracking could eventually be passed into law.