ROLLOVERS continue to be a major challenge for the tank truck industry. In addition to the financial losses and environmental damage that can occur, rollovers are a major factor in vehicle-accident-related truck driver deaths.
In an effort to combat the problem, National Tank Truck Carriers Inc has teamed up with J J Keller & Associates Inc on a major educational effort. Just launched, the campaign consists of three key components — a monthly poster, a monthly fact sheet with driver test and receipt-of-knowledge page, and monthly payroll stuffers.
“All three components will tie together a common monthly theme relating to rollover awareness,” says Steve Niswander, vice-president of safety policy & regulatory relations at Groendyke Transport Inc and chairman of the NTTC's Rollover Prevention Project. “Education is the real key to prevent rollovers. We want to raise awareness with drivers and their families.
“Driver awareness and alertness are the top factors in rollovers. Other factors include road conditions, load conditions, and weather. The driver is the biggest component in preventing rollovers. He can deal with all of the other factors as long as he is paying attention and using good judgement.”
Work on the project started two years ago at the NTTC Safety Council's annual conference. The final pieces of the poster campaign fell into place at this year's Safety Council meeting, and J J Keller wasted no time in putting the first six rollover prevention packages into production.
Another six posters with supporting materials are still in development. “We'd like to incorporate feedback relating to the first batch of posters before we finalize the last six,” Niswander says.
He adds that all of the posters will be in English, but this is not just a US campaign. “We see this as a worldwide campaign to fight tanker rollovers,” he says. “It's an international problem. We can do a number of things to modify the campaign for other countries. We're already looking at ways to roll out the campaign in Latin America.”
Questions about the Rollover Prevention Project can be directed to NTTC at 703-838-1960. To subscribe to the rollover poster program, fleets should contact J J Keller & Associates at 800-327-6868.