FMCSA Declares Trucker Imminent Hazard for Alcohol-Related Crash

ROCKLAND, TN — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration declared a Tennessee-licensed driver to be an imminent hazard to public safety after reckless driving behavior, related to alcohol consumption, led to two deaths.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) declared a Tennessee-licensed driver to be an imminent hazard to public safety after reckless driving behavior, related to alcohol consumption. The accident led to the deaths of two motorists.

Randall J. Weddle, driving a truck for R&E Logistics on Route 17 in Knox County, Maine, when his rig crossed the centerline, tipped over and began scattering its load of lumber onto the highway. At the time of the crash, Weddle’s truck was traveling around 80 mph in a posted 55-mph zone.

A pickup truck, SUV and minivan were struck by the load of lumber, killing the driver of the pickup truck and the minivan after both vehicles were crushed. Two additional crash victims were airlifted to the hospital.

A field sobriety test conducted on Weddle by Maine State Police detected the presence of alcohol. The police also found a bottle of whiskey in his truck. Investigators also discovered that at the time of the crash, Weddle’s CDL had been revoked by the state of Virginia for a driving while intoxicated conviction.

Investigators further discovered multiple federal hours-of-service violations. Weddle was also found to have taken a family member as an unauthorized passenger on the same trip as the accident, dropping the passenger off shortly before the crash.

“[His] blatant disregard of [federal safety regulations] and continued disregard for the safety of the motoring public demonstrated by these actions substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and/or the motoring public,” stated the FMCSA in its out-of-service order.

Weddle may also be subject to civil penalty enforcement proceeding brought by FMCSA for his violation of the agency’s safety rules.

More at FMCSA website here

Purchase and access FMCSA 60/60 DOT Supervisor Reasonable Suspicion Training right now! – Fulfills Compliance for 49 CFR 382.603

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What You Need to Know:

49 CFR 382.603 is the applicable regulation requiring supervisors of commercial motor vehicle drivers who operate vehicles that require a commercial driver license to take 60 minutes of training on the symptoms of alcohol abuse and another 60 minutes of training on the symptoms of controlled substances use (120 minutes in total). The purpose of this training is to teach supervisors to identify circumstances and indicators that may create reasonable suspicion that a driver is using or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, supporting referral of an employee for testing.
If you operate vehicles that require a CDL on the public roads and you have more than one employee in the company, you are required to get DOT Supervisor Training. To verify if you are subject to the drug and alcohol regulations, please visithttp://www.dot.gov/odapc/am-i-covered
Owner-operators are not subject to DOT supervisor training. However, you are still required to register with a consortium for DOT drug and alcohol testing.
Employers need to ensure that the required content is made available to all persons designated to supervise drivers. Information can be found at /regulations/drug-alcohol-testing/what-are-my-employee-and-supervisor-training-responsibilities

How Drug Use Affects Relationships

A recent post over at our friends at vice.com provides an interesting insight into how drug use can affect real relationships. The post highlights personal stories from “people who’ve fused intimacy with other drugs—from acid to cocaine to fentanyl—to find out the ways in which different substances enhanced, damaged, or otherwise complicated their partnerships.”

In true Vice style the personal accounts are unfiltered and reinforce much of what teach in our online training courses which is that drug use can have significant adverse impact on interpersonal relationships. Read the article in its entirety here.

Some of the “lowlights” include:

Kevin: “She had an addictive personality, and it got to the point where she was taking drugs out of my personal stash without telling me, then lying about it.”

David: who shared that he essentially wanted to get caught so he would stop: “Then there was this other part of me that desperately wanted to get caught again so that I could actually stop doing it.”

Leah: “I’ve seen him in jail—in a jumper, behind glass, with that old school payphone. I’ve seen him OD.” “We don’t have fun anymore. Day to day, it’s frustrating. I wake up, and I hear his Oxy grinder. It’s the first thing I hear in the morning—him grinding pills.”

Rory: “My wife didn’t even know about my addiction for a long time because I was getting such a big prescription [for opiates] from my doctor.” “Number one was that it had a major financial impact. It still has (I’ve been clean since February), and we’re trying to work our way out of it. My wife always had bills paid—it went from that to being totally chaotic… our house was foreclosed on.”

Photo: Flickr – Santiago Medem

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