Trucking danger: The drilling industry must improve its vehicles
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The list of things to worry about related to Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania just keeps getting longer.
Concerns about the impact on the state's water supply, air, roadways and landscape are significant and well-known. Now, an inspection by PennDOT and the state police has uncovered another problem: The industry isn't doing a good job of maintaining its vehicles.
During the second annual Marcellus Transportation Safety Day Tuesday in Washington County, state police Maj. Harvey Cole Jr. said the 5,800 roadside inspections of industry trucks since January 2010 found 13,000 driver and vehicle safety violations, including 2,800 deficiencies that were serious enough to put the driver or the truck out of service.
Some vehicles had more than one problem, and the vehicle-or-driver failure rate amounted to 42 percent, far higher than the commercial industry as a whole, and nearly double the national average from all truck inspections, which is 24 percent.
Although the top reason for ordering drivers off the road involved paperwork errors, the most frequent vehicle deficiencies that caused removal from service were faulty brake tubing and hoses, lighting, poorly adjusted and defective brakes and improperly secured cargo.
It remains to be seen if the $411 million that drilling companies have spent since 2008 to repave and improve roads is a sufficient sum, and that is a key factor in the calculus of determining how much of a fee or tax the Legislature should impose on drillers.
But if the industry is not maintaining its vehicles or checking its drivers, there is potential for damage beyond roads and bridges -- there is the possibility of injuries or even loss of life.
State officials must be vigilant in policing this new industry at all levels, and legislators and the governor must be realistic in assessing the industry so it pays Pennsylvania enough not only to cover infrastructure repairs but also to provide sufficient manpower to enforce safety standards.
First Published June 23, 2011 12:00 am
