Her name was Dorlis, but everyone called her D. J.                 It’s been 5 years 11 months and 8 days, today. It’s hard. The first year, basically I didn’t know anything, nothing. And then I got up one day and I looked out and saw the coal trucks going by and you kept hearing about young people getting killed and more people getting killed. I just decided this is not right, it’s all wrong.  I was living in West Virginia at   the time.  I got up one day and just went to the  capitol and didn’t really get anywhere that day. Kept going back and kept going back.  Legislators would  tell me,  "You know better than that. The trucks are not illegal."  Click Here to read more of Patsy's story.

                                                                                                         Patsy Carter, Martin County

    They are tarped, but coal is falling out from under the tarp because they are so heaped up- breaking people’s windows, coal all over the road.  When you get behind a truck, you have to get way back, because it sand-blasts your vehicle.   At times it’s worse, the mud from these coal trucks will just cover you up when you meet them.  And they take more than their fair share of the road.  It’s just extremely dangerous.  I’ve seen them just lately here,  just falling off every side of the truck but it’s tarped.   Click Here to read more of Rick's story.

                                                           Rick Handshoe,  Floyd County

Safer Roads & Better Jobs

KFTC Supports Legislation to Create

 Safer Roads for Everyone ...

Better Jobs for Truckers

The Problem: While enforcement of coal truck weight limit laws has improved in  recent years on major roads, a great many coal trucks never travel these routes. Hundreds of trucks are still running dangerously  overweight on the short runs from the coal mines to the processing  plants. These are often narrow, rural roads and bridges used by local residents and school buses that were not built for such heavy  loads.  The Department of Vehicle Enforcement does not have the  personnel to      consistently monitor these roads.

The Solution:  A 24-hour electronic reporting system 

Under legislation supported by KFTC, the Department of Vehicle Enforcement  (DVE) would be responsible for developing an electronic reporting system that will allow them to monitor the  weight of every coal truck within twenty-four hours.

Here is how the system, similar to what West Virginia is  using successfully, will work:

• All shippers of coal will report electronically to the DVE within 24 hours the  weight of every coal truck that leaves their facility and where the coal is being  delivered. 
  
• All receivers also will be responsible for reporting to the DVE within 24  hours the weights of all coal trucks entering their facility as well as the  shipper of the coal. 
  
• If a truck is reported as being overweight then the DVE will impose a fine  only on the shipper if the receiver reports the violation within 24 hours.
  
• If a DVE officer pulls over an overweight coal truck the Department shall fine  the shipper and may impose a fine on the truck driver.
  
• DVE will be allowed to conduct routine inspections to ensure all scales and  reporting systems are working properly.
  

Why this is good for Kentucky and good for Coal Truck Drivers 

• The responsibility to pay overweight fines will finally be on the ones who are  loading the trucks and not on the drivers who are trying to make a living. 
  
• Hauling legal weight limits will mean less wear and tear on the trucks, which  will be safer for both truck drivers and others using the roads, and it will mean  fewer costly repairs for truck owners. 
  
• DVE will be able to monitor the weight of every coal truck in the state with a  limited number of officers.
  
• It will save lives. Improved DVE enforcement in the last year resulted in 15  fewer fatal accidents involving coal trucks.  A stronger law will save even  more lives with enforcement throughout the coalfields rather than only on major highways. 
  

Legislation that would have created this system was introduced in the 2006 Kentucky Geernal Assembly. However, Rep. Hubert Collins as chair of the House Transportaiotn Committee, refused to allow a hearing or vote on the bill (HB 560). New legislation will be introduced in the 2007 General Assembly.