Truckers bypass alternate route due to inconvenience

Recently, officials from Kalispell, Montana passed a provision to the provide an alternate route for heavy commercial vehicles in an effort to promote trucking safety. However, many of these vehicles are not using it because it may be too difficult to traverse, Daily Interlake reports.

Trucking company officials from the area told the news source that the bypass was designed to cut down the number of semi-trailers passing through downtown Kalispell. Many heavy vehicles refuse to use it because it keeps them too far away from Main Street, where many deliveries need to be made.

"You just barely get the truck [up to speed] and you have to slow down," Barry Ballenger, driver for Frontier Trucking, told the news source. "You [have] to swing way out [to get through a roundabout] and if you have a longer trailer the ‘dually' will hit the curb. There is hardly enough room."

Online truck driver safety training may help both new and experienced operators learn how to safely negotiate difficult turns.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, more than 74,000 people were injured in a motor vehicle accident that involved a large truck in 2009, which is a decrease of nearly 16,000 from 2008.

By Anna Byrne

Truckers bypass alternate route due to inconvenience

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011