Driver fatigue, federal ‘oversight failures’ to blame for deadly crash in New York

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined federal “oversight failures” and driver fatigue were contributing factors in a fatal crash involving a Freightliner box truck and a bus.

That determination stems from an investigation into a January 2023 fatal crash that occurred in Louisville, N.Y., when a box truck crossed over the highway centerline on state Route 37 – which is a two-lane highway – and collided with a bus traveling in the opposite direction.

On board the bus were the driver and 14 passengers. Six of passengers died as a result of the crash, with two others and the driver of the box truck being seriously injured. The other six passengers, as well as the bus driver, sustained minor injuries.

“Our investigation found that those responsible for transportation safety and federal oversight failed to do their part,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a statement. “This includes motor carriers and regulatory agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the states of New York and Montana, among others. Each of these entities could have, and should have, done more to prevent this horrific crash and tragic loss of life.”

Part of that failure in oversight included FMCSA’s New Entrant Safety Assurance Program – which determines a new carrier’s ability to operate safely – as well as the agency’s compliance review process. The board said FMCSA “failed to consider” the trucking company’s prior safety performance.

In its investigation, NTSB determined the company that employed the driver, Winchester, Va.-based Aero Global Logistics, to be a chameleon carrier that was the “continuation of another company” doing business as Chopper DDS. The board claimed the now-bankrupt company was using the new company to mask its poor safety rating.

Additionally, NTSB noted the number of drivers and power units – 60 employees and 59 trucks – was particularly high for a new carrier, which should have been a red flag for FMCSA during the company’s new-entrant process.

Part of that new-entrant process includes a safety audit conducted by FMCSA. While the trucking company passed its safety audit, the board noted it failed the “accidents” factor of the audit, with six recordable crashes in the first seven months of operation. The current “allowable crash rate” from FMCSA is 1.5 crashes per million miles. Aero Global’s rate was 2.53, something the board said should have given the federal agency pause when considering the carrier’s overall safety.

“The Louisville crash represents another example of deficiencies in FMCSA’s oversight of new-entrant carriers,” Michael Fox, a senior highway accident investigator with NTSB, said during a presentation to the board.

NTSB also noted the company had a “history of hours-of-service violations” prior to the safety audit.

On top of concerns regarding federal oversight, NTSB’s investigation pointed to driver fatigue – as well as Aero Global’s “lack of a structured fatigue management program or use of driver monitoring systems” – as a contributing factor to the crash.

 The truck’s driver had worked for the company overnight, from 1:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., for less than three weeks at the time of the crash. The crash occurred on the driver’s fifth consecutive overnight shift.

The driver of the truck held a valid non-commercial license, had no prior medical issues, tested negative for drugs and alcohol after the crash and reportedly had driven professionally since 2018.

In its investigation, the board claimed “limited, fragmented sleep” along with “circadian disruption” from poor adjustment to working night shifts played a role in the crash.

According to evidence obtained by NTSB that included the driver’s scheduled on-duty time and cellphone usage, the driver obtained five hours or less of “uninterrupted sleep opportunity” each of the three days prior to the crash. The board noted that sleep opportunity does not mean the driver was actually sleeping, so it was unclear as to how much of that time was spent asleep.

The board’s investigation also noted the lack of driver monitoring systems and lane departure prevention systems on the truck, something NTSB said “may have helped prevent or mitigate the crash.”

As a result, the board recommended the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopt regulations that would require all new commercial motor vehicles with a gross weight over 10,000 pounds to be equipped with lane departure technology. LL