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Colorado commercial vehicle drivers are zooming past speed limits

By EVAN OCHSNER 08/04/2021 | updated 4 years ago

Commercial vehicle drivers across Colorado sped at higher rates than usual last year, the Colorado State Patrol announced, and truck drivers are facing added pressures as they strive to deliver goods across the state. 

In 2020, the Colorado State Patrol saw a 21% increase in commercial vehicles, like semi-trucks, going 25-39 mph over the limit compared to 2019. Troopers saw a 62% increase in commercial vehicles going 40+ over the posted limit.

Chad Caylor runs the United States Truck Driving School in Fountain. He said he’s noticed the increase in speeding semis. “It’s getting to the point where these guys will just haul butt,” he said.

A nationwide trucker shortage has increased demand for truckers and added stress to a production and delivery network already stressed by the pandemic. 

“While the nations roadways saw an overall drop in travel from motorists due to the pandemic, our professional drivers were in high demand and continued to work hard traveling on our roadways,” Col. Matthew C. Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol, said in a statement.

Speeding trucks create a unique public safety threat because of their size and because it takes them more time to slow down and stop than a passenger car. Earlier this year, a semi-truck jumped the median on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon, prompting a 12-hour closure of the road. The driver of the truck was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.  

The speeding semis aren’t unique to any one part of the state or specific road, said Sgt. Todd James, a supervisor in the state patrol’s Motor Carrier Safety section. “We see unsafe driving behaviors all over the state,” he said.

Passenger vehicle drivers can make everyone safer by being patient with commercial vehicles and recognizing that they are providing a valuable service to the state, he added.

Officials are leaning on schools like Caylor’s to help get their message across. After the Glenwood Springs crash, state regulators disciplined the school that had trained the driver, Caylor said. 

Because of the safety hazard posed by speeding, if a student drives over the speed limit more than two times during their training course at Caylor’s school, they get kicked out, he said. If students speed on their Commercial Driver’s License test, they automatically fail it, he added. 

The speeding issue isn’t just because of lapses in driver training, Caylor said. A driver shortage is increasing the demand on existing drivers. “The guys that they do have, they’re running them pretty hard,” he said.  

Existing regulations intended to make drivers safer can also add pressure. Drivers are capped at driving 11 hours a day and 70 hours a week, and if they’re coming up against those limits, they may be more likely to put the pedal down. If they feel like they’re running behind on the way to pick up goods, “They’re going to do whatever they can to get to that load,” Caylor said.   

Firefighters try to free a vehicle crushed underneath a semitrailer after a crash at Fountain and South Academy boulevards in Colorado Springs last year.
courtesy of KKTV
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EVAN OCHSNER

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