Message Monday - Beat the heat - look for baby in the back seat

July 30, 2018

National Heat Stroke Prevention Day is July 31. How many children do you think die every year because they were left in a hot car or were playing in a vehicle and got overheated? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded 42 heat-related child deaths in vehicles in 2017. As of July 19, there have been 28 children who have died in hot cars in the U.S. so far in 2018. Every single one of these deaths is preventable.

A child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's. When a child is left in a hot vehicle, that child's temperature can rise in a quick and deadly manner. Even in cooler temperatures, your vehicle can heat up to dangerous temperatures very quickly. An outside temperature in the mid-60s can cause a vehicle’s inside temperature to rise above 110 degrees. The inside temperature of your car can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes.

Can you hear me now?

July 25, 2018

You would think that a huge orange truck, or multiple huge orange trucks, with bright lights flashing would be enough to catch a driver’s attention. For drivers who are paying attention and devoting their energy to the task of driving, seeing the trucks and lights is more than enough to warn them that something’s going on ahead. But we’ve all seen those drivers who are paying more attention to their dinner, phone, or passengers than to the road. And that is dangerous for all of us.

We do everything we can to get people to pay attention to protect our own people and those who share the road with us. Many of the operations we perform on the road require the use of more than one truck. An attenuator is always the last vehicle in the chain that is placed between workers on the road (such as a paint crew) and the flow of traffic. Its job is to warn other vehicles of the work that is being performed as well as serve as a buffer to protect workers from traffic. We are testing a new tool this year called an audible warning system that is attached to an attenuator.

Don’t call these rivers lazy

July 24, 2018

When you think about freight in Iowa, you likely picture semis on the interstate or maybe a fully loaded train chugging along Iowa’s rural landscape. You may be surprised to find that one of Iowa’s top priorities related to the movement of freight is the Upper Mississippi River lock and dam system.

As the only state bordered by two navigable rivers, totaling 491 miles with 60 barge terminals, Iowa has a unique capability to move large quantities of goods at competitive shipping rates through those rivers, especially through the 11 locks and dams bordering Iowa on the Mississippi south to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond to international markets.

Personnel Updates for June 29 – July 12, 2018

July 24, 2018

Information provided by the Office of Employee Services

Message Monday - Road to zero is a journey, don't stop believin'

July 23, 2018

Zero Fatalities will NEVER happen so why do we have that as a goal? Is that something you’ve said to yourself when you see the Zero Fatalities ads, social media posts, or logos at an event?

A recent study showed 94 percent of crashes are caused by human error. Let me repeat that, 94 PERCENT! Had each person causing a crash changed one or more behaviors, that crash could have been avoided.  Crashes, including those causing fatalities, are preventable, not inevitable. We’ve identified some of the most dangerous behaviors that are killing people on Iowa’s roads. They are speeding, driving impaired, driving distracted, driving drowsy, and not buckling up.

Message Monday - Take the high road. Move over or slow down

July 16, 2018

It’s never wrong to do the right thing. As you’ve hopefully heard by now, Iowa law was expanded July 1 to require every driver to move over or slow down whenever you approach a parked vehicle displaying flashing lights. That means if you see law enforcement, maintenance crews, utility workers, or just someone with a flat tire who has emergency flashers on, you need to move over if possible or slow down to a speed where you can safely pass the stopped vehicle.