It has recently made headlines when politicians have announced the US as now essentially energy independent. With the fracking oil boom occurring across the country in various locations and specifically in the Permian basin in West Texas and the eagle Ford shell in South Texas, the state of Texas is experiencing a massive amount of employment to go along with this serves in energy production. Many companies are rushing to fill the void and employees are coming from across the country to find their way in this employment rush.
Often drivers with a commercial drivers license can find that their prospects for employment back home say in Mississippi or Alabama may be limited but if they move to West Texas or South Texas, they will be able to make as much as six figures working long hours driving trucks for the fracking industry.
West Texas and south Texas are traditionally very sparsely populated regions of the state. Their infrastructure in terms of highways matches this. So it is no surprise that they are having a significantly difficult time dealing with the massive increase in traffic especially 18 wheeler traffic.
Employees are finding that they are experiencing a double whammy of a personal injury auto accident case and a Worker’s Compensation claim arising out of the same event very frequently. This requires attorney involvement to navigate the insurance requirements of each claim to make sure that a valuable personal injury claim is not damaged by a poorly handled Worker’s Compensation claim, and that a person injured can receive weekly compensation while the personal injury claim is pending, along with necessary medical care paid for by Worker’s Compensation.
"It's very scary out there right now," said Richard Minnix, the owner of McClatchy Brothers, a Midland trucking company that serves the booming and oil-rich Permian Basin. "The biggest problem is distracted driving. It's jacking with your cell phone, text messages."
The TxDOT figures still show speeding as the No. 1 cause of crashes in Texas, with distracted driving close behind. Lawmakers in 2017 banned texting and driving in Texas, but the crash rate still increased during the first year the law went on the books.
James Bass, TxDOT's executive director, said driving conditions, especially in the energy-producing parts of the state, have changed dramatically with the uptick in production.
"A big increase in the number of heavy trucks and traffic on state and county roads adds to the complexity of driving — something we always need to give our full attention to, while also obeying traffic laws," Bass said.
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