It amazes me how stupid some truck drivers are to not firmly secure their loads. Drivers who don’t properly secure their loads get reported to the state police if my husband or I see them. And we stay as far away from them as we can, or pass them as quickly as possible. Several years ago, a guy in a pick up truck was hauling some stuff, including a church pew, when the pew went sailing off the truck, crashed through the windshield of a car behind it, and killed a six year old kid. Idiots like that need to go to prison.
The states do NOT put flatbed operators in a skills test. At all. It is OJT and there is rarely a set curriculum.
The last 2 fatalities I've seen were people following too close to a semi. I have ppl follow me too close every single day, and don't get me started on the texting. If the general population were fined the same way truckers are....it would cease immediately.