• Ensure that adequate brakes are provided and maintained. Preventive maintenance should be performed more frequently when trucks operate on steep grades.
  
  
• Always operate trucks at speeds consistent with grades and road conditions. Use a lower gear on steep grades and do not change gears while descending steep grades.
  
  
• Always wear seatbelts when operating vehicles.

This is the sixteenth fatality reported in calendar year 1999 in the coal mining industry. As of this date in 1998, there were fourteen fatalities.

For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report