Trucker News Archives

“I was lucky my fuel tanks didn't explode”

Three people died in two trucks when they apparently were caught in a huge wildfire in western Australia's Outback hours after authorities re-opened the highway running through the affected area, police said on ... via Independent Online

“It's nice for the people with little ones”

He wasn't working, exactly, but he wasn't any closer to home either. For truck driver Gene Johnson of Arizona, Christmas was another day on the road, but with his drop-off closed Tuesday and more than 200 miles ... via Citizensvoice.com

“The operator of the Kenworth, in an attempt to avoid a head-on collision, swerves to his left and begins to enter the west ditch - however is unable to avoid a collision”

The widow of an experienced Sherwood Park truck driver killed last week when another trucker tried to pass a pickup in heavy fog on Highway 21 says the family is at a loss to know what to think or do. via Slam Sports

New Oregon laws designed to reduce gridlock A pair of laws scheduled to take effect Tuesday, Jan.

Volvo has initiated a voluntary recall of 125,000 heavy-duty trucks in North America because of a fire hazard.

Tougher snow-free vehicle rule sidetracked in Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Senate recently wrapped up its work for the year without approving a bill that is intended to encourage drivers to clear snow and ice ...

Police searches at Illinois truck stop spark questions For three weeks, John Herrmann has heard questions from truckers worried about whether they should park at his truck stop for the night.

Boston's Big Dig project officially complete After 16 years and nearly $15 billion, Boston's Big Dig underground highway system is scheduled to be officially declared complete on New Year's Eve.

Three ports in British Columbia merge operations The administrative and operations aspects of three seaports in lower British Columbia are being merged into one operation.

Truck lane restrictions begin near St. Louis on Tuesday Large trucks traveling through St.

California idling limit begins Jan. 1; misdemeanors possible Truckers who cross the California state line after Jan.

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 20007 The public has until Feb. 15 to comment on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's interim final rule on the hours-of-service regulations.

The job of the over-the-road truck driver has changed significantly over the past several years.

"how long are you going to do this?" For some the answer comes easy, their life is trucking, they know nothing else, or don't want to do anything else.

Truckers and other drivers seeking commercial-vehicle licenses would need to complete classroom and behind-the-wheel training under rules federal regulators proposed Wednesday.

Late-night driving and working long hours aren't the only risk commercial motor vehicle drivers face.

Mexican trucks to keep rolling in U.S. Administration's move angers foes in Congress By David Washburn UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER December 27, 2007 The Bush administration will continue to operate a ...

Attention: Florida truckers! The Senate Transportation Committee is scheduled to consider a bill Jan.

The threat of lost federal dollars comes as the state struggles with upkeep on roads and bridges.

“Everyone at Butterball LLC is deeply saddened by this tragedy”

A truck driver for Butterball in Longmont was killed after he crawled under the trailer and the truck rolled backward, pinning him under the wheels. via Denver Post

“That's why you see the trailers merge over and hit a car right here (in the blind spot). We don't want you sitting right here. We want you to go ahead and pass the vehicle”

WAVE 3 is working to keep you safe this holiday weekend whether you are traveling the roads for the holidays or just doing some last minute shopping. via WAVE-TV Louisville

“In any situation, we expect Mexico's authorities to protect U.S. drivers and vehicles lawfully in that country”

Congress has passed a bill that cuts funding for the controversial Mexican truck program, but lawmakers expect the Bush administration to keep the foreign vehicles rolling on American roads amid safety and ... via World Net Daily

“This is another example of how we're strategically growing our business for trucks, engines and parts, building scale and reducing costs”

It's a done deal. After eight months of discussions, General Motors has agreed to sell its medium-duty truck division to Navistar International -- the North American market leader in class 5 to 7 trucks. via Today's Trucking

“Even the U.S. DOT has repeatedly cited fatigue as a major factor in truck crash causation”

Attempting to address fatigue on the highways by allowing truckers to drive more hours is like allowing motorists to consume more alcohol in order to alleviate drunk driving, the founder of Parents against ... via Trucker

“Wherever we'd go, I'd see trucks”

Dawn has yet to break when Mark Taylor, a trucker for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., lines up for his Monday morning orders at the company's Porterville, Calif., distribution center. via KCPQ

“I still look in my rear-view mirror to see if there's a cement truck behind me”

UPDATED: 2007-12-19 13:13:33 MST By KEVIN MARTIN , SUN MEDIA The Cochrane trucker charged with the deaths of five people, including three children, will learn tomorrow whether he'll be home for Christmas. via Calgary Sun

“Right before Christmas...he was just trying to get in extra time to make extra money.”

Police say a trucker was killed after being shot several times. It happened behind a BBQ shop in South Memphis This makes homicide #156, four shy of last year's total. via WREG-TV Memphis

“FMCSA is asleep at the wheel when it comes to truck safety, particularly in how it fails tired truckers”

WASHINGTON, DC a" A Bush administration rule allowing truckers 11 hours a day behind the wheel imperils both truckers and the driving public, Public Citizen told Congress and a federal court today. via The Auto Channel

“The situation was handled very well by all involved”

"There are good investigative leads, but at this point he has not been identified," said Sgt. via Boston Herald

“Money talks and if companies are being fined for this, you'll start to see reform.”

Two ambulance crew members were hurt when a large chunk of ice flew off a passing truck, crashed through their windshield and hurtled to the back of their ambulance Wednesday in East Allen Township. via FireFightingNews.com

“You couldn't see any blood or anything. He had his shirt off. He had a breather in his mouth.”

Reported by Nick Kenney Road rage at Mid-South truck stop leaves truck driver hospitalized Updated: It all started on I-40. It turned violent at a Love's Truck Stop, and it ultimately ended at a scene that was ... via WMC-FM

“We'll do everything we can to get those packages to the recipients in time for Christmas”

It began as a brazen robbery and kidnapping in Hells Kitchen on the West Side, as men with guns and a phony police badge hijacked a FedEx tractor-trailer loaded with holiday gifts. via New York Times

Suspect in trucker stabbing arrested in Connecticut Police make arrests in string of robberies General Motors recalling vehicles to fix fluid leak Websites let you track Santa Congressional Black Caucus members ... via WMC TV

Employees of the Pilot Truck Stop on Alcoa Road in Benton and truck drivers help load $2,700 worth of gifts donated for Truckers for Tots that will provide toys for children in Saline County.

Springfield,MA,USA - WSHM/TV, by Miranda Grossman -Dec 21, 2007: -- It was a tight squeeze Thursday night in Westfield, in fact too tight.

The typical work day is eight hours, but for most truck drivers it is longer. Drivers can have their big rigs on the road for 11 hours straight before they're required by law to stop for the day.

Huntington,WV,USA - WSAZ/TV, by Michael Wooten -Dec 21, 2007: -- In some places gas prices are down 50 to 75 cents a gallon from the all-time high, giving people a few extra dollars in their pockets for ...

Canada is doing well. The U.S. is tanking. Trucking's caught in the middle. 2008 will be a challenging year.

That didn't take long. Only a week after being introduced, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's latest hours of work docket is being appealed in an effort to put it out-of-service before it can be ...

In 2007, for the first time in the past eight years, no log truckers have been killed on the job in northern B.C. It's a milestone of sorts, but forest safety leaders are not celebrating just yet.

“You not only have to pay attention to your driving”

The cause of a fiery freeway crash that killed a truck driver remained a mystery to police investigators Monday. via The Beaumont Enterprise

As the United States in general and California in particular mandate tougher emission rules on trucks and the diesel fuel they burn, China, the source of so much of our imports, has won the race as the world's ... via Daily Breeze

“He normally don't come in contact with people that he don't know. He don't deal with strangers. So this comes as a total shock...yes it is.”

The family of a murdered truck driver is asking for help catching his killer. Derrick Hamlin was shot yesterday evening behind a barbeque restaurant in South Memphis during a robbery. via WREG-TV Memphis

The federal government has dismissed charges against a Canadian truck driver whom it had accused of committing war crimes against civilians in his native Croatia, his lawyer and a government spokesman both said ... via ClickOnDetroit

“I'm sure in the court of public opinion the right decision was made”

The cement truck driver charged in the horrific death of five people -- including three children -- will remain behind bars, a judge ruled yesterday. via CANOE

A truck driver hauling a load of beer was injured Wednesday morning in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 70 about 16 miles west of Topeka in Wabaunsee County. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

Contributor: Adrienne Phillips Email: aphillips@myeyewitnessnews.com Last Update: 3:11 pm Police in Palestine, Arkansas say a truck driver stabbed another trucker Monday afternoon, during an argument at Love's ... via WLMT

Rutherford County authorities are holding a Nebraska truck driver after a crash that came as police say he fought with a prostitute in his truck cab. via WAAY-TV Huntsville

The truck driver blamed in the hit-and-run death of a college student two months ago on Interstate 390 pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Livingston County Court. via Star-Gazette

John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the operator of a Kansas City, Mo., trucking company and truck driving school pleaded guilty in federal court today to ... via Crime Scene KC

“She was a regular teenager trying to figure out her way in life”

In high school, Ashley Foley was a "very genuine kid" who had a close-knit group of friends, said Greg Devine, Foley's guidance counselor at Quabbin Regional High School in Barre. via Boston Herald

Less than two weeks after a devastating gasoline tanker fire in the city, Everett officials are introducing a bill that could give local communities more control over dangerous cargo on their streets. via Cw56.com

“We have traced the driver. He is helping police with their inquiries.”

Wreckage: The scene of the fatal crash on the M74 south of Lockerbie, in which a lorry driver died despite efforts to cut him free By Nick Griffiths A CAR was spotted going the wrong way up the motorway shortly ... via News & Star

Maryland officials have declined to help Ridgeley with its tractor-trailer traffic, leaving their West Virginia neighbors none too happy about it.

“I think everyone can live with it.”

Truck drivers and the people who don't like seeing the trucks parked in residential neighborhoods seemed to have struck a compromise. via The Observer

“At one point, traffic was backed up as far as the 21-mile marker”

By BILL JONES Staff Writer A trucker was in critical condition this morning after a fiery Wednesday afternoon tractor-trailer crash that blocked both northbound lanes of Interstate 81 for hours near the 32-mile ... via The Greeneville Sun - Greeneville TN

Italy was crippled by a nationwide truckers' strike for the third day on Wednesday, according to Italian News Agency ANSA. via People's Daily

Striking Italian truck drivers pulled down their blockades Thursday after receiving a better deal from government negotiators. via The Post Chronicle

“That's why I introduced this legislation years ago, and I've spent years working to get it passed into law. It's unfortunate that it took such a terrible tragedy to gain support for this in Harrisburg.”

The truck driver never knew someone was killed. On Christmas Day two years ago, Christine Lambert, 51, was driving with her family on Route 209 in Nesquehoning when an 8-inch-thick chunk of ice flew off a ... via Pocono Record

Truck drivers rallied in Skowhegan and voiced their concerns over the high cost of fuel.

The Midnight Trucking Radio Network has again committed to its support of Trucker Buddy International, announcing it will maintain its Gold Level sponsorship for 2008.

A TRUCK driver who died in a rollover at Gillman yesterday was the latest victim in a horrific year on SA roads.

Posted by David Ferrara, Staff Reporter December 11, 2007 5:37 PM Categories: Breaking News A Missouri truck driver was arrested today and charged with suspicion of kidnapping after a young woman was found ... via The Mobile Register Online

“Whilst these drivers will pay the price for their actions, they are not 'cowboys' as the media says.”

INTERSTATE truck drivers are switching off their lights to hurtle through the dark at 100kmh - and swerving to the wrong side of the highway - to avoid cameras. via The Sydney Morning Herald

“We know some are more severe than others. The driver of the coach has been critically injured”

A crash between a passenger bus and a tanker truck on the busyA main highway from Edmonton to Fort McMurray late Wednesday sent 12 people to hospital, two of them inA critical condition. via CBC

A 23-year old Alabama resident was killed in a near head-on collision with a semi-truck and trailer on Highway 58 east of Oakridge Tuesday morning, a crash which sent the man's SUV spinning across the road ... via Bend Weekly News

A truck driver from Arizona has been charged with sexual battery with bodily harm and aggravated battery after he allegedly raped a hitchhiker and stabbed her repeatedly with a screwdriver. via Northwest Florida Daily News

A truck driver was killed Wednesday morning when he was struck by a piece of heavy machinery being moved into position to pull his stuck truck out of the snow outside the Bear Canyon No. via Salt Lake Tribune

A man upset about the driving style of logging trucks passing through this small timber town east of Cottage Grove allegedly shot out a tire on a truck and threatened the driver with a gun, authorities said. via The News-Review

“I am satisfied at the outcome of a negotiation that has brought the country back to normal”

Italian truckers block the French-Italian border crossing in Ventimiglia, Italy, on Wednesday. via The Taipei Times

A truck driver has been injured in a collision with a train in northern Iowa. Officials say Tracy Schroeder of Forest City was injured yesterday afternoon in Hanlontown, which is northwest of Mason City. via KWQC-TV Davenport

A truck driver has been indicted on perjury and other charges in a hit-and-run accident on an interstate highway that killed a college student from Long Island. via Post-Standard

U.S. long-haul truck drivers can continue to spend as much as 11 hours a day behind the wheel, after a federal agency refused to return to lower limits sought by safety advocates.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's decision yesterday not to alter the 11-hour drive time and 34-hour restart provisions within the current Hours of Service regulations isn't coming as a major ...

As might be expected, comments keep coming on the Interim Final Rule of Hours of Service made public Tuesday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Sufficient mechanisms exist to determine whether the project is hurting motor-carrier safety.

TRUCKING RADIO KEEPS THEM ROLLING

by Eric Boulanger

Follow the link to read the entire article!

It has been around for decades but most Americans are unaware there is such a thing as trucking radio. That’s because it has been relegated to overnight hours on AM radio and, more recently, to subscriber based satellite radio.

But for the American truck driver, trucking radio has been a companion that has gotten them through many lonely nights on the road and, in recent years, has become a much needed valuable source of information about a growing and rapidly changing industry.

Since the introduction of the Commercial Drivers License in 1992, the number of trucks on American roads has doubled. Today, there are more than 3.5 million long haul drivers. This army is the essential link between ports, manufacturers and distribution centers and their markets.

Almost every item in every store in the country is delivered by truck. As American consumerism has risen to prominence in the nation’s economy, so has the industry that feeds it. The hallmark of 21st century life in the United states is convenience. Everything and anything we could possibly want is at store within 10 miles of 75% of Americans. That would not be possible without trucks and the American truck driver.

Up until the advent of satellite radio at the beginning of the century, American truck drivers could only find radio programming specific to them after midnight. Some of these shows were on powerful AM stations like WWL in New Orleans, WLW in Cincinnati and WBAP in Fort Worth but even they covered only a portion of the country. Drivers either had to wait until they got within signal range or listened as the show cracked and wavered in and out.

Satellite radio has given truck drivers crystal clear reception from coast-to-coast without so much as a pop. It has also given them a 24-hour a day forum for their concerns and questions. The hosts and their guests have become a reliable source of accurate information. Many drivers readily admit that conventional and satellite radio has been a valuable link with other drivers and has helped them become better drivers and businesspeople.

“She's been through a horrible, tragic situation”

A Missouri man has been charged in coastal Alabama with kidnapping a woman found nude and beaten inside his truck cab at a truck stop off Interstate 10. via Alabama Live

ROME : Italy's truck drivers defied a government order and continued to strike Wednesday, blocking highways outside cities and border areas in a protest that idled factories, left gasoline pumps dry and caused ... via International Herald Tribune

“FMCSA is continuing the sweatshop conditions for truck drivers rolling down our highways, which endangers Americans all over the country”

WASHINGTON - Big trucking companies got their wish on Tuesday when federal regulators maintained existing limits on drivers' hours, rather than endorsing a court order sought by consumer advocates that would ... via Azcentral.com

A St. Louis mining company has been fined $163,000 for violating health and safety regulations that led to the death of an employee. via The Topeka Capital-Journal

A North Carolina truck driver is changing his plea to guilty in an attack on a 15-year-old girl in her Chelmsford home. via Boston Herald

“I tried looking for a job but found nothing. I rent a room in town and at night come here to do business”

By Chris Makhaye Come rain or shine, you can find them at truck-park stops across the country. via Daily News

“Our parking lot has just been packed since last night”

By ROB CARSON and C.R. ROBERTS Tacoma News Tribune Wednesday, December 05, 2007 The closure of Interstate 5 has slowed freight deliveries throughout Western Washington and is costing trucking companies hundreds ... via ScrippsNews

“The response has been very strong”

Italian truck drivers launched a five-day strike Monday in protest of high fuel prices, bringing chaos to major cities and huge jams at frontiers with neighbouring countries. via Raw Story

“Men get lonely and that is why they sometimes need the company of roadside women. So long as there are truckers, there will always be roadside prostitutes. Unfortunately, that is where the danger lies”

We met Mkhetheni Xulu* on a clear Sunday night just off the N3 highway. He was washing down his supper with a cup of coffee at a truck-stop near Pinetown. via Daily News

“So when we make a movement from a direct course like that, whether you have your lights activated or not, you have to make sure you can do so in a safe manner.”

A representative of an Ohio truck driver who died in a crash that also killed a state trooper has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, records show. via TulsaWorld.com - News

“Clearly, the health impacts on these drivers are big, but actions now could have measurable benefits”

Truck drivers breathe air up to 2,000 times more polluted than federally accepted clean-air levels, leading to increased cancer, asthma and lung disease risks, a new health study shows. via Daily Breeze

The state Department of Transportation said Wednesday that the earliest now that Interstate 5 could reopen near Centralia is the weekend, but officials warn the closure could last beyond. via KATU-TV Portland

“When you're dealing with the sick and wounded all the time, it can get depressing. This was really fun”

Sprawled in his recliner, tired and achy after three days of nearly nonstop work, James Ward hardly looks like Santa Claus. via Arizona Daily Star

"The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is providing exemptions from U.S. safety rules that the FMCSA claim are covered in a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Mexico," Craig ...

“Some have them parked. They're on their lawns for sale.”

Governor John Baldacci yesterday signed a civil emergency declaration aimed at helping the state's forest products industry - particularly independent logging truck operators - suffering from soaring diesel ... via Boston.com