Truck Drivers News Blog

A blog for truck drivers news, and a watchdog site for the trucking industry.

Archive for March, 2008

FedEx Driver killed in PA. Turnpike accident

March 14th, 2008

The driver of a FedEx tractor-trailer died this morning in an accident on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike between the Mid-County and Valley Forge interchanges.

Around 9:15 a.m., traffic resumed on all westbound lanes – the direction in which the accident occurred, the State Police said. Eastbound traffic had resumed shortly after 6 a.m.

Shortly before 8 a.m., the road seemed unlikely to reopen quickly, since the tractor-trailer was still “connected … to a crumpled Dodge pickup,” according to Rick Freas, 38, a tow truck driver from Valley Forge.

“They just removed the body a few minutes ago,” he said.

“The cab is completely crushed in,” he said of the FedEx truck.

The accident, which occurred at 3:53 a.m., also involved a second tractor-trailer, state police said.

The driver of the pick-up truck was injured.

Traffic on the southbound Blue Route (I-476) was slowed as well, because of motorists being detoured from the turnpike.

Four state police cars, four tow trucks and three fire trucks were at the scene, near a shopping center with a Cosco, Speas said.

Source

NxtGen :: New Technology to Reduce Diesel Emissions

March 14th, 2008

Officials from the Government of Canada, EnCana Corporation TSX: ECA NYSE: ECA and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) announced today they are committing $5.5 million in financing to a NxtGen Emission Controls project which demonstrates an innovative diesel emission reduction system.

NxtGen’s syngas technology will assist diesel trucks in complying with stringent global emission reduction regulations and has the potential to enable manufacturers to increase fuel economy. When retrofitted onto existing trucks, NxtGen’s system is expected to reduce particulate emissions by 85 percent and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 65 percent.

This new technology for diesel trucks is similar to catalytic converters for gasoline vehicles.”This technology is an example of the kind of forward thinking that will help ensure Canada remains at the forefront of clean technologies, that will reduce air pollution and our greenhouse gas emissions,” said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources.

“The partnership we see here is a great example of how our Government is encouraging innovation, making sure Canadians have the opportunity to enjoy the full environmental and economic benefits of these technologies.”The project supported by EnCana and SDTC involves field trials of NxtGen’s diesel emission reduction technology on medium and heavy duty trucks.

The systems are being retrofitted onto 12 trucks in three fleets across Canada, including three heavy duty trucks owned by Mullen Trucking LP, one of EnCana’s key transportation providers in Alberta.”NxtGen looks forward to working with EnCana and SDTC as we put our diesel emission control technology to the test in real world operations,” says Jeremy Holt, NxtGen Emission Controls President and CEO. “

The support provided by EnCana and SDTC comes at a pivotal time for NxtGen. The field trials will enable us to demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of NxtGen’s syngas emission reduction system for diesel trucks.”

Truckers fret over NAFTA “renegotiation” talk

March 14th, 2008

Is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dying? Both Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama have made campaign promises to “renegotiate” the 14-year-old trade agreement that generally has resulted in a boom for U.S. trucking and railroad interests.

Since NAFTA was adopted in 1994 under the first Clinton administration, it basically created open trade, free of duties and tariffs, among the U.S. Mexico and Canada. But both Democratic candidates have sounded a protectionist tone during their campaign, threatening to renegotiate NAFTA and other free trade agreements to make them more favorable on labor and environmental grounds.

It’s hard to tell whether this is merely campaign rhetoric or an actual threat to NAFTA existence. One thing is for sure. Any talk of renegotiating NAFTA makes truckers nervous.ldquo;Since 1993, when the other Clinton signed the agreement, we’ve been in favor of NAFTA and free trade acts in general and that hasn’t changed,” ATA President and CEO Bill Graves told Logistics Management. “Free trade is generally good for the American consumer and we support that.”

It also has been good for the U.S. trucking industry. Some companies, such as Indianapolis-based Celadon and Con-way’s CFI unit, garner more than 40 percent of their revenue from the lucrative north-south trade in and out of Mexico.

Winnipeg show & shine to feature tons of glitz

March 14th, 2008

The Winnipeg Truck Show will have 30 of the best show trucks anywhere prepped and ready for display on Edmonton Street.

Interested in showing your beautiful rig? Show & Shine details and applications are available online at www.winnipegtruckshow.com.

Edmonton Street will be closed to traffic both days, so you’ll be free to wander. Saturday afternoon, these chrome-laden chariots will form a convoy and parade through town. It’s a way of shouting to the world that The Winnipeg Truck Show is back and better than ever.

The New Winnipeg Truck Show — now owned and operated by Newcom Business Media (the publisher of this magazine) — rolls into Manitoba’s capital city May 23rd and 24th, 2008. With more than 125 exhibitors on a 120,000-plus-sq.-ft. exhibit floor, the Winnipeg Truck Show brings the entire industry to one location for two full days.

Visitors will find the latest in trucks, trailers, heavy-duty parts and accessories, engines and power-train components, service-shop equipment and supplies, tires, fuels, financial services, and many other products and services that are crucial to the trucking industry.

Who’s going to be there? Everybody. Transport company owners, fleet managers and drivers, owner-operators, managers and purchasing agents, service-shop owners, private carriers, garage personnel, government transport officials and heavy-duty parts jobbers will all attend the show.

A series of need-to-know free seminars will also be offered to the expected 8,000 industry professionals from across Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and Saskatchewan who will converge in Winnipeg for this important industry event.

And don’t forget the fun part: Exhibitors and visitors are invited to a Friday evening party featuring a Johnny Cash Tribute band.

Source

Tire change may have preceded fatal I-15 mishap near Las Vegas

March 14th, 2008

Northbound Interstate 15 is reopening after two people were struck and killed early this morning in a hit-and-run fatal just south of Las Vegas.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Honea says traffic is still going to be funneled down to one lane past the site of the 5:10 a.m. double fatal south of Silverado Ranch Boulevard.

All northbound lanes had been closed at Saint Rose Parkway for about nine hours.

Investigators think a man was changing the left rear tire on a black Toyota Tacoma pickup truck on the shoulder of the road, and a woman might have been trying to wave traffic away, when both were struck and killed by at least one tractor-trailer.

Honea says the pickup truck was sideswiped in the pre-dawn crash.

Honea says investigators were questioning drivers of 4 trucks at various locations around Las Vegas.

He says anyone else who saw what happened should call the NHP at 702-432-5219.

Source

Chickasha man was killed Thursday

March 14th, 2008

A Chickasha man was killed Thursday in a two-vehicle crash that forced Oklahoma 8 in Blaine County to close for more than six hours, from 3:20 to 9:30 p.m.

Leon D. Smith, 74, died in the accident that happened at 3:10 p.m. four miles south of Hitchcock, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

Smith was driving a Freightliner tractor-trailer loaded with 32 round bales of hay south on Oklahoma 8, according to the report, when he failed to negotiate a curve at a high rate of speed. His truck rolled one-quarter time, coming to rest on its side in the northbound lane.

The cab of Smith’s rig then was hit by a 2001 Ford pickup driven by Robert H. Banks, 43, of Enid, according to the report. Banks and his two sons, Allen Henry, 20, and Andrew Lee, 20, were not injured.

Source

New Mack vocational a Titan of a truck

March 13th, 2008

Mack Trucks says its newest heavy-haul vehicle is the most powerful truck the company has built in its 108-year history.

The Titan by Mack is designed for extreme-duty transport and heavy construction applications, and is powered by the mighty new Mack MP10 engine, a 16-liter modern-day workhorse with a top rating of 605 hp and a massive 2,060 lb-ft of torque.

Mack introduced the Titan model at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 Exposition in Las Vegas this week.

The company boasts that the Titan is also the boldest-looking Mack model ever. It was designed to deliver “the attitude and torque required for hauling the heavy loads,” while incorporating advanced engineering for excellent visibility, productivity and driver comfort.

Source continues

Will a Truckers Strike work?

March 13th, 2008

I was siting at home this AM, and I was thinking about my last 10+ years of driving a tractor trailer. When I first started driving back in 1996, fuel cost $.89 per gallon locally.Now that same station does not even sell diesel anymore because of the outrageous price. Today the avg price of a gallon of diesel fuel is over $3.50!
What is wrong with this country? Why is diesel so expensive?

Diesel is so expensive because all the big oil companies are controlling it.

This is ridiculous! We need to quit taking the kick in the ass and start doing something about it!
You drivers out there, hauling this cheap freight are not helping. Actually I can’t say much to company drivers as it is their companies fault for pulling this cheap freight!
But you owner operators out there that are still not getting the picture, STOP pulling that freight for nothing, just to get home or get into another area.
You are not helping yourself, when you pull a cheap load in order to get a better load.
The fuel you have wasted on that cheap freight is eating the profit away from the good load you got now. Let Swift or JB Hunt, or some of them other cut throat companies grab that cheap freight.
You, use to be able to grab a cheap load just to get out in a better area. Fuel was not $3.50+ a gallon. It did not hurt as much in the end.
Now it is killing everybody. I have seen a bunch of trucks parked lately with for sale signs in the windows.
I would rather sit and not make any money, as spend $700.00 dollars in fuel, and make -$200.00 on a load.

I swear I hear all these drivers talking about how a strike would not work. They say it will take every truck and company to get it done. I don’t see how it would take every company and driver.

I guarantee that if half the companies would stop for a week you would see a difference. Probably, a lot more companies would join in after seeing a few stop.

It would have to work, because most of these companies we deliver to never keep enough stock product to operate for more than a couple days at a time. I have seen companies who don’t order product but every day, they operate from day to day. To keep operating cost down, or they don’t have the storage space.

I talked to a terminal manager yesterday that said they have quit hiring drivers further than 50 miles from their terminal because they quit paying the drivers to drive their trucks home.
TA is even filling the effects as they announced a layoff of 190 workers with more to come.

What’s going to come out of this?

Fuel costs clog truck companies; dire steps taken to save pennies

March 13th, 2008

With the cost of diesel fuel having risen at the pump almost 80 percent in the last three years, trucking company owner Tony Tomase crowed about finding a penny on his garage floor yesterday.

“We’re fighting for pennies. You’ve got to,” said Mr. Tomase, owner of GetGo Transportation Co., a trucking company employing more than two dozen drivers in Lake Township. “You make your money on pennies per mile.” Across the nation, independent truckers are shutting down their rigs and trucking firms are scratching their heads for new ways to save fuel as the ballooning price of diesel flows its way through the economy. “It’s affecting consumers. It’s affecting owner-operators. A lot of guys are shutting their trucks down,” explained Dave Swartz, director of sales and co-owner of Premium Transportation Logistics, in South Toledo. “The cost of everything is going to go up, because everything moves on a truck.” According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the average cost for a gallon of diesel fuel in the Midwest this week was $3.78, up more than $1.11 from a year ago and $1.67 a gallon from the same week in 2005. Gas price Web site, www.Gasbuddy.com, yesterday reported diesel prices in the Toledo area as high as $4 per gallon. Like their counterparts in the airline industry, trucking firms and owner-operators have asked clients to pay fuel surcharges to offset some of those increased costs – but with limited success. “It’s putting a serious hurt on our members,” said Norita Taylor, a spokesman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents approximately 160,000 independent truckers. “We’ve heard of a lot of them who are selling their trucks and signing on as a company driver, or simply sitting until they can get a rate that’s worth turning a wheel.”

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Driver killed after car clips semi on I-25

March 13th, 2008

An Aurora man was killed Wednesday on Interstate 25 in Douglas County after he apparently tried to pass in front of a semi but clipped the truck instead.

David M. Harford, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident happened shortly before 10:54 a.m., in the southbound lanes of I-25 at mile post 175. Harford was driving a 1991 Toyota SR5 in the left lane behind a 1999 Freightliner tractor-trailer, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

Troopers said Harford apparently accelerated and moved to the right lane, cutting off another vehicle in the process but making no contact with it. He continued to accelerate while in the right lane and attempted to move into the left lane again, in front of the Freightliner.

Instead, the Toyota’s left rear struck the right front of the semi, causing the car to spin counterclockwise as it went off the left side of the road and onto the center median.

The car crashed into the cable safety barrier before rolling a number of times, ejecting the driver. Harford was not wearing his seat belt, troopers said.

The driver of the semi, Oliver R. Harvey, 37, of Colorado Springs, was unhurt. He was wearing his seat belt.

Alcohol, drugs and speed are not considered factors in the crash, the State Patrol said.

Source

Truck Drivers News Blog

Archive for March, 2008

FedEx Driver killed in PA. Turnpike accident

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NxtGen :: New Technology to Reduce Diesel Emissions

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Truckers fret over NAFTA “renegotiation” talk

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Winnipeg show & shine to feature tons of glitz

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Tire change may have preceded fatal I-15 mishap near Las Vegas

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Chickasha man was killed Thursday

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New Mack vocational a Titan of a truck

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Will a Truckers Strike work?

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Fuel costs clog truck companies; dire steps taken to save pennies

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