' rel='shortcut icon'/>

Amber Alert

Friday, January 25, 2008

I will not be around for a while

My job that I had as a dump truck driver has really went down hill here in the North East part of Ohio. So I must do what is best for myself, and that is get another job. In order to do this though, I must move. There are no jobs availible here in the winter, so I am moving south.
I am moving back to Kentucky, where I was born and raised. I have several jobs lined out down there. Today I will be going to get the uhaul and plan on loading it today and leaving first thing in the morning.
We should be back online within a few days, so if you make a comment to any of these post they will not be accepted until I come back online.

Other news around here is. When we do come back online, stay tuned for some major changes to evolve around here. Anyway take care and be safe out on the road, till we can do it again!

Motorcyclist dies in crash with big rig in St. Lucie County

A tractor-trailer driver attempting a U-turn Thursday morning on U.S. 1 caused a traffic accident that killed a 49-year-old Vero Beach motorcyclist and blocked traffic on the highway for hours, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Because of heavy fog, Timothy Powers was unable to see and avoid the big rig without being thrown from his motorcycle, said Lt. Tim Frith, FHP spokesman.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 41-year-old Florida City resident Felix Villa, was not injured, Frith said.

Frith said the accident occurred about 6:30 a.m. when Villa, driving south on the highway, missed his turn onto Indrio road, attempted a U-turn over the grass median but couldn't complete the turn because of signs on the side of the road.

Frith said the trailer, a flatbed containing palm trees, blocked all southbound lanes. Powers, traveling south on U.S. 1, tried to safely lay down his motorcycle but was thrown off and struck the side of the truck.

Powers was not wearing a helmet and died at the scene, Frith said.

Frith said a criminal investigation is on-going but no charges had been filed by late Thursday evening.

St. Lucie County Fire District Spokeswoman Catherine Whitaker said officials were not able to send a trauma helicopter to the accident scene because of the fog. Source

Thursday, January 24, 2008

New Web site launched to help truckers passing through Alabama

Alabama has rolled out a new Web site for truckers to serve as a one-stop portal for truckers passing through the state. It will include safety issues, road rules and notice of Alabama regulations - all topics that have been discussed at length in recent years after several major tractor-trailer accidents on state roads.

The state's Information Services Division launched the site, www.trucking.alabama.gov, this week with many other features, such as online payment of trip and fuel permits and maps of the state that identify welcome centers, rest areas, emergency road closures and more, said a news release.

"Trucking is integral to all facets of the Alabama economy," said Jim Burns, the state's chief information officer. "We want to make traveling in and dealing with Alabama as convenient as possible for truckers so that they can transport goods without undue delays or hardship. The trucking portal provides everything needed in a convenient, easy-to-use location and it shows our appreciation for the vital contributions to Alabama that are made by the trucking community."

Set up of the site was free to the state through its contract with Alabama Interactive. Source

Five tractor-trailers involved in crash between Morrisburg, Iroquois

An early morning pile-up of five transports on Highway 401 has left one person dead and another with serious injuries.

The accident occurred at approximately 12:30 a.m. Thursday when the driver of a westbound tractor-trailer laden with peanut butter had his vision obscured by dense smoke blowing from a nearby field. He was subsequently hit by a tanker filled with what appeared to be either molasses or corn syrup, confirmed an Ontario Provincial Police officer at the scene.

“The tanker was then rear-ended by the SLH truck,” explained Cst. Patrick Dussault, collision reconstuctionist. “The driver in that vehicle is the deceased.”

No name has been released pending notification of next of kin.

The vehicle of the deceased was not carrying cargo.

Dussault added the fourth vehicle “clipped” the SLH transport, while the final transport began trying to brake “almost 80 metres away,” before coming to rest between the victim’s vehicle and the fourth transport.

A second driver was airlifted to an Ottawa hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He suffered two broken wrists, two broken ankles and broken ribs.

“We’re not sure exactly where the smoke was coming from,” said Dussault, “but it appears it was a controlled burning that had a proper permit.Source

Inexperience leads to truck accident

A tractor-trailer driver’s inexperience led to extensive damage at a parking lot on Turnpike Street Friday and left his truck-driving career on hold. “It’s hard to believe this guy tried to pull this off,” said Stoughton Police Sgt. Paul McCallum.

The driver, who police did not identify, was trying to maneuver a tractor-trailer truck between the South Shore Savings Bank and Dunkin Donuts at about 3:30 p.m. The driver steered the truck into a right turn only lane and tried to take a right onto Turnpike Street but there was not enough space, McCallum said. He also said a pick-up truck with a trailer could even have had a tough time with the turn.

The driver, who worked for Tennessee-based U.S. Express Leasing, was working his second day on the job. McCallum said the driver is no longer employed by the company.

The truck went up over the curb, struck a piling and dislodged a Dunkin Donuts sign, which McCallum estimated was at least four feet in the ground.
“He pulled it right out,” McCallum said.

The sign toppled onto a car in the parking lot and the truck’s wheels became stuck on the piling that previously held the sign upright. As it became stuck, a significant portion of the truck’s weight pressed down on the fallen sign, further weighing down the car, McCallum said.
There were no injuries in the incident, police said.

McCallum said an experienced driver never would have tried to make the turn.

The State Police truck unit responded and used heavy-duty tow trucks and wenches to first free the truck, which was fully loaded, and then the sign, McCallum said.

McCallum said there was at least $5,000 damage to the car and that it could be more depending on how the vehicle’s suspension system held up. The sign was likely fairly expensive as well, McCallum said.

“Quite a bit of weight came down on the car,” McCallum said, adding the hood and the windshield were both smashed in. “You could see the front end dipped pretty low.”

The westbound lane of Route 139 was shut down for nearly two hours, McCallum said.

Police impounded the tractor-trailer until the company was able to provide proof of insurance, McCallum said. Source

Two killed in separate I-65 crashes

Two people were killed in separate crashes involving five vehicles on Interstate 65 near Scottsburg today. According to Indiana State Police, the first crash at 8:38 a.m. claimed the life of 22-year-old Austin resident Joseph Kilburn. Police said Kilburn was southbound in his Pontiac G6 when the car crossed the median and struck a northbound semi-trailer at the 27-mile marker.

Scott County Coroner Kevin Collins pronounced Kilburn dead at the scene.

The crash closed traffic on the interstate for 45 minutes. Then, shortly after traffic began moving again, the driver of a southbound semi-tractor failed to notice the slowed vehicles in time and struck two other semis just before 10 a.m. at the 30.5-mile marker, police said.

The driver of the semi was killed. His identity was being withheld pending confirmation and family notification.

No one was injured in the trucks that were struck, police said.

Southbound traffic was closed between Austin and Scottsburg for more than three hours after the second crash.Source

Reidsville man involved in fiery crash dies

A Reidsville man involved in a fiery truck crash last week has died, Winston-Salem police said this morning. Donald Patrick Carlson, 48, died yesterday from injuries he sustained in the crash.

On Jan. 16, Carlson was driving a Ford Explorer on Reidsville Road toward Winston-Salem when he crossed the center line and struck a tractor trailer, police said. The truck burst into flames after it crashed. The truck driver, Ronald Caucier, was not seriously injured.

Investigators do not know if speed or alcohol played a role in the crash.

Carlson is the first person to die in a traffic accident in the city this year, police said.Source

Parts of Interstate 79 closed

Interstate 79 South is closed from McKean Exit 174 to Edinboro Exit 166 due to a tractor trailer accident at mile marker 178, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials reported. The road was closed at 8:45 am and is expected to re-open by 11 am today. Several other crashes on the interstate have also been reported, and whiteout conditions are hampering travel in some places north of the Crawford County line, weather observers are reporting.Source

Troopers ID two men killed in crash on I-95

Authorities have identified the two men who were killed in an early Wednesday morning crash that closed all lanes on southbound Interstate 95 for almost five hours. Saintilus Cajuste, 47, of Lake Worth, and St. Pierre K. Dupuy, 45, of Delray Beach, were riding in a small pickup truck near Hallandale Beach Boulevard when a tractor trailer veered from the right, smashing them into the left concrete barrier wall, said officials.

A vehicle changing lanes just before 6 a.m. had caused the tractor trailer driven by Luis G. Paredes, 55, of Fort Lauderdale, to swerve to the left, said Sgt. Mark Wysocky, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman. The tractor trailer then veered right into the opposite west guard rail, he said. Gwendolyne A. Benavides, driving a 2007 Honda, was injured after her car became involved in the accident, investigators said.

Paredes and Benavides were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where their minor injuries were treated, Wysocky said. Cajuste and Dupuy were pronounced dead at the scene.

The black vehicle that allegedly started the chain of events was last seen leaving the scene, Wysocky said. Source

U.S. 421 Reopens In Franklin County After Fatal Accident Forces Overnight Closure

U.S. 421 just east of Frankfort has reopened for rush hour traffic, after closing all night following a fatal accident. The deadly accident put one driver behind bars. The road will close again later Thursday morning to finish cleanup of that area. State police say a minivan and a tractor trailer collided head-on on U.S. 421 in Franklin County late Wednesday night. The crash was so violent, both vehicles were thrown over an embankment.

Police say the driver of the van was Leslye Robertson, 41. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the tractor trailer was Paul George Neto, 46. He was arrested. Police say Neto had alcohol and marijuana in his truck. He now faces a murder charge. Source

No felony charges in double-fatal accident

No felony charges will be filed against the truck driver involved in a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two people near El Jebel earlier this month, according to the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors reviewed the case and concluded the Colorado State Patrol took appropriate action in issuing four misdemeanor tickets against truck driver Mark Chamness, 48, of Littleton, in the Jan. 8 accident, Deputy District Attorney Jim Leuthauser said.

“Any county court case could end up with felony charges,” Leuthauser said, but he doesn’t believe that will happen.

Chamness is scheduled to appear in Garfield County Court on Feb. 4.

The citations given Chamness allege careless driving causing death, careless driving causing bodily injury, stopping in an intersection when prohibited and violating a permit by operating during hours of darkness, according to the accident report.

The collision occurred approximately one mile east of Catherine Store on Colorado Highway 82, between Carbondale and El Jebel, when Chamness pulled his tractor-trailer across the highway, according to the report.

A westbound 2000 Kia Sephia slammed into the trailer around 6:40 a.m., the report said. The driver, Elizeo Trinidad, 21, and front-seat passenger Noemy Ramos, 23, were killed instantly. A back-seat passenger, Julio Hernandez-Mendoza, was seriously injured. Source

Tractor-trailer wreck kills Guyton woman

A Guyton resident was killed Tuesday morning after an accident involving a tractor-trailer truck, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Yolanda Elizabeth Miller, 41, was driving westbound on U.S. 80 in a blue 1994 Chevrolet pickup about 6:45 a.m. when an eastbound tractor-trailer tried to turn left onto Jimmy DeLoach Parkway and turned in front of her, Rincon Post commander Sgt. Jason Riner said. Source

One dead in three-vehicle accident

A Galax, Va., man was killed Wednesday afternoon and another man was hospitalized following a fiery three-vehicle wreck on N.C. 89 West just south of the Virginia state line. A tractor-trailer driven by Marvin Patton, 53, of Houston, Texas, was traveling south on N.C. 89 when its brakes failed and it crossed the center line at a sharp curve on the mountain road, said Trooper J.R. Vindich of the N.C. Highway Patrol. The incident occurred just before 4:30 p.m.

*
The tractor-trailer collided first with a Nissan pickup truck and then with a Chevrolet van before hitting the side of a mountain and catching fire. Vindich estimated the tractor-trailer was traveling at 65 mph on impact.

The driver of the pickup truck, 68-year-old Glenn Roy Shumate of Galax, died instantly, Vindich said. The two occupants of the van were uninjured.

Patton escaped from the cab of the truck before it ignited and was treated at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin for minor injuries.

Members of the Skull Camp Volunteer Fire Department arrived within about five minutes of the accident to find the cab of the tractor-trailer fully involved in flames. Capt. Josh Moose said an explosion from one of the fuel tanks started a small woods fire on the side of the mountain.

Vindich said Patton was hauling potatoes from Michigan to Charlotte and was instructed by his company to get off I-77 at the U.S. 58 exit in Virginia and take Highway 89 into North Carolina. He said Patton was told this was a faster route.

Marvin was released from the hospital around 10 p.m. Wednesday and charged with death by motor vehicle, exceeding a safe speed and driving left of center. He remained in the Surry County Jail Wednesday night.

Vindich praised the efforts of Skull Camp firefighters in extinguishing the flaming tractor-trailer as well as the Mount Airy Rescue Squad, who he said are “always A-plus on their game.”

The Galax Fire Department also assisted at the scene.
Source

Teamsters cite Mexican truck crash

The Teamsters issued a press release calling attention to a border crash that involved two Mexican trucks, and the union urged the Bush administration to conduct a full investigation. In the January 10 incident, two tractor-trailer trucks with Mexican license plates crashed and burst into flames on a bridge linking Reynosa, Mexico and Pharr, Texas. Four people died and six were injured, according to news reports. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said his union is concerned that the Bush Administration won’t fully investigate the accident because it wants to protect its cross border trucking test program. “The Bush Administration claims it can track all the trucks involved in its pilot project using satellite tracking technology,” the release noted.

The Teamster release referenced another crash involving a Mexican truck loaded with ammonium nitrate that resulted in injuries and fatalities. The Teamsters and other interest groups have challenged the legality of the cross border program in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A hearing date is set for Feb. 12. Source

Woman dies in Cumberland car crash

A woman is dead after her car collided with a tractor trailer truck on Tuesday afternoon in Cumberland. 76-year-old Janice O'Donnell of Cumberland was killed instantly when her car drove into the path of the truck at the intersection of Tuttle Road and Route 1, said public safety spokesperson Steve McCausland.

The driver of the truck, Kevin Carroll, 43, of Windham, was sent to Maine Medical Center and treated for minor injuries. He has since been released.

The tractor trailer truck is owned by A. Hood and Son of Turner. The company has since received a summons after investigation by Maine State Police revealed its trailer inspection was not up to date.

The details of the accident are under investigation by both the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department and the Maine State Police.Source

Driver dies in I-71 crash north of Delaware

A Sunbury man was killed this morning when his van ran into the rear of a tractor-trailer parked on the berm of I-71. Don Wilson, 30, was driving north when his vehicle struck the truck about 7:10 a.m., according to the Delaware post of the State Highway Patrol. He was pronounced dead at the scene north of Rt. 36.

The truck driver, Joseph Isacovici, 25, of Gurnee, Ill., was not injured.

The incident was the second fatal wreck in the stretch of I-71 in less than 24 hours. A Mount Vernon woman was killed yesterday morning when her pickup truck ran off I-71 and struck a tree. Source

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Deadly Accident Shuts Down I-95 SB In Hollywood

All southbound lanes of I-95 remain shutdown between Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Ives Dairy Road following a deadly accident. According to Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky, the accident took place around 6:00 a.m. involving an 18-wheeler tractor trailer that jackknifed and 5 to 6 other vehicles.

Two people died, both had to be extricated from the wrecked remains of their vehicles. At least three others were hospitalized with minor injuries. It's believed there were about 7 victims in all.

Multiple fire rescue units responded to the scene including units from Miami-Dade, BSO, and Hallandale Beach.

The Florida Highway Patrol is allowing motorists who are stranded at the accident to exit off the highway by using the SB entrance ramp at Pembroke Road.

All drivers are being asked to avoid the area. Alternate routes include U.S. 1 and US 441, University Drive and the Turnpike.

There was also an accident in the northbound lanes about 15 minutes after the initial crash but there were no injuries in that accident and traffic has resumed in the northbound lanes.

The southbound lanes will remain closed until further notice. Source

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Beer spill stalls Flathead traffic

Commuters on U.S. Highway 93 North near Happy Valley dealt with some headaches Tuesday morning after a tractor trailer carrying Kokanee beer crashed and rolled over onto its roof. Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Roger Dundas tells us that the semi was headed northbound on U.S. Highway 93 North at around 5:30 a.m. when the driver switched lanes and got sucked into the median by soft snow. The truck then slid into the southbound lanes of the highway and rolled over onto its roof.

Authorities say the driver suffered only some bumps and scrapes as a result of the accident.

Officials with Fun Beverages say they picked up the broken beer bottles to the dump, which was just a mile away. Source

Drivers being detoured around closed I-275/SR 32 ramp

Drivers headed north on Interstate 275 at the westbound state Route 32 exit ramp are being detoured because of an accident this morning. The ramp from Interstate 275 north to westbound state Route 32 is closed temporarily after a late-morning accident.

A tractor-trailer overturned on the ramp shortly after 11 a.m. today, said Lt. Scott Gaviglia with Union Township Police.

The ramp is expected to re-open sometime after 3 p.m., Gaviglia said.

Until then, drivers headed north on I-275 at the westbound state Route 32 exit ramp are asked to continue north on Interstate 275 to the westbound Milford Parkway exit ramp.

Drivers should then take westbound Milford Parkway to the southbound I-275 ramp and re-enter the interstate.

Drivers should then take southbound I-275 to the westbound state Route 32 exit ramp.

No injuries were reported and no other vehicles were involved in the accident, Gaviglia said.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol also responded to the accident.

The crash investigation is still pending, and no charges or citations have been filed at this time, said Gaviglia.Source

One Man Dead; Route 250 Still Closed After Accident

Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say 24-year-old Joseph Noto died in an auto-pedestrian accident. It happened just before 10 a.m. Tuesday on Route 250, near Woods Boat House. Marion County sheriff's deputies say Noto ran out of gas, parked along the road and started walking south towards the interstate.

That's when a tractor-trailer headed north came around a turn and lost control. The truck hit Noto, and caused two other cars to crash, and led to a five car pileup, deputies said.

Noto died at Fairmont General Hospital. Four other people suffered minor injuries. Source

Michigan truck driver killed in U.S. 20 accident

A Port Huron, Mich., man was killed in a single-vehicle tractor trailer accident Tuesday morning after he lost control on U.S. 20 in Wood County’s Troy Township and was ejected from the vehicle after striking a concrete median, the Ohio Highway Patrol said. Joseph Flint, 54, was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, troopers at the patrol’s Bowling Green post said.

Mr. Flint was northbound on U.S. 20 near State Rt. 420 about 7 a.m. when he lost control on the icy road, struck a concrete median, and was ejected from the rig, troopers said.

His body was then run over by the semi trailer, troopers said.

Mr. Flint was not wearing a seat belt. The crash remains under investigation.Source

Tractor-trailer slams DOT sand truck on I-85

Two truck drivers are being treated at the Greenville Hospital System after a fiery-collision between a tractor-trailer and a South Carolina Department of Transportation truck, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. A 2000 Freightliner, driven by 36-year-old Andre Finch of Charlotte, rammed the rear of a 1991 truck driven by Dot worker Mark Gyner, 28, of Iva, Lance Cpl. Scot Edgeworth said.

Both men are believed to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries about 1 a.m. Tuesday when the tractor-trailer truck slammed into the DOT’s salt-loaded dump truck.

Lance Cpl. Edgeworth said Mr. Finch, cited for driving too fast for conditions, crashed into the median wall after the collision, which knocked Mr. Gyner’s truck off the highway.

The tractor-trailer burst into flames, Lance Cpl. Edgeworth said.

Keith Sonefelt, spokesman for the Anderson County Fire Department, said it was the second tractor-trailer accident on Interstate 85 in less than 18 hours.

The slow-moving DOT dump truck, which was prepping the interstate in anticipation of frozen precipitation, overturned near I-85’s 32-mile marker.

Mr. Sonefelt said a hazardous-materials crew was called to handle a spill of diesel fuel.

About 9:30 a.m. Monday, a tractor-trailer, which was loaded with rubber, overturned as its driver attempted to enter I-85 at Exit 19, Mr. Sonefelt said.

No one was injured.
Source

Victim Identified In Fatal I-79 Crash

State Police say this morning's sudden snowfall may have contributed to a horrible accident that left a Beaver County child dead. Judah Scrutchins, 1, of New Brighton, was killed and four others were injured in the crash.

Police say 34 year-old Tracy Gebhardt, also of New Brighton, was driving an SUV northbound on I-79 near the Steubenville Pike exit when the vehicle crossed the median and struck head-on into a tractor trailer carrying an oversize load.

The accident happened just after 9:20 a.m. as snow was falling.

In all, five people were inside including passenger Laura Federoff, 34, of Lake City, Pa., who was taken to Allegheny General Hospital where she was last in critical condition.

Two other children, 4 year-old Jaxon Scrutchins and 1 year-old Julia Scrutchins, were both taken to Children's Hospital.

Their conditions are unknown at this time.

Police say all three children were properly buckled into convertible child safety seats.

Gebhardt is the mother of all three children.

The extent of Gebhardt's injuries are unknown. She was taken to Presbyterian Hospital.

McAlester man dies in crash

A 51-year-old McAlester man was killed Monday afternoon when his pickup collided with a tractor-trailer rig in Hughes County. Danny Cloud was pronounced dead on the scene of the accident that occurred about 4:15 p.m. one mile west of Stuart on U.S. Highway 270, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol accident report.

Cloud’s pickup went left of center, hit the semi and became lodged under it. He was pinned for two hours.

The semi was driven by 59-year-old Anthony Wayne Green of McAlester. Green was pinned for 1 ½ hours and was taken to McAlester Regional Hospital with arm and back injuries. He is listed in good condition.

Neither Green nor Cloud wore a seatbelt or had any passengers, troopers say.Source

Mobile home wanders

A tractor-trailer hauling half of a double-wide mobile home and traveling westbound on Interstate 80 crashed Monday morning just east of North Texas Street in Fairfield. The accident blocked all but one lane of the interstate and snarled traffic for hours.

According to the California Highway Patrol, shortly after 11:15 a.m. the driver of a Native American Trucking Company big-rig lost control. The rig jack-knifed, with the mobile home section rolling off the trailer onto its side and blocking three of the four lanes of traffic on I-80.

The tractor - or cab - portion of the rig came to rest on part of eastbound Lyon Road.

The driver of the big rig, Dan Effman, 53, was taken by ambulance to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield with complaints of pain, officers said. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

An escort car, driven by Effman's wife Cathy Huggins, was traveling behind the oversized load, which was on its way to Napa when the accident occurred.

"He was swaying a little like it was windy," Huggins said. "Then the swaying got bigger and bigger."

Although CHP officers didn't know how fast the driver was traveling, Huggins said they weren't driving more than 50 mph.

"It's pretty amazing that no one else was involved," said CHP Officer Darren Carrington. The CHP allowed traffic to pass the accident scene slowly in the fast lane as traffic backed up as far east as Leisure Town Road in Vacaville.

Lyons Road opened just before 2 p.m. and all lanes on I-80 were opened just at after 2:30 p.m.

The mobile home section was transported via tow truck to a storage yard in Fairfield. Source

Woman killed when car, semi collide on I-80 near Iowa City

A Wilton woman was killed this morning when the car in which she was riding collided head-on with a semi tractor-trailer in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just east of Iowa City. Meghan Vanzandt-Miller, 33, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Iowa State Patrol preliminary report.

The accident happened just before 6 a.m. about two miles east of Iowa City, near the Herbert Hoover Highway interchange. Joshua Miller, 30, of Wilton, was driving westbound, lost control of the Chevy Trailblazer and crossed the median into oncoming traffic, the report states.

A semi struck the passenger’s side of the SUV.

Miller and 9-year-old Tenley Miller were transported to University Hospitals.Source

CAT Scale to buy Interstate Scales

CAT Scale has agreed to buy Interstate Scales from its owner, Hargett Enterprises. For the time being, CAT Scale will operate all 143 Interstate Scales locations while sites are evaluated. “We are excited about this," said Delia Moon Meier, senior vice president of CAT Scale, based in Walcott, Iowa. "Interstate has a fully equipped and fully staffed office, technical center and warehouse in Evansville, Ind. With both offices, we are now only a one-day drive to 70 percent of our scales."

The world's largest truck-scale network, CAT Scale has more than 1,000 locations in North America. It was founded in 1977 by the late Bill Moon, also the visionary behind the Iowa 80 truck stop and its annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree.

Driver arrested after head-on accident on I-5

A Ridgefield man was arrested after a head-on collision between a commercial truck and a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 5 late Monday. Four of the freeway's six lanes were closed temporarily after the collision, which occurred in the southbound lanes a mile north of Northeast 179th Street.The driver of a flatbed commercial 1 ton truck, identified as Andrew Stephenson, 50, of Ridgefield, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, said State Patrol Trooper Jennifer Ortiz.

Stephenson was accused of driving his truck northbound in the southbound lanes of the freeway when he collided with a semi tractor-trailer rig drven by Baldev Singh, 57, of Antelope, Calif. Singh was hauling a load of paper products, according to police radio reports.

The accident occurred about 10 p.m. Ortiz said that Stephenson apparently drove onto the freeway the wrong way from the 179th street offramp.

No one was injured, though approximately 76 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled, said Leah Edwards, a spokeswoman for Clark County Fire District 6. Both trucks suffered extensive damage.

Despite the late hour, traffic was snarled in both directions.

Truck parking situation no better for drivers

As the demand for truck parking spaces increases along the nation’s heavily traveled highways, states continue to vie for federal money to help address those woes. Drivers may be heartened to learn that relief is on the drawing board, but want to know what they’re supposed to do in the meantime. This has been a problem for many years, and it will only continue to get worse.
States need to get on the ball and start updating there rest areas, and building new ones, preferably truck friendly.
Unless you get into a rest area or Truck Stop before dark chances are you are not going to find a decent, and safe place to park for the night. Truck stops need to be updated as well, I know they are working on it. But geesh we are not still in the 80's here.

New Castle woman killed in I-79 crash

Samantha Lee Dambroski, 26, of New Castle,, was declared dead at the scene of a two-vehicle accident at 6:30 a.m. today on Interstate 79 in Butler County.Pennsylvania State Police reported that the accident occurred when a northbound vehicle driven by the Sam J. Dambroski, 51, of New Castle, Samantha’s father, struck the right rear of a tractor trailer driven by Christopher Griffin, 30, of High Point, N.C. The Dambroski vehicle traveled across the left travel lane and struck a guard rail on the west side of the road and came to rest on the driver’s side.

Griffin was not injured. The elder Dambroski was injured but the police didn’t have information on whether he was treated at the scene or hospitalized.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Ponca City teen dies in accident at Kay-Noble county line

A 15-year-old boy from Ponca City has died after a collision between a car and a tractor-trailer.The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says Tadd L. Merritt died in the accident that occurred about 1:10 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 177 at the Kay-Noble county line, about five miles south of Ponca City.

Troopers say a car driven by 31-year-old Chris George Sfragidas failed to yield from a stop sign on a county road and pulled into the path of a tractor-trailer on the highway.

The tractor-trailer, driven by 54-year-old Robert W. Aikin of Terre Haute, Indiana, hit Sfragidas' car on the passenger side. Merritt was pinned for about two hours and died at the scene.

Sfragidas and one other passenger were taken to a Ponca City hospital. Another passenger, 15-year-old Taylor L. Adams of Ponca City, was taken to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City in critical condition.

Aikin was not injured.

Car slams under tractor trailer at U.S. 13 and 40

The top of a car was crushed under a tractor trailer tonight in New Castle County, just north of where U.S. routes 13 and 40 split. The driver was removed from the vehicle by New Castle County Paramedics and transported to Christiana Hospital after being trapped inside for 10-15 minutes, fire officials said. He did not suffer life threatening injuries.

“I was pulling in when it happened. I saw the truck making a U-turn right there and then I heard loud tires screeching and then the car was underneath it,” said Mikey Rodriguez, manager of Audio Jam, a car audio specialist store near where the accident occurred.

“He was knocked out at first. I thought he was dead,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said he and two coworkers rushed to the car and shined a flashlight inside to see how many people were injured.

“He was laying still and then he came to. He started trying to jump around the car. He was complaining about his back,” Rodriguez said of the victim, who was a customer at Audio Jam. “I just told him to be still.”

The accident happened in the northbound lane of U.S. 13 just before 6:30 p.m. Wilmington Manor Fire Engine Company 32, which is directly across the street from where the accident occurred, responded first. Traffic snarled in the southbound lanes of 13 as passing cars looked on, and Delaware State Police reduced northbound traffic to one lane. Northbound traffic was completely stopped for several minutes around 7:15 p.m. when a tow truck removed the car from under the trailer.

The trailer driver was not hurt. Police are still investigating.Source

Trucker found who clipped trooper’s door

Tennessee Highway Patrol said it found the driver of a big rig that side-swiped a trooper’s car during a Jan. 12 traffic stop, nearly taking off its door.At about 11:30 p.m., Trooper Charles Melhorn helped a motorist secure a loose tailpipe on northbound Interstate 75, near mile marker 42 in McMinn County. Melhorn just had gotten back into his patrol car when the truck roared past without slowing, hitting the still-open door, the patrol said.

Melhorn’s dash-mounted video camera showed that his blue lights were on and that his car was completely in the emergency lane, the patrol said.

The camera also revealed that the truck bore the logo of Smithway Motor Express, recently bought by Western Express, the patrol said. The company fully cooperated with the investigation and helped the patrol find the driver and his rig in Ohio, the patrol said.

No charges have been filed, but the case was turned over to the McMinn County prosecutor for grand jury consideration, the patrol said.

The 1977 farce Smokey and the Bandit includes a scene in which a laughing trucker uses his rig purposely to knock off the open door of Jackie Gleason’s patrol car – a funny stunt in the movies but potentially deadly in real life.

Tennessee is one of a number of states with a “move over” law that requires drivers to slow down and, if at all possible, move to a farther lane whenever approaching a parked emergency vehicle on the shoulder. Violations are punishable by a maximum of a $500 fine and 30 days in jail. More serious charges are possible if the grand jury concludes that the trucker intended to hit the trooper or his car.Source

Chinese trucking execs visit Con-way trucking terminal on fact-finding mission

Delegates from the China Road Transportation Association were excited by the number of trucks they saw on Interstate 81 during their visit to the Con-way trucking company in Greencastle last week. The six delegates were on a fact-finding mission. They were from different Chinese provinces and wanted to get ideas for ways to improve the Chinese trucking industry.

“The Chinese trucking industry is still in its infancy,” said Warren Hoemann, senior vice president of the American Trucking Association. “Their trucking industry is moving very fast, though.”

The delegates were taking a two-week journey across the United States to find out how America’s trucking industry works. They visited San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York to view various trucking operations.

“First we have to learn from the outside world,” said Mi Wenju, the deputy manager of Beijing Xianglong Assets Management Co. Ltd. “We see what works in those areas, then take those ideas back to China and see what works best for us.” Along the way, they noticed the thousands of miles of roads the United States has.

“The Chinese are working on their road systems so they can support the tractor trailers,” said Con-Way Chief Operating Officer Dave Miller. “In the past five to six years they have built the amount of roadways that have taken us 60 years. We can’t even patch our own roadways in five years.”

The reason for the massive building of roadways is Chinese reliance on intermodal transportation. China, which owns the largest shipping ports in the world, can use intermodal systems to move much of their production inland to the more rural provinces by using boats, trains and trucks.

“We are spending over $100 billion on transportation infrastructure,” said Mingde Yao, chairman of the China Road Transport Association.

This will allow China to become one of the leaders in the shipping industry in the next few years. But the intermodal system cannot grow without miles and miles of roads and the trucks to travel on them, which was a major reason why the delegates came to Con-way.

“They use farm trucks, old Soviet-built trucks and box trucks,” Hoemann said. “They don’t have double trailers either.”

At the sight of the double trailers, the Chinese delegates were very excited, taking pictures and walking around a truck like it was an alien spaceship. Mi Wenju and a few of the other delegates took a ride in the truck.

“The reason they don’t have these double trailers is because all of their roads aren’t yet up to standards,” Miller said. “But the roads they are building are being built with international standards in mind.”

In addition, each trailer in China is “married” to the tractor, so trailers are not interchangeable. This is because of the way the vehicles are registered with the Chinese provincial governments, Miller explained.Source

Man killed when he runs onto I-78 in front of tractor trailer

A State College, Centre County, man was killed about 5:08 a.m. Saturday when he ran in front of a tractor-trailer in the westbound lanes of Interstate 78 near milepost 29 in Tilden Township, Berks County, state police at Hamburg said. Police closed I-78 for 3 1/2 hours while they investigated the incident.

Police said Peter A. Graham, 21, had been in a car en route to St. Luke's Hospital-Allentown. The car's driver, Tara H. Graham, 30, of State College, told police her brother was distraught and tried to jump out of the moving vehicle. When she pulled the car over, he ran into traffic. Graham was pronounced dead at the scene by Berks County Deputy Coroner William Hertzog at 6:40 a.m. The tractor-trailer driver, Jeremiah White, 35, of York, York County, was not hurt.
Source

Northbound I-85 Backed Up In Anderson County

A morning wreck has traffic backed up for miles on northbound Interstate 85 in Anderson County. State troopers say only one lane of traffic is open northbound, after a tractor trailer overturned at exit 19 just before 9:30 this morning. Troopers say it tipped trying to get on the interstate and fell in front of a van. They say the van swerved to avoid a crash and ended up hitting the retaining wall and guard rail.
Emergency crews took drivers of both vehicles to AnMed Health Center in Anderson, according to troopers.
They say the clean-up, and backups, will last into the afternoon.Source

Lumber truck crash site cleared after a series of mishaps

It was not a good morning for medlight, or for the patient they were supposed to be transporting to the hospital overnight. At around 1:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer carrying lumber overturned on Highway 67 near the I-65 exit. Priceville volunteer firefighters say the truck's load shifted as the driver exited I-65.

They had to cut the driver out of the wreckage. Here's what made the accident especially difficult for medflight and the truck driver. First of all, medflight was using a borrowed helicopter because theirs was in the shop for routine maintenance. Now, the chopper they had borrowed is undergoing maintenence also. That's because when they started to take off to transport the driver to Huntsville Hospital, the inside of the chopper filled with smoke.

Emergency crews ended up having to transport the driver to the hospital in an ambulance.

The helicopter was in the middle of Highway 67 for hours overnight while crews waited for a mechanic to come fix it.Source

Logging industry records first truck fatality of 08 in BC

Another logging truck driver was killed in northern B.C. last week. It's the first log truck fatality of 2008, after a 14-month gap of such incidents, Canadian Press (CP) reports. Fort St. James RCMP say the driver of the loaded logging truck was killed in a collision with an empty logging truck.

The incident is still under investigation and the name of the truck driver was not been released.

More than 30 logging truck drivers and other forestry drivers have been killed in the northern B.C. interior since 1995.

The trucking and logging industries have made a concerted effort over the last year to examine the problem of trucking-related accidents.

Forestry related deaths in B.C.'s northern interior have been steadily falling in recent years, but trucking injuries and fatalities are still notably higher.

In an attempt to reduce the high number of trucking-related injuries and among log haulers in the region, WorkSafe B.C. proposed a series of changes to provincial safety regulations.

MaryAnne Arcand, head of the Forestry Trucksafe Program for the B.C. Forest Safety Council, reflected that there had been no log truck deaths in the North for more than year. ??"You realize we're never going to get it down to zero, but still ... it's not good," she said. Source

Overturned tractor-trailer on New York Thruway

The New York State Thruway Authority reports an overturned semi-trailer on the southbound New York State Thruway, between exits 20 and 19 at mile marker 96.5.The left lane is blocked due to the accident, which occurred around 6:45 a.m., the authority said.

State police are responding to the accident. No further details were immediately available.

Accident caused by slick road, tired trucker

A single-vehicle tractor-trailer accident on Friday was the result of snow-covered roads and too many hours behind the wheel, police said. Police said that at 7:30 a.m. Jimmy L. Rhodes, 67, of Jacksonville, N.C., was traveling north on Interstate 91 in a 2007 Volvo tractor trailer when he fell asleep and drifted off the shoulder of the road. Due to poor road conditions, police said, Rhodes was unable to return his truck to the road and came to rest at the top of a small embankment.

Police said an investigation determined that Rhodes had been driving since 2 p.m. the previous day and was in violation of hours of service rules. Police said Rhodes, who had been transporting 72,000 pounds of lumber from Virginia to Lebanon, N.H., had been falsifying entries in his log book. Source

100-vehicle pileup shuts Ontario highway

More than 100 cars were involved in massive pileups Sunday as sudden whiteouts turned sections of highways north of Toronto into parking lots of twisted metal, trapping several people in their vehicles in bitter cold. Dozens of people were injured in the crashes, but no one was killed, in part, because poor visibility had slowed drivers down, police said. Many also credited the driver of a tractor trailer who swerved his rig off the road at the last minute to avoid slamming into stopped cars.

“It looked like a wrecking yard – all the vehicles everywhere, in the ditch, everything,” Constable David Woodford of the Ontario Provincial Police said about the pileups, among the worst in the province's history in terms of the number of vehicles involved.

The vast majority of the accidents occurred on icy Highway 400 south of Barrie just after noon. The largest collision involved 37 vehicles and sent 29 people to hospital; another had 30 cars. In addition, about a dozen vehicles crashed on Highway 404 south of Aurora. Parts of both highways were closed for hours.

Glenn Wright, the tractor-trailer driver credited as being a hero, said if he hadn't reacted quickly and veered off into the ditch, the scene could have been much worse.

“I had to do it. There's no question. There's no other options, either go in here [the ditch] or hit that guy,” he told A-Channel news of his defensive driving.

Lori Ayres, who was driving in front of Mr. Wright, couldn't be more thankful. “If he hadn't gotten off, he would have hit us all and it could have been a bigger mess than it is already,” she told the news station, her voice shaking. “I went over and thanked him. I said ‘Thank God, you saved my life.' Because if he had kept going straight … it would have been over.”

Constable Woodford described the accidents as “a chain-reaction type of thing.”

“All of the sudden, a snow squall comes through, a band of snow flurries comes through this area, and we had zero visibility – like you couldn't see in front of you – and it only takes one person to slam on their brakes and lose control and the next thing you know everybody's running into each other,” he said.

Emergency vehicles were delayed in reaching the Highway 400 collisions due to reduced visibility and backed-up traffic. Firefighters cut away the centre steel median to allow cruisers and ambulances through and to redirect vehicles that weren't involved in the crashes. Air ambulances hovered in the area as a precautionary measure; paramedics, police and firefighters came from all over the region.

Constable Woodford, who lives near the site of the largest accident, was one of the first police officers on the scene and ran from car to car checking people's injuries. He invited some into his cruiser to keep warm.

“They're panicking. The first thing they're worried about is someone else going to run into the back of them,” he said. “We had numerous people trapped, they couldn't get out, injured, the whole bit.”

Hernan Burgos, who lives about 100 metres from the highway, was heading home from church when he saw about 20 tow trucks and an ambulance bus zip by. When he arrived on the scene, he said people were shaken up, but relatively calm.

“A lot of people were thankful that nothing big happened,” said Mr. Burgos, a 43-year-old computer consultant who said the area has been the site of previous accidents. “… There were little pieces of cars everywhere.”

People kept warm in buses before being taken to two makeshift collision reporting centres where tow truck drivers brought damaged vehicles and police took reports. People bonded over cups of coffee while waiting, telling stories about their ordeals.

A woman named Alyssa told Global TV she was “very lucky, very lucky” to have come through the crash unscathed. “I want to go. I still have a four-hour drive to do. My toes feel like they're going to fall off. I'm kind of frustrated,” she said while waiting.

Snowplows and salt trucks cleared the highway and transport workers repaired the median before the highway was to reopen Sunday night.

The area is known for accidents due to poor winter visibility: In March, 2007, some 75 cars, trucks, semi-trailers and buses slammed into each other in two massive chain-reaction crashes blamed on blowing snow and high winds.

Sunday's pileups occurred as a blast of bitter weather brought reminders of winter's wrath. The frigid, windy weather – morning temperatures in Toronto dipped as low as –13 and the wind chill made it feel like –25 – came as a shock in a winter that has been unseasonably warm.

“It feels cold because of the winds, but it's way away from record temperatures,” said André Cyr, an Environment Canada forecaster. “It's nothing unusual because we didn't see very much over the last few years, but we're back into kind of a normal winter and that's what the normal winter looks like.”

Indeed, Torontonians have become accustomed to warmer-than-usual winters; the record high temperature for Jan. 20 was set in 2006 when it reached 11.4 degrees. The record cold temperature for the day was in 1939, when it was –23.3. So far this month, the high temperature was 15.5 on Jan. 8. The low was just a few days earlier on Jan. 3, when the temperature was –7.7.

For the second time this month, the city issued an extreme cold weather alert Saturday to activate extra services for the homeless, including 80 more shelter beds, three additional patrol vans and extended shelter hours. Forty-two people made use of the extra beds. Alerts are called when the forecast low is –15 or colder; the forecast overnight low of –14 was deemed close enough because of the strong winds. The last alert was called on Jan. 1.

The forecast for the rest of the week is for slightly warmer weather, with highs ranging between –6 and –1. Environment Canada is predicting that the rest of the winter will be above normal in Southern Ontario. As well Sunday, New York State police said heavy snowfall and accidents north of Syracuse forced the closing of Interstate Route 81, which runs south from the Thousand Islands Bridge in Eastern Ontario.Source

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Is the next truck tragedy waiting around the corner?

In one recent inspection, 41 per cent of unsafe heavy-goods vehicles were taken off the road Shelley Zenzen was a careful driver.

The 53-year-old Prince George woman was on her way home after visiting her mother, who was recovering from open-heart surgery in Vancouver.

She was driving an SUV with brand new tires. She was familiar with the route, having made the 10-hour drive from the Lower Mainland to Prince George countless times, even in the worst winter conditions.This trip, however, was to be her last.

On Dec. 18 at about 1 p.m., Zenzen was travelling north on Highway 1, about 10 kilometres past Boston Bar, when a semi-trailer heading south lost its load of railway ties on top of her jeep. She died instantly.

Police said it was snowing at the time of the crash and weather and speed were possible factors.

Zenzen's family, still waiting for official word as to what caused the accident, is devastated.

"It doesn't matter what you do," says Daniel Zenzen, Shelley's brother-in-law. "Someone else can take you out." Truck safety was not an issue he had thought much about.

But driving through the Fraser Canyon from Shelley's memorial service in Prince George last week was a harrowing experience for the Abbotsford man.

"There's a ratio of 100 trucks to one car," he says. "You're just pushed and crushed off the road with all the trucks going up into the Interior. It's scary." The death of Shelley Zenzen is just one of a string of tragedies on B.C.'s roads in recent years that have caused increasing alarm about the safety of trucks in B.C.

Among 28,700 injuries and 460 fatalities from vehicle crashes in 2005, heavy-commercial-vehicle crashes (including those involving buses) injured more than 1,550 people and killed 82, according to the Insurance Corporation of B.C.

Trucks don't account for the biggest segment of road traffic, but they do cause a disproportionate amount of harm.

A Transport Canada study in 2004 showed that truck crashes are responsible for a much higher rate of death and injury than accidents caused by passenger vehicles: eight fatalities per 10,000 vehicles compared with 1.5 per 10,000 for all vehicles combined.

The death toll from big-rig crashes makes up 18 per cent of all fatal collisions in the province.

Random safety checks of B.C.'s trucking industry offer startling evidence as to why those figures are so out of proportion.

Sgt. Ray Boldt of the Delta police has two words to sum up the state of trucks he's seen in the municipality's annual enforcement blitz.

"They suck," he says.

For two years in a row, Delta's targeted truck-safety inspections have yielded alarming failure rates.

In 2006, 27 per cent of 544 inspected vehicles received a Failure Out of Service rating -- meaning the truck cannot be allowed to turn another wheel until the problem is fixed roadside or the truck is towed.

An enforcement blitz last April revealed that the state of trucks has deteriorated even further, with 250 out of 613 trucks -- 41 per cent -- deemed unsafe.

"Something needs to be done with truck safety," says Boldt.

"There's lots of problems with brakes. We had one truck pull in where the brake line was on fire." Logbook violations were also common, with drivers failing to keep proper records. In many cases, inspectors believed the books had been fudged.Source

Truck driver in fatal crash identified

Police have identified the driver who was killed Friday afternoon when the tractor-trailer truck he was driving crashed on the Route 18 southbound ramp to Route 138 eastbound. The victim was Henry J. Matthews, 62, of Philadelphia. According to accident investigators, the tractor-trailer hit the rear of a 2007 Jeep driven by Elizabeth Centrone of Middletown, and flipped onto its side, dumping loads of garbage along the highway ramps. Centrone was not injured in the crash, police said.

The truck rolled over on the driver's side, pinning Matthews, who was extricated by rescue teams. He was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and died shortly afterward, police said.

The accident caused the ramps from Route 18 to close for several hours as police investigated and crews cleaned up the tons of debris.

Any witnesses to the crash are asked to contact Wall police at (732) 449-4500. Source

Hazards on the highway

To local firefighters, every passing hour without an explosion somewhere on the region’s stretch of Interstate 81 is a lucky break.

An estimated 216,000 gallons of flammable liquid zooms north and south along Augusta County’s bit of interstate every 60 minutes. Added to that are an unknown amount of corrosives, deadly gases and even radioactive waste hauled by truck.
They want to put in a truck only lane...What about the trains that haul that much in a couple of tanker cars?

So far, the local stretch has been catastrophe free. But that could change, experts said.
Yes, it could but it has not. A truck only lane is not the answer, it is however just another way for VA to make more money off the trucks.

An alternative safety measure is the weigh station, where truck drivers, their vehicles and cargo are monitored. Troutville, just north of Roanoke, and Stephens City, just south of Winchester, are home to I-81’s only permanent weigh stations in Virginia.

“I-81 is a heavily traveled interstate. It would make a lot of sense to put a weigh station” in or near Augusta County, said national highway expert Dan McNichol.
Oh, yea exactly put in another weigh station that's the ticket...VA makes enough off trucks now with the 2 weigh station's it has.

Even with a truck only lane, the "problem" is still there. I am all for making these highway's safe. But putting all the trucks into 1 lane is not the answer..

The full story is here

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Garrettsville man killed in two-car crash 2 teenage passengers hurt in Geauga County accident

A Garrettsville man was killed in a car accident in Parkman Township in Geauga County, and two others were injured, after the car he was driving struck the trailer of a truck on S.R. 528 Thursday night. Sean Kubinec, a former student at James A. Garfield High School, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The occupants, Kyle Hunley, 15, and Christopher Hill, 17, both of Middlefield, were taken to Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights.
Hunley, who was in the passenger seat, is listed in serious condition. Hill was released Friday morning with minor injuries.
The driver of the truck, Jeremy Miller, 30, of Middlefield was not injured in the crash.
Lt. Jim Sivak of the Chardon Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol said the car, driven by Kubinec, hit the underside of the trailer as Miller backed the 1995 Freightliner truck into his driveway on S.R. 528 at 8:36 p.m. He said the truck was "almost perpendicular" at the time of the crash, and the car struck the trailer on its side.
"(All three occupants) were trapped inside (the vehicle) and had to be removed by the fire department," Sivak said, adding that none of the occupants of the car were wearing seatbelts. "It's tough anytime when anyone is killed in a car accident. We're trying to piece it together to see how this happened."
There was a light rain at the time of the crash, but Sivak said the incident is still being investigated.
James A. Garfield Superintendent Charles Klamer said Kubinec attended the high school last school year as a junior.
"It's a very sad day," said Klamer, "He was a very spirited and likable young man. As a school administrator, this is the worst thing you feel."Source

Driver killed as truck flips

The driver of a tractor-trailer was killed Friday afternoon when his truck flipped on the Route 18 southbound ramp leading to Route 138 East, police said. The driver, whose name has not been released pending notification of his family, had to be extricated from the truck by heavy rescue teams, police Sgt. Walt Pomphrey said. He died a short time later at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Pomphrey said.

The truck had rolled over on the driver's side, complicating efforts to free the driver, who for a time was reported wedged in the cab. Rescue personnel said he appeared to have suffered multiple injuries.

Accident investigators determined that the tractor-trailer, a 1999 Kenworth hauling construc-tion debris, ran into the rear of another vehicle before rolling onto its side and dumping its load along both of the highway ramps.

The ramps from Route 18 were closed for several hours as police continued their investigation, and work crews cleaned up the tons of debris that spilled from the truck's open trailer across the roadway, officials said.

Special equipment was also required to right the damaged tractor and trailer and remove them from the scene.

The ramps were finally reopened at 8 p.m., police said.

The other vehicle struck by the truck was a 2007 Jeep driven by Elizabeth Centrone of Middletown. She was not injured in the crash, police said.

The accident caused a rerouting of traffic from 2 until 8 p.m. as crews from the Wall First Aid Squad, South Wall Fire Department, MONOC Medic Unit, Glendola Fire Department, state Department of Transportation and the New Jersey State Police worked to reopen the roadway and investigate the crash.

The site of the crash has long been a problem, said Pete Chicarielli, who lives on nearby Glendola Road. Ten months ago, he awoke to find a wrecked car in his back yard at 4 a.m. after a driver failed to navigate the ramp safely.

"This is an ongoing problem. When you're coming off at a high speed on (Route 18), you make a right and you get a good look at a curb right in front of you," he said. "To not have a guardrail there is crazy."

Chicarielli said he has petitioned the DOT to make the interchange safer, but has seen no action.

"If I tell you there's been 20 to 30 (crashes) there, that would be a light number," he said. "I don't want to bash anybody but this road really has to get fixed."

Any witnesses to the crash are asked to contact Wall police at (732) 449-4500.Source

Mother, son hurt in crash that closes 49

A 32-year-old Valparaiso mother was airlifted to a hospital after a three-vehicle traffic accident Friday morning on Indiana 49. Jennifer Reder was taken to St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill., with severe injuries.

A hospital official declined to release information on Reder's condition, citing privacy rules.

Reder was driving a Ford van on Indiana 49 near County Road 260S with her four children in the van.

At about 7:40 a.m., Karrie Pearson, 32, pulled out of a driveway in her Chrysler PT Cruiser and into Reder's path, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Department.

Reder swerved into the northbound lane to avoid hitting Pearson's car.

She then collided head on with a northbound semi-tractor trailer driven by Craig King, 36, of Kouts, police said.

Reder was pinned in her van and was extricated by emergency personnel from Morgan Township and Kouts fire departments.

Reder's 10-year-old son, the front-seat passenger, was taken to Porter hospital in Valparaiso for leg injuries.

Her three other children did not need medical attention.

King, Pearson and Pearson's 10-year-old daughter did not require medical attention at the scene.

Indiana 49 was closed during the investigation until 12:30 p.m.

Traffic charges will be determined by the sheriff's accident reconstruction team when the investigation is complete.Source

Driver OK after semi tips on I-80

An overturned semi tractor-trailer stalled Interstate 80 commuter traffic for more than two hours this morning, but it appears the driver will be OK. Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Sharon Kurt said the male driver of the semi was transported to University Hospitals with what appeared to be minor injuries. His name was not immediately released.

"He just had bumps and bruises and it sounded like he hit his head," Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Sharon Kurt said. "It looks like he's going to be OK."

Kurt said the trailer tipped onto its side around 5:30 a.m. and blocked both westbound lanes of I-80 just west of the First Avenue overpass in Coralville. It's not yet known what caused the accident, but weather was not a factor, Kurt said.

Traffic backed up for about five miles as motorists were rerouted off the freeway. Kurt said the semi was in between the First Avenue ramps, allowing traffic to exit and go right back onto the interstate at that interchange.

Kurt said the door to the trailer came open, but none of the canned mushrooms, potatoes and other food items inside came out.

The highway was reopened just before 8 a.m. The accident remains under investigation. Source

Truck causes crash with car and school bus

A tractor trailer carrying fuel oil in Bridgewater Township this afternoon went through a yellow traffic light and collided with a car which was pushed into a school bus, injuring the car driver, police said. There were no children aboard the bus.

The tractor trailer, driven by Oleg Nagorny, 41, of Staten Island, was headed south on Route 202 in Somerset County shortly after 3:30 p.m. when the light at Milltown Road turned from green to yellow, Officer Richard Shimp said.

Nagorny told police he tried to stop his truck, but the brakes failed, Shimp said. Police are investigating that claim.

The truck collided with a car driven by Jeannette Faulkingham, 65, of White House, who was headed east on Milltown Road and attempting to turn left onto Route 202 north, the officer said.

The impact pushed Faulkingham's car into a van-sized school bus, also headed east on Milltown Road, driven by Barbara Long, 52, of Raritan Borough, Shimp said.

Long had dropped off the last child of her run before the accident, but it was not immediately known for which school district. She sustained minor injuries. There was also a school aide aboard the bus, which was was operated by the Kensington Bus Co. of Lebanon, Pa.

Faulkingham, the car driver, was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center with a broken clavicle. She was later released.

The truck, operated by Jersey Oil Product of South Amboy, was carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel oil, but there was no spillage, Shimp said. Traffic was interrupted for about two hours.Source

Friday, January 18, 2008

Mum is still the word on XM and Sirius merger

Eleven months have come and gone since officials with XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio announced their intentions to merge the companies. As of Friday, Jan. 18, regulators with the U.S. Department of Justice were still mulling over the proposed merger and whether it meets the laws governing fair competition.

read more | digg story

Classic car crushed by truck with Werner Enterprises trainee

Pat Boyle – an employee at The Home Depot – parked his car along the outer edge of the store’s parking lot before every shift to prevent door dings and other scars from marring his restored 1968 Plymouth Valiant.

read more | digg story

TN trooper gets no jail after taping roadside sex act

It’s safe to say there’s been little waltzing in the Tennessee Highway Patrol headquarters this week.A former Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper will reportedly receive no jail time after he was indicated in October on 10 different counts tied to official misconduct, including allowing a motorist to perform a sex act on him in his patrol car.

read more | digg story

Tractor trailer, SUV crash

A tractor trailer triggered a nasty crash in Wilmington today.

The accident took place around ten Friday morning at the intersection of 16th and Wooster Streets. Police say the truck driver wasn't paying attention, ran the light and clipped an SUV.

The impact flipped the SUV, which was then struck from behind by another vehicle.

The passengers -- a mother and her child -- were taken to the hospital, but are expected to be OK.

Both drivers of the truck and the SUV walked away unhurt.Source

Overturned tractor-trailer ties up Wall Township

An overturned tractor-trailer off I-195 and Route 138 in Wall Township is trying up rush-hour traffic and creating delays, according to the state Department of Transportation. Two hours after the 2:20 p.m. mishap, motorists were still being warned that it may take hours for authorities to clean-up the area. The truck was moving east in the area where Route 195 extends into Route 138 when it flipped on an off-ramp leading to Route 18.

Police have closed the off-ramp linking Route 138 East to Route 18 North as well as the on-ramp linking Route 18 South to Route 138 East.

"There is definitely some delay to be expected in the eastbound lanes because the clean-up is expected to last another two to three hours," said DOT spokesman Tim Greeley.

State Police and emergency workers responded to the scene. It was not yet known whether anyone was injured in the accident.Source

Accident injures pick-up driver

Glare from the sun is being blamed for an accident on Route 81 in the Whitney Point area Friday morning. Broome County Sheriff's deputies say around 8:45, a tractor trailer was going about 30 miles per hour up a hill when a pick-up truck rear ended it. The driver of the pick-up truck is being treated for serious injuries.

"By looking at the commercial pick-up truck, it appears the injuries should have been much more serious than they were. However, he's apparently going to do fine,” said Broome County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dennis Rowlands.The tractor trailer was carrying several tons of rock salt.

Deputies are not sure at this point if tickets will be issued to either of the drivers.Source

One man injured in Friday morning accident on Interstate 81

Crews worked an accident early Friday morning on Interstate 81.

It happened at mile marker 162 near Buchanan.

The driver was traveling south on Interstate 81 when he slid and ran into the back of a tractor trailer truck. The driver had to be cut out of the vehicle. He was flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. He was said to be conscious and speaking to emergency responders. That is all the information we have on his condition at this time.

Another accident on Interstate 81 north of Buchanan in last night backed up traffic for miles. Both wrecks have been cleared.

Emergency responders want to remind everyone to take their time on the road Friday morning.

"When you're running at a high rate speed in inclement weather, the speed factor plays a big role, " says Steven Prease of the Buchanan Volunteer Fire Department. Prease says the key thing for drivers to remember on the road is to slow down.

VDOT also released a traffic alert Friday morning saying road conditions are now varying between minor and moderate.

Brake failure likely cause of tractor-trailer crash at Spooner Junction

A tractor-trailer rig slammed into four cars and overturned at the U.S. 395-U.S. 50 junction Monday after its brakes apparently overheated and failed as the rig came down from Spooner Summit. Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen said north- and southbound lanes of U.S. 395 were closed for more than two hours until workers were able to clear the wreckage away.

Four people were taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor to moderate injuries, none of them life-threatening, Allen said. The truck driver, Nelson Ethier, 60, wasn't injured.

The accident remains under investigation. Allen said witnesses saw what appeared to be smoking brakes on the rig as it descended from Spooner Summit.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Three tractor trailers involved in crash on I-81

A major accident snarled traffic on Interstate 81 northbound in southwest Virginia. The crash involving three tractor trailers happened about lunchtime near Natural Bridge.

It's under an overpass, which is complicating efforts to clear the scene. One lane is now open, but traffic is backed up for miles.

There was an earlier accident about two miles away, this one southbound. State Police say the chain-reaction crash began with a jack-knifed tractor trailer, then caught up six other tractor trailers and three other vehicles.

That shut down both southbound lanes for several hours.

Man fights for life after fire truck accident in Queens

A wild accident left a trucker critically injured and five firefighters hurt when a tractor-trailer smashed into a fire engine in Queens this afternoon, police said. The impact spun the FDNY rig - which was racing to a blaze with its sirens blaring - almost 180 degrees, sending it through a wooden fence and into the front yard of a house in Laurelton.

A taxi suffered minor damage when it rear-ended the truck at the intersection of 225th St. and N. Conduit Ave., which has a light. But the truck's jackknifed cab was crumpled.

"They had to cut the cabin to get \[the driver\] out," said Jacob Lifshitz, 45, a witness. "It's very sad."

The truck driver was fighting for his life at Jamaica Hospital. The firefighters, from Engine 311 in Queens, were taken to the same hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The truck is owned by MT Transportation of Bay Shore, L.I. Source

Virginia legislation would limit drivers test to English

Out of concern for safety on the state’s roads, a Virginia lawmaker has offered legislation intended to help ensure that people issued driver’s licenses in the state understand English.Another bill up for consideration this session would designate English as the official language in the state.

read more | digg story

Toll study raises questions safety of alternate routes

Increasing tolls and privatization of public roads will lead to more traffic and dangerous conditions on alternate routes, the authors of an academic study stated in a report released Tuesday, Jan. 15.

read more | digg story

One dead in I-29 accident

An 18-year-old Platte City woman died from injuries suffered Wednesday evening in a accident that closed Interstate 29 for hours. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Kelsey Ryan died after the she lost control of the 2000 Ford Escort she was driving and struck a tractor-trailer driven by Robert Wolford of Rupert, Idaho.

The wreck happened at 7 p.m. at the Interstate 435 junction. The interstate had opened back up by 10:45 p.m.

The accident reportedly involved two cars and a tractor-trailer. A dispatcher said injuries were serious but that no fatalities had been reported.Source

Crash closes I-95 south near I-895 split

Morning rush-hour traffic was snarled this morning as the southbound lanes of Intestate 95 in Northeast Baltimore remained closed at 9 a.m., two hours after a collision that left a box truck on top of a sport utility vehicle, according to police. An occupant of a Jeep SUV was flown by Maryland State Police medevac helicopter to an area hospital after emergency workers extricated him from the wreckage. They had to use a winch to lift the truck off the SUV to get the person out.

The injuries to that person, however, are not considered life threatening, said Cpl. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.Two others involved in the crash near Moravia Road were taken by ambulance to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and two more were taken by ambulance to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Green said their injuries are not considered serious.

Green said the cause of the accident remains under investigation. He said it occurred about 7:10 a.m. on I-95 just north of the I-895 split. Four vehicles were involved, he said, with the truck ending up overturned on top of the Jeep SUV.

The highway was quickly shut down with traffic diverted onto Interstate 895. The closure snarled traffic on other roads as well, causing significant backups on the Baltimore Beltway and U.S. 40.

As of 9 a.m., tow trucks and other heavy vehicles were working to clear the wreckage.Source

Rain Leads To Multiple Crashes Across Central Florida

The rainy weather Thursday morning has already been dangerous on Central Florida roadways. Before 4 a.m, the Florida Highway Patrol told News 13 it had already received eight emergency calls.

A seven-vehicle crash on Interstate 4 near Fairbanks involved a jackknifed tractor-trailer and closed both sides of the interstate early Thursday morning.

The semi was traveling in the westbound lane of I-4 around 1:30 a.m. Thursday when it hydroplaned, went out of control, jackknifed and ran into the center median. The impact of the crash caused several pieces of the concrete wall to fly across the eastbound side of I-4, hitting six cars.

None of the drivers were injured, but all of their cars had to be towed.

The driver of the semi is also uninjured. However, 300 gallons of his load of diesel fuel was spilled in the accident. An environmental assessment agency was called in to take a look at the damage because anytime more than 50 gallons is spilled it is considered an environmental hazard. The agency will return later in the day to take samples of the soil, because of concerns that that fuel could contaminate the groundwater in the area.

Another crash snarled traffic on Interstate 95 this morning in Brevard County, this time in Port St. John.

Authorities said a tractor-trailer crashed into a construction truck. Both drivers were hurt and were hospitalized. The driver of the tractor-trailer is in critical condition. The driver of the construction truck suffered minor injuries.

There was also a serious crash with entrapment on the Turnpike northbound near I-4. It was cleared up by 6:30 a.m., but there were four mile backups.

As the morning continued, so did the accidents. As of 8:30 a.m., two lanes of I-4 were closed westbound near the Central Florida Parkway, one lane was blocked on I-4 between Lee Road and Maitland, there was a blockage on Kirkman Road near I-4 and the Beachline approaching S.R. 436 was experiencing major delays.

A coastal flood watch has been issued for Flagler County. The National Weather Service says the surf will be rough off the coast today. Right now waves are breaking at around 4 to 6 feet. Minor beach erosion and rip currents are possible on Thursday.Source

Big rig's flatbed snaps, kills motorist

Investigators are trying to determine why a tractor-trailer's flatbed broke apart, causing an accident that killed one person and injured two others.McDowell County Sheriff's Deputy J.R. England said a 6-foot to 8-foot piece of the flatbed snapped, flew across U.S. 52 and hit a pickup truck.

England said the pickup's driver, a 46-year-old Mingo County man, died at the scene of Tuesday's accident. Two passengers, the man's wife and son, were taken to Charleston Area Medical Center.

England said the wife was in critical condition Wednesday. He did not know the son's condition.

The victims were not identified pending notification of relatives.Source

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Road Closed After Truck Crash in Winston-Salem

A section of Reidsville Rd. was closed Wednesday afternoon after a Ford Explorer collided head-on with a tractor trailer. The tractor trailer, which was carrying bread, erupted into flames and the trailer was completely burned. Both drivers were taken to the hospital. The driver of the Explorer was taken to Wake Forest Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Ronald Caucier, 40, the driver of the truck was not injured in the crash.

According to police, the driver of the Explorer crossed the center line of the road and hit the truck.

The portion of Reidsville Rd. between Old Belews Creek Rd. and Old Greensboro Rd. was closed in both directions for a couple of hours while the truck was removed.

The accident was reported shortly after noon on Wednesday.Source

Multi-vehicle crash blocks I-10 near Sierra Blanca

A major traffic crash involving one semi-tractor trailers, one RV, two pickups and two cars blocked Interstate 10 West near Sierra Blanca, Texas, for several hours this morning, Department of Public Safety and Hudspeth County dispatchers confirmed. One unidentified person died in the accident. Two pickups heading toward El Paso collided near mile mark 95, west of the border patrol station. The drivers exited their vehicles and while they were surveying the damage, an 18-wheeler headed toward them, unable to stop and slammed into both pickups. That started a chain of events, in which three more vehicles crashed, but sustained minor damage.

Four people, including an infant, were taken to Thomason. One man was taken to a hospital in Culberson County. One person died.

Three of the victims are believed to be from Van Horn.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Department is investigating.

Traffic is still tied up in the area. Only one lane is open in each direction. Westbound traffic is backed up for at least one mile.

Though some lanes are now open, the left lane of I-10 West between mile marker 94 and mile marker 102 remains closed.Source

Toll Road crash sparks beer-truck fire

A tractor-trailer rig hauling beer apparently hit a highway maintenance truck on the Indiana Toll Road on Wednesday morning, sparking a fire and traffic snarl that took an hour and 15 minutes to clear up. Orland Community Volunteer Fire Department firefighters and rescue units were called to the crash scene at the 136-mile marker shortly after 9 a.m.

Safety crews found the front of the rig engulfed in flames and the trailer full of beer beginning to burn.

The highway truck had a barrier device that cushioned the impact, according to a written statement from the fire department.

No serious injuries were reported, although one driver was taken to a Steuben County hospital.

Orland Fire and Rescue units have responded to three serious or fatal accidents in the last few months within a few hundred yards of Wednesday’s accident, according to the statement.

The Indiana State Police and Toll Road maintenance units assisted at the scene of Wednesday’s crash.Source

Speed bust nets $1.5 million in cocaine

A Tennessee State Trooper stopped one truck last weekend for exceeding the speed limit. He later found cocaine in the driver’s trailer and learned the driver had been deported to Mexico 10 years ago after previous drug arrests.

read more | digg story

Federal judge orders Arctic Express to pay up

A new payment schedule is in place in relation to a federal class action that pitted drivers against Arctic Express Inc. The case involved the motor carrier’s failure to return escrow money to truckers.

read more | digg story

Lawmaker Seeks Ban on 'Trailer Testicles'

Drive across Virginia with an outsized rubber replica of testicles dangling from your trailer hitch and you face a fine under a bill before the General Assembly.

read more | digg story

Driver of 18-wheeler won't be charged in fatal accident

The driver of an 18-wheeler whose tires came off and hit a car, killing the driver, will not be charged in the wreck, police said. The wreck happened Thursday at 9:30 p.m. near the Interstate 35 bridge over Loop 340 in Bellmead.

Two tires came off the southbound 18-wheeler, crossed a concrete barrier and struck a Honda Accord, killing Luke Hausmann, 23, of Atchison, Kan.

Hausmann’s three siblings, Anna, 20; Julia, 16; and Ethan, 20, also were injured in the crash. All three have since been released from Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.

The New Orleans-based truck driver wasn’t charged in the case, and the cause of the tires falling off was deemed a mechanical failure, said Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Cliff Federwisch.Source

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Driver Killed in Accident With Tractor Trailer

One person was killed after an accident on Route 52 near Roderfield in McDowell County. Witnesses say it involved a tractor trailer and another vehicle.

The driver of the smaller vehicle was killed at the scene.

The driver of the truck was taken to Welch Emergency Hospital.

It happened around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Police are investigating to figure out what led to the accident. Source

Trooper Inches Away From Being Hit By 18-Wheeler

A trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol narrowly misses being hit by an 18 wheeler, but the semi did take off part of the trooper's car door, and it was all caught on tape. The video shows the 18 wheeler slamming into Trooper Chuck Melhorn's patrol car. It also shows glass, shattering from his car door. He was inches away from being hit.

Three days later, we are with the trooper as he sees his smashed cruiser for the first time since the accident. Trooper Melhorn says, "It was close that's for sure. It was close."

Melhorn tells us he had stopped to help a driver who was towing an old car. He says as a trooper, he knows to be cautious for drivers speeding by. On the video you can see Melhorn as looks both ways down the interstate to make sure cars are yielding.

But just as Melhorn walks back to his car and opens the door, the truck smashes into it.

Melhorn radios dispatchers saying, "I've just been struck on the interstate by an 18 wheeler. I'm okay, but he pulled my driver's side door off."

Legally the truck driver should have yielded to the trooper's car. It's called the Move Over Law. It was enacted after a Tennessee Trooper died in a similar situation.

Cpt. Cheryl Sanders with Tennessee Highway Patrol says, "This is a classic example of why we have the law, what can happen."

Drivers are supposed to yield for all stopped emergency personnel. But as our cameras found on I-24, there are cars who fail to follow the law.

Melhorn says, "If they can't move over to the left hand lane, at least slow down a little bit and just be aware."

The trooper says he feels he's been given a second chance at life. "Oh yes I do believe so, yes."

Tennessee investigators are looking for the 18 wheeler and its driver. It is a white Western Express truck with a dark cab. If you've seen it, contact authorities. Source and Video

Joe Biden's Wife Involved in Traffic Accident, Not Seriously Hurt

The wife of U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden was involved in a traffic accident on Interstate 95 on Tuesday, but no serious injuries were reported, authorities said. According to Delaware State Police, Jill Tracy Biden was driving a 2001 BMW southbound in the left lane when a tractor-trailer in the center lane moved into her lane and struck her vehicle.

Biden was taken to Christiana Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries and released.

Alexander Snyder-Mackler, a spokesman for the senator, said he could not comment on family matters.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Duane Vanderbosh of Perryville, Md., was not injured. He was cited for careless driving.

Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts.

The accident happened about 9:45 a.m. just south of the Route 141 junction.

In December 1972, Biden's first wife, Neilia, and the couple's 18-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when the family's station wagon was hit by a tractor-trailer at an intersection. The accident, which left his sons Beau and Hunter seriously injured, happened just five weeks after Biden, then 29, was elected to the Senate.Source

Knapp Teacher Dies In Accident

A first-year special education teacher at Knapp Elemen-tary School was killed on her way to school Monday morning on an ice-covered off-ramp connecting U.S. 12 and Interstate 94 in Berrien County, Mich. Kristen Lyn Heimbach, 27, Three Oaks, died when her car crossed into the path of a tractor-trailer at 8:30 a.m. in New Buffalo Township, according to Michigan State Police. Reports said Heimbach apparently lost control of her car on the slick roadway and slid into the path of a tractor-trailer, which hit her car and pinned it against a guardrail.

Police said Heimbach was trapped inside her car, and when a Michigan State Police Motor Carrier officer came across the accident, Heimbach was unresponsive. The Berrien County medical examiner pronounced her dead at the scene.

Although Heimbach had been with Michigan City Area Schools only since August, she had made a tremendous impact, said Joan McCormick, director of special education for MCAS.

"When I met Kristen, I knew immediately I wanted her in Michigan City," said McCormick. "She entered the school system with energy. She was very bright, very knowledgeable and put a sparkle on our department." Heimbach, who previously taught computers to sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders at St. Mary of Lake Catholic School in New Buffalo, Mich., was also a volunteer swimming coach for Special Olympics and was due to graduate with a master's degree in special education from Indiana University-South Bend in the spring. She received her undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

The Rev. Jim Morris of St. Mary of the Lake parish in New Buffalo said Heimbach taught at the school for two years. "The kids here are all torn up over this," Morris said. "Before the basketball game tonight, one of the players asked for a moment of silence for her."

Morris said Heimbach connected with her students and it wasn't uncommon for them to keep in touch with her. "Teachers like her are not easy to find," he said

Knapp Elementary School Principal Tim Glidden said Heimbach was "an exciting young teacher.

"She was always smiling, she was always a positive person, she was always professional," Glidden said Monday evening. "She was one of those people who was born to be a teacher. She had a great way with students."

Pyllis Stark, president of the Michigan City Education Association, said, "Our thoughts are with her family. The energy, the spark, the enthusiasm she brought to work will be missed. It's not only a loss for her family, but it's a loss to our profession."

McCormick described Heimbach as "very bright" and someone who loved to teach special education.

Betsy Kohn, spokeswoman for MCAS, said, "She was a rare individual who walks in and makes a difference. She was a young, shining star who blessed us when she landed in our district. Our sympathies go out to her family."

Kohn said MCAS will have counselors available for both teachers and students today.

Heimbach's parents, Ed and Bev Heimbach, and her younger brother, Jace, live in Union Pier, Mich. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Crash shuts down northbound lanes of Interstate 81

A two-truck crash on Interstate 81 early this morning closed the northbound lanes for hours and destroyed both the trailers and one of the cabs. The accident occurred at 1:39 a.m. near mile marker 2, just north of State Line, and the two northbound lanes were not expected to be reopened until around noon.

Joe Kiggans, 68, a company driver for Smithway Motor Xpress, Inc., based in Fort Dodge, Iowa, was heading north from Kingsport, Tenn. to Chambersburg when his rig was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer owned by Morristown Drivers Services Inc., Morristown, Tenn. The cab of that rig burst into flames, but the unidentified driver escaped with minor injuries, police said.
*

Kiggans' trailer was hauling reams of office paper, while the other truck was hauling 44,000 pounds of jar lids packed in cardboard boxes.

The impact pushed Kiggans' truck up the interstate for nearly a quarter of a mile. Debris from both trucks was spread for several hundred feet across both northbound lanes of I-81.

Kiggans did not seek medical treatment at the scene but said his ribs hurt and he believed he had cracked one or two of them. “I'm going to wait until I get home to see my doctor,” he said.

The unidentified driver was taken to Chambersburg hospital with minor injuries.

Fire in cab

It took fire crews nearly three hours to bring the fire in the cab under control. Fire crews were on the scene until 7 a.m., and the cab was still smoldering at 8.

“We were told a truck had flipped over, but when we got there, they were both upright and both on fire,” Rescue Hose Capt. Mike Luger said. “The striking vehicle burned completely. A small section of the front truck burned a little, but we had that under control within five to 10 minutes,” he added.

Firefighters had to make several cuts in the sides of the trucks to ventilate them and gain access to the loads.

Dave's Truck Repair of Chambersburg and Pennsylvania State Department of Transportation road crews helped rescue personnel unload the trucks.

Both were still being unloaded this morning, and Kiggans said he thinks most of his load is salvageable.

PennDOT crews were called out at 3 a.m. for clean-up and to handle the highway closure. Pennsylvania State Police also responded, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. The highway was slippery from the night's rainfall, but it is unclear whether that was a factor in the accident.

Detour

Southbound traffic on I-81 was proceeding normally but northbound traffic was being detoured onto U.S. 11 at the State Line exit. Fire police were on scene directing traffic, but cars and trucks were backed up for nearly two miles, well into Maryland.

PennDOT crews at the scene said at 8 a.m. that the road would be closed for at least another three hours.

Greencastle's Rescue Hose Co. was first on the scene and was assisted by units from Maugansville, Long Meadow and Marion.

Accidents In Polk, Brevard Counties Close Interstates

A series of accidents and smokey conditions have delayed traffic in both Brevard County and Polk County Tuesday morning. In Brevard County, one person is dead in a five-car pileup in Rockledge. The accident has closed Interstate 95 north of Fiske Boulevard.

Florida Highway patrol said five cars were involved in three separate accidents around a construction zone.

News 13 has learned that a deputy was involved in the crash, but he was not injured.
Truck Runs Into Work Vehicle

Also in Brevard County, the Florida Highway Patrol is finishing up working on an accident on I-95 at mile marker 208.

FHP said a tractor-trailer was driving on I-95 around midnight when it rammed into a construction vehicle that was laying down road glue. Road glue is used to fasten down reflectors on the interstate.

Deputies said the driver was travelling about 70 mph and he did not see signs instructing motorists to change lanes to make room for the road work.

The driver of the semi was airlifted Holmes Regional Medical Center. He is in critical condition.

The driver of the work vehicle was not as seriously injured and was sent to Wuesthoff Medical Center. However, he was trapped inside his vehicle for about 45 minutes. Trooper said part of the reason he wasn't as seriously injured was because there is a crash barrier on the back of the work vehicle.

Both southbound lanes of I-95 are back open at this point. Only one northbound lane is open near this second crash.

U.S. 1 can be used as an alternative.
I-4 Closed In Polk County

In Polk County, authorities are using an abundance of caution and closing Interstate 4 between U.S. 27 and County Road 557 because of smoke in the area.

Traffic is being rerouted.

That stretch of the interstate is the same place where a deadly 70-car pileup took place week that killed four people. Smoke and fog contributed to that accident and there was some criticism that authorities did not act quickly enough to close the interstate because of dangerous conditions.Source