This blog was set up to give truck drivers a place to find out news about their industry. Weather related news, and accidents will also be found here.
More than half a million workers in America lost their jobs this past week according to the latest unemployment report from the government.
It’s the fastest rise in joblessness since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago. And the total number of people on benefit rolls jumped to the highest level since 1983, according to Bloomberg.
Officials with Volvo announced the company is cutting almost 1,000 more jobs on top of the 1,400 layoffs it had already announced this fall.
About 900 of the new round of cuts will be in Sweden at the company’s powertrain unit, according to The Associated Press. Another 65 workers at the Volvo powertrain plant in Hagerstown, MD, will also be laid off. The unit makes engines, gear boxes and rear axles for trucks. A company spokesman told The AP that a number of consultants in Sweden could also lose their jobs.
Volvo officials have also amended their forecast for North American truck sales this year, switching from a prediction of “flat” sales to a forecast of sales being down by 10 percent.
MarketWatch reported in recent weeks that Volvo posted a 36 percent drop in third quarter profits this year compared to 2007 and that company officials had said that sales growth decelerated much faster than they had expected.
“The financial turmoil and credit tightening has led to a very cautious approach among customers when it comes to deciding on investing in new trucks,” the company officials statement.
According to MarketWatch, Volvo’s net order intake in Europe amounted to only 115 trucks, down from 41,970 trucks, as customers withdrew orders.
A massive federal take down of a Mexican drug cartel resulted in 41 individuals being charged and hundreds of kilos of drugs being seized – along with the discovery of a creative way to transport cash.
On Oct. 28, federal prosecutors in Atlanta charged 41 people with alleged ties to a large-scale drug distribution and money laundering scheme in Georgia and Texas.
Among those tied to the organization were one sheriff’s deputy in Georgia who tried to use his badge to get out of a traffic stop, and a livestock hauler. The livestock hauler used a hidden compartment under the livestock and a pulley system to store more than $13 million in drug proceeds.
Pilot Travel Centers recently opened a new location in Atalissa, IA, on Interstate 80 at Exit 265.
The new Pilot will include 60 truck parking spots with for drivers wanting to take their 10-hour breaks. There is no time limit on how long trucks can park there. The new travel center has 11 diesel islands, two restaurants, showers and a CAT scale, as well as other amenities.
“We believe our familiar Pilot sign will be a welcome sight for professional drivers,” wrote Vincent Barrett, general manager for the Atalissa location, in a press release.
Pilot, headquartered in Knoxville, TN, has more than 300 locations in 41 states and in Canada.
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. is starting its second quarter-century of celebrating heroic truck drivers. The company announced in recent days that the search is on for U.S. and Canadian drivers to be nominated for the 26th annual Goodyear North America Highway Hero Awards. Nominations will be accepted through Nov. 30.
To be considered for this year’s award, the following criteria must be met:
“Too many times, we only hear about the negative news of our world. That extends to truck drivers, who are truly misunderstood for the role they play in moving freight from the factories to our homes,” said Joe Copeland, vice president for Goodyear commercial tire systems.
“We see today’s truck drivers as the brave men and women who make our highways safer and drive our economy. They truly are America’s unsung heroes, and we want to honor them. Anyone can nominate a truck driver for this high honor.”
Nomination forms and program details may be obtained by calling the Goodyear Highway Hero Hotline at 330-796-8183. The nomination form also is available on the program’s Web site at
www.goodyear.com/truck/news/hero.html.
A Canadian trucker is behind bars after what border patrol agents at the Ambassador Bridge say was the biggest cash-smuggling attempt in eastern Michigan history.
The Detroit Free Press reports that 52-year-old Eskender Mafarani of Richmond Hill, Ontario, told agents he was entering the U.S. with $700 in cash. But a scan of his truck revealed hidden compartments that contained more than $2 million in cash, wrapped in 138 separate bundles. They also found six cell phones and $1,2000 in Canadian currency.
It’s illegal to conceal more than $10,000 when entering or leaving the U.S.
Mafarani is accused of smuggling and making a false statement to officers.
MT. VERNON — A Texas-based trucking company has sent out a memo to its 200-plus drivers and leased drivers advising them to boycott Mt. Vernon diesel, a move the city believes is unwarranted, as the city has provided protection and services to truckers who visit the town.
Earlier this week, an article published in the trade industry publication, Land Line Magazine, quoted Clark Freight Manager David Schnautz of Pasadena, Texas as saying he sent a memo to his drivers and leased drivers advising them not to take on diesel in the city in protest of the 2 cent per gallon tax implemented in September.
In addition, city officials also received an e-mail from Debbie Sprouse of Sprouse and Sprouse Trucking that the city should “have your town own up to their responsibilities in their community.”
Schnautz also asked what truckers are getting for the additional 2 cents, also stating he believes the trucking industry is an “easy target” for taxes, and that, “It is beyond me why government seems to go after the trucker first in order to make up additional revenue to run a city or state.” Schnautz also said truckers are, ... tired of being taxed every time they turn around … because the local municipalities can’t keep their own house in order.”
A response from the city said the comments about what the truckers are getting for the additional tax are “disturbing.”
“The city of Mt. Vernon has provided emergency and protective services to the trucking industry for many years both on Interstates 57 and 64 as well as at the local truck stops,” the response states. “In the last two years alone, the (Mt. Vernon Fire Department) has responded to 114 emergency calls at these locations saving trucking lives and property. In addition to their frequent patrols, the (Mt. Vernon Police Department) has responded to 784 calls to the local truck stops assisting the truckers who have been robbed or harassed by prostitutes and drug dealers.
“Unfortunately for all concerned, the cost of providing these services has increased beyond the ability of our revenue sources to support. The city of Mt. Vernon held off implementation of this tax as long as it could and still provide a high quality of services to those who both live and travel through Mt. Vernon. The city of Mt. Vernon considers the truckers coming through Mt. Vernon part of our community and will continue to provide these emergency and protective services to the trucking community.”
Schnautz commented in the magazine article that truckers should go to Effingham or Marion for fuel.
“Additional comments made by Mr. Schnautz of Clark Freight Lines about buying fuel at Marion and Effingham are distressing from the fact that Marion has had a 2 cent diesel tax since July 2002,” the response stated. “Also, a recent check of fuel prices of the major truck stop websites available via Doug Geeting’s (Keltingco Trucking) website indicate diesel prices in Effingham are 2 to 3 cents higher than in Mt. Vernon.
“We are curious to know that if purchasing decisions are made by the amount of taxes paid or the total price?”
WINNIPEG — Winter has come early to southern Manitoba, where forecasters predict up to 20-centimetres of snow in many areas of the Red River Valley.
Driving has been treacherous over the past two days in the Winnipeg area, where about 2,000 collisions are blamed on slick roads.
In Winnipeg, volunteers were asked to show up at Canad Inns Stadium to shovel snow to prepare the stadium for today’s CFL Eastern semi-final game between the Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos.
About 130-kilometres west of Winnipeg, police are recommending against using the westbound Trans-Canada Highway between Austin and Carberry.
Forecasters predict it could be another five days before the daily high in Winnipeg climbs above the freezing point.
South of the border, the same storm blasted the Dakotas, where at least one metre of snow has buried an area near Deadwood, South Dakota.
A 280-kilometre stretch of Interstate 90 from central South Dakota to Wyoming was closed for much of Friday to allow authorities to remove dozens of vehicles stranded by heavy snow.
Truckers who drive unsafely and four-wheelers who drive unsafely around trucks will be the targets of an enforcement blitz beginning this weekend.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and law enforcement are teaming up Oct. 19-25 for what they’re calling “Operation Safe Driver.”
“Inattention, insufficient awareness of traffic conditions, and unsafe maneuvers by drivers are far and away the leading causes of fatal crashes between passenger cars and commercial vehicles,” said John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to the CVSA Web site.
Click here for more information on “Operation Safe Driver.”
For the past 4 month's I have been running back and forth across the Ohio turnpike. Everyday except for Saturday and Sunday.
I listen to the CB radio, for a while then it will start. Somebody ask a question or something will happen and then the "Gay" truck drivers show up.
I have been driving trucks for 13 years and it never was like it is now, and I just within the last couple of years really noticed it.
Is it suppose to be funny?
Because it is not a bit funny...It is downright sickening!
