The national register of information on driver’s license holders – including CDL holders – that’s maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has some big flaws, according to a government audit. In a press release, the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General announced that personal information in the database, such as drug or alcohol convictions, could be accessed and used by unauthorized parties. The inspector general also reported that information on convictions sometimes takes more than a year to be entered into the register, that physical characteristics – such as hair and eye color – were missing from 18 ….Read More
13/10/2007
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Two people died and 10 were injured in a fiery multi-vehicle crash in an Interstate 5 tunnel south of Santa Clarita late Friday, closing the freeway in both directions until at least Sunday as authorities struggle to determine whether the main roadway suffered structural damage. Authorities were still trying to put out the tunnel fire this afternoon and estimating that the operation could take days. A Caltrans spokesman said at midafternoon that traffic heading south on the I-5 from Bakersfield was being diverted to Magic MountainParkway in Santa Clarita, then sent south on San Fernando Road to the ….Read More
Sep 272007
27/09/2007
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This is an update to an earlier post which gives more specifics about this plan of the FMCSA! I want to make a couple of glaringly valid points about this article. First, this is nothing new! The majority of line haul carriers in Mexico already have Qualcomm communications installed in their trucks. This is the standard that others system strive to compare with. And with long distances between major cities in Mexico, this is a “must have” piece of equipment for Mexican fleets. The same holds true for U.S. carriers. The majority of U.S. and Canadian carriers have these devices. ….Read More
11/09/2007
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On Wednesday, truckers traveling through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky better have their logbooks in order and their rigs ship-shape, because state police motor carrier officers are mounting a 24-hour coordinated enforcement effort aimed at “unsafe commercial vehicles.”The effort is focused on improving traffic safety and reducing crashes, stated a Michigan State Police (MSP) news release.
10/08/2007
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A New Zealand trucker. A letter from the office of Nathan Cooper. And a skeptical federal border guard. Those were the ingredients that eventually led to the political and professional demise of a state representative Thursday when a federal prosecutor announced that Cooper pleaded guilty to two federal felonies. Cooper’s scheme was uncovered when the trucker tried crossing the Canadian border. The trucker had in his possession a letter on Cooper’s legal office stationery that claimed he was waiting for a visa renewal to work for another firm. The letter was noticed by a federal border guard, assistant federal prosecutor ….Read More
Aug 032007
03/08/2007
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Armored Car Company Loses 32,000 Quarters on Wisconsin Roads An armored car company reported losing $8,000 in quarters along highways in two Wisconsin counties last month. About half has been returned. “I guess somebody found that and figured it was an early Christmas,” Jefferson County Detective Sgt. Lawrence Lee said. Eight-hundred dollars of loose quarters was found late last month in the Madison area and $3,200 in Jefferson County the next day. Loomis Fargo officials told authorities that a truck headed for Madison carrying boxes of quarters broke down in the Pewaukee area, so they sent another one. The load ….Read More
Aug 012007
01/08/2007
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American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves Wednesday asked Transportation Secretary Mary Peters to work to convince a federal appeals court to reverse its decision overturning driver hours-of-service rules. Graves sent a letter to Peters requesting DOT to file a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals requesting the court to stay the decision or to remand the issue to FMCSA without vacating the rule’s 11-hour driving or the 34-hour restart provisions. “FMCSA’s policy decisions on these issues were sound, both from a safety standpoint and a trucking operations perspective,” Graves said. “There is no compelling safety reason for these two ….Read More