The Trucker News Staff

POSEY COUNTY, Ind. – A 31-year-old Springfield, Missouri, woman was arrested on Sept. 30 for possession of meth, cocaine and marijuana inside her 18-wheeler, according to a news release from the Indiana State Police (ISP). The report stated that an Indiana state trooper stopped Tiffanie Vallotton’s rig on Interstate 64 near the 3.5 mile-marker after she made an unsafe lane movement. The trooper “developed probable cause to search the semi (revealing) approximately 3 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 1 gram of cocaine and a small amount of marijuana,” according to the report. Vallotton was arrested and taken to the Posey County Jail, where she is currently being held without bond.

KIRKLAND, Wash. – A Kenworth T680 Next Generation model decked out in a special holiday wrap will transport the 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from California to Washington, D.C., with a full slate of community celebrations during the journey. This year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree – an 84-foot tall White Fir – is scheduled to be harvested Oct. 25 from the Six Rivers National Forest in California, according to a news release from Paccar, who manufactures Kenworth trucks. System Transport will operate the rig on its 3,300-mile route. The tour theme is “Six Rivers, Many Peoples, One Tree.” “It is an honor for System Transport to be selected to deliver the 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. We expect a very memorable journey and look forward to sharing the Tree with people at the many events and out on the highway,” Dennis Williams, president and CEO of Trans-System, said. The community celebrations will take place from Oct. 29 – Nov. 16 throughout California and across the U.S.,  culminating with the official tree lighting on the White House West Lawn in early December. Smaller companion trees also will be provided to decorate offices inside of the U.S. Capitol building and other sites throughout Washington, D.C., along with 15,000 handmade ornaments created by Californians. “Kenworth is proud to play a part in delivering the ‘People’s Tree’ to Washington, D.C. for the eighth consecutive year,” said Genevieve Bekkerus, Kenworth marketing director. “This cross-country tour offers numerous opportunities to see this national symbol of celebration out on the highway or at the community events, and the Kenworth T680 Next Gen is the perfect truck for this important undertaking.” The Kenworth T680 Next Gen was assembled by the employees at the Kenworth manufacturing plant in Chillicothe, Ohio. The truck will return home with the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree for a special event Nov. 15-16 for plant employees. “This annual journey is only possible with the help of strong community partnerships throughout California and beyond state lines,” said Bruce Ward, president of Choose Outdoors, which works with the Forest Service to promote outdoor recreation and public access to federal lands for recreational purposes. “We’re grateful for the time and resources that Kenworth and System Transport are providing to help make this the best year yet.” Below is the 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour public schedule: Oct. 29: Crescent City and Eureka, California Oct. 30: Willow Creek and Fortuna, California Oct. 31: Ukiah, California Nov. 1: Sausalito and Vallejo, California Nov. 2: Dixon, California Nov. 3: Sacramento and Sonora, California Nov. 4: Mariposa, California Nov. 6: Pasadena and Redlands, California Nov. 8: Holbrook, Arizona Nov. 9: Phoenix, Arizona Nov. 11: Albuquerque, New Mexico Nov. 13: Fayetteville, Arkansas and Springfield, Missouri Nov. 16: Williamsport, Maryland Nov. 19: Delivery to West Lawn, U.S. Capitol Building (Washington, D.C.)  

POINTE COUPEE PARISH, La. — A Louisiana jury has awarded $16 million to the family of an 89-year-old man killed in a 2020 wreck with an 18-wheeler. Charles R. “Puddin” Glaser Sr., himself a former trucker, died two weeks after the May 2020 collision on U.S. 190 near Lottie in Pointe Coupee, according to The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On Sept. 24, the jury found that the 18-wheeler driver and Texas-based Rail 1 LLC were 80% at fault after the driver made a U-turn into the path of Glaser’s vehicle. Jurors found Glaser to be 20% at fault because he was speeding. This ruling is just one of several so-called “nuclear verdicts” that jurors have handed down against truckers and trucking companies in recent years. The verdicts are so named because of their substantial awards. The largest, by far, came when a Florida jury ruled on Aug. 27 that two trucking companies were complicit in the 2017 death of an 18-year-old honor student, awarding the family of the late Connor Dzion a total of $1 billion in damages.    

WASHINGTON – Budding artists from across the United States recently participated in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) 2021 Road Safety Student Art Contest. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FMCSA Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi announced the winners in a congratulatory video. “Every year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration asks young artists to help raise awareness about how important it is to keep people safe on the road – and this year’s submissions were terrific,” Buttigieg said.  “I want to thank every student who chose to share your art with us.” “You’ve used art to create powerful and important messages,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi in congratulating all of the winners, adding, “What you’ve done with color and images drives home the message of safety in a way words alone just cannot.” The winning artwork of the following 12 students will be showcased in the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters building in Washington, D.C., as well as featured in the 2022 Road Safety Student Art calendar that will be available later this year. Grand Prize winners:                                                 FMCSA People’s Choice Art Contest Awards Winners:                                 Honorable Mention recipients: Pranav Balakrishnan, Plano, Texas Preetiggah Sudhakar, Simpsonville, South Carolina Karthikeya Vattem, McDonald, Pennsylvania Lynn Sun, Livingston, New Jersey   “This year’s Road Safety Student Art Contest challenged students ranging from kindergarten through high school to design and create motivational artwork providing safety messaging for all roadway users — truck and bus operators, passenger vehicle drivers, motorcyclists, scooter riders, bicyclists, skateboarders, and pedestrians,” an FMCSA news release stated. Conducted annually, the contest is sponsored under FMCSA’s Our Roads, Our Safety Partnership, which comprises more than 30 governmental, safety, industry and private organizations. “Every roadway traveler, young to old, can help save lives and reduce injuries by always making safety a priority,” according to the news release. “Always buckle up, avoid becoming distracted, stay alert, and pay attention when entering crossways.” Contest rules call on the young artists to remind commercial truck and bus operators to do their part for safety, while also reminding everyone to give large commercial motor vehicles extra room to maneuver. “Never cut in front of a large truck or bus, never tailgate, and most importantly, avoid lingering in the drivers’ blind spots – ‘The No Zone’ – along the sides, immediately in front, and behind the vehicle where you cannot be seen,” the news release stated. The art contest winners were announced during Trucker Appreciation Week earlier this month. “During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, the Nation recognizes the absolute vitalness of the trucking industry to the Nation’s supply chain and overall health of our economy,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Joshi.  “All our food, medicines, fuel, supplies we need to survive – everything is transported by a professional truck driver.  In just the past eight months, millions of grateful Americans have been protected from the pandemic thanks to countless hero truck drivers who delivered the COVID-19 vaccines.  We owe them an incredible debt of gratitude.”

The US Department of Transportation is seeking information from the trucking and other transportation industries, as well as the general public, on what it calls the “current challenges faced within the freight and logistics sector.” The survey is part of fulfilling President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order focusing on “the need for resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure U.S. economic prosperity and national security,” DOT officials said. Answers from the survey will be used to help compile a report to be given to the president. Topics include the following: The identification of major infrastructure or operational bottlenecks and chokepoints across all aspects of the freight and logistics supply chain — including shipping/receiving, intermodal transfer, rail/water/truck transportation, warehousing, etc .— that slow or impede efficient cargo movement within the freight and logistics sector, and the most effective investments and management practice improvements that could be made to alleviate those bottlenecks. Current and potential future shortages and/or distribution limitations of essential cargo-handling equipment, such as chassis and shipping containers, and how these challenges can be or are likely to be addressed by the freight and logistics industry over both the medium and longer term. Warehouse capacity and availability, and any challenges faced in operating and siting/constructing those facilities, as well as challenges faced by third-party logistics service providers and other stakeholders in the logistic system. Major risks to resilience within the freight and logistics sector (including defense, intelligence, cyber, homeland security, health, climate, environmental, natural, market, economic, geopolitical, human-rights, or labor-management risks). What factors help to mitigate, or conversely exacerbate, these risks? The effects of climate change on transportation and logistics infrastructure and its implications for supply chain resiliency. Technology issues, including information systems, cybersecurity risks, and interoperability, that affect the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of goods. Would greater standardization of those technologies help address those challenges? Key opportunities and challenges with respect to the existing and future workforce to ensure a well-functioning freight and logistics supply chain and achieve the President’s goal of increasing good-paying jobs with the choice of a union. Are there additional workforce or skill set opportunities and needs currently, or expected in the future? Current barriers (including statutory, regulatory, technological, institutional, labor and workforce, management, existing business models/practices issues) that inhibit supply chain performance. For any barriers identified, please address the actors involved and potential outcomes should those barriers be removed. Critical assets that the sector relies upon and their expected future availability. Would increasing domestic production of these assets be desirable or feasible as a means of ensuring greater supply chain resiliency (chassis, containers, etc.)? Technological practices, including data sharing, that are being implemented at various levels across the supply chain sector. What are the upsides, challenges, and drawbacks of further adoption? Actions that DOT or other agencies in the U.S. Government (USG) could take under existing authorities or in partnership with States, local governments, the private sector, or labor to address current and evolving challenges within the freight and logistics sector. Other policy recommendations or suggested executive, legislative, or regulatory changes to ensure a resilient supply chain that DOT/USG should consider, including means to collaborate more effectively across government agencies and suggestions based on state and international models. Recommended actions by non-Federal entities, including State and local governments, private firms, labor, and other participants in the freight and logistics sector that could be encouraged by DOT/USG. Click here to take the survey, which ends on Oct. 18.