The Nation Archives

Port of Savannah’s new container space coming online

The Trucker News Staff - October 22, 2021

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Port of Savannah achieved its busiest September ever, moving 472,000 20-foot equivalent container units, which is up 14.5%, according to a news release. Port officials reported that the Garden City Terminal has seen steady improvement in the speed of cargo moving from dock to destination. “Our team is doing a great job, handling an immense volume of cargo every day,” Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said. “I’d also like to extend our appreciation to our many customers who are working in lockstep with us to move cargo more quickly and work vessels with greater efficiency.” Partnering with importers to clear long-dwelling containers, the Port of Savannah has achieved a 55% reduction in the number of import boxes that have been on Garden City Terminal for longer than four weeks, the news release stated. The average dwell time for import containers is now 11 days, while exports average seven days. GPA has also adjusted its container receiving window to provide greater predictability for export customers. Total cargo for September reached 3.3 million tons, up 250,000 or 8%. Truck traffic remains fluid at Garden City Terminal, where single container moves over the past month averaged 38 minutes and dual import-export moves 60 minutes. The port’s truck gates are averaging 70,000 moves per week, counting both import and export cargo, while intermodal containers take less than two days to move from vessel offload to departing rail. To help address current and future needs, Georgia Ports will soon roll out two major capacity enhancements: completion of the Mason Mega Rail Terminal and Phase I of the Peak Capacity project. With the Mason Mega Rail Terminal fully operational by the end of October, the Port of Savannah’s annual rail capacity will be 2 million TEUs per year. The Port of Savannah is averaging less than two days from vessel offload to departing train, and rail providers Norfolk Southern and CSX have untapped capacity to destinations such as Atlanta, Memphis, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Birmingham, Alabama. “GPA is encouraging port customers to transfer containers from truck to rail in order to expedite cargo and reduce carbon emissions. The authority is also making more room for on-terminal container storage,” the news release stated. GPA’s other project soon to be commissioned is Peak Capacity, Phase I. This project, more than 80% complete, will come online in December with three new rubber-tired gantry crane rows providing an additional 300,000 TEUs of annual capacity. Phase II will add a fourth RTG row and additional empty container space by the spring of 2022. The entire project will add 800,000 TEUs of annual capacity. GPA is currently investing $700 million in projects to expand berth capacity and to add 1 million TEUs of yard capacity. By next spring, additional projects will bring the total capacity increase to 2 million TEUs. Other infrastructure projects in the works include: Garden City West Phase I, a new 25-acre chassis yard. Notice to proceed on construction goes out Monday. The chassis yard is set to open in March 2022. Garden City West Phase II, a 92-acre container yard, goes before the GPA Board for consideration in March. Will add 750,000 TEUs of annual container space in 2023. Berth 1 Expansion: 17% complete. The project, slated to come online in 2023, will allow Savannah to simultaneously serve four 16,000-TEU vessels, and three additional ships. Ship-to-Shore Crane order: First four, 15% complete; second four, 5% complete. Eight new ship-to-shore cranes will arrive in 2023, bringing Garden City Terminal’s total fleet to 38. Savannah Harbor Expansion Project: 93% complete. With a high-tide depth of 54 feet, the deeper harbor will allow vessels in the 16,000+ TEU range to take on heavier loads with fewer tidal restrictions. With another five feet of channel depth, departing vessels will be able to take on 1,000 additional export containers, which will speed American-made goods to market. Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 496,700 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $29 billion in income, $122 billion in revenue and $3.4 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah handled 9.3% of total U.S. containerized cargo volume and 10.5% of all U.S. containerized exports in fiscal year 2020.

Trucking school owner sentenced in fraud scheme

The Trucker News Staff - October 22, 2021

LOS ANGELES – A San Fernando Valley truck driving school owner has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison after defrauding the United States Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $4 million. Emmit Marshall, 53, of Woodland Hills, was sentenced on Oct. 5 by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. He pleaded guilty in July 2019 to five counts of wire fraud According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Marshall was also ordered to pay $4.1 million in restitution. At the hearing, Wilson called Marshall’s actions “a very serious fraud on the government,” which involved “calculated, criminal acts that cannot be condoned.” Marshall is the owner and president of the Chatsworth-based Alliance School of Trucking (AST). Marshall and a co-defendant, AST Vice President Robert Waggoner, 57, of Canyon Country, recruited eligible veterans to take trucking classes paid under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. AST was certified to offer classes under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, including a 160-hour Tractor Trailer & Safety class and a 600-hour Select Driver Development Program. Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the VA paid tuition and fees directly to the school at which veterans were enrolled. The VA also paid a housing allowance to veterans enrolled full-time in an approved program, and, in some cases, the VA paid for books and supplies for veterans’ benefit. From July 2011 to April 2015, Marshall and Waggoner convinced more than 100 veterans to participate by telling them they were entitled to VA education benefits, even if they did not attend classes, the U.S. attorney’s office reported. Despite not taking classes, the veterans who agreed to join the scheme accepted education benefits for housing while AST collected the benefits for tuition, resulting in a total loss to the VA of at least $4.1 million. In addition, Marshall resorted to occasionally using veterans’ personal information to sign them up for benefits, forging signatures, sometimes without the veterans’ permission. Finally, in an attempt to obfuscate the overall scheme and the forgeries of student enrollment paperwork, Marshall directed the veteran-students to lie to VA investigators and ordered the destruction of AST paperwork by co-schemers. “[Marshall] profited most from this conduct, pocketing nearly $1 million himself, which he used for jewelry, a cruise, a trip to Hawaii, property taxes on his Woodland Hills residence, purchase of a Ford F-150 and purchase of semi-tractor trailers for a new business,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. Waggoner pleaded guilty on February 24 to five counts of wire fraud and will be sentenced later.

Woman survives crash with semi, gets DUI

The Trucker News Staff - October 22, 2021

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A 23-year-old California woman walked away from a horrific accident on Wednesday night after crashing into the rear of a big rig’s trailer. According to a Facebook post by the California Highway Patrol’s Santa Ana Area, the woman, whose name wasn’t given, was traveling more than 100 miles per hour on State Highway 91 when she veered to the right and struck the semi. Her car spun out of control, then hit the center divider. “After the collision, the female got out of her car, uninjured, and began to walk westbound in eastbound lanes,” the CHP post stated. “Officers arrived on scene, located the driver, and subsequently placed her under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol (with a BAC three times the legal limit).” No injuries were reported.

Shipping container crushes car in Los Angeles

The Trucker News Staff - October 21, 2021

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department is keeping a close eye on traffic in the city’s Wilmington neighborhood after a shipping container fell from a moving truck onto a parked vehicle, pancaking it. No injuries were reported. The incident comes as hundreds of trucks are entering and exiting the port to help ease the backlog of goods. Dozens of cargo ships are anchored off the coast waiting to unload at the clogged port. Many residents around the port have put up signs re-directing truck traffic around their neighborhood streets. “The trucks should not be going through the residential street and we need to put a stop to that getting a truck route,” Valerie Contreras of the Wilmington Neighborhood Council told CBSLA. “Also, there are too many trucks coming to Wilmington meaning there are too many storage yards and facilities and we need to make sure is regulated.”

Fired truckers reinstated after federal ruling

The Trucker News Staff - October 21, 2021

LOS ANGELES — Dozens of California port truck drivers were fired just weeks after they voted to form a union. But a federal judge ruled on Oct. 19 that their termination letters violated federal labor laws. The truckers will be reinstated and be given back pay, with interest, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The drivers worked for Universal Intermodal, which operates several companies that transport freight containers through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. The group of about 30 drivers voted to join a local of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Administrative Law Judge Michael A. Rosas found in his ruling that the company was in violation of federal labor law on multiple counts, according to the Times. He said that the company unlawfully interrogated and fired two employees leading union efforts and that once workers at the facility unionized, it slashed their hours, closed the Compton facility where many of them worked, and laid off the unionized workers in order to punish them for organizing. The company laid off about 70 employees in total from facilities in Compton and Fontana, including workers employed by its Roadrunner and Universal Trucking subsidiaries. Rosas said in his ruling that the company laid off these other workers to crack down on future union activity by getting rid of “all employee drivers who were or could be tainted by the union,” and then moving forward with plans to hire new “untainted employee drivers days after the layoff.” “Judge Rosas today made clear that the Universal group of companies violated the law at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in a blatant effort to trample on employees’ fundamental right to form a union,” Ron Herrera, the Teamsters port division director, said in a statement. “We cannot allow any corporation, no matter how big, to ignore the law, especially as drivers work tirelessly to address the backlog at the ports and supply our community with the goods they need this holiday season.”

Feds: Former FedEx manager stole more than $3.25M in goods

The Associated Press - October 21, 2021

BALTIMORE — A Delaware man who stole goods worth more than $3.25 million while working at a FedEx facility has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for interstate transportation of stolen goods and tax evasion. Prosecutors announced that Joseph Kukta, 45, of Laurel was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison in connection with his theft and resale of shipped merchandise, WMDT-TV reported. Kukta was also ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution and forfeit more than $1.8 million. Kukta, a senior manager at the Seaford FedEx facility, admitted taking packages and reselling items to co-defendant Saurabh Chawla for about 50% of their retail prices between 2009 and 2019, according to his plea agreement. Kukta would take stolen items to a relative of Chawla in Maryland. Kukta received more than $1.8 million in illegal proceeds. In 2018, Kukta also started taking packages from FedEx trailers loaded for delivery to a Rehoboth Beach store, prosecutors said. He’d go to the facility when when employees weren’t there and turn off the lights and block cameras to avoid being seen. Kukta admitted to evading more than $660,000 in income taxes. Chawla was previously sentenced to 66 months in prison on charges of conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen goods and tax evasion.

Supply chain snarled: California governor issues executive order on ports

The Trucker News Staff - October 21, 2021

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order directing state agencies to identify additional ways to alleviate congestion at California ports. The executive order builds on earlier efforts this year by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to ease supply chain issues by “engaging the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify short-term and long-term solutions,” according to a news release. Record demand for imported goods combined with capacity issues across the entire supply chain have slowed distribution at ports on the California coast. “California’s ports are critical to our local, state and national economies and the state is taking action to support goods movement in the face of global disruptions,” Newsom said. “My administration will continue to work with federal, state, labor and industry partners on innovative solutions to tackle immediate challenges while also bringing our distribution processes into the 21st century.” The total customs value of the Port of Los Angeles’ containerized imports in 2020 was $211.9 billion. According to the publication American Shipper, given that imports totaled 4,827,040 TEUs, this equates to an average of $43,899 per import TEU. (Several other sources also estimated average cargo value at around $40,000 per TEU.) “This suggests that the cargo currently waiting off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is worth around $22 billion, roughly the equivalent of the annual revenues of McDonald’s or the GDP of Iceland,” American Shipper reported. The executive order, signed on Thursday, directs state agencies to continue coordinating with the Biden-Harris Administration Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to address state, national and global supply chain challenges. The executive order also directs the Department of Finance to work with state agencies to develop longer-term solutions that support port operations and goods movement for consideration in the Jan. 10 governor’s budget, which may include port and transportation infrastructure improvements, electrification of the goods movement system from port to delivery, and workforce development. Additionally, the executive order directs state agencies to identify state-owned properties and other locations that could be available to address short-term storage needs once goods are unloaded from ships; to identify priority freight routes to be considered for a temporary exemption to current gross vehicle limits to allow for trucks to carry additional goods; and to create workforce training and education programs. AB 639’s (Cervantes, 2020) implementation is also expedited through this executive order. Earlier this year, GO-Biz launched the California Supply Chain Success Initiative, a partnership with the California State Transportation Agency, the Port of Long Beach, and the CSU Long Beach Center for International Trade and Transportation to engage the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify creative solutions. This effort, which brought together federal, state and local leaders, is focused on both short-term and long-term steps to address port congestion, including implementing a new 24/7 environment across the supply chain, a move the state worked with the Biden-Harris Administration on, improving collaboration, and exploring policies to remove obstacles and improve the movement of goods.

Georgia DPS shuts down dozens of truckers during safety sweep

The Trucker News Staff - October 21, 2021

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued 329 traffic citations and placed 81 drivers and 58 commercial motor vehicles (CMV) out of service during a safety crackdown on Oct. 5-7. Officers with the DPS’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division monitored CMV traffic for aggressive driving, speeding, following too closely, failing to wear safety belts, distracted driving and driving under the influence, according to a news release. “These efforts help ensure CMV drivers follow federal and state regulations, including hours of service compliance, commercial driver’s license compliance, medical certification and commercial motor vehicle credentialing,” the news release stated.

Biden recommends new highway safety chief

The Associated Press - October 20, 2021

DETROIT — A former California pollution regulator is being nominated to run the nation’s highway safety agency at a time when highway deaths are on the rise. President Joe Biden has announced his intention to nominate Steven Cliff, who has served as deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since February, to become the agency’s administrator. If confirmed by the Senate, Cliff would take over the agency at a crucial juncture. Highway deaths are rising, battery electric vehicles are upending the auto industry, and vehicle automation is spreading into more models. NHTSA, which sets vehicle safety standards, finds safety defects, manages recalls and helps to develop government fuel economy requirements, has been without a confirmed administrator since Mark Rosekind left at the end of 2016. Auto safety advocates have been calling on Biden to make a nomination so a confirmed administrator can start moving on a safety agenda. The announcement comes three days after The Associated Press reported that the agency is struggling with a growing backlog of safety rules ordered by Congress that are years overdue and could save thousands of lives. An AP review of rule-making by NHTSA under the last three presidents found at least 13 auto safety rules past due, including a rear seat belt reminder requirement passed by Congress in 2012 that was to be implemented by 2015. The pending safety rules have been slowed by bureaucracy or taken a back seat to other priorities. President Donald Trump sidetracked at least four major road safety proposals that were in development during his term. An estimated 38,680 people were killed in traffic crashes in 2020, the most since 2007, even though total miles driven dropped at the beginning of the pandemic. In the first three months of 2021, 8,730 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, a 10.5% increase from the same period last year. Last year, over half of all crash fatalities involved unbelted drivers or occupants, the highest level since 2012, according to NHTSA. Over 800 people who were unbelted in the back seat die each year in car crashes. An analysis of NHTSA’s data by a state governors’ safety group found that wearing seat belts would have saved over half of them. A total of 4,119 people died in large truck crashes in 2019. Sixteen percent of these deaths were truck occupants, 67 percent were occupants of cars and other passenger vehicles, and 15 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists or motorcyclists. The number of people who died in large truck crashes was 31 percent higher in 2019 than in 2009, when it was the lowest it has been since the collection of fatal crash data began in 1975. The number of truck occupants who died was 51 percent higher than in 2009. Cliff joined NHTSA shortly after Biden’s inauguration. Before joining the agency, he was deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board, which regulates pollution in the state. He has held a number of positions with the agency and the California Department of Transportation, where he was assistant director for sustainability. While he was deputy NHTSA administrator, the agency has grown more aggressive in regulating the auto industry. It has required that automakers and tech companies report crashes involving autonomous or partially automated driving systems. It also has forced electric vehicle sales leader Tesla Inc. to recall cars to fix touch screens that go blank, and it opened an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated driver-assist system due to crashes into parked emergency vehicles. Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the nomination is an important first step toward working to make roads safer. Under Cliff, NHTSA has “shown a renewed interest” in using enforcement and regulatory options to counter rising crash deaths, Levine said. “We are hopeful that these early indications are indicative of delivering future safety gains for the public,” he said. Also under Cliff, NHTSA has started the regulatory process to require automatic emergency braking systems be standard on passenger cars and heavy trucks. Levine said the agency has to do more to bring in current and potential technologies to make the roads safer. NHTSA also confirmed it will bring on Duke University Professor Missy Cummings as a senior adviser for safety. Cummings has done studies on how humans interact with automated and partially automated vehicles. She’ll join the agency under a program that allows temporary assignments between federal, state and local governments.

Bridge being demolished collapses, killing 1, injuring 2

The Associated Press - October 20, 2021

COVINGTON, Ga. — One worker was killed and two seriously injured when part of a bridge in Georgia collapsed into a river during early demolition work, officials said. The three workers fell into the river Tuesday evening from the Access Road bridge on Interstate 20 in Newton County, east of Atlanta, news outlets reported. About 2 1/2 hours after the accident, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office reported that one worker had died. The subcontractors were sawing when the accident occurred, the Georgia Department of Transportation said. A 500-ton crane began removing a truck, excavator and other equipment from the Yellow River accident site Wednesday morning, the Transportation Department said on Facebook. Work started Monday and authorities had said they expected it to take nine months.

Illinois to begin major improvements to I-80

The Trucker News Staff - October 20, 2021

JOLIET, Ill. — Illinois has announced a six-year, $1.2 billion plan to rebuild Interstate 80 in Will County. According to a news release from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office, the project will replace more than 50-year-old infrastructure and create thousands of construction and permanent jobs. “This rebuild will transform 16 miles of I-80, redesign auxiliary lanes and interchanges to reduce congestion, and rehabilitate over 30 bridges along the roadway,” Pritzker said in the news release. “These overdue improvements will not only make it safer for commercial drivers, but for the thousands of families who rely on I-80 to commute to work, drive their kids to school, and move safely through their daily lives.” As one of the country’s three coast-to-coast interstates, I-80 through Joliet and Will County carries approximately 80,000 vehicles a day, about 25% of which are trucks, according to the governor’s office. “Due to the outdated design and capacity restraints, congestion as well as frequent merging and weaving are common,” the governor’s news release stated. “To shorten the construction timeline, several project components and land acquisition efforts will be done concurrently to deliver a cornerstone project of Rebuild Illinois more quickly, with less impact to the public.” Starting next year, the section from Ridge Road to the DuPage River will be under construction as land acquisition progresses and final engineering is completed on the replacement of the Des Plaines River bridges. Improvements will begin from Ridge Road to U.S. 30 in 2023, leaving construction of the Des Plaines River bridges and Center Street and U.S. 52/Illinois 53 (Chicago Street) interchanges in 2026 and 2027. Advance work on I-80 started this summer with a $41.7 million project to replace the eastbound bridges over Hickory Creek, Richards Street, Rowell Avenue/Canadian National Railroad, and westbound over Richards Street, in Joliet, Rockdale and New Lenox, while widening eastbound I-80 from Gardner Street to Rowell Avenue. Once the eastbound improvements are completed next year, similar improvements will begin in the westbound direction. When it wraps up in 2027, the overall I-80 project will have redesigned and rebuilt 16 miles from Ridge Road, in Minooka, to U.S. 30, in Joliet and New Lenox, while adding or extending auxiliary lanes to improve safety and reduce congestion. Interchanges will have been rebuilt or improved at Interstate 55, Illinois 7, Center Street, Chicago Street, Richards Street and Briggs Street, with a new flyover ramp linking southbound I-55 to westbound I-80 to improve traffic flow and safety. More than 30 bridges will have been rehabilitated or replaced. “With demand for freight projected to double in northeastern Illinois the next 20 years, Will County’s role as a transportation hub and the country’s largest inland port is critical,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “We know I-80 drives commerce in this vitally important part of the state. At the governor’s direction, we are expediting these improvements as quickly as we can.” Bicycle and pedestrian connections will be provided through interchanges and at overhead crossings as well as along Chicago Street between Doris and Fifth avenues. The larger I-80 improvements will include workers from the Highway Construction Careers Training Program, an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) initiative, in partnership with South Suburban Community College, in South Holland, and Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy King College, in Chicago, to provide minority and female students with on-the-job experience toward a career in the construction trades. A $47 million reconstruction of the U.S. 30 interchange, which includes adding a third I-80 lane in each direction west from Interstate 355, concludes this fall. Further west, IDOT is investing $32 million to leverage a combined $200 million public-private effort for the Houbolt Road interchange and extension to the CenterPoint Properties intermodal facilities. Through year two of Rebuild Illinois, IDOT has made approximately $5.2 billion in improvements to more than 3,000 miles of highway and nearly 300 bridges, as well as almost 450 additional safety improvements. “Improving I-80 is a critical step in ensuring that our infrastructure is prepared to meet the growing transportation demands throughout the region,” said Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. “Will County is the largest inland port in North America, serving as a key connection between the Chicagoland region and the rest of the country. I’m grateful for the efforts of Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly in prioritizing this important project.” Passed in 2019, Rebuild Illinois is investing $33.2 billion into the state’s aging transportation system, creating jobs, and promoting economic growth. Rebuild Illinois is not only the largest capital program in state history, but also the first one that touches all modes of Illinois transportation: roads and bridges, transit, waterways, freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

Truck driver convicted in Colorado pileup that killed 4

The Associated Press - October 19, 2021

GOLDEN, Colo. — A truck driver accused of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people and injured six others on a Colorado highway has been convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges. Rogel Lazaro Aguilera Mederos, 25, was convicted by a Jefferson County jury on Oct. 15 in connection with the April 2019 crash on Interstate 70 west of Denver, The Denver Post reported. Aguilera Mederos testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. Prosecutors argued he could have used one of several runaway ramps as his truck barreled down from the mountains. The chain-reaction wreck ruptured gas tanks, causing flames that consumed several vehicles and melted parts of the highway just after it descends from the mountains west of Denver. Aguilera Mederos was found guilty of six counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, six counts of careless driving and one count of reckless driving. Jurors acquitted him of 15 additional counts of attempted first-degree assault. Sentencing was set for Dec. 13. Aguilera Mederos faces decades in prison. The truck carrying lumber was going at least 85 mph (137 kph) on a part of Interstate 70 where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph (72 kph) because of a steep descent from the Rocky Mountain foothills, according to investigators. The initial impact caused a 28-vehicle chain-reaction wreck that ruptured gas tanks, causing flames that consumed several vehicles and melted parts of the highway just after it descends from the mountains. Just before the crash, police said the truck traveled past a ramp on the side of the interstate that is designed to safely stop trucks and other vehicles that have lost their brakes. Aguilera Mederos testified at trial that he tried to hit part of a parked 18-wheeler’s trailer to slow down and sought a space between traffic.

I-12 widening project underway in Louisiana

The Trucker News Staff - October 19, 2021

ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — A congested stretch of Interstate 12 in southern Louisiana is being widened between state highways 51 and 29. According to the Louisiana Department of Transportation, an average of 70,000 drivers use that stretch of I-12 daily; however, estimates show that number could grow by 40,000 by 2036. “The widening of I-12 will make a dramatic and positive difference in travel for St. Tammany residents,” said Mike Cooper, St. Tammany Parish President. “We are looking forward to the start and will keep all citizens informed.” Lane shifts are slated to begin around Thanksgiving in parts of the construction area as workers finish paving one section and move on to another. To monitor road conditions and construction in Louisiana, click here to visit 511la.org.

Motorcyclist run over by 18-wheeler after striking trooper’s car

The Trucker News Staff - October 19, 2021

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — A motorcyclist was killed Monday night along Interstate 4 in Florida after a two-part collision involving a state trooper’s vehicle and an 18-wheeler. According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), just before the accident, the trooper had been assisting a road construction crew when he entered the inside lane of I-4 into the motorcyclist’s path. The 52-year-old man, who was identified only as being from Lakeland, Florida, was ejected from his bike and run over by a semi-truck, authorities said. Names of those involved in the accident were not immediately provided by the FHP. The incident remains under investigation.

Court: CDL does not set ‘higher standard’ for truckers

The Trucker News Staff - October 18, 2021

CLEVELAND — An Ohio Federal Court has struck down an argument that commercial truckers should be held to a higher standard of care on roadways because they are professional drivers. In Krendl v. Intermark Transport, which was decided in September in the Northern District of Ohio, attorneys for the plaintiff argued that the CDL manual and the trucking company’s safety handbook generate a heightened safety standard for a truck driver. The court disagreed. The civil case involves the estate of Matthew Krendl, who died after his car was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler in 2017 along Interstate 71 in Ohio. Krendl had stopped his vehicle in the far-right lane of the interstate and turned off the lights, according to court documents. Additionally, the Ohio State Highway Patrol found that Krendl had a suspended driver’s license because of repeated DUI offenses, and a toxicology report noted that his blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit. The truck driver for Intermark Transport, Bogdan Adrian Petrisor of Canada, was not cited in the crash. The Krendl estate argued that the CDL manual advises commercial drivers to have a plan, to take evasive measures when confronted with a hazard and to use the right shoulder, if necessary, to avoid a collision. An expert for the plaintiff said that the Petrisor was negligent for failing to comply with these portions of the CDL manual. The plaintiff also argued that these provisions subject the truck driver to a greater standard of care than the average motorist. The court rejected the argument, ruling that CDL manuals “do not carry the force of law,” and to do so “would illogically place some portion of the responsibility for every accident on a commercial driver, simply because he or she has been instructed to be a defensive driver.” In deciding the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the court gave no weight to the expert’s opinions on the CDL manual. The court also noted that “there is no case law in Ohio that imposes a heightened duty of care for CDL drivers.” Intermark had requested that the case be dismissed, but the court denied the motion. A trial date has not been set.

Nation wonders when, if spending package will pass

The Associated Press - October 18, 2021

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats are struggling to bridge intraparty divides by month’s end to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a larger social services package. The president hopes to nail down both before Air Force One lifts off for Europe on Oct. 28 for a pair of world leader summits, including the most ambitious climate change meeting in years. But that goal has been jeopardized by fractures among Democrats, imperiling the fate of promised sweeping new efforts to grapple with climate change. There’s also rising anxiety within the party about a bellwether gubernatorial contest in Virginia and looming Senate fights over the federal debt limit and government funding that could distract from getting the president’s agenda across the finish line. Biden is trying to stabilize his presidency after a difficult stretch marked by the tumultuous end of the Afghanistan war, a diplomatic spat with a longtime ally and a surge in COVID-19 cases that rattled the nation’s economic recovery and sent his poll numbers tumbling. His team has continued its strategy — one that served it well during the campaign and earlier this year — of blocking out the outside noise to stay focused on a singular mission, this time to pass the two-part package that will give Democrats a platform on which to run in next year’s midterm elections. “These bills, in my view, are literally about competitiveness versus complacency, about opportunity versus decay, and about leading the world or continuing to let the world move by us,” Biden said Friday while pushing the legislation in Connecticut. Yet beneath the White House’s pleas for patience — reminding people that hard things take time — is a bubbling sense of urgency that a deal needs to be struck rapidly. For the White House, there are the explicit target dates, including an end-of-month deadline on transportation funding and Biden’s upcoming foreign trip. But there are also more abstract imperatives: proving Democrats can deliver on their promises to voters and protecting Biden’s waning political capital. With new urgency, the administration has sent signals to Capitol Hill in recent days that it is time to wrap up negotiations, that a deal needs to be reached, according to two White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. Biden himself has expressed impatience and will be increasing his own personal outreach this week to push lawmakers to find a compromise and bring the bills to a vote, the officials said. West Wing officials are still optimistic that an agreement will ultimately be struck, but there are also fears that the messy, drawn-out negotiation has clouded the tangible benefits of what Biden aims to deliver to voters. Biden sought to address some of that when he traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, last week to showcase initiatives to sharply reduce the cost of early childhood care — perhaps one of the only pieces of the legislation that is a lock to make the final package. Even Democratic leaders are divided on the best way to shrink the overall price tag of the package in order to win over more votes. Biden said Friday he prefers including all of the wish-list proposals, but trimming down the length of the programs to cut costs. His thinking is that a future Congress can vote later to extend programs that the American people will find popular. But days earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested the opposite tack — approving a narrower set of programs to last for a longer time period. Some Democrats have pushed for passing the bipartisan infrastructure deal by Oct. 31 even if the larger social services package is not settled, a move many progressives dislike because they could lose leverage for the latter bill. The fate of climate change provisions is particularly perilous. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s objections to a program aimed at speeding the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels threatens the heart of Biden’s plans to combat climate change just before he tries to assert American leadership on the issue at the upcoming global conference in Scotland. The Democrats’ razor-thin margins in both houses of Congress have empowered individual lawmakers like Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, vexing fellow lawmakers and the White House. White House aides have not abandoned the clean energy program but are exploring alternate means to string together a mix of policies to cut emissions, officials said. Abandoning the provisions could wound Biden in Glasgow, at a summit that the administration has held out as a vital opportunity not just to combat climate change but to reassert U.S. leadership on the issue after four years of retrenchment under President Donald Trump. The United States will be bringing a major footprint to the gathering — including former President Barack Obama — but it risks falling behind European nations that have taken more concrete steps to cut emissions. Biden’s stop in Scotland early in November will follow his participation in a summit of world leaders in Rome. But Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to skip the gatherings — delaying the first meeting between the leaders of the two superpowers — could diminish their relevance. Still, Biden is expected to meet in Italy with French President Emmanuel Macron as the men look to repair relations after a U.S. submarine deal with Australia scuttled a French contract and led the French to briefly withdraw their ambassador from Washington. Also looming is the Nov. 2 gubernatorial election in Virginia, which is regarded as a referendum on Biden and the Democrats’ chances of retraining control over Congress next year. Terry McAuliffe, who previously served as the state’s governor, is locked in a closer-than-expected race with Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin in a state that Biden won by 10 points last year. McAuliffe has been surprisingly public in his criticism of the administration’s legislative strategy, urging Democrats to pass the infrastructure bill before Election Day to give him something to show voters. White House officials privately expect McAuliffe to emerge with a narrow win and believe they can ignore worries about a smaller-than-expected margin of victory. But a tight outcome, or a Youngkin win, could rattle Democrats uncertain about Biden’s political coattails — potentially making them less likely to take risky votes for his agenda — and would buoy Republicans heading into the midterms.

Amtrak train collides with semi in Oklahoma

The Trucker News Staff - October 18, 2021

LOVE COUNTY, Okla. — Five passengers were injured on Oct. 15 when an Amtrak train struck an 18-wheeler hauling cars in Oklahoma. According to a Facebook post by the Love County Fire Department, the semi became high-centered on the tracks just before the northbound train struck the trailer, sending cars flying into the air and strewing them along the tracks. The truck’s cab was not severely damaged, and the driver, who wasn’t named, was uninjured. The accident happened on Addington Road at Highway 77. “Amtrak officials requested school buses to transport passengers to hotels in the area when it appeared the train couldn’t be moved,” the fire department’s post stated. “Some passengers were able to call local family and friends and be picked up at the scene, others were transported to nearby destinations by small charter vehicles from Amtrak, and eventually it was decided the damaged locomotive could be uncoupled and the remaining passengers could be transported back to Ft Worth with the locomotive at the rear of the train.” Responders remained on scene for more than five hours assisting passengers and railroad staff.

South Carolina city wants to take over dangerous road

The Associated Press - October 18, 2021

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A South Carolina city wants to take over a heavily trafficked state road so it can have more say in safety improvements. The Greenville City Council unanimously approved a resolution this month asking the state to turn over ownership of 3.2 miles of Augusta Street/Road, The Post and Courier reported. The street has four narrow lanes with no turn lanes and sidewalks jammed close to the curb. The push to change ownership started with a traffic safety study after an SUV hit and killed a woman and her dog on a sidewalk in May. One idea prevalent in public comments on the safety plan is reducing the number of lanes on the road — a project that would be much easier to start if the city controlled the street. “We’re constantly hitting blockades because this is state-owned,” City Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe said. “And there’s so many neighborhoods that I think would be helped if we take it.” The city said the results of the traffic safety study approved days after the May pedestrian death should be released next month. “It’s gotten to a point where we feel like if the city were to own this road, there’s a lot of benefits to us being able to control how improvements get implemented, the schedule for doing so,” interim City Engineer Clint Link said. The city owning the road would also help with economic development in the thriving neighborhoods, Greenville Mayor Knox White said. The city has only come out ahead in these kind of transactions before, White said. “The funny thing is, you look back now and you look at those lists, and it’s like no one would suggest we give it back to the state,” he said. “It’s only been a good thing. I don’t think we’ll ever regret doing it.”

Ice blamed in beer truck’s wreck on I-70

The Trucker News Staff - October 18, 2021

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — Winter weather and icy road conditions are being blamed for an accident that caused an 18-wheeler loaded with Coors beer to topple over Friday on Interstate 70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado. According to a Facebook post from Summit Fire and EMS, the wreck happened when the semi lost its brakes, clipped and spun a Jeep, then careened down the Silverthorne exit and crashed over the median. “All hands are offloading the 12-packs of Coors beer from the trailer before it is righted and towed,” the Facebook post stated. “They might need some for themselves after their shift, as they have been hopping since yesterday morning with major crashes on what one longtime veteran engineer termed some of the iciest roads in his career.” No serious injuries were reported.

Pennsylvania Turnpike opens Southern Beltway section

The Trucker News Staff - October 18, 2021

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — A new turnpike section opened Friday in Pennsylvania, helping to ease congestion on major routes, such as Interstate 79. Known as the Southern Beltway, or PA Turnpike 576, the 13-mile section between U.S. Route 22 and I-79 connects to the existing, six-mile beltway section called the Findlay Connector, according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The new Southern Beltway leads to I-79 at the Allegheny-Washington County line. “It is not often, in the world of transportation, that we are able to construct brand-new highways,” PA Turnpike Chair Yassmin Gramian said. “At this event, we commemorate this section’s completion. With (this) opening, it will ease congestion and create economic opportunities in Findlay, Robinson, Mount Pleasant, Cecil and North and South Fayette townships. Investment in transportation has historically paid for itself in greater prosperity and thriving communities.” The Southern Beltway has been in development since the State Legislature passed Act 61 of 1985 and Act 26 of 1991, elevating the priority of building the Southern Beltway and Mon/Fayette Expressway to improve highway access and mobility in the region. With the passage of Act 89 in 2013, a new funding stream was created to accelerate the progress of these projects. “Without a doubt, the Southern Beltway will serve as an economic catalyst for the Greater Pittsburgh region,” Turnpike CEO Mark Compton said. “It will provide better access to sites being developed along the Energy Commerce & Innovation Corridor (ECIC) which is 52 miles of largely untapped private, commercial and industrial lands near the Pittsburgh International Airport. This, in turn, will support new employment in this area.” Officials said the $800 million project will help ease congestion on arteries like the Parkway West, I-79 and State Route 50. Additionally, it will provide emergency-response vehicles, businesses and the public with a safer alternative to rural, two-lane roads. There will be three toll points on the Southern Beltway, which is an open-road tolling system that utilizes overhead toll gantries to charge customers, the news release stated. Turnpike customers will be charged via their E-ZPass accounts or the PA Toll By Plate program, which takes a picture of the license plate and sends an invoice to the registered owner of the vehicle.