Hey everyone! It’s time for your Wednesday Daily Trucker News Update!
We have a lot of news to cover today, including:
- A high-speed highway chase in California
- A family’s ground-breaking dream come true
- And trucking themed gender reveal
So, let’s get trucking!
Carlin: This week, The American Transportation Research Institute launched a new data collection initiative to better understand the rising costs of trucking insurance and how those costs are ultimately impacting the industry’s overall operational costs. This research was identified by ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee as a top research priority in 2020.
Motor carriers provide data through an online data collection form that will quantify changes in deductibles, excess insurance over minimum requirements, and how drivers and fleets are balancing insurance costs against rising risk levels. The research will be complementary to ATRI’s annual Operational Costs of Trucking but will provide more granular detail on one of the most volatile cost centers in the annual analysis. The data collection form is available online at truckingresearch.org and carriers are asked to provide data by Friday, April 23, 2021.
Niki: Carlin, this next story is sure to have you wondering if fate is real. Last week, 36-year-old Michael Caleb Reed, driving a black pickup truck, led authorities on an hour-long high-speed chase that stretched across three California counties. During the chase, Reed passed 44-year-old tractor-trailer driver Ahmed Shaaban, who had driven more than an hour from his home in San Diego to the Los Angeles area to pick up a load only to find it had been taken by another driver.
Shaaban, while stopped at an intersection, realized the police were trying to stop the black truck so he slammed on the gas pedal of his semi, causing Reed to crash into the right side of his rig as he tried to speed through an intersection. Shaaban’s impulse helped authorities arrest and book Reed on a felony charge. Days later, Reed was named a person of interest in a March 28 homicide.
Carlin: A new augmented-reality video game is giving young people an early glimpse of the trucking maintenance and repair industry in the hopes that it develops into a career interest.
TMC SuperTech: The Game was developed as a joint project between the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) and Arkansas State University-Beebe and is produced by Florida-based Design Interactive. TMC SuperTech requires the player to manipulate a rig through a series of challenges, including maneuvering through a city and dealing with mechanical problems. Players learn to diagnose and repair tractor-trailers through a series of three mini games focused on tire/wheel, brake, and engine repair. Gamers can progress through 15 levels of game play, starting as a student technician and ultimately becoming the owner of their own repair shop. The game is available free for both Apple and Android platforms.
Niki: Carlin, this next story is sooo stinking cute!!! A trucking couple recently combined what appears to be a wedding reception and gender reveal celebration all into one fun, trucking-themed day, and it’s very fun to watch.
In this short clip you can see the very creative gender reveal they incorporated with their big rig. Check it out.
Carlin: Last week the Freyberg family had one of their dreams come true when they broke ground on their new travel center in Mankato, Minnesota. The Freyberg’s have a history in the oil, tire, service, and trucking industry and are already known in the community for their family-run businesses.
The truck stop will include a 3,000-square-foot lounge area, 70 initial truck stalls, eight diesel fueling stations, a truck scale, car wash, and eight gas pumps for cars. The two-story facility will feature a 2,700-square-foot restaurant and a 3,100-square-foot convenience store on the first level. The second story overlooks the truck-parking area and will include four individual restrooms with showers and a laundry area. The travel plaza is expected to open later this fall.
Niki: Now here is a story about someone who wanted their cake and ate it too. Dan Ravenhorst of Wisconsin, has found a way to do both, driving his 2019 Mack Anthem 64T and volunteering at the city’s Township Fire and Rescue Station 1. Ravenhorst’s firefighting career is as lengthy as his tenure in trucking. He’s been a firefighter or EMT for the past 21 years, beginning in Lake City, Minnesota. Few people would pick Ravenhorst out of the crowd at the scene of a local emergency, but many will notice his distinctive black Mack driving along the highways of Wisconsin.
That does it for today’s update!
Tune in tomorrow for all the trucking news you need!
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