The police responded to an emergency call at 9:12 a.m. from Haynes Trucking, a wood chip storage site at 13 Ridge Hill Rd.
The man, identified only as a tractor-trailer driver working for Haynes Trucking, became trapped in a large volume of wood chips. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The police said that the tractor-trailer driver had delivered a load of wood chips to the site. The trailer has a conveyor to help unload the chips.
The chips apparently became stuck and the driver, without turning the conveyor off, climbed into the trailer’s bed trying to dislodge the chips, but sank into the chips, the police said.
Freetown police, the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health are investigating the incident.
GRAND JUNCTION (KJCT) - A cement truck roll-over accident closed Northbound 1st AVE today at Ute causing traffic to tie-up for several hours.
The driver 48-year-old Cole Black of Grand Junction, was treated at st. Mary’s hospital for a possible dislocated shoulder.
Witnesses say he was able to crawl out from the windshield with the help of paramedics.
Witnesses say Black took the corner too fast, and then the truck rolled. No other cars were involved in the accident.
Police say they don’t know how fast the driver was going around the turn.
Fluids spilled from the truck, and witnesses say it looked like oil. Workers poured sand on the fluids to clean it up.
Joshua Powers saw the truck roll-over from the sidewalk across the street, and said. ”The guy in the ready mix truck, he was going about 30- 35 (MPH) around the corner, and it looked a little late to hit his breaks, and he tried to turn it too fast and rolled the truck.”
The turn on 1st and Ute is has seen several accidents in the past, some fatal. Officer Rix says people should slow down and take the turn with caution.
Black was cited for careless driving after the Police Department’s investigation of the crash.
If you drive construction rigs, it’s time to practice up on your driving skills. Mack Trucks is sponsoring the Driving Skills Safety Challenge during the World of Concrete show in Las Vegas later this month. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from January 22-24 at the Orange Lot outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Each day of competition, there’ll be a reception for daily contestants from 3-5 p.m. in the registration tent, courtesy of Mack Truck and Allison Transmission. The competition is open to any driver at least 18 years of age with a valid CDL who completes an application form, shows proof of operator training, and is registered for the show. There are contest categories for individuals as well as two-operator teams.
It’s that time of year again, the first significant snow fall has created havoc on Ontario roads and already the local new stations have begun complaining about snow and ice blowing off the roofs of trailers. It’s an age-old problem and one without a simple solution – at least not one that I’m aware of.
Due to the nature of the trucking industry, it’s nearly impossible to prevent snow and ice from accumulating on the roofs of trailers. Short of parking indoors every night – and we all know that’s not a realistic option for most truckers – what’s a guy to do?
The Workers Compensation Board doesn’t want drivers climbing up onto their trailers to clear the roof of snow and ice. That’s a recipe for a workplace accident if there ever was one.
Some companies have developed snow removal programs. Our on-road editor, Harry Rudolfs, tells me Purolator hires a crew that shows up with ropes, ladder and shovels and clears off the trailers before they hit the road. But in Purolator’s case, most of its trailers report to the terminal on a daily basis. That’s not the case for most long-haul fleets.
Apparently, there are some scales in Nova Scotia that installed snow removal devices last year. I’m told they work like a giant scraper to clear trailer roofs. A neat idea, but I’ve yet to see them in person so I couldn’t tell you how effective they are. I’d love to hear from anyone who has used these systems. Do they perform as-advertised?
Trucking is hazardous work. A number of drivers get into fatal accidents every year. Statistically, twenty-five in 100,000 drivers get killed annually. Given 3.3 million active drivers in the USA, about 825 of them die on the job each year. This makes trucking the 10th most dangerous job in the USA.
Unless you own or lease/purchase your rig, you will have to put up with the engine governor set at the company’s predetermined top speed based upon a driver’s experience and safety record. You may not alter this governor setting. If you do, it will be detected at the home office, and you may get fired. Most companies set it between 60 and 70 mph for highest fuel efficiency and safety. Of course fuel consumption is mostly driver dependent. Owner operators are very fuel consumption sensitive but don’t set their governor below 80 mph or more. They also don’t like 10-speed or automatic transmissions, but have more gears allowing them to always keep their RPM at peak engine torque. They purr by you doing 70+ MPH in 14th gear at 1500 RPM. You’ll see them running in packs of three and more.
If you think you can run with the ‘big dogs,’ forget it. They typically won’t talk to you on their “big” CB radios and they won’t tolerate your getting in their way. They won’t hesitate to call your company and complain about your driving. When a local cop dares stops them they often call in a Federal Marshal to set the local officer straight. They also have contracts with specialized law firms who defend them, you probably don’t. That’s why a trooper will stop you first, not stop the owner operator. I’ve seen one passing a company driver in Arkansas and the trooper stopped the new driver for speeding, not the owner operator.
Is there a class structure in trucking? Generally there isn’t, certainly not by race, color or country of origin except for the occasional southern border wrangling between latinos and “gringos.” For most minorities, trucking is a great liberator and an equal opportunity job environment. After all, every trucker on the road has equal responsibility, nearly equal power, and generally equal pay for compatible work. This has brought out the best in many drivers of whom you would least expect it.
However, there is a difference in professional standing between van drivers, flatbed drivers, car haulers, and fungible goods bulk haulers who carry liquids, chemicals, cement, grains, etc. Flatbed drivers have amazing variable loading, load securement and tarping skills. They also carry oversize loads which have greater than normal width, or heights, length, and/or weight. Experienced flatbed drivers can specialize in heavy hauling which often requires additional multi-axle equipment and training. These drivers run by permit only and typically are not allowed to run at night.
The flatbed folks consider themselves to be “real truckers” in contrast to the “steering wheel holders” on the van trailer side. They do indeed work much harder physically and stay in better shape for it. Flatbed trailers come in flat, drop-deck, lowboy, spread axle, and other specialized configurations each of which require a knowledge of their load distribution characteristics. Light weight aluminum trailers present an extra challenge because of their propensity to twist dangerously under heavy loads in hazardous corners.
New drivers tend to lose sight of their rig height. They neglect to think vertically until after they have hit a bridge or an overpass. Many get fired for hitting and damaging overhead structures. All bridges and overhead structures are height labeled. The absolute minimum clearance required for regular box trailers is 13 1/2 feet. Flatbed drivers with tall loads must measure their rig heights and get reloaded, if necessary, or get an oversize permit. Low bridges (those below 14 feet) are listed in the Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas. Brooklyn, NY, and surrounding areas have a number of low bridges. These are often marked lower than they actually are to compensate for snowfall which raises the pavement height.
I once was ticketed in Virginia for running a rig which exceeded the length restriction for the road. Rand McNally orange highlights all truck routes which allow standard truck sizes including multi trailer rigs. Once the driver sees a length limit warning sign it is usually too late to find a U-turn opportunity. This, of course, is by design of local law enforcement.
Some Pennsylvania cops use portable bridge weight limit signs which they place to collect huge fines from truckers exceeding a posted bridge’s maximum weight capacity. It may be shown as 40 tons maximum in the morning when the local trucks run and 25 tons in the afternoon when long haul truckers arrive.
The standard maximum loaded weight of a truck is 40 tons or 80,000 lbs. The maximum standard axle weights are 12,000 lbs for the steering axle and 17,500 lbs for each of the remaining axles. State scale masters typically weigh the drive tandems and trailer tandems for 34,000 max each , but often flatbed rigs are weighed by axle, particularly those with spread axle trailers. Each spread axle is rated at 20,000 lbs max. This means that the drive tandem axles must carry commensurately less.
A GARBAGE truck has veered across a major road and smashed into a house in Sydney’s south-west, causing significant structural damage, police say.
The garbage truck was headed south on the Camden Bypass about 10.30am (AEDT) today when the incident occurred.
Police said the male Driver veered across four lanes of traffic onto the incorrect side of the road.
The truck then mounted the kerb and crashed into the rear of the house on Shoemark Place, causing significant structural damage.
Two people home at the time were not injured.
The Truck driver was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Police said it was not yet clear what may have caused the incident.
The company that operated the Truck, SITA Environmental Solutions, said it would conduct an internal investigation into the incident.
Company spokesman Mike Ritchie promised to provide temporary accommodation for the residents of the damaged house.
“This sort of accident is of course a great shock to those affected and the family’s needs will be taken care of,” Mr Ritchie said.
The company would cooperate with the police investigation, he said.
Tags: , Garbage Truck, Truck Driver
As our operators’ panel reveals, most people working in the industry think the conditions truck drivers have to endure are little short of shocking. Adam Purshall from TM Logistics says: “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find somewhere safe to park. Motorway service areas are too busy unless you get there early enough - and drivers do end up parked in lay-bys out of desperation.” This view is reflected in our survey - 70% felt the provision of parking facilities was inadequate.
As well as a lack of facilities, our survey clearly shows that operators feel that what we have at present is, at best, average (49%) - with almost a quarter describing them as poor. Almost half (47%) of respondents say a price between £6 and £14 pounds would be acceptable, although it is interesting to see that 19% would be prepared to pay £20 or more.
Charges average £15 for an overnight stay and in our survey almost 75% felt that they were not getting value for money. Paul Arthurton on our operators’ panel believes charging is fundamentally wrong as drivers are fulfilling a legal requirement to take adequate rest. Again, a resounding thumbs down from our survey - 70% felt that parking areas were not secure enough. Clearly it is impossible to secure lay-bys, but operators have a right to expect a certain level of security at motorway service areas.
Some 70% of operators feel there are not enough parking facilities and the vast majority (81%) think the ones we have are average at best 74% feel they aren’t getting value for money 92% think they should be provided by the public sector and 83% feel that planners should do more to accommodate Trucks.
Opinion is split between councils and government but it’s clear from this survey that operators believe facilities should be provided by the public sector, not private business. To operators they are like any other bit of infrastructure - our operators’ panel makes comparisons with the Continent where governments routinely provide good parking facilities.
The basic facilities that operators believe are necessary for their drivers are parking and toilets, closely followed by food and showers. Charles Burke from TRS Engineering says: “I think they need to be government-owned sites. It would be nice if they had fuel but they don’t need to have food facilities.”
In this survey 5% operators reported attacks on their drivers. Our panel of operators has given a damning verdict on planners, with 83% of respondents saying that they do not take truck drivers’ needs into account when designing new industrial or distribution areas. Surprisingly, given the perception that attacks on drivers are rife, only 7% of operators in our survey advise their drivers to park securely. However, this figure is skewed by the number of respondents who didn’t express an opinion.
Tags: Truck Drivers
A pickup truck driver who ran a stop sign led police on a 48-mile, high-speed desert chase before he was killed during a rolling Interstate 10 shootout near Chiriaco (Shih-RAY’-koh) Summit.
A Cathedral City police officer tried to stop the pickup Thursday, but the driver sped away, reaching speeds up to 120 mph as the California Highway Patrol joined the desert chase 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
CHP Officer Tami Low says 32-year-old Johnnie Robert Lopez “opened the rear-window slider and starting shooting out the back of the truck.”
Three officers involved in the pursuit fired back and the wounded Joshua Tree man lost control of the pickup.
He was found dead in the truck.
Tags: pickup truck driver
