When planning a vacation, it is imperative that you plan not only how to get there, but how you are going to get around once you reach your destination as well. There are many modes of travel that you can use when seeing the sites in one city or traveling to multiple cities during one adventure. Vacationing is all about making the most of your time visiting and touring new or familiar favorite places again, and depending on what you consider exciting, there are many ways to accomplish your goals.

On Foot

There are many types of transportation that will get you to your destination, but few that offer the adventures that walking offers. This is where the old idea of backpacking through Europe became such a popular goal in life .

Renting Cars

There is always the option of renting a car at almost any city that you choose to visit. This allows you to get places faster but still on your own time and schedule.

Public Rides

Buses, trains, subways, taxis and other chauffeured automobiles give you the leisure of having someone else who knows the area drive you around. Most popular hotspot cities even offer these types of transportation with guided tours, so all you have to do is sit back and look during your vacation.

Air Travel

Planes are still one of the most popular means of getting to a particular destination fast. This includes public flights, private jets and even helicopter tours.

Water Traveling

Another popular vacationing travel ideas is on the water. Everything from riverboat tours and whale watching voyages to long cruises, offers all the conveniences of home with different types of transportation to see the world in a whole different way than you would on land.

There is a serious price to pay for reckless teen driving, both in human lives and dollars. It seems that every day there is a story on the news about another teenage life senselessly lost. States are enacting new laws to help save these lives; parents can keep their children safe by making them aware of the responsibility and danger that comes with a driver’s license.

Frightening Statistics

The Center for Disease Control lays it out in plain numbers. In the United States in 2005, the Center claims 4,544 teens between the ages of 16 and 19 died from injuries caused by a motor vehicle crash. That year, according to the CDC, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of the U.S. population, but they made up 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.
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Reckless Teen Driving Costs Money

The loss of human lives is the most painful effect that reckless teen driving has on society, but it doesn’t end there. According to the CDC, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 account for 30 percent (or $19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28 percent ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

Why Do Teens Seem More Reckless?

Most people today learn to drive during their teenage years. However, according to the National Safety Council, this may not be the best time to get behind the wheel. According to the NSC, “The area of the brain that weighs consequences, suppresses impulses and organizes thoughts does not fully mature until about age 25.” Hormones are also very active in teenagers.Partners for Safe Teen Driving points out that most teenagers learn to drive under optimal conditions. Hazards, such as severe weather, might not be encountered until later when they are behind the wheel and alone.

What Is Being Done?

Graduated licensing programs have been the country’s most popular reaction to reckless teenage driving. They vary by state, but a typical graduated licensing program would first allow a learner’s permit. Then, most driver’s licenses will come with a mandatory period during which they are prohibited from having passengers in the car, unless that person is an adult, guardian or other relative. There are typically nighttime restrictions, as well.
These laws cut down on the distraction of driving with friends or driving during periods of low visibility or when teens might be more likely to try to speed or drink and drive.

What Can Families Do?

Partners for Safe Teen Driving recommends talking to teenagers about the dangers of reckless driving. It also recommends being a good role model for teenagers, who are often looking up to parents or other role models for unspoken guidance. These role models should always wear their seat belts, obey speed limits and minimize distractions while on the road with teen drivers, or when driving, period.

Vancouver, British Columbia, long hailed as one of Canada’s most beautiful cities, also boasts one of its most efficient public transportation systems. Since no major freeway serves its downtown area, a series of ferries, buses and a light rail system serves commuters.

Take a bus operated by Translink, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. The company offers buses powered by diesel or natural gas and trolley buses. Some buses have comfortable, padded seats, wheelchair access and bike racks. The electric trolley buses run on major routes connecting to downtown Vancouver. Regular transit buses feed into other routes and services, including SkyTrain.

Ride the SkyTrain, an elevated train system which serves metropolitan Vancouver and extends as far as the suburbs of Surrey, New Westminister and Burnaby. This modern, high-speed service debuted at the 1986 Expo. It will eventually expand to include service to the Vancouver International Airport.

Buy a ticket for commuter rail service to downtown Vancouver from the suburbs. The West Coast Express offers these rides, with connecting bus service for passengers who live in outlying areas. The West Coast Express operates Monday thru Friday only.

Enjoy the free Albion Ferry as you travel between the North and South sides of the Fraser River. This service offers frequent trips between Maple Ridge and Surrey and other points.

Use the SeaBus service to reach Vancouver’s North Shore. Two terminals serve passengers with catamaran style ferries from downtown.

Obtain a ticket for all TransLink services from vending machines, or buy a pass if you work downtown or plan to visit Vancouver for an extended period. Check out the Vancouver TransLink website for more information and current prices.

http://truckerhunt.com/– Looking for Jobs

The United States Department of Transportation oversees the transportation of hazardous materials under the requirements of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975. According to the HMTA, a hazardous material is defined as “any substance or material that can burn, explode, react violently or cause injury or harm to people, property or the environment during transport.” Biohazard material or biological agents, substance or materials that can cause injury to animals, humans or the environment is covered under the HMTA. The U.S. DOT has specific requirements for the transportation of these materials.

Employee Training

Before handling or transporting a biohazard material, an employee must attend and complete a DOT-approved minimum 8-hour training course that covers aspects of HAZMAT such as identification, labeling, packaging and placard requirements. The employee must pass a test on the subjects covered to satisfy this requirement.

Transport Hazard Communication Markings

Hazard communication refers to labeling specific types of hazardous materials with a placard on the side and rear of the transport vehicle. The placard requirements differ depending on the type of hazardous material as specified by the Hazardous Materials Table in the HMTA. Biohazard materials are covered under Class 6 and 7 of the Hazardous Materials Table, poisons and etiologic materials are covered under Class 6, and radioactive materials are covered under Class 7.

Container

Biohazard materials must be transported within a leak-proof, sealed and puncture-resistant tank or container. In addition to the required Transport Hazard Communication markings, containers being transported must have hazard documentation at all times, including relevant information concerning the contents such as the accumulation date, the specific hazardous properties of the material being transported, the name and address of the company or laboratory to where the material is being transported and where it is coming from and the composition (whether the material is solid or liquid).

The ability to drive a truck is only a part of a successful trucker’s knowledge and skill set. Having an accurate knowledge regarding the laws that help regulate the trucking industry also benefit those working within it. These laws encompass safety, security and taxes, with oversight coming from organizations such as the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Internal Revenue Service.

Aviation and Transportation Security Act
With an increased importance placed on transportation security, ATSA served as groundwork for the Transportation Security Administration. TSA operates within DOT and and has oversight for programs specific to the trucking industry, such as First Observer Training and the Hazmat Motor Carrier Security Action Item Training Program. These training programs help truck drivers maintain awareness for suspicious activity, with SAIT specifically for truckers transporting hazardous materials.

The necessity of legislation like ATSA and of programs stemming from it has been affirmed by security analysts and transportation safety experts. A major disruption in the trucking industry as a result of breached security could lead to an upheaval in the U.S. economy and culture.

Regulation 395.3
DOT established Regulation 395.3, which became effective on January 1, 2004. This ruling imposes three basic limits on truck drivers: after driving 11 hours, a driver must get 10 hours of rest; after 14 hours of being on duty, which may or may not include 11 hours of driving, a driver must get 10 hours of rest; and a driver may not work more than 60 hours within seven consecutive days, nor 70 hours within eight consecutive days.

Regarding the 14-hour “on duty” maximum, the 14-hour work period may reset itself after receiving two hours of rest in the truck’s sleeper. As for the seven- or eight-day work period, this period may reset itself after 34 hours off duty.

Section 274(n)(3)
The IRS reports that trucking associations have long lobbied for a provision allowing a 100 percent deduction of meal costs from their yearly tax liability. While still lacking this provision, truckers have seen an increase in allowed meal deductions since December 2000. According to Section 274(n)(3) in the U.S. Tax Code, truckers were allowed meal deductions of 80 percent for tax years 2008 and 2009.

This ruling aids truckers facing hourly limitations from DOT Regulation 395.3, which prevents them from earning as much money as in the past, thus having less money for meals while on the road.