Tag: transportation

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Driving at 18?

This article is intended to raise the concern about teen driving fatalities and what can be done to drastically reduce this alarming statistic. While this article may be sensitive to some readers in certain industries, we would like to raise the question as to what can be done to make our teens better drivers and how to alert others on the road that a new driver is behind the wheel.

Human life is precious and we must do everything reasonable to prevent deaths. Raising the driving age will cut the number of accidents on the roads. Teenage drivers are much more likely to have accidents than older drivers.

Young drivers do have more accidents, but that is because they are not very experienced, not simply because they are under 18. If we raise the driving age, it will be 18-19 year old new drivers having more accidents instead of 16-17 year old. After all, men are 77% more likely than women to kill someone while at the wheel, so if we went just by statistics we would ban all male drivers.

The age at which you can legally drive varies from country to country, but in many places it is lower than 18. In some American states it is 15 or younger. Usually you are allowed to take a driving test a year or more before you can vote or drink alcohol. As young drivers are the ones most likely to have accidents, from time to time there are calls to raise the driving age. So what do you think? Should minimum driving age be raised to 18?

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Lifestyle

Oklahoma truck stop planned to fight prostitution

A judge has ruled an Oklahoma City truck stop owner must take new measures to deter the world’s oldest profession. On April 7, Judge Bryan Dixon of the District Court of Oklahoma County ruled in favor of city officials against Five Star Truck Stop. City representatives sought relief through the court after more than a year of negotiations with the business failed to resolve the soliciting issue, according to Master Sgt. Gary Knight. The judge ordered the business to fix and maintain fencing to completely separate the Five Star property from adjacent motels.

The property’s video camera capabilities must be improved and the owner has to buy and monitor video equipment that provides continuous parking lot surveillance. The owner must also provide copies of video surveillance data in usable form to police if requested.
The judge also has stipulated the truck stop must:
• Increase lighting.
• Post and maintain no trespassing or soliciting signs in conspicuous locations.
• Hire Council on Law Enforcement, Education and Training certified guards who can take prostitutes into custody and who are armed during certain hours.

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Trucker News

Canad vs. Electric Cars

The Canadian province of Quebec has announced plans to offer government rebates of up to $8000 (Canadian) on high-capacity electric vehicles in a bid to place 300,000 plug-in electric vehicles on Quebec’s roads by 2020. With up to $50 million in funding already set aside for the program, the province hopes that – by doing so – they’ll be able to cut overall carbon emissions to the tune of 900,000 tons annually.

Currently, Quebec’s petroleum use breakdown looks like this …

Electric

… and, since more than 90% of Quebec’s electricity comes from hydro power, this isn’t a case of simply diverting fossil fuel use from gasoline being burned in cars to Albertan tar sand oil being burned at the power station, either. As such, a large-scale switch to EVs and plug-in vehicles would (arguably) have a bigger positive impact in Quebec than it would in areas that rely on coal.

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Lifestyle

TWIC program under fire

The U.S. House transportation committee blasted the Transportation Security Administration for delays in approving TWIC readers.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation to address renewal deadlines for TWIC holders.

The TSA is still conducting the pilot program for readers to verify the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials’ biometric identifiers, Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said. “Without any readers, TWIC is about as useful as a library card,” he said.

TSA Administrator John Pistole and TWIC Program Manager John Schwartz were scheduled as hearing witnesses, but did not attend or submit written testimony. The Department of Homeland Security said the TSA hasn’t testified before the committee since 2008, but reports to 108 other congressional committees and subcommittees.

“According to the House’s own rules, Congressional oversight jurisdiction over DHS functions relating to transportation security resides with the House Homeland Security Committee,” the department responded.

Mica said he would continue inquiries about full deployment of the $420 million TWIC program. The TSA has estimated TWIC could cost taxpayers and the private sector up to $3.2 billion over a 10-year period.

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Trucker News

Truck shortages rates kick in

Truckload capacity shortages will gather momentum this year and continue through 2013 as the economy recovers and regulatory restrictions will limit the driver pool, an FTR Associates economist said Wednesday in an online seminar.Noel Perry, an FTR senior consultant, estimated that because of the economic upturn and the federal government’s push for improved safety “a couple hundred thousand drivers will be taken out of the marketplace between now and the end of next year.” He acknowledged that forecast shortages have been slow to occur and now will likely hit the market in 2012.

Worried Truck Shortage
Perry said trucking is typically slow to respond to an economic recovery. He said if the market doesn’t respond by ordering more equipment to improve productivity, “There will be a bunch of loads that don’t get delivered. That means there will be supply chain failures,” although he does expect the industry to meet the challenge.To date truckload rate increases haven’t materialized as anticipated, Perry said, because the industry achieved productivity gains last year, which enabled companies to absorb additional freight without adding equipment and drivers. That period has passed and the market has tightened.In response to a question, Perry said current strong new truck orders are primarily to replace aging equipment and not adding to capacity. However, he said if his forecast of higher rates is accurate, he anticipates a “considerable expansion by the industry in 2012 and 2013.”

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Avoid Getting Hit by a Car for Pedestrians

With so many vehicles on the road, pedestrians need to be aware of their surroundings and the “rules of the road” to avoid being hit by a car or other motor vehicle. Nighttime is a particularly dangerous time because visibility is reduced, and both pedestrians and drivers may be more likely to have been drinking alcohol. The best way for you to avoid getting hit by a car when you’re walking is to be aware of the situations that most often lead to pedestrian-vehicle accidents.

Pedestrian Lane
To avoid getting hit by a car you need to look both ways before you cross the street. We all agree accidents happen, but stupidity happens as well. I see children disobeying the rule of look before you leap even adults as well. Taking the time to look both ways will save you money on medical bills, incident claims, and a few broken bones. Another importantsafety step that will keep our head attached to our necks instead of attached to a window shield is often missed as well. Do not go jogging on a busy street with headphones blasting in your ears. How can you hear if a car behind you is swerving? If you do go running try to run against the flow of traffic so you can see what’s in front of you.

Like I said before unless you know something the rest of the world doesn’t know you can not outrun a car. Why do grown men try to race a car, and why in the world does the driver even accept this foolish challenge. A quick way to get hit by a car, is to try outrunning one. If you do this please stop embarrassing yourself, and grow up.

Even though pedestrians’ routes are often the same every day (to and from work, the grocery store, school, etc), it is important to remember to be aware of what is going on around you and to follow these simple safety suggestions.

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Traffic Deaths Plunge

The number and rate of traffic fatalities in 2010 fell to the lowest levels since 1949, despite a significant increase in the number of miles driven, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported April 1.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s early projections, the number of traffic fatalities fell 3 percent from 33,808 in 2009 to 32,788 last year.

Since 2005, fatalities have dropped 25 percent.NHTSA projects the fatality rate will be the lowest recorded since 1949, with 1.09 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from the 1.13 fatality rate for 2009. An estimated 21 billion miles were traveled last year.

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Lifestyle

Truckers against Trafficking

Truckers against Trafficking, an industry program to fight human trafficking, will be at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.

The non-profit Chapter 61 Ministries started the project two years ago to educate and empower the trucking field to battle the problem on the job. TAT produces educational material for the industry to distribute to locations such as trucking schools and truck stops. The project seeks to inform the industry of the problem and how to recognize and report it. A 2010 Congressional Research Services report stated human trafficking happens in the United States to U.S. citizens and non-citizens and in every state. About 17,500 people are trafficked to the U.S. each year for use in labor and the sex industry.

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Trucker News

How to Start a Trucking Business?

Trucking businesses have therefore flourished because of the necessity for trucking services in moving food and consumer goods. If you are planning to get into the trucking business, it is important that you know basic things about operating a trucking business.
Trucking business clients
Targeted market for a trucking business includes people and business organizations that manufacture, sell and distribute goods and materials. Getting big companies to work with you will be difficult though if your trucking company is just starting up and your trucking transport business has limited coverage. It is therefore important that you look for alternative potential clients which can include small business operators that are participating in trade shows to showcase their goods and products. These clients need trucking services when moving their goods from one location to another.

Marketing

Marketing your trucking business
You can increase the number of clients who avail of your trucking services by advertising your trucking freight business. You may, for example, post ads in trade magazines where prospective clients are able to find them. You can also offer better rates than other trucking businesses and highlight your special rates when sending brochures to potential customers. Word of mouth remains to be helpful so take the opportunity to provide the best service to your clients as this can help spread the world about the excellent trucking services that you offer.

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Lifestyle

Horrific Things some Driver’s Do

I understand that we are not the greatest driver and sometimes make mistakes when driving, however there are some drivers that doing dreadful things.

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Turn Signal
NO TURN SIGNAL-Turn signals are meant to help other drivers understand what you are going to do next. Help us all out by using your turn signal each and every time you are going to turn or switch lanes.
WRONG TURN SIGNAL-If you are changing lanes understand which lane you are going to go then use turn signal accordingly. NOT TURNING TURN SIGNAL OFF -It wasn’t until pulled off of the exit that this person finally figured out that their left hand turn signal had been on the whole time and they shut it off.

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DOING OTHER THINGS

DRIVING WHILE DOING OTHER THINGS-Putting on makeup, combing your hair, shaving, brushing teeth those are all things you should do in the bathroom.
SITTING AT GREEN LIGHTS, RUNNING RED LIGHTS– In the same vein running red lights is simply crazy and dangerous and even with the red light cameras that are out and about I still see so many drivers. I hope that this helps us all to drive a little better. Really it’s just simple rules of the road. Can’t we all just drive together?