January 7, 2008
Public Citizen: Bush Administration Flouts Law on NAFTA Trucks Pilot Program,
Boosts Number of Carriers on U.S. Roads
The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) announced today that another Mexico-based carrier, Madereria Las Lomitas, is now authorized to send a truck throughout U. S. roads.   Fifty-seven trucks from 12 Mexico-based carriers are no longer restricted to the U.S. border zone.  The announcement came immediately after the Bush administration's statement that it would continue with the NAFTA trucks pilot program even though President Bush signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill that cut funds for the program.

January 2, 2008
Today's Trucking Online: U.S. DOT proposes mandatory training rules
The government has proposed new commercial driver training rules.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed that individuals seeking to obtain a commercial driver's license will be required to complete both classroom and behind-the-wheel training from an accredited education program or institution.  Three years after the effective date of the rule, the driver would be required to have 76 hours of classroom instruction and 44 hours of behind- the-wheel training for a Class A license.  For a Class B license, which is required for large "box" or van trucks, a minimum of 58 hours of classroom instruction and 32 hours behind-the-wheel training will be required.  The training curriculum includes safety regulations, vehicle operation and safe operating practices.

December 20, 2007
AllHeadlineNews.com: Court Asked To Stop Extension Of Truck Drivers' Hours
The Truck Safety Coalition petitioned a federal court to overturn the new ruling that extends truckers driving another hour before they are required to take a break.  Truckers are now limited to drive 11 hours per day and up to 70 hours per week.  On December 29, 2007, a mother who lost her daughter in a fatal accident, caused by a trucker who fell asleep at the wheel, testified in Congress.  There are more than 5,000 fatalities and over 110,000 injuries per year that are caused by truck crashes.
Truck Safety Coalition: Transcript of statement before US Senate subcommittee 

November 28, 2007
Land Line Magazine: FMCSA to showcase plan to reduce fatalities, injuries and crashes      
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) is releasing its Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 initiative on December 4, 2007. The analysis is a comprehensive review of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety plan.  The top priority of the agency is to reduce the number of fatalities on our nation's highways, increase roadside checks, compliance reviews and beef up enforcement in the large truck industry.  Only approximately two percent of registered motor carriers are reviewed each year.

November 20, 2007
Tulsa World: Mexico truck program criticized
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) announced that they will spend approximately $367,000.00 to install global positioning system satellite tracking devices in the participating cross-border trucks.  On September 1, 2007,  the Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project took effect, which involves 20 Mexican trucking companies.  Mexican carriers are permitted to deliver freight from Mexico to anywhere in the United States and to pick up freight and deliver it to destinations in Mexico.  They are, however, prohibited from transporting freight from one U.S. destination to another U.S. destination.  The program is a target of sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers who cut off funding for the demonstration project in September.  According to statistics, during a one month test of drivers, 16% of license checks returned a "not found."  There are many concerns about safety.  The funding bill is expected to go to a House-Senate committee in December.

November 16, 2007
The Signal: I-5 Tunnel Re-Opens Early
The tunnel truck lanes on Interstate 5 through the Newhall Pass near Santa Clarita, California have reopened.  The tunnel truck lanes had been shut down for repairs since October 2007 when a 31-vehicle crash occurred, killing three people.  The speed limit inside the tunnel has been lowered from 55 mph to 45 mph.  Drivers will see how fast they are traveling as there is now a digital sign outside the tunnel's entrance.  Just beyond the 550 foot long tunnel, the speed limit resumes to 55 mph.   An estimated 225,000 vehicles travel through the Newhall Pass daily.

November 14, 2007
The Signal: Tunnel Workers Hustle
The tunnel truck lanes on Interstate 5 through the Newhall Pass in Southern California will reopen on Friday, November 16.  The lanes have been closed since a 31-vehicle collision occurred on October 12, 2007.  Several safety measures were incorporated in the project to improve the safety of the tunnel.  Five hundred lights were installed to make the tunnel brighter.  The tunnel walls are now covered with a white reflective fireproofed coating.  Slab replacement, concrete barrier, partial ceiling replacement and all the concrete and rebar in the tunnel were replaced.  Three people were killed in the crash. 

October 31, 2007
LA Daily News: Reopening of Newhall Pass tunnel in sight
The Newhall Pass tunnel in Southern Californa, where a 31-vehicle pileup recently occurred, will reopen by Thanksgiving weekend or possibly earlier.  Oxnard, California based Security Paving Company began work this week on the two lane tunnel.  The pileup involved 30 trucks, including tractor trailers and semis and one vehicle.  Construction crews are replacing a 93-foot section of the ceiling and a melted reinforcement bar and four inches of concrete of the eastern wall.  The roadway was destroyed as well and will be repaved with concrete. Lighting is also being replaced. Timing of completion of the tunnel is good news for Thanksgiving travelers.  The California Highway Patrol is still considering dropping the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph.

October 29, 2007
National Safety Council Membership NewsAlert: ATRI releases ‘Top 10’ trucker issues
The American Transportation Research Institute, based in Arlington, Virginia, released the results of a survey they completed with more than 5,000 trucking industry executives.  The top trucker issues are:  hours-of-service rules, driver shortages, congestion, tolls and highway funding, driver training, tort reform and fuel issues.

October 24, 2007
CBS Channel 2: Two Killed In Fiery Big Rig Crash On PCH
A big rig hauling gravel barreled downhill on Kanan Dume Road in Malibu, California, running a red light at Pacific Coast Highway and slamming into two vehicles.  The truck driver and another driver were killed and another driver was injured. The truck was traveling around 70 mph and was unable to stop.  Since the closure of the usual truck route on Malibu Canyon Road, because of a large fire, trucks have been illegally using Kanan Dume Road, which is off limits to truck traffic.

October 23, 2007
CBS 5 / Bay City News Wire: Lanes Clear on Highway 92 Following Six-Car Pileup
All lanes of Highway 92 in San Mateo County, California, are now re-opened.  A large truck crashed through the guardrail causing a six-car pileup.  One driver in a Toyota Prius was injured and was transported to the hospital.

October 31, 2007
Brumfield v. Tyson Foods - Truck Crash Verdict Upheld
A federal court judge in Ohio has delivered a strong rebuke to Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, denying their requests for a new trial or reduction of the verdict in a horrific truck crash caused by one of its drivers near Crestline, Ohio in 2004. The judge not only upheld the original $7M jury verdict, but he granted the plaintiff’s motion for pre-judgment interest, increasing the total amount currently due the surviving family to approximately $8.5M.

October 23, 2007
Fox News: Adult Day Care Center Van Wreck Kills 7 in Texas
A van carrying 10 people from an adult day care facility, collided with a car on Highway 83 in Alto Bonito, Texas yesterday, killing five people in the van.  Two more people injured in the van, later died at the hospital.  The van is registered to La Fuente Home Health Services. The two passengers in the car were injured.

October 19, 2007
The Signal: I-5 Speed Limit Comes into Question
Who is responsible for posting speed limit signs on interstates in California?  Caltrans.  Now, Caltrans investigators and engineers are investigating why the speed limit on the approach to the Interstate 5 tunnel in the Newhall Pass, in Southern California, was raised from 45 mph to 55 mph, sometime in the past 18 months.  Several truckers were interviewed on Thursday, October 18, 2007, at a truck stop in Castaic, California and they stated that the tunnel is dark, winding and dangerous. On October 12, 2007, 30 trucks and one passenger car were involved in a chain reaction crash resulting in three deaths and ten injuries. 

October 18, 2007
York Daily Record: Truck owner convicted
Yes, after 10 hours of deliberations, the jury found Todd Sachs, owner of the now defunct Blossom Valley Farms of Maryland, guilty of two counts of homicide by vehicle and eight counts of reckless endangerment.  The charges were filed against him when one of his company's dump trucks lost its brakes and careened down a hill, killing two people and injuring eight on April 11, 2003.  The man who lost his daughter and fiancée in the accident said he doesn't like cemeteries and he hasn't celebrated Christmas since the crash which occurred more than four years ago.  Sachs is out on bail until sentencing on November 28, 2007.

October 17, 2007
York Daily Record: Jury to get Truck Crash Case Today
Did Todd Sachs, owner of the now out-of-business Blossom Valley Farms of Maryland, ignore federal safety regulations and the complaints of his employees when they told him the dump truck's brakes needed repair?  After five days of listening to testimony, the jury in the trial against Sachs, will start deliberating to determine whether or not he is guilty of vehicular homicide, multiple counts of simple assault, reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter in the crash of one of his company's trucks.  One of Sachs' trucks was traveling on a road with posted signs disallowing trucks, when the driver slammed into four vehicles and a group of children, killing two and injuring eight, on April 11, 2003 in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania.  Sachs is denying his employees ever told him about the brakes on any of his vehicles.  The National Transportation Safety Board determined that one of the causes of the accident was inadequately maintained brakes.

October 17, 2007
Los Angeles Times: I-5 disaster may have started outside tunnel
The chain reaction truck crash which occurred on October 12, 2007 in the Newhall Pass in Southern California, possibly began outside the tunnel. A tractor-trailer hauling coffee beans and other materials, was traveling northbound when the truck came out of the tunnel, went out of control on the slippery, rain-slicked pavement and slammed into the guardrail. When the truck hit the guardrail, the truck's engine block was thrown into the southbound lanes on Interstate 5 and the truck caught fire. As the truck burned, drivers slowed down and other trucks, semis and tractor-trailers had to slow as well because there was debris scattered across the southbound lanes. Eventually, trucks started slamming into each other, killing three people and injuring ten. 

October 17, 2007
Daily News: Two victims of crash in High Desert identified
A fierce sandstorm on the 14 Freeway north of Lancaster, California, whipped up sand and caused a series of collisions. There were three collisions that involved big rigs, tractor trailers and vehicles. Four people were killed and 20 were injured. A trucker from Canada stated that "it was a wall of brown dust, I didn't have any time to slow down when I saw the stopped cars." California Highway Patrol closed the freeway until 4 p.m. 

October 16, 2007
Associated Press: Some Survivors Missing From Deadly Crash
Investigators are still trying to locate nine drivers of tractor-trailers that were involved in the fiery chain reaction collision which occurred on 10-12-07 in the Newhall Pass on Interstate 5 in Southern California. Truckers have long complained about the safety of the winding tunnel. While driving, they go down into a blind curve and when they're driving down into it, they cannot see the end of the tunnel. Investigators have not determined the cause of the crash and have asked for witnesses to call the California Highway Patrol.

October 14, 2007
KTVU Channel 2 : Three Killed In Fiery I-5 Tunnel Crash
At approximately 11 PM on Friday, October 12, 2007, two big rigs collided on the rain-soaked pavement inside the south-bound I-5 truck route tunnel near Santa Clarita, CA, precipitating a chain-reaction crash involving at least 23 commercial trucks and one passenger vehicle.

October 5, 2007
Wacotrib.com: Federal jury awards man $6 million for injuries he received when his motorcycle collided with 18-wheeler
On March 1, 2006, a Weatherford Texas man, traveling on a motorcycle near Waco, was struck by a tractor-trailer. He sustained serious and permanent disabling injuries and disfigurement. On September 27, 2007, a jury awarded him $6 million. The jury unanimously came to the decision that the driver of the Colonial Freight Systems Inc. (of Knoxville, Tennessee) truck was responsible for the accident. The case had gone to trial after unsuccessful settlement negotiations that continued for over a year.

September 24, 2007
Visalia Times - Delta: 2 Dead in Highway 99 crash; Roadway Blocked Near Earlimart 
Near Earlimart, California, a tractor trailer traveling on Highway 99 crossed from the northbound lanes of travel to the southbound lanes, causing a pile-up that involved four other vehicles.  One of the vehicles was pinned under the truck.  A total of two deaths were reported.

September 24, 2007
WFTV Channel 9: Illegal U-Turn Causes Serious Crash In Orlando
An accident in Hollywood, Florida was caused by a semi truck making an illegal u-turn at the intersection of Turkey Lake Road and Sand Lake Road, which resulted in two serious injuries to the driver and passenger in a car that ended up rear ending the truck.