Posts Tagged ‘Jan-2009’

January 1st, 2009

Eyes Wide Open

This driver always pays attention to what is happening outside her window

I was getting divorced and had two children to take care of. At the time I drove a school bus, and my soon-to-be-ex husband used to say that if I could drive a bus I could handle a truck. So I called up a training academy to learn how to drive a truck. I even held myself back an extra week before graduating because I didn’t feel completely confident with my skills yet. I met an owner-operator when I had just completed training, and hired on to share his runs between Maryland and Delaware t…

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January 1st, 2009

In Case of Emergency

New Hazmat response centers to roll in on the back of a rig

The world is changing, and so is the technology used to handle a variety of natural and manmade disasters. While it might not be pleasant to think about a national disaster striking, being prepared for such an event is becoming a fact of life. Which is why TruckVault Products has developed Hazmat Emergency Response Center (H.E.R.C.), an emergency response trailer designed to treat victims of radiation or chemical exposure, fire or other wide-scale traumas. “No one in the country has addre…

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January 1st, 2009

The Road Ahead

Talking with Rep. Jim Oberstar, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

By Mindy Long

When it comes to transportation, Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) is one of the most powerful leaders on Capitol Hill. He serves as chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which has jurisdiction over America’s surface transportation, freight and passenger rail and the inland waterway system.

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January 1st, 2009

Swinging for Charity

Golf outing raises money for trucker fund

Studies show that more than 70 percent of the 3.2 million professional drivers in the U.S. have one or more serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Being on the road and having irregular hours doesn’t help. Drivers tend to let small conditions progress to bigger problems, simply because of cost or time. Minor illnesses become extreme, and can lead to hospitalization and disability. The drivers then may lose their commercial license and become unable to work, w…

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January 1st, 2009

It Takes Two

The operating partnership between trucker and spouse

By Timothy D. Brady

Trucking is often a husband and wife enterprise, requiring the full dedication of both to make it a success — whether they drive team or one’s on the road and the other home. As any trucker will attest, the truck decides everything: when you’ll be home, when you have to leave again, whether you have money for the long-awaited vacation or the vacation becomes a new transmission. Trucking takes marriage to a whole new level.One driving, one at homeGail and Paul Morrison have do…

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