Truckers taking Chantix to help them quit smoking won’t be sailing through the medical certification process.

Growing concern on the part of the Food and Drug Administration prompted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to caution physicians against certifying the medical fitness of any trucker taking the prescription medication.

“FMCSA’s rules defer to the physicians and health care professionals to determine driver medical fitness for duty, which includes when a medication has actual and potential side effects that could impact safe driving,” John Hill, FMCSA administrator, said in a written statement.

“While we do not name any medications, such as Chantix, in FMCSA regulations, it appears that medical examiners should not certify a driver taking Chantix because the medication may adversely affect the drive’s ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle.”

The FDA issued a public health advisory early this year on varenicline, the scientific name of the drug commercially sold as Chantix.

“Serious neuropsychiatric symptoms have occurred in patients taking Chantix. These symptoms include changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and attempted and completed suicide,” the FDA reported in the advisory.

“While some patients may have experienced these types of symptoms and events as a result of nicotine withdrawal, some patients taking Chantix who experienced serious neuropsychiatric symptoms and events had not yet discontinued smoking. In most cases, neuropsychiatric symptoms developed during Chantix treatment, but in others symptoms developed following withdrawal of Chantix therapy.”

According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, in the fourth quarter of 2007 varenicline accounted for 988 serious injuries in the U.S. reported to the FDA, more than any other individual drug. By comparison, the FDA received a median average of five reports of serious injury for 769 different drugs in the fourth quarter.

A left-lane restriction for heavy trucks in the Missouri cities of Kansas City and St. Louis goes into effect Thursday, Aug. 28.

The Missouri Highway Patrol will begin enforcing the lane restriction for trucks with a gross weight in excess of 48,000 pounds on “urbanized” roadways that have three or more lanes in one direction.

Highway Patrol Lt. John Hotz said enforcement begins with an educational period.

“We’ll be doing what we can to educate first and then enforce the statute as we go along,” Hotz told Land Line on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

Penalties for being in the left lane will vary depending on the seriousness of the offense, he said.

A violation that causes a crash will be considered a Class A misdemeanor. A violation that threatens to cause a crash will be considered a Class C misdemeanor, Hotz said. Citations and warnings will be issued accordingly.

Gov. Matt Blunt signed the lane restriction into law in July as part of a larger bill that included a number of transportation provisions.

Provisions of the new law also going into effect Thursday include an extra 400-pound allowance for trucks equipped with idle-reduction technology; authorization for local enforcement of truck rules; and a requirement for ignition interlock devices to be installed on the vehicles of repeat drunken drivers.

Tighter security means that truckers who cross the U.S.-Mexican border may be in for longer waits.

The Associated Press reported that security is being tightened at border crossings after law enforcement officials received what they called a “credible threat” that members of Mexican drug cartels intended to kill as many as 20 people in Texas and New Mexico. Officials didn’t say who the targets are.

Drug cartel violence has claimed thousands of lives in Mexico this year, including nearly 800 people who were murdered in Ciudad Juarez – just across the border from El Paso, TX. In Mexico more than 4,000 people have died in drug-related violence.

In related news, a recent Los Angeles Times article quoted U.S. and Mexican officials as saying that high-powered automatic weapons and ammunition are flowing virtually unchecked from U.S. border states into Mexico, fueling a war among drug traffickers, the army and police.

The Times reported that more than 6,700 licensed gun dealers are within a short drive of the 2,000-mile border, from the Gulf Coast of Texas to San Diego – which amounts to more than three dealers for every mile of border territory.

For the sixth straight week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is reporting a decrease in the national average price for diesel, with it dropping another 6.2 cents to average $4.125 per gallon.

The national average price has dipped more than 61 cents per gallon during the past six weeks, although the price is still more than $1.28 higher than it was this same week of August in 2007.

According to the EIA’s weekly report released Monday, Aug. 25, all nine regions are also reporting decreases in their average pump prices, with the Rocky Mountain region reporting the most significant drop in fuel prices– down 9 cents – to average $4.23 per gallon.

The West Coast and the Lower Atlantic regions are both reporting drops of 7.5 cents per gallon to average $4.289 in the West Coast region and $4.127 for diesel in the Lower Atlantic region.

Fuel prices have dropped at least 6.6 cents per gallon on the East Coast to average $4.220 per gallon, while the price has decreased 6.3 cents in California to average $4.359 per gallon for diesel.

A decrease of 5.4 cents per gallon for fuel has been reported in both the Gulf Coast and the Midwest regions, with fuel dropping to $4.101 in the Gulf Coast and to $4.088 in the Midwest, which is reporting the lowest average price per gallon for diesel of all the regions.

In the Central Atlantic region, the average price for diesel has dropped 5.3 cents per gallon to average $4.370, while the New England region is reporting the slightest decrease of all the regions – down 4 cents – to average $4.382 per gallon.

A consultant for the new management of IdleAire told reporters at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas this past week that the company is “here to stay.”

IdleAire offers heating, cooling, entertainment and Internet access at truck stops across the country. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 12.

The New Jersey Business Journal interviewed Mindy Long, a spokeswoman for the Natso, a national association of truck plazas and truck stop operators, recently about the service. She noted that IdleAire costs between $1 and $2 per hour, making it cheaper than burning up $5-per-gallon diesel in the same period.

John Calabrese, who’s trying to steer the company out of bankruptcy, said the current investors believe IdleAire has the potential for what he termed “fantastic growth.” It recently had a record week, with 49,000 customers using nearly 500,000 hours of its service.

Truckers ordering Mack and Volvo trucks now have the option of spec’ing Bendix disc brakes.

Mack Trucks now offers the Bendix ADB22X heavy-duty air disc brakes on the Mack Pinnacle axle forward and Mack Pinnacle axle back models. Volvo is offering the disc brakes on front and rear axles on Volvo VNs and VTs.

Both OEMs are offering the Bendix disc brakes on the 12,000-pound front and 40,000-pound rear axles.

Courtesy of LandLine Magazine

A truck driver who was ticketed for having a laptop in his cab is scheduled to appear before an Arizona judge in early September.

An Arizona DOT enforcement officer issued a citation to Gerald Cook, an OOIDA member from Amarillo, TX, in late May at the San Simon Port of Entry on Interstate 10 at the Arizona-New Mexico border.

The officer told Cook the ticket was for having a laptop mounted near his driver’s seat, and cited FMCSR 393.88, which bans screens capable of receiving a television broadcast signal from being within a commercial driver’s view.

Cook – a truck driving veteran of five years – is challenging the citation, and told Land Line in interviews earlier this year that he believes he will win.

“I’ll fight it until every cop car in the country doesn’t have a laptop in it,” Cook said in June. “My laptop is staying right where it is.”

The judge in Cook’s case is scheduled to set a trial date at his Sept. 4 court appearance.

After initially requesting an opinion from FMCSA on the legality of enforcing 393.88 against drivers with laptops, Arizona has since said it decided not to request an opinion and has suspended writing citations for laptops under 393.88.

Section 393.88 of the FMCSR states:

“Any motor vehicle equipped with a television viewer, screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast shall have the viewer or screen located in the motor vehicle at a point to the rear of the back of the driver’s seat if such viewer or screen is in the same compartment as the driver and the viewer or screen shall be so located as not to be visible to the driver, while he/she is driving the motor vehicle. The operating controls for the television receiver shall be so located that the driver cannot operate them without leaving the driver’s seat.”

Officials with engine maker Cummins Inc. announced earlier this month that they are going to use the selective catalytic reduction after-treatment system in their heavy-duty engines beginning in 2010.

Even as late as September 2007, Cummins officials said the heavy-duty engine lineup would not be using SCR. Rather, the engine group announced it would not be using an aftertreatment system to reduce nitrogen oxide.

But, the evolution of catalyst technology led officials with the engine maker to opt for the SCR aftertreatment.

Cummins officials said in a mid-August announcement opting for SCR, that the decision to was driven by unprecedented fuel prices and the discovery of a new copper-zeolite catalyst material. The SCR systems require the use of a urea additive.

No matter if you’re from Arkansas or not, chances are if you have any sort of connection with an Arkansas-based trucking company, your drug and alcohol test results will be reported to the state’s new online database.

A new law kicked into effect the first of 2008 that requires Arkansas trucking companies not only to search the database before hiring a driver, but also to report any positive or refused drug or alcohol test results to the state.

The new online system went live on the state’s official Web site earlier this week and provides employers access in real time to alcohol and drug test results for commercial drivers.

In addition to the reporting responsibilities, the Arkansas law enacted in 2007 requires employers to search the online database before hiring commercial drivers. If a commercial driver is found to have a positive or refused drug or alcohol test result on their record, the employer cannot hire the driver.

According to the law, employers and medical review officers are required to report any positive or refused alcohol or drug test results to the state-managed database within three business days.

The employers and medical review officers are required by the law to report all truckers – not just Arkansas CDL holders – with positive results or refusals to test.

Employers and medical review officers must first register for an online account. Searching and reporting within the database requires only the commercial driver’s CDL number and date of birth. The system reports violations to the driver’s alcohol and drug record in the same way that commercial driving records are updated. All information is accessed through a secure online system at ark.org/drugtest/index.php/user/login, which also includes a link to the law.

Soaring diesel fuel prices have led to a rash of thefts of diesel fuel being siphoned from truckers’ tanks while they’re parked for the night at truck stops nationwide.

Now, it seems thieves are turning their attention to another way to prey on already strapped truckers – this time by stealing the aluminum covers off of their auxiliary power units and selling them as scrap metal.

OOIDA Life Member Gery Nelson of Grovespring, MO, said it happened to him while he was parked for the night on Monday, Aug. 25, at the Flying J at Exit 37 in El Paso, TX.

Besides talking to a manager at the Flying J about what happened to him, Nelson said he also filed a report with the El Paso Police Department.

“The Police Department’s response was ‘well, things are pretty busy out in that area,’ ” Nelson said. “So, I figured when he filed the sheet of paper, that’s as far as it will ever go, unless they actually stumble on to someone that’s in the process of actually doing it.”

While delivering his load in El Paso, Nelson said, he passed by a group of people that had a 28-foot trailer set up in a parking lot. They were offering to buy aluminum cans, scrap copper and scrap metal for about 72 cents per pound.

“So I figure the person who stole it probably made about $14 or $15 off of my $400 cover,” Nelson said. “What’s sad is I think there’s going to be more and more of this happen as the economy keeps getting worse.”

This weekend, Nelson said, he plans to head back to Missouri where he and his friend, who also lost an APU cover to thieves recently, plan to “put their heads together.” They are going to try to come up with some type of simple mechanism that will keep thieves from just running off with the aluminum covers.

“If thieves want them real bad, they’ll get them, but if we make it a little harder for them, it might make them think about how much effort they’re willing to put in to get them off our trucks,” he said.

His friend has offered to let him use a spare cover until he can have one fabricated locally, which he estimates may save him around $200.

Another trucker Nelson spoke to recently reported that the battery box on his Kenworth had been stolen while he was parked for the night. The battery box forms part of the step and Nelson said this trucker found out the hard way that it had been stolen after he almost broke his neck when he stepped out the next morning.

“If people know that this is getting to be a problem, at least they’ve been warned to start taking measures to hang on to their covers or spend $400 for another one,” he said.

Oil prices shot up sharply Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, after winds of 90 miles an hour caused tropical storm Gustav to be upgraded to hurricane status.

Bloomberg reported that Gustav hit the island nation of Haiti early Tuesday afternoon and was also on track to hit Cuba. Then it could possibly enter the Gulf of Mexico where offshore drilling accounts for 25 percent of U.S. crude oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

AccuWeather senior forecaster Eric Wilhelm said states along the Gulf Coast will need to be on the lookout by early next week.

Gustav is expected to strengthen over the Gulf, and Wilhelm said it could become a Category 4 hurricane with winds of up to 155 miles per hour.

Courtesy of LandLine Magazine

• Specifications. Before the truck is even built, its components and design are precisely matched to its intended application. Customers work with their Volvo Truck dealer and Volvo’s Predictor software tool to select the most fuel-efficient spec for the job, taking into consideration terrain, desired cruising speed, vehicle loading, application and other factors. The goal is to ensure the right combination of all drivetrain components – including gear and axle ratios, transmission, and engine ratings – to ensure optimal fuel economy, performance and productivity. Volvo’s truck ordering system also helps select the most aerodynamic configuration for the truck.
• Maintenance. Without proper maintenance, wear and tear on the truck over time drags down fuel economy and raises costs. Fuelwatch helps Volvo customers keep up with scheduled preventive maintenance. Lack of proper attention to wheel alignment as well as fuel and cooling systems can each reduce fuel efficiency up to 3 percent, while air system losses can result in a 4 percent hit. Tire pressure sensors and the ability to reprogram engine power ratings to match a change in application also contribute to better fuel economy.
• Monitoring performance. Volvo Link and Sentry allow fleet managers to monitor critical functions of the truck so they can identify and make adjustments to enhance fuel economy. Volvo Link also provides access to services for optimizing operations, such as fuel tax reporting, vehicle location tracking and route planning. And all customers gain uptime support through Sentry’s access to Volvo Action Service, a 24/7 roadside assistance program. Volvo Link, with two years of Sentry service, is standard on all new Volvo trucks.
• Driver development. Nothing has a greater impact on fuel economy than the driver. In addition to the forthcoming driver training, Volvo offers drivers many aids. As an integrated manufacturer of powertrains and trucks, Volvo is able to provide sophisticated assistance to drivers in a straightforward way. In fact, Volvo’s Performance Guide is a ride-along “coach” that tells the driver how to operate the engine for maximum fuel economy. Performance Guide is visible in the Driver Instrument Display and uses icons to guide the driver on correct RPM, acceleration and staying in the engine’s “sweet spot.” This can be combined with Volvo’s Performance Bonus to provide the driver with incentives for maximizing time in the sweet spot.

A trucker who helped the New York City Police Department make five arrests has been fired for

doing the good deeds on company time.

The New York Post reported that on Aug. 4 John Acheson witnessed two passengers get out of a BMW and shoot a 22-year-old man dead. Acheson wrote down the license number of the assailants before calling police, who later arrested four people.

Acheson’s boss at the Massachusetts-based Sid Wainer & Son trucking company was not pleased and accused him of acting like a cowboy, according to the Post.

Then, while in Harlem on Tuesday, Aug. 19, Acheson called 9-1-1 when he saw a woman hit another truck driver with a hammer. He chased down the woman and held her for police.

The next day, his boss fired him.

Acheson told the New York Post that his boss said, “John, I gotta let you go. You don’t know how to mind your own business.”

Every day Norita Taylor conducts a search for news “mentionings” of the Missouri-based Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in mainstream media and trade outlets. Taylor is the Media Affairs Coordinator for OOIDA.

Sometimes it’s a quote from Todd Spencer, executive vice president. Sometimes it’s a quote from a recently distributed OOIDA news release. Other times, she knows there will be something published in a particular outlet because the interview – which was coordinated by her – just took place earlier that week.

“My job is to make sure our messages and positions are reflected in reports outside the Association that cover the issues affecting our members,” she said. “I do that not just by sending out news releases, but also by talking on the phone to reporters. Sometimes I initiate the call. Other times they’ve made an inquiry with lots of questions. Fortunately, I have great resources at my fingertips here at OOIDA headquarters for anything they throw at me.”

Taylor points out that some of what ends up in mainstream media isn’t something you can necessarily find on the Web with Google.

“I’ve had Todd and other executives on lots of radio shows,” she said. “I try to post notices about those ahead of time on the forums so members can tune in. It’s great that so many radio programs have audio-streaming.”

A common request Taylor receives is for “a trucker to talk to.” Sometimes it is something as simple as a phone interview. But once in a while, a reporter wants an actual ride-along.

“That’s a little trickier,” she said. “You’ve got to find someone in a particular area at a given time. I’ve got a ‘go to’ list, but can always use more people willing to share their stories.”

Sandi Soendker, managing editor of Land Line Magazine and landlinemag.com, says that for years truckers have asked her what can be done to relay their issues to the public in a way that is accurate and pertinent.

“One way for truckers to make the public understand what their issues are and how important truckers are the nation is via the mainstream press. And because transportation is such an integral part of the economy, it’s a connection that must be understood by consumers. OOIDA’s Media Affairs Department does a great job in making this happen.”

Some of those mainstream mentions are posted and archived regularly on www.landlinemag.com under “OOIDA in the news.” It’s a brand-new feature, and you’ll find it on the menu on the left-hand side of the home page.

– By Land Line staff

The National Weather Service is forecasting that Tropical Storm Fay will continue to bring high winds and flooding Friday, Aug. 22, to the northern part of the Florida Peninsula as it is forecast to track west across to the Florida Panhandle.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service announced that some isolated areas could receive 30 inches of total rainfall before the storm relents. Average rainfalls are forecast at 6-12 inches in some areas and 3-6 inches in others. Tornadoes are still possible in some areas, forecasters said.

National Hurricane Center officials announced that Fay was tracking to make landfall for a third time, an occurrence not seen since Hurricane Donna in 1960.

Fay was at sea Thursday morning on the Atlantic Coast. Officials said the storm could strengthen before it returns to land late Thursday on its way to the Gulf of Mexico and the Panhandle. Forecasters clocked sustained winds at 60-65 mph.

According to the National Hurricane Center at midday Thursday, a tropical storm warning remained in effect from Fort Pierce, FL, north to the Savannah River at the border between Georgia and South Carolina.

Gov. Charlie Crist has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster classification in an effort to secure federal aid.

Florida Department of Transportation officials are still advising against travel in affected regions.

Travel has resumed in much of Southern Florida while a few central counties were still cleaning up and waiting for flood waters to subside.

Trucks delivering aid to areas affected by the storm are permitted to waive size, weight and hours restrictions, Gov. Crist stated in an executive order earlier in the week.

Click here for traffic warnings and updates from FDOT.

If you see price gouging at Florida fuel stops, call the attorney general at 850-414-3300.

There’s no need to skip the Great American Trucking Show just because of the new anti-idling reg in Dallas. There’s a big exception to the rule.

The regulation, which local officials started enforcing in April, allows truckers to idle their trucks beyond the five-minute limit if they are complying with the hours of service regulations.

Here’s the exemption straight from Subsection 114.517 of Title 30 of the Texas Administrative Code as adopted by Dallas: The provisions of this title, relating to Control Requirements for Motor Vehicle Idling, do not apply to ...

“(12) a motor vehicle when idling is necessary to power a heater or air conditioner while a driver is using the vehicle’s sleeper berth for a government-mandated rest period and is not within two miles of a facility offering external heating and air conditioning connections at a time when those connections are available. This subsection expires September 1, 2009.”

So, if you’re in your truck on a rest break, the Dallas regulation allows you to idle your truck. Leaving it unattended for more than five minutes? In order to be in compliance with the reg, you have to turn it off.

Click here to read the entire regulation.

One person was killed Wednesday night when a plane crashed into a California Highway Patrol truck scale building near Gilroy.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the plane went down at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. The pilot – the only person aboard –was killed.

Officials with the CHP said that no one was in the weigh station at the time of the crash because its officers were all out on a training exercise.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. It is not yet known where the plane was headed or where it had come from.

Witnesses told the FAA that the plane was apparently trying to avoid an overpass when it crashed.

If you’re driving through Tucson, AZ, Thursday night, Aug. 21, you might want to plan your route carefully or find another way around.

All lanes of Interstate 10 between Prince Road and 29th Street will be closed Thursday night beginning at 10 p.m. The road will remain closed until Monday, Aug. 25, at 5 a.m.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, the highway is being closed as part of a $200 million, three-year project to widen the interstate to four lanes in each direction.

During the closure, crews will be working on building transition areas for the next phase of the construction. Traffic will be detoured to the eastbound and westbound frontage roads.

When the road is reopened on Monday, it will be limited to two lanes in each direction.

More information can be found on the Web at www.i10tucson.com.