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Our Forum is the all year around meeting place, where drivers and owners come for Information or discuss trucking and expediting related questions. Whether you drive a Tractor/Trailer, Expediter Straight Truck or Van, you are very welcome here in Expediter World. We bring you Expediting and Trucking News on a regular basis. Trucking Professionals as well as Newbie's enjoy our Photo Gallery and NEW Free Classifieds. You can also find the right job with our new website, please visit us at www.expediterjobsonline.com. You can also check diesel fuel prices with our National Truckstop fuel price locator. Join us in relaxing, having fun and playing games.
New Pilot opens in Illinois; adds 78 truck parking spots |  | 
Inside the new Pilot Travel Center in Rochelle, Illinois Pilot Company last month opened a Pilot Travel Center at 1201 E. IL Route 38 in Rochelle, Illinois. The new Pilot offers many amenities, including:
“We’re committed to making a better day for people living, working, and traveling through Ogle county and across the nation,” said Ken Parent, president of Pilot Company. “We continue to invest in new locations to bring convenience, quality, great food, and amenities to those who are traveling the roadways.” Rochelle is located in north-central Illinois about 80 miles west of Chicago where interstates 88 and 39 cross. Illinois weigh stations to fully reopen after COVID-19 closures | |
 After weeks of closures due to the pandemic, Illinois transportation officials are reopening state weigh station locations. According to a June 16 announcement from the Illinois State Police, all state weigh station locations closed due to the pandemic and travel restrictions will be fully operational as of June 17. Many social media users from the trucking community were less than than thrilled by the announcement. In May, the Illinois Department of Transportation coordinated with local groups to provide free lunches for truckers at weigh station locations throughout the state. Wyoming DOT to shut down 10 rest areas statewide | |
Governor Mark Gordon has announced that Wyoming Department of Transportation will be closing 10 rest areas located throughout the state. These closures take effect on June 15 and were prompted by budgetary shortfalls. They are a way to reduce the agency’s operational costs. “This is a painful reality but a necessary step given our state’s fiscal situation,” Governor Gordon said. The closures were approved by the Wyoming Transportation Commission during its recent special meeting. “Although these rest areas will close, motorists will still have access to facilities in neighboring communities,” said WYDOT Director K. Luke Reiner. “Each of the rest areas that are closing are within a reasonable distance of a town that has facilities for the public.” The rest areas that will close include:
“We took a hard look at all of our rest areas and came up with a list of those that we feel we can close with a minimal amount of impact to our travelers,” Reiner said. The rest area closures will save WYDOT approximately $197,453 from June 15 through Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year. After, the department will save about $789,812 per year. DHL Express to add 400 new jobs as online shopping surges, businesses prepare to reopen | |
End of coronavirus closures could spark slow recovery, but trucking freight markets won’t begin to really thaw until 2021, FTR analysis finds.Shipping and logistics provider DHL Express says it is adding some 400 new jobs in the U.S. due to a double-digit volume increase in shipments compared to last year. Volumes have significantly increased in recent months due to a spike in online shopping as people stayed quarantined due to Covid-19, said Plantation, Florida-based DHL Express, which is a business unit of logistics giant Deutsche Post DHL Group. Urgent shipments such as masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE) also contributed to holiday peak season-like volumes, but these volumes have come without the usual pre-season preparation time. “Inbound shipment volume is booming, particularly from Asia,” Greg Hewitt, CEO for DHL Express U.S., said in a release. “Our customers are relying on us to deliver their shipments, whether it’s personal protective equipment (PPE) or home necessities, so we must add staff at our hubs, gateways and on the road to continue providing our customers with excellent service.” The hiring includes:
Looking into future months, DHL expects shipment volumes to remain high as U.S. businesses restock inventory to prepare for factory and store re-openings in sectors of the economy that have been shuttered throughout the pandemic. DHL’s forecast was echoed today by another logistics group predicting a pending rebound as U.S. companies open up again following coronavirus restrictions. Many freight-related economic indicators hit record lows in April, prompting the transportation industry analysis group FTR Transportation Intelligence to say the month likely marked the bottom of the pandemic contraction. Following an uptick in payroll employment in May, FTR said it expects post-April trucking conditions to improve sharply, although they are currently so low that they will still remaining in negative territory through early 2021. Bloomington, Indiana-based FTR said its Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) reading for April was the lowest ever measured at -28.66, beating the previous low of -16.08 in September 2008. “Spot market load volumes have recovered well since bottoming out in mid-April, although the recovery seems to have stalled out a bit. The unprecedented depth and speed of the contraction and the severity of disruption in supply chains and freight networks will make it difficult to assess in the short run whether higher volumes are merely temporary or part of a sustained rebound,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, said in a release. "The critical question is what happens once consumers and businesses exhaust the trillions of dollars that Washington has pumped into the economy to offset the pandemic’s financial consequences. All that we can be sure about is that market conditions will not be as bad as they were in April.” FTR says its TCI tracks changes in five conditions of the U.S. truck market, including: freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel price, and financing. Combined into a single index number, a positive score represents optimistic conditions, while a negative score represents pessimistic conditions and readings near zero signal a neutral operating environment. Truck Driver Caught Trying To Smuggle $2.5 Million in Marijuana Over Peace Bridge | |
A 21-year-old Indian national, who used to drive a commercial truck between Canada and the US, has been arrested on the charges of smuggling marijuana with market value of US$ 2,500,000, a US attorney has said. If convicted, Arshdeep Singh faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison or a maximum of 40 years and a US$ 5,000,000 fine. According to the complaint, on June 5, a commercial truck carrying coffee makers and bearing Prince Edward Island, Canada license plates, attempted to enter the United States at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry at Niagara Falls in New York, Michael Adler, the Assistant US Attorney, who is handling the case, said. „The commercial truck was referred to the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System for a non-intrusive X-ray exam, which showed inconsistencies between the cargo in the nose of the trailer and that of the rest of the load,“ the Department of Justice said. Officers also observed that the trailer did not have a commercial seal securing the back doors. „As a result, it was referred to the Peace Bridge warehouse loading dock for a physical exam. During the initial physical exam, officers offloaded the properly identified coffee makers,“ the Justice Department said. They also located four skids containing seven crates that differed from the rest of the load. Inspection of the crates revealed coffee grounds. Secreted under the coffee grounds were vacuum sealed bags containing a green leafy substance, the Department of Justice said. Approximately 1,608 vacuum sealed bundles of suspected marijuana, weighing nearly 1,800 lbs, were removed from the original shipment containers, with an approximate value of US$ 2,500,000. “Recent events have created unique challenges for our Office and our partners in law enforcement as we work together to keep our communities and our Nation safe and secure,” stated US Attorney James P Kennedy. “While the COVID-19 response may have slowed commerce across our Nation’s borders, this arrest proves not only that criminals persist in their efforts to break the law but that law enforcement remains vigilant in its effort to uphold it,” he added. Port Director Jennifer De La O said: „This was an excellent job by our officers from start to finish”. „From recognising a shipment that needed further screening to the identification of the anomaly during the secondary scan, to the coordination with our partners at HSI, our officers are committed to intercepting these illicit drugs from being smuggled in,” he said. PTI FMCSA extends historic 50 state HOS waiver again, but fewer truckers will be covered | |
Several types of loads will no longer be covered by the HOS waiver.  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has once again extended an unprecedented national Hours of Service (HOS) regulation waiver for drivers hauling some COVID-19 relief supplies. On June 8, the FMCSA announced that the HOS waiver set to expire on June 14, 2020 would be extended through July 14, 2020. The initial HOS waiver was issued on March 13 and has since been extended and expanded several times as the pandemic lingers. The FMCSA is, however, cutting back on the type of loads that are considered to be “direct assistance” to COVID-19 relief and eligible for the waiver. Under the new waiver, the only loads that are eligible for HOS relief are:
Loads of food, fuel, raw materials including paper, plastic and alcohol, and liquified gases to be used in refrigeration systems are no longer eligible for the HOS waiver. “Direct assistance does not include routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of this emergency declaration,” the FMCSA points out. The FMCSA also reiterated that the HOS waiver does not give motor carriers the right to compel fatigued drivers to operate. Any driver who informs a motor carrier that they need rest is to be given 10 hours before they are required to return to duty. You can click here to learn more about the HOS waiver extension. |
Bankrupt Celadon sells Mexican business for more than $6 million | |
 Shuttered mega-carrier Celadon entered into an agreement to sell their Mexican assets for over $6 million. On June 11, 2020, Jaguar Transport Inc. bid $6.8 million to acquire Celadon’s Mexican assets via an online auction, according to court documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The $6.8 million sum was adjusted down to $6.1 million after a June 12 stock and asset purchase agreement. Per the agreement, Jaguar Transport will assume Celadon’s liabilities associated with their Chapter 11 filings. The assets purchased include Celadon Mexicana and Jaguar Logistics and Leasing Services. Included in the purchase are Celadon’s terminal in Nuevo Laredo, five International ProStar Class 8 trucks, and 75 trailers. P.A.M. Transportation Services and White Willow Holdings also attempted to purchase Celadon’s Mexican assets, but both deals fell through. Celadon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 9, 2019 and immediately announced that they would shut down operations. Around 4000 Celadon workers, many of them drivers, were suddenly laid off just weeks before the holidays. Jaguar Logistics also reportedly shut down for a time around the bankruptcy announcement but appears to have resumed operations of a fleet of 70 trucks. The bankruptcy and closure news came just days after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that two former executive officers with Celadon would face charges related to fraud and lying to investors. Earlier in 2019, Celadon agreed to pay $42.2 million in restitution to shareholders for “filing materially false and misleading statements to investors and falsifying books, records and accounts.” Celadon was founded in 1985 and was the largest provider of international truckload services in North America, operating 3,300 tractors and 10,000 trailers at the time of the bankruptcy. At least 20 train cars derail after smashing into semi stuck on tracks | |
 On June 17, 2020 a Norfolk Southern train crashed into a semi tractor trailer in downtown Duluth, Georgia, when it became stuck on the railroad tracks. The incident happened around 9:25 a.m off Buford Highway just North of Pleasant Hill Road. Authorities say that the wreck caused 20 to 23 cars to derail off the tracks. This included 3 locomotives and 2 hazmat cars. No hazmat material leaked. Two conductors of the train and the semi truck driver were transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Crews reopened Buford Highway around 12 p.m. Trucker shares list of 82 truck stops he was asked to avoid with a high value load | |
A truck driver recently said that his high value load came with something extra — a list of truck stops that the client asked him to avoid. The list features truck stop locations in 20 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington as well as Saskatchewan. Texas has the largest number of locations on the “DO NOT STOP” location list. Armored truck driving school puts veterans on the road to commercial license | |
A veteran-based driving school that specializes in armored trucks has started holding classes in Clarksville. Armored Trucking Academy started its first four-week training class June 1 to teach students how to drive commercial trucks and to earn their license. Institutional director Jerramie Medlen said they partnered with Austin Peay State University and have a subsequent relationship with Fort Campbell because they want those who transition out of the military to have options. “We’re here to serve those who have served for us," Medlen said. He said people are concerned about being on the road 24/7, as some have spent their entire military career away from home. But the company has options for those wanting to remain local. From Waste Management to Screaming Eagle Ready Mix, the academy has reached out to several companies to make ends meet for their students. “We’ve reached out to 15 local employers that are ready and willing to hire veterans that get these licenses in order to keep them at home every night." Training at Armored Trucking Academy is funded, through Campbell Strong, while post military and civilians will be funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The students only have to pay for their permit, physical and final test. And there are no contracts with a specific company after receiving a license through the academy. How it worksThe four-week training program runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and will consist of eight students total. The trucking school does provide trucks and trailers for all students in the program. Week one The first week is in a classroom at Austin Peay. After some instruction and study, students will take a practice test for their commercial driver's license permit. At the end of the first week, the students will go to the DMV to receive their permits. Week Two The rest of the training will be hands-on and taught at the Armored Trucking Academy, 175 Terminal Road, with pre-trip instructions, driving and backing maneuvers. Week Three The students will be introduced to driving the trucks on the road — "initially just without a trailer so they can get comfortable with the truck," Medlen said. By day three, students are then expected to drive the trucks on the road with a trailer attached. Week Four The first few days are for one-on-one assessment and review to make sure the students are comfortable enough to take their test. The last two days the students will take their road test to receive their driver's license. Medlen said he looks forward to bringing more job opportunities to the community and to "hear people see their success not because of us, but in lieu of us." For more information go to www.armoredtruckingacademy.com, email armoredtruckingacademy@gmail.com or call 931-542-4323. Trucker injured in Louisiana crash, fire | |
A 28-year-old truck suffered severe burns and other injuries Tuesday, June 9, when the truck he was driving left Interstate 49 in Louisiana and landed on a highway below. Motorists pulled the unidentified driver from the flaming wreckage of the crash that occurred at about 8:30 a.m. in Derry, Louisiana. Louisiana State Police say the trucker’s 2019 Freightliner boom truck was northbound on I-49 when the rig ran off the right-hand side of the road, struck a metal guardrail and a concrete rail. The rig landed on Louisiana Highway 119. State police continue their investigation. Derry is located about 90 miles south of Shrevepor 
Scene of truck crash and fire in Louisiana Tuesday (Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office photo) Source of this article and other great articles
https://cdllife.com/2020/police-puzzled-after-finding-dead-body-on-top-of-semi-truck/ | |
 Pennsylvania State Police say that they arrested a New Jersey man for a variety of violations after he drove an overweight truck over a bridge earlier this week. Police arrested 50 year old New Jersey resident Richard C. Smith Jr. in the early morning hours on June 8 in Lower Mount Bethel Township, according to reporting from local news outlet WFMZ. The incident began when Pennsylvania State Police were dispatched to the Riverton–Belvidere Bridge (also known as the Belvidere Free Bridge) for reports of an overweight truck crossing the bridge. When police arrived on the scene, they determined that Smith had driven the approximately 40 ton truck across the marked 8 ton bridge. In addition to the overweight violation, police also discovered that Smith did not have a CDL. Smith told officers that he had gotten the truck from his wife from a trucking terminal near Philadelphia. Police later learned that Smith is not married, had no reason to be driving the truck, and that the semi truck had been stolen from a truck lot in the Philadelphia area. Authorities also said that he was listed as a “missing and endangered person” in a database. Smith now faces felony charges of theft and receiving stolen property in addition to traffic offenses. Smith was not the first person to find himself in hot water for driving a truck over the bridge. The photo below was shared on social media in September 2019. The bridge was built in 1904 and underwent a nearly $9 million renovation in 2006. |
- Police puzzled after finding dead body on top of semi truck
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- Truck drivers set to receive free lunches Wednesday
- No cash payments accepted at Michigan’s international Blue Water Bridge through June 21
- Minnesota’s I-35 Albert Lea rest area temporarily closed for repair
- The Great Acceleration: 3 Trends Rapidly Transforming Trucking Companies Today
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