Truckers hauling high-dollar loads often find themselves targets for thieves looking to make a quick buck by robbing drivers of their possessions, freight and – in some tragic cases – their lives.

However, some thieves may think twice before approaching a truck if they know the driver might be armed.

This is why the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent out a national Call to Action on Tuesday, July 14, to its members, urging them to contact their senators to support an amendment that is being offered by Sen. John Thune, R-SD. Thune’s amendment would allow individuals who have concealed carry permits to carry a firearm in other states that also grant concealed carry permits.

Thune’s amendment was one of 35 that was added to the National Defense Authorization Act – or S1390 – which was being debated on the Senate floor on Tuesday.

In June, OOIDA President Jim Johnston sent a letter of support to Thune, who introduced S845, the “Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009,” because of its potential benefit to truckers who are in harm’s way daily.

“Every day the nationwide shortage of safe and secure truck parking threatens the well being of Americans who make their living behind the wheel of commercial motor vehicles,” Johnston wrote. “Drivers who are forced to park in unsafe, unsecure areas are vulnerable to individuals seeking to do them harm, rob them of their possessions and steal the freight they are hauling.”

OOIDA Life Member Tim Begle of Dale, IN, who carries a gun with him when out on the road, said he agrees with Johnston’s statement that Thune’s amendment, if enacted, would go a long way toward helping truckers protect themselves.

“As drivers, we go into some pretty unsecure locations in some of the warehousing and industrial areas that aren’t great places for truckers to be in at night, but are great places for crooks waiting to prey on truckers,” Begle told Land Line on July 14. “I have spoken to many drivers who have even been robbed at truck stops.”

Just showing his weapon to potential thieves has saved him at least twice, Begle said.

“This is an important issue for drivers,” he said. “If a thief knows a driver may be armed, it might be a deterrent for the thief not to take any chances and mess with a driver or his truck.”

Multiple changes have been made to New Jersey law in an effort to make roadways throughout the state a little safer for all users. Gov. Jon Corzine recently signed into law three bills that put tough restrictions on the youngest drivers in the state. The changes take effect in spring 2010.

One new law cuts back the number of hours young drivers can be on the road and limits the number of passengers.

Previously S16, the new rule limits probationary licensed or permitted drivers under age 21 to one passenger, unless accompanied by an adult. Affected drivers also will have to be off the road from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Existing state law mandates that affected drivers park their vehicles by midnight.

New drivers without a full-privilege license also will be prohibited from using wireless devices – hands-free or not – while at the wheel.

Advocates said the changes are aimed at minimizing distractions by tightening regulations.

They cite a report issued last year by the New Jersey Teen Driver Study Commission that found the risk of crashes increases when teen drivers take on more passengers. Carrying three passengers can increase risk 207 percent, according to the report.

Another change to state law requires people with the graduated driver’s licenses to display special orange decals when they get behind the wheel to make it easier for law enforcement to spot young drivers. The mandate applies to any vehicle they drive.

Sen. Fred Madden, D-Camden, Gloucester, said that 40 percent of fatal teen car wrecks occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“This new law will work to protect all drivers by reducing these numbers, while also making it easier for law enforcement officers to identify teen drivers,” Madden said in a written statement.

S2314 is intended to reinforce existing rules in the state regarding teen drivers. Violators of the decal requirement would face fines of $100.

One more change amends the state’s graduated driver’s licensing law.

Previously A3068, the new law requires teen drivers with a learner’s permit to log at least 50 hours of practice driving – including 10 hours of night driving. The practice driving must be certified by a parent, guardian or supervising driver. A six-hour driving course also is mandated.

Drivers age 17 to 20 who obtain an examination permit will be given the option to complete the learner’s permit certification requirements or complete 100 hours of certified driving, including 20 hours of night driving.

Drivers under 21 who have been issued learner’s or examination permits will be required to hold those permits for one year before being eligible for provisional licenses.

To view other legislative activities of interest for New Jersey in 2009, click here.

A proposed rule that would ban truckers from seven key routes in upstate New York has made its way to the governor’s office for review.

For more than a year now, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and its New York members have been fighting against the New York State Department of Transportation’s plan to restrict trucks from certain state routes in the Finger Lakes region.

On Friday, July 10, OOIDA sent out a Call to Action to its New York members urging them to contact Gov. David Paterson about how this could prove disastrous for small-business truckers.

OOIDA Legislative Affairs Director Mike Joyce said the timing of this “couldn’t come at a worse time” for truckers who are just trying to survive during these challenging economic times.

The NYSDOT estimates its plan could cost truckers an additional $10 million per year in additional fuel, toll and operating costs if truckers are forced off these secondary roads and on to the New York State Thruway.

While the original intent was geared toward restricting trash truck traffic on these particular routes in the Finger Lakes region, the ban would apply to all heavy trucks that use these roads.

This ban would prove detrimental to all trucking operations in the state. That is why Kendra Adams, the New York State Motor Truck Association executive director, is urging its members to speak out as well.

“(We) are prepared to do what is necessary to prevent the rule from being enacted,” she told Land Line on Thursday, July 9.

If Paterson signs off on the proposed rule, it would be published on the New York State’s Register, which would then trigger a 45-day public comment period.

“Given this economic climate, this is extra money our members just don’t have right now,” Joyce said.

As, a Truck Driver have you ever seen what is on your DAC Report? Do you even know what a DAC Report is? A DAC Report is to a Driver, the same as a Credit Report is to somebody trying to get a loan.

DAC, even though it is supposed to be regulated by The Fair Credit Reporting Act, is still an abusive system that too many companies use to get back at a truck driver.

Even though the truck driver does everything right, by giving his/her two weeks notice, then taking the truck and trailer to the companies terminal, also making sure it is clean when turned in will often still notice a negative mark on their report.

Companies do this often as a retaliation towards you, the truck driver for leaving their company. Its almost as if the company is like a child, if you get up and leave the child will throw a tantrum. Same thing these companies do, only their tantrum could cost you your career.

Trucking companies pay a Due each year to DAC in order to place reports on DAC and also to receive reports from DAC. So, as long as the due has been paid DAC really doesn't care if what has been put on the report is legit or not. As long as they have received their money.

The truck driver has a right to receive one FREE copy of your DAC report per year, but DAC services uses this for a scam as well. You can send for your DAC report, then you do not receive it, and when you call DAC about it they say they have mailed it out, and it is not their problem you did not receive it. If, you want another copy it will cost you $9.00 this time.

USIS Commercial Services Division

4500 South 129th East avenue

Suite 200

Tulsa, Oklahoma

74134

Phone# 800-381-0645

If you see a false report, then you are ALLOWED to dispute this, and the reporting company has 30 days to respond, if they do not respond then it is suppose to be removed from your DAC report. But, in most cases it will not be removed, because DAC is going to site with the company because the companies pay them money.

You, can read more about this at www.askthetrucker.com Allen goes into this pretty in depth. He also, has a youtube video done nicely on this subject.

We believe this abuse by many trucking companies and the DAC Services is in violation of The Fair Credit Reporting Act and employee rights. Help end this DAC reporting abuse PLEASE sign the petition.

See video

If you fail a drug test, when it comes time for your retest, you will be watched.

The Department of Transportation enacted new regulations in 2008 that mandated the “observed collection” of urine samples collected in return to duty tests, follow-up tests or when tampering with the sample was suspected. The regulation was to go into full effect Nov. 1.

BNSF Railway Co. and nine other groups sued the Department of Transportation over the new drug testing policy. The cases were consolidated, and the groups filed a motion for emergency stay pending review to stop enforcement of the new regulations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the motion Oct. 31, 2008.

On July 1, the court ruled against BNSF and the other groups and lifted the stay. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will issue a Final Rule providing a start date for the mandatory direct observation for all follow-up and return-to-duty tests.

The Arizona Legislature has forwarded to the governor a lengthy transportation bill that includes several provisions of interest to truckers. Among the most notable provisions is an attempt to bring toll roads to the state.

Cities and towns throughout the state would have the authority to build, operate and finance the construction of toll roads.

The provision was tacked onto the transportation bill that received final approval in the Senate on a 19-8 vote. House lawmakers previously approved it by a vote of 40-19. The passage cleared the way for the bill – SB1320 – to move to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk.

Advocates for the new tolling authority say collecting fees would relieve some of the burden on taxpayers. Others insist they aren’t pushing specific toll projects. They simply want to expand the options available to the state to get work done.

Truck driver and OOIDA member David Goss of New River, AZ, isn’t opposed to toll roads but he is concerned about the state abusing eminent domain laws to take land for projects.

“I don’t have a problem with toll roads used by local people. If they want to make a toll road, that’s fine – as long as it’s not on the interstate and affecting interstate commerce,” Goss told Land Line. “I do have an objection with toll roads being built where they use eminent domain to seize the property.”

Also included in the bill are provisions that directly address trucking. Courts would be required to send records of photo radar traffic tickets to the Arizona Department of Transportation for commercial driver’s license holders.

Another provision would allow courts to require CDL holders to attend defensive driving school as part of a sentence for a moving violation.

Goss said he thinks all truckers would benefit from regular defensive driving courses.

“There can’t be enough education for truck drivers out here. Just like pilots. They are always in training. They have (multimillion dollar) aircraft where we have a $100,000 truck. We still are moving large vehicles with property,” he said.

Other changes to Arizona law seek to get tough with those in the trucking industry who don’t heed their out-of-service orders. First-time offenders would see the length of time they are prohibited from driving double from 90 to 180 days. Repeat offenses within 10 years would result in two years off the road. Currently, violators are prohibited from driving for one year.

For motor carriers who violate an out-of-service order or permit a driver to violate an OOS order, the maximum penalty would jump from $11,000 to $25,000.

Supporters say adoption of the OOS penalties would preserve some of Arizona’s federal highway funding.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Arizona in 2009, click here.

– By Keith Goble, state legislative editor

Even with federal stimulus spending that put shovels in the ground on new infrastructure projects, analysts predict an overall decline of 4.3 percent on infrastructure in 2009.

Analysts from IHS Global Insight stated in a report that they expect a 5.5 percent decline in highway spending despite a $48 billion infusion to the U.S. Department of Transportation from the stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year. The U.S. DOT had, at last tally, allocated $16 billion of its stimulus money to specific highway projects in need of funding.

“This sector is not expected to see positive year-over-year growth until 2010,” the authors of the report wrote. IHS Global Insight provides market analysis for freight, transportation, power, real estate, agriculture and other sectors.

State budget shortfalls continue to plague the market for infrastructure construction, according to IHS Global Insight’s construction division.

Analysts predict a further decline of 1.6 percent for infrastructure in 2010 followed by an anticipated 2.4 percent growth in 2011. The bounce-back will occur “as tax receipts improve for state governments, and the federal stimulus package, totaling approximately $120 billion for infrastructure, is fully implemented,” the authors of the report wrote.

Stimulus money is being used for more than just roads, with improvements coming for power grids, water systems, waste disposal and oil refineries and pipelines.

“With the exception of power, all infrastructure sub-sectors are expected to drop in 2009,” IHS Global Insight wrote.

Other forms of transportation construction, including high-speed rail and port renovations, will contract by 10.2 percent, the analysts wrote, with modest gains expected in 2011.

Click here to read the full report.

Trucking companies with offices in Wisconsin can apply for up to $100,000 each in grants for emissions-cutting equipment upgrades.

The Wisconsin American Recovery and Reinvestment Clean Diesel Grant Program announced in June that it will accept applications for equipment purchases until Aug. 3.

The program will pay for 100 percent of the cost of exhaust retrofit controls, 50 percent of the cost of idle-reduction devices, 100 percent of engine emission upgrades, 75 percent of engine repowers, and 25 percent of the cost of “equipment replacements” on 1998 model year or older equipment.

Grants to replace reefer engines from 1998 or older also are available under the program’s off-road equipment designation.

Applicants must be either headquartered in or operate a base office in Wisconsin. If they’re awarded the grants, applicants must pay the minimum match percentages per equipment in cash and obtain a Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System number and a registry with Central Contractor Registration.

More information is available at http://dnr.wi.gov/air/mobile/CleanDieselGP.htm.

Approved in February, the Recovery Act made $1.7 million available to each U.S. state for diesel emissions-reduction programs.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has chosen MPP Tim Hudak to take on the Liberal Party in the next election.

Hudak defeated MPP Frank Klees by a narrow margin of electoral votes during a runoff for party leadership the final week of June. Candidates and fellow Members of Provincial Parliament Christine Elliott and Randy Hillier placed third and fourth respectively. Approximately 40,000 registered members of the party cast ballots in the leadership runoff.

The Progressive Conservatives, also known as the PCs or Tories, have nothing to lose in the 2011 provincial election. Back in 2003, the Liberals abruptly ended 13 years of PC rule and won a majority government.

That majority gave the Liberals the power to pass a speed-limiter mandate for heavy-duty trucks and to create a pilot program allowing certain mega fleets to put longer combination vehicles on the highways. Also brewing is a carbon “cap and trade” system that would tax a number of industries.

PC Party leaders regrouped and chose Hudak as their new leader following the resignation of former leader MPP John Tory. Hudak will face Ontario Premier and Liberal Party Leader Dalton McGuinty in the 2011 provincial election.

Hudak did not directly address the issue of speed limiters during the party leadership campaign, but he has a history with the issue. It remains unclear where he stands at the present time.

When the McGuinty government put its speed-limiter agenda forward, Hudak issued a statement criticizing the premier for doing a “U-turn” on the issue. Previous to the Liberal push, the Progressive Conservative Party attempted to pass a speed-limiter bill from the back benches but the Liberals let the measure die in committee.

“This plan didn’t even get support from the Minister’s own parliamentary assistant when it was brought forward over a year ago,” Hudak said in the statement dated July 5, 2007. “Now that we’re heading into an election, the McGuinty Liberals have pulled a U-turn and said they’re going to have speed limiters installed on trucks.”

Recent calls by Land Line to Hudak’s office have gone unreturned.

Two of Hudak’s opponents in the leadership race, Klees and Hillier, told Land Line during the campaign that they would work to overturn the government’s speed-limiter mandate if elected. Hillier had also vowed to increase speed limits on Ontario’s 400 series highways to the equivalent of 70 mph.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Monday, July 13, a $31 billion capital bill that routes two-thirds of the money to transportation projects.

The state’s first construction spending plan in more than a decade is expected to create thousands of jobs and to help rebuild the state’s crumbling infrastructure. The work will be paid for through new and higher taxes and fees and a vast expansion of legalized gambling.

Quinn said the massive funding bill will allow the state to keep up with demand for new or rebuilt highways, bridges, schools and public transportation systems. He also said it will create and retain more than 439,000 jobs during the next six years.

The bill allots $14.3 billion for roads and bridges through 2015, while another $7 billion is pegged for other transportation projects such as high-speed rail and Chicago-area transit. Education is slated to receive $5.1 billion.

Of the amount dedicated to roads and bridges, nearly $10 billion will be used for repairs while $4 billion will be spent on new construction. Local projects – work done by county road departments and other agencies – will get $500 million.

Illinois will use bonds to pay for the public works program. In effect, the state will borrow money and repay it over the next two or three decades. Revenue to repay the debt will be created by charging more for licenses and registrations. The tax on alcohol also is increasing. And sales tax will be applied on more items, including sweetened tea.

In addition, it will be easier to gamble throughout the state. Video poker machines now can be added in taverns, restaurants and truck stops. Also, betting will be permitted over the Internet on the state lottery.

Critics of this initiative are upset the state is using video gambling to lure more citizens to lose money during a time of high unemployment. Supporters say that towns and cities can choose to keep video gambling illegal in their jurisdictions.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Illinois in 2009, click here.

– By Keith Goble, state legislative editor

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. and OGDEN, Utah — Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J today will announce an agreement to merge the two companies’ travel centers into a single operation.

A spokesperson for Flying J confirmed the announcement was scheduled for today.

The Trucker first learned of the pending agreement late Monday.

A spokesperson for Pilot would neither confirm nor deny the merger.

Other Flying J entities are not involved, sources have told The Trucker.

The merger would seemingly free up cash that could be used to help Flying J in its effort to reorganize certain aspects of its company under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Flying J announced in December that Flying J Inc. and its Big West refining and Longhorn Pipeline subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions to reorganize under Chapter 11.

The scope of the filing is limited to those operations only, Flying J officials said, noting that the filing did not apply to other business units or affiliates, or the company's Canadian operations, including truck stop locations.

Last month, Flying J announced it was closing restaurants at seven of its locations in the U.S. in a cost cutting move.

“The reality of our country’s struggling economy requires those entrusted with the immediate and long term welfare of our company to prudently evaluate measures that will best sustain us through challenging times,” Virginia Parker, director of marketing, said at the time the closings were announced. “Like any successful business, we regularly review the long-term potential of each property and evaluate the performance required for each location to continue operating.”

Parker said after careful evaluation, Flying J recently made the decision to close the following restaurant locations: Commerce, Ga; Bessemer, Ala., Lubbock, Texas; Cokeville, Wyo., Evanston, Wyo.; Payson, Utah, and Casper, Wyo.

She said the Flying J stores at those locations would continue to provide hot and cold deli items.

Whether those seven restaurants remain open under Pilot management is not known.

Pilot traditionally has not operated full-service restaurants at its locations, preferring to lease space to established food vendors such as Wendy's, Subway, and Arby's among many others.

However, published reports have indicated that some of the Pilot locations that are being remodeled will feature a Denny's restaurant.

Also not known until the formal announcement is made is the status of Comdata at Flying J locations.

Flying J presently does not accept Comdata cards.

Source: The Trucker

In Ohio to drop a load of food, Bradley Butler paused to take a phone call from home.

On the other end, Butler’s wife told him police were saying a serial killer had killed at least two people in the family’s hometown of Gaffney, SC, and police were asking residents to lock their doors.

Victims included a peach farmer and two teachers. Two of the slayings occurred only a couple of miles from the Butler family’s front door.

The news worried Butler, particularly because the OOIDA member wouldn’t make it home for another four days.

“They were locking doors, and she didn’t do any outside work,” Butler said Thursday.

From June 27 until he was shot and killed on July 6, Patrick Tracy Burris allegedly killed five people in Gaffney and terrorized the community before being shot and killed on Monday, July 6. As investigators grapple with motive, and reporters ask authorities why Burris wasn’t incarcerated, trucking families recounted a tense, emotional 10 days spent mostly away from their families.

On June 27, Kline Cash, 63, was killed. On July 1, Hazel Linder and her daughter, Gena Linder Parker, 50, were bound and shot in Linder’s home. That crime scene is about two miles from the Butler residence.

Butler’s wife was a classmate of Parker’s.

“It was all very tragic,” Butler said quietly.

Butler, a former Gaffney police sergeant and shift supervisor, called former co-workers at the station for insight as investigators grappled to find the killer.

Their information wasn’t encouraging.

“They basically didn’t have anything to go on,” Butler said. “They had a description and a sketch of a suspect, but that was basically it. No name, motive or any idea of where he was living at the time.

Butler’s college-age son and daughter stayed around the house, mostly inside, during the manhunt. When Butler had to leave town again after two days at home, he said he was more at ease knowing they were staying with his wife.

“I felt fairly secure,” Butler said. “We have, of course, several guns in the house.”

OOIDA member John Martin also learned about the killings from relatives.

With two grown children and seven grandchildren in Gaffney, Martin said he worried the entire first week after the first murder. Martin was making his regular run between Tennessee and Florida during that week, and didn’t go home until the July 4 weekend.

His mother moved in with relatives, and Martin got reports about each subsequent killing in phone calls from her and other family members.

“My biggest worry was for my family,” said Martin, who’s lived in Gaffney all his life.

Driving around town after coming home, Martin said Gaffney had an eerie, ghost-town feel. Parks were mostly empty, doors were locked, and some fireworks shows for Independence Day were canceled.

“Everyone was just real nervous,” Martin said. “Everybody was keeping their doors shut. You wouldn’t have wanted to be a door-to-door salesman; I’ll say that.”

Since Monday, when Gaffney residents and the world learned police shot and killed Patrick Tracy Burris, Martin said people have begun working their way back to normal.

A previous strangler in the area was famous in the 1960s, but Martin said the recent killings were particularly chilling because they happened in broad daylight, including some very public locations. Stephen Tyler and his daughter Abby, 15, were shot and killed in their family’s furniture store just blocks from county sheriff’s offices on July 2.

Several media reports, including The Associated Press say Burris had a long rap sheet and apparently abused drugs before going on the rampage. Some law enforcement officials were blaming the judicial system for not incarcerating him sooner for parole violations.

“I’m just glad it’s over with,” Martin said. “I hate it for (Burris’) family that he had to be killed – but this needed to come to an end for everybody else.”

The companies utilizing the ELEKTRA are operating 2007 Peterbuilt model '379' trucks with Cummins 450HP turbo diesel engines. The printed fuel flow is "273mm(3)/stroke," and the fuel line size (feed) is -10AN. The chassis weight of these 2 vehicles is reported at 15081 lbs.

"Although these two units are early prototypes of the ELEKTRA, we're very pleased with the feedback received so far," commented Mr. Cecil Bond Kyte, Chairman and CEO of Save The World Air, Inc. "The units were not installed to gauge mileage improvements or measure anything other than how the units interacted with the vehicles power plant. We are happy to report that so far, the two ELEKTRA units have been running continually with no leakage, hindrance of perceptible performance or damage to the diesel engines or fuel system of the trucks."

The 30th Annual Walcott Truckers’ Jamboree in Walcott, IA, begins Thursday, July 9, and continues through Friday, July 10.

The first Jamboree was held as a ‘thank you’ from Bill Moon to his Iowa 80 truck stop customers. It attracted a few hundred drivers then, but recent attendance has reached 30,000.

Country singer, songwriter Aaron Tippin will perform at the show, which is also a celebration of Iowa 80’s 45th anniversary. Tippin is a former truck driver and a Life Member of OOIDA.

Other happenings include an 8-foot long truck cake big enough to feed 2,000 people, antique trucks, a pork chop cookout, fireworks and a pet contest.

For complete details, click here.

Even with federal stimulus spending that put shovels in the ground on new infrastructure projects, analysts predict an overall decline of 4.3 percent on infrastructure in 2009.

Analysts from IHS Global Insight stated in a report that they expect a 5.5 percent decline in highway spending despite a $48 billion infusion to the U.S. Department of Transportation from the stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year. The U.S. DOT had, at last tally, allocated $16 billion of its stimulus money to specific highway projects in need of funding.

“This sector is not expected to see positive year-over-year growth until 2010,” the authors of the report wrote. IHS Global Insight provides market analysis for freight, transportation, power, real estate, agriculture and other sectors.

State budget shortfalls continue to plague the market for infrastructure construction, according to IHS Global Insight’s construction division.

Analysts predict a further decline of 1.6 percent for infrastructure in 2010 followed by an anticipated 2.4 percent growth in 2011. The bounce-back will occur “as tax receipts improve for state governments, and the federal stimulus package, totaling approximately $120 billion for infrastructure, is fully implemented,” the authors of the report wrote.

Stimulus money is being used for more than just roads, with improvements coming for power grids, water systems, waste disposal and oil refineries and pipelines.

“With the exception of power, all infrastructure sub-sectors are expected to drop in 2009,” IHS Global Insight wrote.

Other forms of transportation construction, including high-speed rail and port renovations, will contract by 10.2 percent, the analysts wrote, with modest gains expected in 2011.

Click here to read the full report.

Before the economic “tsunami,” as OOIDA member Russ Iund refers to the recession that has crippled his business, he was living the American dream.

Iund’s small flatbed trucking company in Chehalis, WA, was doing well. Work was plentiful, and over the years he had managed to build up his fleet to 12 trucks – with all but one paid for.

But then diesel hit nearly $5 per gallon in July 2008 and his fuel bills were running him nearly $10,000 a day to keep all of his trucks moving, even with the 175-gallon-per-day fueling limit he had to impose on his drivers. Unable to keep up with the $50,000-per-week fuel bills for long, he was forced to lay off some of his drivers.

A year later, Iund said while he has seen a “spark” in the past few weeks that business is coming back, it may be too late to save his small trucking company. That’s because the renewal license fees are due on his fleet, which is down to five trucks, and he doesn’t have the money to pay the approximately $12,500 that he owes to keep them going.

Read more

Truck owners from Florida have to move fast if they want in on an APU rebate program designed to help truckers comply with the state’s new idling regulation.

Owners of Class 8 on-road commercial diesel trucks model year 2006 and older can apply for up to three $1,500 rebates for APUs purchased and installed in 2009 through the Florida Clean Diesel Rebate Program.

The grants are available through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which has $300,000 total for the program.

“Since funding for this program is limited, rebates will be awarded on a first-come first-serve basis, and continue while they’re still available,” a statement from the Florida DEP said.

In December, Florida will begin enforcing its new ban on truck idling for drivers who aren’t in their sleeper berth. The sleeper berth exemption expires in 2013.

For more information and to apply, click here. OOIDA members can also call the Association at 800-444-5791.

A new law in Louisiana is intended to provide additional protections for consumers from being gouged at the fuel pump. It takes effect Aug. 15.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports nearly 30 states have some type of price-gouging ban with still others pursuing their own rules. The laws in many of those states are triggered by emergency declarations.

Louisiana currently imposes civil fines on merchants who overcharge for goods and services, including fuel, during or in the wake of a declared emergency. The rule allows the state’s attorney general to investigate price-gouging complaints at the retail level.

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law June 29 to extend the price-gouging ban to include refineries and other wholesalers.

Sen. David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, said applying the price-gouging ban solely to retailers proved problematic around the time of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. While most of the industry “behaved well,” Heitmeier said some wholesalers imposed higher prices on retailers. As a result, those retailers were forced to pass on the increases to customers.

Existing Louisiana law doesn’t cover those actions under its price-gouging protections. The new law – SB272 – closes that loophole.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Louisiana in 2009, click here.