February 1, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode I discuss all of the bad weather and accidents that happened across the country as the polar vortex swept across the nation last week. I also discuss other news making the headlines in the trucking industry. Music by: Heyday Highway@EpidemicSound.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You are listening to Julia's Truck and Cafe News Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good evening, everybody. Hope you're having a wonderful day today.
Thank you so much for joining us for the episode
of Julia's Truck, a Cafe, Truck and News Hour. Now
this week we're going to be talking about all of
the weather and bad weather and everything that happened with
this polar I call it a polar vortex. I went
(00:38):
through the swept through the country, and how New Orleans
got eight to ten inches of snow that they haven't
seen in almost one hundred years, and that blasted all
the way to Florida. So, as always, I have lots
(00:58):
of news to get to, so let's get right to it.
And this story black ice in Houston causes I sixty
nine crash involving four semi trucks. An unusual winter storm
in Houston caused the wreck involving four semi trucks on
black ice. The incident happened around three point thirty in
the morning on January twenty first on Interstate sixty nine
(01:22):
Southwest Freeway North in Richmond, Texas, just outside of Houston.
According to the local news, the snowflall and black ice
caused one semi to overturn. A second semi then jackknife
trying to avoid the first one that overturned and was
soon sideswiped by a third, ripping open the jackknife rig.
(01:45):
A four semi truck was also involved and sustained damage
to its trailer. Two truck drivers were taken to the
hospital with non life threatening injuries and clean up. The
incident was so extensive its crews worked to clean the
debris and wrecked rigs. Snow and ice are expected to
(02:05):
remain in the area through Wednesday afternoon. And our next story,
let me scroll down. We have a lot of news
to get to. An SUV driver arrested for OWI after
crashing into an Indiana waystation. One second, Sorry about that.
(02:28):
A motorist was arrested over the weekend after colliding with
a way station in Indiana. The crash occurred on Saturday,
January eighteenth, at the way station on eastbound I ninety four,
east of the Chesterston exit. According to Indiana State Police,
a black twenty twenty two Chevy Tahoe had had driven
(02:52):
through the entrance to the scalehouse at a high rate
of speed. The Chevy struck the metal entrance gate, then
continued through the scale lanes, colliding with several street signs
and light poles. The vehicle came to rest on the
bypass lane of the scalehouse against the metal guard rail.
The crash sent debris flying, which shattered the way station's windows.
(03:17):
Tahoe driver, later identified as this Lopez Monsera of Chicago,
was determined to have been under the influence, according to
Indiana State Police. Troopers say she was offered the opportunity
to take a chemical test, but the driver's interactions resulted
to her being charged with operating while under the influence,
(03:39):
refusal and booked into the local county jail. It was
also learned that the driver was attempting to drive home, However,
she was headed eastbound on I ninety four rather than
westbound toward Illinois, said the state Police. They say that
the damage to the way station is in the several
(04:00):
thousands of dollars and inmates workers in this story pull
a trucker from a wrecked semi truck. A truck driver
was pulled from his wrecked rig by a team of
inmates working on a highway in Kentucky. This happened around
nine thirty in the morning on US Highway six near Owensboro, Kentucky.
(04:21):
According to the local news, an accident involving a one
passenger vehicle and a state Highway patrol occurred in the
eastbound lanes of Highway six. As a crew of inmates
from the Davies County Detention Center worked to phil potholes,
A semi truck then came over a nearby hill and
lost it excuse me, nearly crashing into the inmates before
(04:45):
jackknifing and then flipping. Inmate workers had rushed to the
wreck truck to try to free the driver while others
grab fire extinguishers and worked to put out the fire
that had broken out. Several crew members and u piece
of metal to break a truck window and free the
trap driver. The driver, Brian Markham, escaped and was walking
(05:07):
around and talking, but did sustain injuries considered to be
non life threatening. Quote. They actually got the fire out.
There was leak and fuel that was a danger from
the fire, said the jailer. The inmates are expected to
receive official recognition for their rescue efforts, so that was
(05:28):
pretty cool of them. They could have stood by and
watched a sucker burn and they didn't. They came to aid,
so that is pretty cool. Indeed. And a person is
hit during a fifteen vehicle pile up during whiteout conditions
after stepping out of his wrecked vehicle. Up to fifteen
(05:50):
vehicles were involved in a crash in white out conditions
in Michigan on Monday morning. The series of accidents happened
on the twentieth on I ninety six in Michigan near
Grand Rapids. According to the local news, the accident left
several vehicles smashed in the median of the roadway, A
(06:12):
box truck overturned, a semi veered into the roadside ditch.
One person evolved in the crash was hit by another
vehicle that exited the wreck car. Other injuries were also reported.
None of the people hurting the crash sustained anything life threatening.
Troopers say that there was whiteout conditions at the time
of the pile up, which happens along that corridor quite often,
(06:35):
and that some of the drivers were traveling at speeds
far too fast for conditions. I ninety six eastbound was
closed for about two hours, and then it was still
closed at around twelve thirty that afternoon. And this next
story a man is charged with murder for allegedly shooting
(06:57):
a person stealing an excavator. A man is facing homicide
charges in New Mexico after allegedly shooting a person who
was stealing a piece of heavy equipment. Miguel Varrella twenty two,
the person that's shown here in the photo, is charged
with second degree murder, according to the local county Sheriff's office,
(07:19):
around eleven in the morning on January nineteenth, deputies responded
to Rio Bravo Boulevard and Prince Street in Bernalillo County,
New Mexico for a call about a stolen vehicle. Quote.
The calling party stated he was following his brother's stolen
escavator being towed by a white truck, unknown at the
(07:41):
time to also be a stolen vehicle. The vehicle and
excavator were followed by the calling party, which crashed near
two to one Prosperity, said the Sheriff's officer. Deputies arrived
on the scene, they found is Zedro Ramirez in the
driver's seat of the stolen vehicle, suffering from at least
one gunshot wound. Deputies administered aid, but Ramirez ultimately died
(08:06):
at the scene. According to the local shrifes. Miguel Verilla,
brother of the caller, remained at the scene was taken
into police custody without incident. Verilla was booked into the
detention center on the charge of homicide. So, yeah, he
was trying to help his brother out and really don't
(08:28):
know exactly what the heck happened, but went ahead and
got I don't really say if he shot the guy
or exactly what happened with that, So I don't want
to assume anything because it's all allegedly and five are
(08:49):
dead after a car driver runs a stop sign and
drives into the path of a semi truck. North Carolina
Highway Patrol responded to a multi fatality crash involving an
SUV and a semi truck in Bladen County. This crash
occurred on January nineteenth, about four in the afternoon. According
(09:11):
to North Carolina Highway Patrol, thirty six year old Hernandez
was operating in an SUV south on Purty Hall Road
when she failed to stop at a stop sign for
a semi truck traveling east on North Carolina Route twenty.
Last uv entered the path of the semi truck and
was hit. Hernandez had four children between the ages of
(09:34):
fifteen and six died as a result of the crash.
The truck driver was not seriously hurt. Excuse me, please
say the truck driver will not be charged because Hernandez
was at fault. But you still have that on your conscience,
even though she pulls out in front of you and stuff,
(09:56):
you still have that on your conscience, I would think.
And in this story, a high crash zone takes out
multiple cows when cattle hauler overturns. Several cows are dead
after a livestock haller flipped on a ditorial, notoriously dangerous
curve in North Carolina. Accident happened on January twenty, first
(10:19):
round twelve thirty in the morning on the ramp of
E eighty five South is seventy seven near Charlotte. And
that is a pretty hard curve right there. The tractor
trailer was on a sharp left curve deemed a high
crash zone when overturned, trapping about forty cows inside and
(10:40):
killing a few. The truck driver was not hurt in
the incident. Police, cattle wranglers and three other trailers were
brought to off load the surviving cows. A sign deeming
the ramp a high crash zone was installed back in
December of twenty twenty four. The ramp is estimated to
be reopened, you know, later on that day, but it
(11:02):
was like twelve hours later before the ramp could have
been reopened. And anytime you're on the live stream, you
want to leave comments or questions or anything, please feel
free to leave it in the chat. I'll try my
best to answer any kind of comments, questions. I try
(11:24):
to read all of them, so please feel free. And
in this story, sixteen vehicle crash was reported on the
Michigan Interstate and I don't know if it's the same
as I think this was a different one than the one. Yeah,
(11:46):
the other one was on ninety six. I'm just scrolling
through here. This one was on ninety four. Michigan State
Police respond to a major multi vehicle crawsha Van Buren
County last week Tuesday. This happened before nine am near Hartford, Michigan.
(12:09):
Now this is drone picture that you see on your screen.
Troopers said that ten passenger vehicles and six semi trucks
were involved in this crash on eastbound I ninety four
there again. Preliminary investigation shows that three semi trucks were
involved in initial crash on I ninety four, and this
(12:30):
caused a chain reaction resulting in seven crashes and five
people sliding off the highway. Only minor injuries were reported.
The incident closed eastbound I ninety four between mile markers
forty six to fifty six for hours, and the Michigan
(12:52):
State Police said crews were to close were close to
reopening the interstate around lunchtime that day. And A truck
driver in a distinctive yellow rig is on trial for
three out of ten suspected murders. A truck driver previously
(13:15):
excuse me convicted of two murders is on trial again
for the two thousand and seven death of a woman
whose body was found years after her disappearance. Seventy three
year old Bruce Mendenhall went on trial the twenty first
(13:36):
Tuesday for the July two thousand and seventh murder of
Karma Purpura, Propurer disappeared from a Flying Jay truck stop
at Indianapolis and remained missing until twenty eleven, when her
body was found on the side of a Kentucky interstate
According to the local news, Mendenhall was pulled over by
(13:57):
officer investigating another truck stop murder just a few hours
after he murdered Purpura. During the officer's investigation, he noticed
the inside of the cab was splattered with blood and
the distinctive yellow color. Yellow color of the truck was
hard to miss. Quote. I saw a truck coming towards
(14:18):
me that looked like the truck we've been discussing for
the past two days, said the sergeant. The cab of
the truck was literally a wash with blood. Former Marion
County prosecutor said the investigation back in two thousand and seven,
investigators were able to match the DNA from blood to Purpura.
Some of our things were also found inside the truck.
(14:41):
Mendenhall was taken into custody and implicated himself at at
least six homicides during his interview with police, two murders
at truck stops in Tennessee, two murders in Indiana, one
in Georgia, and one in Alabama. Mendenhall has since been
convicted of two different first degree murders for his two
(15:02):
Tennessee victims and was sentenced to life at prison for
both of those cases. Now he's on trial for the
Indiana murder and was scheduled go on trial in Birmingham,
Alabama for another suspected murder. Yeah. Yeah, don't report on
very many of those stories, Thank goodness. And Trump orders
federal agencies, including the FMCSA, to freeze pending regulations, which
(15:31):
is a good thing. In one of the first moves
of his second term as president, he ordered official agencies
to halt all rulemaking activity pending the White House review.
On January twentieth, he issued Regulatory Freeze pending Review order
forbidding any agencies from sending a rule to be published
(15:53):
in the Federal Register without the rule first being reviewed
by the White House. You order additionally required agencies immediately
withdraw any any rule excuse me, that has been submitted
to the Office of the Federal Register but has not
yet been published in the Federal Register. What their Federal
Register is is anytime an agency passes a ruling, So
(16:19):
agencies make rules, Congress make laws. They go from bills
to laws. So anytime there's a regulatory agency, they have
to do a rule and the rules are are then
submitted to the Office of the Federal Register, which then
(16:42):
is also put in the Federal Register like book, so
then it's actually a ruling like all of the ruling
for fmcsay about the thirty minute break and about ten
hour rule, can't drive over that. The fourteen hour rule, Well,
that's all in this Federal Register. So agencies are also
(17:04):
advised to consider postponing for sixty days from the date
of this memorandum the effective date for any rules that
have been published in the Federal Register or any rules
that have been issued in any manner but have not
taken effect yet, for the purpose of reviewing any questions
of fact, law, and policy that the rules may arise.
(17:25):
So you've got to postpone for sixty days any rules
that have been published that the White House needs to review.
The Regulatory Freeze Order will put the brakes on any
immediate action from all federal agencies, including the US Department
of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA.
(17:48):
A few of the most impactful rules worked to advance
during the Biden administration, with the Heavy Vehicle Speed Limit
or rule, the Heavy Vehicle Automatic Emergency Breaking Rule, and
a broker Transparency rule. With the Trump administration in place.
It's unclear where these rules could advance, but the president's
(18:08):
first term showed thesis strong tendency toward the deregulation of
federal agencies. That's they're upined this this article's opinion. The
owner Operator, OI d A and other trade groups recently
pend a letter asking Trump to put a stop to
any speed limit or rule for commercial trucks. So he
(18:28):
put a pause on everything is about what he did.
I've been going around and around around with the speed
limited rule for ages and he just don't know if
it's ever going to get passed. So there's a lot
to that hold on lost by place. My bad, Sorry
(18:50):
about that. Here you go. Yeah, gotta love, gotta love
being live. And a family owned trucking company in this
story burned to the ground from charging a lithium ion battery.
A family owned trucking company Wisconsin was deemed a total
loss after a fire caused by charging a battery. The
(19:13):
fire started before three point thirty in the morning on
January thirteenth that the drop trucking building County Road Double
X in Alaska, Wisconsin. According to the local news, firefighters
were called to the scene of the large structure fire
and used over one hundred thousand gallons of water to
(19:36):
extinguish the flames and subsequent hotspots. Seven fire departments aided
in the firefighting, and multiple water tenders were called to
the scene due to the severity of the fire. Since
the fire, officials have determined that the cause was an
unintentional electrical fire caused by a charging lithium ion battery.
(19:59):
So there we go. It just I don't. I just
don't believe in electric vehicles. I really don't. You can't
and not with you know, driving a semi truck and
again for part of the bad weather. Two hundred drivers
are stranded on Alabama highway following a semi truck crash.
(20:22):
Police say that hundreds of drivers are stranded on a
snowy Alabama highway last week Wednesday morning following a Tuesday
afternoon semi vehicle crash. January twenty second, the local county
Sheriff's office said that approximately two hundred vehicles are stranded
on Highway two thirty one and Highway fifty three near Ozark, Alabama.
(20:46):
Been there and there plenty of times going out to Walmart.
So two thirty one is like south of Birmingham, and
you take that all the way down and to get
into Walmart down in that direction. According to local news,
(21:07):
the backups on Highway two thirty one began when a
semi truck jackknife near the fifty mile marker, resulting in
people sliding off. Initially, the Sheriff's office reported that about
forty drivers were stuck in the traffic backup on Highway
two thirty one, but that number grew overnight as people
(21:27):
continued to drive on the highway. No injuries were reported.
Some drivers were reportedly being stuck on the highway since
seven o'clock the previous evening. As of Wednesday morning, both
directions of the highway were closed. Quote recovery efforts are ongoing,
but are compounded by more vehicles trying to enter this area.
(21:48):
Please avoid the area they were trying to say. The
National Guard, they even called out, was on the scene
assisting with moving stuck trucks and in cards. So yeah,
it was a mess down south to Birmingham. They don't
get snow. So you could see on the photo that
looks like something out of Wisconsin or Illinois. That's in Alabama.
(22:14):
They don't get snow like that down there they have
no way to remove it. It's nuts. And in this story,
a truck and a dog were saved from a frigid
crawl through an irrigation ditch. The incident happened on the
twenty first in Sterling, Colorado. According to the local news,
(22:36):
the cattle trailer was empty when he veered off a
Highway fourteen and crashed into the irrigation ditch full of
icy water. The truck driver and the dog were unhurt,
but were stuck inside the cab do to the frigid water.
First responders used a ladder to get the driver in
the furry coal pilot to safety and recovery crews were
able to drag the truck out of the ditch, so
(22:58):
at least it was empty and thing goodness, everybody was
okay on that slide off and drivers were stuck on
I seventy five overnight and they just walked off and
abandoned their rigs in the middle of the road. There again,
this weather was just nuts. Drivers are stranded on Interstate
(23:22):
seventy five and George overnight after a semi truck fire
blocked the highway. Excuse me. This happened in Monroe County, Georgia.
According to the local news, a semi caught fire on
I seventy five at a high Falls road, blocking all
lanes just before Highway thirty six. Several lanes were reopened
(23:47):
just before nine thirty in the morning, but crews were
unable to remove the burn semi due to icy conditions,
leading continuous traffic build up. Traffic eventually led some truckers
to abandon their trucks on the interstate. These empty trucks
are still blocking I seventy five north on foresight as
of eight thirty in the morning. Officials still have not
(24:09):
made plans to remove the abandoned rigs, as conditions were
still treacherous at the time. The Georgia Department of Transportation
advises that drivers use US forty one North as an
alternate route. Emergency services are on scene working to address
this incident. They said, please exercise caution, follow all official instructions,
(24:32):
and consider using suggested alternate route. So, yeah, they just
walked off and left them. Why why, you know, because
you need you might have needed something to eat. I mean, why,
I don't get that. And here a semi truck pushes
a car inside of a truck repair shop. A semi
(24:56):
truck crashed into the side of a truck repair shop
at Pennsylvania, taking a car with it. This happened just
after one o'clock in the afternoon in Newbury Township, Pennsylvania.
According to the local news, a semi truck struck a
power pole an unoccupied car, thank Goodness, during the crash,
(25:17):
pushing it into the truck repair shop building. First responder
said that no one was hurt, but clearing the accident
took nearly ten hours. Quote, it's actually quite insane that
there were no injuries, giving the impact that it was
in an unoccupied vehicle. There was also another vehicle park
(25:38):
beside it, that one with an employee inside eating his lunch,
and he escaped with no injuries, nothing, no damage to
his vehicle. He was very, very lucky, said the assistant
fire chief. Before moving the wrecked vehicles, fire fighters had
to wait till electric crews came to arrive at the
(25:58):
scene to deal with the several wires that were exposed
in the crash because he hit the power pole first.
Now you get an incident like this where we've been
here since like one o'clock and I still have the
same people who were here originally, who are willing to
brave the cold to work on the incident. The exact
reason for this crash was not released at the time
(26:20):
of the accident, so I really don't know what happened.
Why that driver, you know, did what happened, So I
don't know. And here a truck driver is jailed after
driving on Interstate forty, where commercial vehicles are banned, and
not only did he do that, but he got stuck
(26:42):
on the barricades. So in the photo, this is Interstate
forty on a better day. And this is what's called
the Gorge. And it goes from just did about the
twenty mile marker in side the North Carolina line all
the way to four twenty something maybe four fifty, I'm
(27:11):
not sure on the Tennessee side, but goes into Tennessee
and it's real curvy and it's only fifty miles an
hour for trucks. And because you see it's two lane,
normally it's they made it like two lanes, but it's
usually two, you know, like a four lane, and then
(27:32):
you got the four lane going the other way. But
since Hurricane Helene, they've been working on the roadway in
that section so they banned it to commercial vehicles. Well.
The truck driver's accused of ignoring the signage and driving
onto Tennessee Interstate, where commercial vehicles traveled and been restricted
for months due to like I said, Hurricane Helene. I
(27:57):
cannot even proy announce this truck driver's name. Kit He's
twenty three, was arrested on January seventeenth and charged with
driving on a closed roadway. According to the warrant, for
months I forty in that area has been closed to
commercial traffic due to the damage caused by Helen in
(28:17):
late September. According to the report, he allegedly ignored warning
signs that the roadway was closed to commercial traffic, driving
past the final truck exit at mile marker four forty,
traveling to mile marker four fifty one, and then turning
around to travel east at I forty. The warrant says
(28:39):
that he took exit four forty seven, made a U turn,
then took exit four fifty one and moved the road barricades.
He then hardly became stuck between those barricades while triving,
trying to drive his commercial vehicle, blocking the path of
road workers. Tennessee Highway patrol was stationed at mile marker
(29:01):
five forty one at the time the incident occurred. When
police made contact with this young man he said to
have mentioned as GPS several times. It was arrested without
incident and booked into the county jail. A co driver
took over operated the truck after his arrest, said the
police report at the time. So I'm like, really, you
(29:27):
can't not read English and expect to drive a commercial vehicle.
I see a lot of people doing like a Google
Translator or something like that when they come into a
ship or a receiver. You can't hold up Google Translator
to street road signs and expect to know what they say.
(29:49):
I just I don't get that. And here five or
dead after a semi truck strikes three vehicles on a
Texas break, police are investigating a fatal multiple vehicle crash
involving a semi truck in Zevalia County, Texas. This crash
occurred about one in the morning on January twenty first,
(30:13):
on the Nucas River Bridge USIS carrying US Highway fifty
seven near La Pryor. Officials say two white Ford vans,
both towing trailers, were involved. In a rear and collision
while eastbound on the bridge. A white Ford pickup truck
stopped on the bridge due to the crash. The public
(30:34):
Texas dot said that several people exited the vans and
attempted to signal the driver of a white freightliner to
stop for the crash and due to ice on that bridge,
the driver of the semi attempted to avoid the crash
by traveling in the middle of the road, but lost
control and ended up striking all three vehicles. The van driver,
(30:56):
Maria sixty, was killed in the crash. Van opins who
were sixty three, sixty, and forty three, as well as
the pickup truck driver, were found dead at the bottom
of the bridge. Seven others were hospitalized with no injuries.
New York Times reports that police are investigating whether the
individuals found at the bottom of the bridge were stuck
(31:18):
or whether they jumped to avoid Were they if they
were hit, let's say, or did they jump from the
bridge to avoid being hit by the semi. The truck
driver was not seriously hurt at that time, which our
hearts and candulses go out to those families, and a
(31:38):
trucker still tried to make a delivery after fiance stabbed
him while resting he was resting at a fuel island.
A woman is facing felony charges and up to a
decade in prison after stabbing her fiance as he rested
in his truck cab at a truck stop earlier this year.
The incident occurred on the seventeenth of January, Little America
(32:01):
at Rock Springs. According to the local news, truck driver
at his forty three year old fiance, Nicolette Anne, were
parked tried a fuelile and when the truck driver went
in to lay down in the sleeper. Shortly after, Nicolette
Anne started yelling at him and eventually stabbed him. She
then left the truck and walked into the store. The
(32:22):
driver followed her into the store and questioned her why
she stabbed him, all while bleeding through his clothes. He declined.
Stores employees offers to call an ambulance, and he left
the store. At some point inside the store, Nicolett Ann
told the store clerk that her fiancee had beat her
up and asked that someone called the police for her,
but left the store before the officers showed up. A
(32:45):
short time later, she returned and admitted to employees that
she had been the one to stab her fiance. The
trucker then returned to the store requested that if a
police call be canceled because he had a load to
deliver and he needed to leave police anyways. When questioned
by the police, the truck driver explained that nicola And
had bawled up a knife in her fist stabbed him
(33:07):
in the abdomen before quickly withdrawing the blade. She then
was taking into custody and the truck drive was taken
to the hospital for treatment of his stab wound. Nicola
And is being held on a seventy thousand dollars bond
in the local detention center on charges of felony aggravated assault.
Preliminary hearing was scheduled for January twenty ninth, and she's
(33:28):
facing up to ten years in prison and at ten
thousand dollars fine. Truck driver did not have liver or
diaphragm damage as a result of the stabbing, but did
require surgery to repair the wound. The stab wound, of course,
he's lucky, dang lucky. I just I don't get it.
I just don't get it. Now, this is a video
(33:52):
and YouTube gets real funny about me, as I always
say about me showing a clip video clips, and I
don't want to get a copyright strike. But this picture
is kind of grainy. But as you could see, this
(34:12):
semi right here slides to the last, slides to the right,
and all of a sudden loses it and then lays
it over. He takes a curve on it curve excuse me?
An iten eastbound near Maple Fork at mile marker twenty four.
On iten in Louisiana. They're again, does is how much
(34:36):
know that they had in Louisiana eight to ten inches?
The driver loses controls furs back and forth multiple times,
and then eventually he overturns it. Several other tractor trailers
then just appear to drive by. But at the same time,
in their defense, they don't know what had happened. You
came upon it, and you don't know if it happened
(34:58):
a while ago or not or why so, And it's
hard to stop and that's a pretty sharp curve. So
you could see it on YouTube if you would like.
I could also put the link in the description if
you'd like to care to watch it. But I see
(35:20):
that quite a bit. I'm was always leary all the
years that I was driving about somebody spinning out in
front of me on roads like this that I couldn't
stop and I would, you know, run them over. So
that always got me skittish on driving those kind of
(35:42):
road conditions. I know you should pull it over, but
if you know that looks like it's during the day,
you think that the road is good, you run into
black ice. You know, what do you do? Try to
slow down without hitting the brakes, and then you end
up what he did. And there's a recall of over
one thousand Kenworth and peter built trucks because the throttle
(36:06):
pedal could stick. Truck maker pack Car recently issued a
recall for certain Kenworth and Peterbilt semi trucks due to
a potential throttle pedal issue. The recall is certain twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty four Peterbilts and Kenworth. According
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the effected trucks
(36:28):
may contain an oversized magnet carrier, slowing the responsiveness or
causing the pedal to stick, which would increase the risk
of crash. Now, these are the models and makes. There's
a total of one one trucks that are being recalled
Kenworth T one eighty, the T two eighty, the three
(36:51):
eighty and the four eighty all ken Worths twenty twenty
three is twenty twenty fours, Peter Builts five thirty five,
five point thirty six, five thirty seven and five forty
eight twenty twenty three. Twenty four's owner notification letters are
expected to be mailed March seventeenth of this year to
remedy the issue dealers who will inspect to replace the
(37:13):
throttle paddle as necessary free of charge. So look in
your mail if you happen to have one of those models.
Look if look for a recall letter in the mail.
Truck owners may contact Peterbolt's Customer Service and Kenworth's customer
Service for this recall and the recall numbers are twenty
(37:34):
five PBA and twenty five k WA. So look for
the recall letter in the mail if you happen to
own one of those models of trucks. And in this story,
a driver survives a wreck that left the engine in
his lap and it was caught on surveillance video. From
(37:56):
this there's this local business and this is their parking lot.
And I could describe to you the truck come down
the hill behind him, came up the hill, crosses this median,
almost hits that power pole, almost hits the power pole
right here that you see, and van crashes and ends
(38:22):
up with the motor in his lap. This happened in Warrington, Missouri,
off of Veterans Memorial Parkway near I. Seventy sixty year
old trucker was heading east when he misjudge a curve
on the highway that somebody then veered off the road
across the median and struck a concrete retaining wall lining
(38:45):
warranted steals a lot. The accident crushed the truck driver
and scattered its load of meat. The incident was caught
on the businesses surveillance cameras, and workers could be seen
rushing to the aid of the wreck driver. Thing I
knew they were screaming. Called a fire department. It's really bad,
said Holly Scott, one of the employees at the steel company.
(39:07):
It was just talking to him, trying to make him breathe,
keeping him calm as much as we could. The guy
was completely crushed by the steering wheel. The engine was
in his lap, but he was still alive when they
took him away, said one of the other workers. He
said they were unable to get the man's name because
he did not speak English, but that didn't stop them
(39:28):
from doing what they could to comfort him during the
two hour rescue. Once first responders arrived, he knew we
were there to help him. He understood some of what
we were saying. He kept saying, Mama, Mama, come take me,
Come take me. So I just kept telling him, Mom's
watching out for you. You're going to be okay. Scott said.
(39:48):
They were just praying, they're hoping he'd come out of
it alive. He was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
As of last week Thursday, he was still alive. Details
on its current health status were not released. And yeah,
that was pretty scary. Can you imagine having a truck motor,
(40:11):
you know, a couple of thousand pound motors sitting in
your lap. Anybody would be crushed. Good night, And Ohio
Turnpike is to crack down a commercial truck drivers set
haven't paid tolls coming next month. February of twenty twenty five,
The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission issued a warrning to
(40:33):
drivers last week about plans to punish toll scoff laws
next month. Last week, they issued had notice to customers,
including both passenger cars and commercial truck drivers, to pay
their unpaid tolls or face the consequences, including late fees
and vehicle registration holds. I'll pull your registration. In April
(40:55):
twenty twenty four, officials rolled out a new open road
tolling system on the Ohio Turnpike. Following the rollout, many
drivers without an easy pass traveled in easy pass lanes
and were issued unpaid toll in voices by mail. As
of at the time of writing of this article, three
(41:15):
hundred and forty seven thousand tolls transactions remain unpaid from
the period between April and December twenty twenty four. Because
the open road tolling system was new, Turnpike offered a
grace period to allow customers to adjust to it. During
this grace period, the Ohio Turnpike suspended all late fees,
(41:37):
collections and vehicle registration holds. But the grace period is
now coming to an end and truck drivers with unpaid
tolls have just days to get it paid up starting
February third, twenty twenty five, Turnpike officials say they would
begin issuing the following late fees run paid tolls. Customers
who incurred an unpaid toll by driving through the easy
(41:58):
Pass lane and do not pay the first unpaid toll
invoice within thirty days will have five dollar late fee
added to the second mailed invoice for each toll that
remains unpaid. Customers exiting through cash Credit lane who are
handed an unpaid tolled notice by a toll collector for
failure to pay will incur a five dollar administration fee.
(42:21):
If the notice remains unpaid for thirty days, the customer
will be mailed as second notice. An additional five dollar
late fee will be added for each toll that remains unpaid,
so that could add up pretty quick. Starting on the
tenth of February, officials will send an unpaid toll incurred
since April tenth to the Attorney General's Office in Ohio
(42:42):
for collections and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles for
a hold on your vehicle registration. Mailed invoices and notices
that remain unpaid for ninety days from the issued date
will be sent to the AG's office for collections and
like I said, for the vehicle registration hold. So yeah,
there they gave you a chance. Now they're not playing.
(43:04):
And this story a truck driver is sentenced for slashing
a fellow driver's throat in a fight over slow fueling
in an Arizona truck stop. His crap is getting out
of hand. A man was senced to prison for a
truck stop knife attack following an argument to escalate it
at an Arizona truck stop last year. This mister, Arlen Arline,
(43:28):
was sentenced to three years in prison excuse me by
Mohave County Superior Court. Shade at Havasu in December twenty
twenty four, was found guilty of second degree attempted murder
for an altercation and left a fellow truck driver injured.
This happened last year February fourth of twenty twenty four
at the Pilot in Lake Havasou, Arizona. At the trial,
(43:50):
the victim testified that Arleen confronted him at the Pilot
fuel station for fuel for take it too long to fuel.
A verbal altercation ensued inside the Pilot, which promoted him
an employee of Pilot to separate them prompted. Excuse me,
they say promoted, but it's prompted. The victim testified that
(44:12):
he walked outside, but was followed closely behind by this
our lane. A second altercation took place outside the station
and ended in our lane abruptly, abruptly and violently slashing
the victim in the neck with a pocket knife, then
fled the He then fled the scene, and a subsequent
interview with law enforcement, he admitted to cutting the victim,
(44:34):
but steadd who was acting in self defense. Of course,
throughout the trial he claimed self defense, but also admitted
during his trial testimony that he pulled the knife out
as he was walking behind the victim. That is not
self defense. This state argued the fact demonstrated his intent
to kill the victim over a fuel station feud. I mean, really, really, wow,
(44:59):
you know, it's just it's just ridiculous, just ridiculous. The
road range and A bill seeks to relax certain CDL requirements.
Building on the COVID nineteen waivers, lawmakers interest To introduced
a bill intended to make it easier to conduct CDL
(45:20):
by streamlining certain requirements oh Joy, including allowing the CDL
holders accompany student drivers to be in the sleeper birth
instead of the passenger seat. Oh joy, how many more
accidents are we going to have out on the highway
with this garbage. On January twenty fourth, Senator Cindia Loomis
(45:44):
and Mark Kelly introduced the Licensing Individual Commercial exam Takers
Now Safely and Efficiency Act. Lawmakers say that the bill
builds on waivers of the FMCSA implementing during the COVID pandemic.
Major provisions of the bill were laid out. Expand CDL testing,
(46:05):
provide flexible supervision streamline testing across the states. Yeah no, no,
that's just nuts no, And sadly, workers open up a
(46:27):
door to find a truck driver crushed moments after guiding
another driver into the loading dock. A truck drivers found
dead after an accident at a bottling plant crushed him
against the loading dock Thursday evening. This happened is seguin,
(46:48):
Texas around six point thirty in the evening. According to
the local news, a plant employee told a truck driver
to back into the loading dock and gave him the
green light. Employee then instructed the driver to reposition the
trailer and wait for further instructions. Tragically, employees opened the
loading dock door moments later discovered Vargas pinned behind the
(47:13):
trailer and immediately instructed the driver to move the vehicle
to free him. The driver the truck that backed into
the man then attempted to perform CPR and the injured driver.
Police officers then arrived on the scene and took over.
Despite those efforts, the emergency medical team pronounced this man
(47:34):
deceased at the scene. The deceased driver has been identified
as thirty nine year old Arlen Vargas from Houston. He
was waiting at the plant to pick up a load
at the time of the accident. They said he was
out of his vehicle for unknown reasons. We don't know
why he was out of the vehicle, especially that close
to the building. We're still investigating, but ultimately it appears
(47:58):
to be just an accident and a fatal one. We're
deeply saddened to share that one of our truck and
partners was involved in a terrible accident in the outside
doc area, they said, and no criminal charges were filed
against the driver. The incident was still under investigation, and
(48:22):
a truck driver's charged with cocaine trafficking following a truck
stop on I eighty in Illinois. Illinois State Police issued
multiple felony charges after a semi traffic stop along I
eighty and covered a large amount of cocaine. This happened
on January eighteenth. Illinois State Police performed a traffic stop
(48:44):
on a semi traveling east on I eighty. Probable cost
search was conducted, revealing multiple packages of suspected cocaine weighing
more than ten kilos. The arrested fifty five year old
California based truck driver Jose Gulin and booked him into
local jail. He was booked on possession of cocaine, possession
(49:08):
with intent to deliver, and cocaine trafficking. As always, I
want to thank you so much for joining me this week.
Like I mentioned, there was a lot of news to
get to, so thank you so much. I greatly appreciate
all of you tuning in and you all have take
care and have a very blessed week and keep the
(49:31):
shiny side up until next time.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
You have been listening to Julia's Truck, a Cafe Truck
and News Hour. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
Take care, have a blessed it
You are listening to Julia's Truck and Cafe News Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good evening, everybody. Hope you're having a wonderful day today.
Thank you so much for joining us for the episode
of Julia's Truck, a Cafe, Truck and News Hour. Now
this week we're going to be talking about all of
the weather and bad weather and everything that happened with
this polar I call it a polar vortex. I went
(00:38):
through the swept through the country, and how New Orleans
got eight to ten inches of snow that they haven't
seen in almost one hundred years, and that blasted all
the way to Florida. So, as always, I have lots
(00:58):
of news to get to, so let's get right to it.
And this story black ice in Houston causes I sixty
nine crash involving four semi trucks. An unusual winter storm
in Houston caused the wreck involving four semi trucks on
black ice. The incident happened around three point thirty in
the morning on January twenty first on Interstate sixty nine
(01:22):
Southwest Freeway North in Richmond, Texas, just outside of Houston.
According to the local news, the snowflall and black ice
caused one semi to overturn. A second semi then jackknife
trying to avoid the first one that overturned and was
soon sideswiped by a third, ripping open the jackknife rig.
(01:45):
A four semi truck was also involved and sustained damage
to its trailer. Two truck drivers were taken to the
hospital with non life threatening injuries and clean up. The
incident was so extensive its crews worked to clean the
debris and wrecked rigs. Snow and ice are expected to
(02:05):
remain in the area through Wednesday afternoon. And our next story,
let me scroll down. We have a lot of news
to get to. An SUV driver arrested for OWI after
crashing into an Indiana waystation. One second, Sorry about that.
(02:28):
A motorist was arrested over the weekend after colliding with
a way station in Indiana. The crash occurred on Saturday,
January eighteenth, at the way station on eastbound I ninety four,
east of the Chesterston exit. According to Indiana State Police,
a black twenty twenty two Chevy Tahoe had had driven
(02:52):
through the entrance to the scalehouse at a high rate
of speed. The Chevy struck the metal entrance gate, then
continued through the scale lanes, colliding with several street signs
and light poles. The vehicle came to rest on the
bypass lane of the scalehouse against the metal guard rail.
The crash sent debris flying, which shattered the way station's windows.
(03:17):
Tahoe driver, later identified as this Lopez Monsera of Chicago,
was determined to have been under the influence, according to
Indiana State Police. Troopers say she was offered the opportunity
to take a chemical test, but the driver's interactions resulted
to her being charged with operating while under the influence,
(03:39):
refusal and booked into the local county jail. It was
also learned that the driver was attempting to drive home, However,
she was headed eastbound on I ninety four rather than
westbound toward Illinois, said the state Police. They say that
the damage to the way station is in the several
(04:00):
thousands of dollars and inmates workers in this story pull
a trucker from a wrecked semi truck. A truck driver
was pulled from his wrecked rig by a team of
inmates working on a highway in Kentucky. This happened around
nine thirty in the morning on US Highway six near Owensboro, Kentucky.
(04:21):
According to the local news, an accident involving a one
passenger vehicle and a state Highway patrol occurred in the
eastbound lanes of Highway six. As a crew of inmates
from the Davies County Detention Center worked to phil potholes,
A semi truck then came over a nearby hill and
lost it excuse me, nearly crashing into the inmates before
(04:45):
jackknifing and then flipping. Inmate workers had rushed to the
wreck truck to try to free the driver while others
grab fire extinguishers and worked to put out the fire
that had broken out. Several crew members and u piece
of metal to break a truck window and free the
trap driver. The driver, Brian Markham, escaped and was walking
(05:07):
around and talking, but did sustain injuries considered to be
non life threatening. Quote. They actually got the fire out.
There was leak and fuel that was a danger from
the fire, said the jailer. The inmates are expected to
receive official recognition for their rescue efforts, so that was
(05:28):
pretty cool of them. They could have stood by and
watched a sucker burn and they didn't. They came to aid,
so that is pretty cool. Indeed. And a person is
hit during a fifteen vehicle pile up during whiteout conditions
after stepping out of his wrecked vehicle. Up to fifteen
(05:50):
vehicles were involved in a crash in white out conditions
in Michigan on Monday morning. The series of accidents happened
on the twentieth on I ninety six in Michigan near
Grand Rapids. According to the local news, the accident left
several vehicles smashed in the median of the roadway, A
(06:12):
box truck overturned, a semi veered into the roadside ditch.
One person evolved in the crash was hit by another
vehicle that exited the wreck car. Other injuries were also reported.
None of the people hurting the crash sustained anything life threatening.
Troopers say that there was whiteout conditions at the time
of the pile up, which happens along that corridor quite often,
(06:35):
and that some of the drivers were traveling at speeds
far too fast for conditions. I ninety six eastbound was
closed for about two hours, and then it was still
closed at around twelve thirty that afternoon. And this next
story a man is charged with murder for allegedly shooting
(06:57):
a person stealing an excavator. A man is facing homicide
charges in New Mexico after allegedly shooting a person who
was stealing a piece of heavy equipment. Miguel Varrella twenty two,
the person that's shown here in the photo, is charged
with second degree murder, according to the local county Sheriff's office,
(07:19):
around eleven in the morning on January nineteenth, deputies responded
to Rio Bravo Boulevard and Prince Street in Bernalillo County,
New Mexico for a call about a stolen vehicle. Quote.
The calling party stated he was following his brother's stolen
escavator being towed by a white truck, unknown at the
(07:41):
time to also be a stolen vehicle. The vehicle and
excavator were followed by the calling party, which crashed near
two to one Prosperity, said the Sheriff's officer. Deputies arrived
on the scene, they found is Zedro Ramirez in the
driver's seat of the stolen vehicle, suffering from at least
one gunshot wound. Deputies administered aid, but Ramirez ultimately died
(08:06):
at the scene. According to the local shrifes. Miguel Verilla,
brother of the caller, remained at the scene was taken
into police custody without incident. Verilla was booked into the
detention center on the charge of homicide. So, yeah, he
was trying to help his brother out and really don't
(08:28):
know exactly what the heck happened, but went ahead and
got I don't really say if he shot the guy
or exactly what happened with that, So I don't want
to assume anything because it's all allegedly and five are
(08:49):
dead after a car driver runs a stop sign and
drives into the path of a semi truck. North Carolina
Highway Patrol responded to a multi fatality crash involving an
SUV and a semi truck in Bladen County. This crash
occurred on January nineteenth, about four in the afternoon. According
(09:11):
to North Carolina Highway Patrol, thirty six year old Hernandez
was operating in an SUV south on Purty Hall Road
when she failed to stop at a stop sign for
a semi truck traveling east on North Carolina Route twenty.
Last uv entered the path of the semi truck and
was hit. Hernandez had four children between the ages of
(09:34):
fifteen and six died as a result of the crash.
The truck driver was not seriously hurt. Excuse me, please
say the truck driver will not be charged because Hernandez
was at fault. But you still have that on your conscience,
even though she pulls out in front of you and stuff,
(09:56):
you still have that on your conscience, I would think.
And in this story, a high crash zone takes out
multiple cows when cattle hauler overturns. Several cows are dead
after a livestock haller flipped on a ditorial, notoriously dangerous
curve in North Carolina. Accident happened on January twenty, first
(10:19):
round twelve thirty in the morning on the ramp of
E eighty five South is seventy seven near Charlotte. And
that is a pretty hard curve right there. The tractor
trailer was on a sharp left curve deemed a high
crash zone when overturned, trapping about forty cows inside and
(10:40):
killing a few. The truck driver was not hurt in
the incident. Police, cattle wranglers and three other trailers were
brought to off load the surviving cows. A sign deeming
the ramp a high crash zone was installed back in
December of twenty twenty four. The ramp is estimated to
be reopened, you know, later on that day, but it
(11:02):
was like twelve hours later before the ramp could have
been reopened. And anytime you're on the live stream, you
want to leave comments or questions or anything, please feel
free to leave it in the chat. I'll try my
best to answer any kind of comments, questions. I try
(11:24):
to read all of them, so please feel free. And
in this story, sixteen vehicle crash was reported on the
Michigan Interstate and I don't know if it's the same
as I think this was a different one than the one. Yeah,
(11:46):
the other one was on ninety six. I'm just scrolling
through here. This one was on ninety four. Michigan State
Police respond to a major multi vehicle crawsha Van Buren
County last week Tuesday. This happened before nine am near Hartford, Michigan.
(12:09):
Now this is drone picture that you see on your screen.
Troopers said that ten passenger vehicles and six semi trucks
were involved in this crash on eastbound I ninety four
there again. Preliminary investigation shows that three semi trucks were
involved in initial crash on I ninety four, and this
(12:30):
caused a chain reaction resulting in seven crashes and five
people sliding off the highway. Only minor injuries were reported.
The incident closed eastbound I ninety four between mile markers
forty six to fifty six for hours, and the Michigan
(12:52):
State Police said crews were to close were close to
reopening the interstate around lunchtime that day. And A truck
driver in a distinctive yellow rig is on trial for
three out of ten suspected murders. A truck driver previously
(13:15):
excuse me convicted of two murders is on trial again
for the two thousand and seven death of a woman
whose body was found years after her disappearance. Seventy three
year old Bruce Mendenhall went on trial the twenty first
(13:36):
Tuesday for the July two thousand and seventh murder of
Karma Purpura, Propurer disappeared from a Flying Jay truck stop
at Indianapolis and remained missing until twenty eleven, when her
body was found on the side of a Kentucky interstate
According to the local news, Mendenhall was pulled over by
(13:57):
officer investigating another truck stop murder just a few hours
after he murdered Purpura. During the officer's investigation, he noticed
the inside of the cab was splattered with blood and
the distinctive yellow color. Yellow color of the truck was
hard to miss. Quote. I saw a truck coming towards
(14:18):
me that looked like the truck we've been discussing for
the past two days, said the sergeant. The cab of
the truck was literally a wash with blood. Former Marion
County prosecutor said the investigation back in two thousand and seven,
investigators were able to match the DNA from blood to Purpura.
Some of our things were also found inside the truck.
(14:41):
Mendenhall was taken into custody and implicated himself at at
least six homicides during his interview with police, two murders
at truck stops in Tennessee, two murders in Indiana, one
in Georgia, and one in Alabama. Mendenhall has since been
convicted of two different first degree murders for his two
(15:02):
Tennessee victims and was sentenced to life at prison for
both of those cases. Now he's on trial for the
Indiana murder and was scheduled go on trial in Birmingham,
Alabama for another suspected murder. Yeah. Yeah, don't report on
very many of those stories, Thank goodness. And Trump orders
federal agencies, including the FMCSA, to freeze pending regulations, which
(15:31):
is a good thing. In one of the first moves
of his second term as president, he ordered official agencies
to halt all rulemaking activity pending the White House review.
On January twentieth, he issued Regulatory Freeze pending Review order
forbidding any agencies from sending a rule to be published
(15:53):
in the Federal Register without the rule first being reviewed
by the White House. You order additionally required agencies immediately
withdraw any any rule excuse me, that has been submitted
to the Office of the Federal Register but has not
yet been published in the Federal Register. What their Federal
Register is is anytime an agency passes a ruling, So
(16:19):
agencies make rules, Congress make laws. They go from bills
to laws. So anytime there's a regulatory agency, they have
to do a rule and the rules are are then
submitted to the Office of the Federal Register, which then
(16:42):
is also put in the Federal Register like book, so
then it's actually a ruling like all of the ruling
for fmcsay about the thirty minute break and about ten
hour rule, can't drive over that. The fourteen hour rule, Well,
that's all in this Federal Register. So agencies are also
(17:04):
advised to consider postponing for sixty days from the date
of this memorandum the effective date for any rules that
have been published in the Federal Register or any rules
that have been issued in any manner but have not
taken effect yet, for the purpose of reviewing any questions
of fact, law, and policy that the rules may arise.
(17:25):
So you've got to postpone for sixty days any rules
that have been published that the White House needs to review.
The Regulatory Freeze Order will put the brakes on any
immediate action from all federal agencies, including the US Department
of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FMCSA.
(17:48):
A few of the most impactful rules worked to advance
during the Biden administration, with the Heavy Vehicle Speed Limit
or rule, the Heavy Vehicle Automatic Emergency Breaking Rule, and
a broker Transparency rule. With the Trump administration in place.
It's unclear where these rules could advance, but the president's
(18:08):
first term showed thesis strong tendency toward the deregulation of
federal agencies. That's they're upined this this article's opinion. The
owner Operator, OI d A and other trade groups recently
pend a letter asking Trump to put a stop to
any speed limit or rule for commercial trucks. So he
(18:28):
put a pause on everything is about what he did.
I've been going around and around around with the speed
limited rule for ages and he just don't know if
it's ever going to get passed. So there's a lot
to that hold on lost by place. My bad, Sorry
(18:50):
about that. Here you go. Yeah, gotta love, gotta love
being live. And a family owned trucking company in this
story burned to the ground from charging a lithium ion battery.
A family owned trucking company Wisconsin was deemed a total
loss after a fire caused by charging a battery. The
(19:13):
fire started before three point thirty in the morning on
January thirteenth that the drop trucking building County Road Double
X in Alaska, Wisconsin. According to the local news, firefighters
were called to the scene of the large structure fire
and used over one hundred thousand gallons of water to
(19:36):
extinguish the flames and subsequent hotspots. Seven fire departments aided
in the firefighting, and multiple water tenders were called to
the scene due to the severity of the fire. Since
the fire, officials have determined that the cause was an
unintentional electrical fire caused by a charging lithium ion battery.
(19:59):
So there we go. It just I don't. I just
don't believe in electric vehicles. I really don't. You can't
and not with you know, driving a semi truck and
again for part of the bad weather. Two hundred drivers
are stranded on Alabama highway following a semi truck crash.
(20:22):
Police say that hundreds of drivers are stranded on a
snowy Alabama highway last week Wednesday morning following a Tuesday
afternoon semi vehicle crash. January twenty second, the local county
Sheriff's office said that approximately two hundred vehicles are stranded
on Highway two thirty one and Highway fifty three near Ozark, Alabama.
(20:46):
Been there and there plenty of times going out to Walmart.
So two thirty one is like south of Birmingham, and
you take that all the way down and to get
into Walmart down in that direction. According to local news,
(21:07):
the backups on Highway two thirty one began when a
semi truck jackknife near the fifty mile marker, resulting in
people sliding off. Initially, the Sheriff's office reported that about
forty drivers were stuck in the traffic backup on Highway
two thirty one, but that number grew overnight as people
(21:27):
continued to drive on the highway. No injuries were reported.
Some drivers were reportedly being stuck on the highway since
seven o'clock the previous evening. As of Wednesday morning, both
directions of the highway were closed. Quote recovery efforts are ongoing,
but are compounded by more vehicles trying to enter this area.
(21:48):
Please avoid the area they were trying to say. The
National Guard, they even called out, was on the scene
assisting with moving stuck trucks and in cards. So yeah,
it was a mess down south to Birmingham. They don't
get snow. So you could see on the photo that
looks like something out of Wisconsin or Illinois. That's in Alabama.
(22:14):
They don't get snow like that down there they have
no way to remove it. It's nuts. And in this story,
a truck and a dog were saved from a frigid
crawl through an irrigation ditch. The incident happened on the
twenty first in Sterling, Colorado. According to the local news,
(22:36):
the cattle trailer was empty when he veered off a
Highway fourteen and crashed into the irrigation ditch full of
icy water. The truck driver and the dog were unhurt,
but were stuck inside the cab do to the frigid water.
First responders used a ladder to get the driver in
the furry coal pilot to safety and recovery crews were
able to drag the truck out of the ditch, so
(22:58):
at least it was empty and thing goodness, everybody was
okay on that slide off and drivers were stuck on
I seventy five overnight and they just walked off and
abandoned their rigs in the middle of the road. There again,
this weather was just nuts. Drivers are stranded on Interstate
(23:22):
seventy five and George overnight after a semi truck fire
blocked the highway. Excuse me. This happened in Monroe County, Georgia.
According to the local news, a semi caught fire on
I seventy five at a high Falls road, blocking all
lanes just before Highway thirty six. Several lanes were reopened
(23:47):
just before nine thirty in the morning, but crews were
unable to remove the burn semi due to icy conditions,
leading continuous traffic build up. Traffic eventually led some truckers
to abandon their trucks on the interstate. These empty trucks
are still blocking I seventy five north on foresight as
of eight thirty in the morning. Officials still have not
(24:09):
made plans to remove the abandoned rigs, as conditions were
still treacherous at the time. The Georgia Department of Transportation
advises that drivers use US forty one North as an
alternate route. Emergency services are on scene working to address
this incident. They said, please exercise caution, follow all official instructions,
(24:32):
and consider using suggested alternate route. So, yeah, they just
walked off and left them. Why why, you know, because
you need you might have needed something to eat. I mean, why,
I don't get that. And here a semi truck pushes
a car inside of a truck repair shop. A semi
(24:56):
truck crashed into the side of a truck repair shop
at Pennsylvania, taking a car with it. This happened just
after one o'clock in the afternoon in Newbury Township, Pennsylvania.
According to the local news, a semi truck struck a
power pole an unoccupied car, thank Goodness, during the crash,
(25:17):
pushing it into the truck repair shop building. First responder
said that no one was hurt, but clearing the accident
took nearly ten hours. Quote, it's actually quite insane that
there were no injuries, giving the impact that it was
in an unoccupied vehicle. There was also another vehicle park
(25:38):
beside it, that one with an employee inside eating his lunch,
and he escaped with no injuries, nothing, no damage to
his vehicle. He was very, very lucky, said the assistant
fire chief. Before moving the wrecked vehicles, fire fighters had
to wait till electric crews came to arrive at the
(25:58):
scene to deal with the several wires that were exposed
in the crash because he hit the power pole first.
Now you get an incident like this where we've been
here since like one o'clock and I still have the
same people who were here originally, who are willing to
brave the cold to work on the incident. The exact
reason for this crash was not released at the time
(26:20):
of the accident, so I really don't know what happened.
Why that driver, you know, did what happened, So I
don't know. And here a truck driver is jailed after
driving on Interstate forty, where commercial vehicles are banned, and
not only did he do that, but he got stuck
(26:42):
on the barricades. So in the photo, this is Interstate
forty on a better day. And this is what's called
the Gorge. And it goes from just did about the
twenty mile marker in side the North Carolina line all
the way to four twenty something maybe four fifty, I'm
(27:11):
not sure on the Tennessee side, but goes into Tennessee
and it's real curvy and it's only fifty miles an
hour for trucks. And because you see it's two lane,
normally it's they made it like two lanes, but it's
usually two, you know, like a four lane, and then
(27:32):
you got the four lane going the other way. But
since Hurricane Helene, they've been working on the roadway in
that section so they banned it to commercial vehicles. Well.
The truck driver's accused of ignoring the signage and driving
onto Tennessee Interstate, where commercial vehicles traveled and been restricted
for months due to like I said, Hurricane Helene. I
(27:57):
cannot even proy announce this truck driver's name. Kit He's
twenty three, was arrested on January seventeenth and charged with
driving on a closed roadway. According to the warrant, for
months I forty in that area has been closed to
commercial traffic due to the damage caused by Helen in
(28:17):
late September. According to the report, he allegedly ignored warning
signs that the roadway was closed to commercial traffic, driving
past the final truck exit at mile marker four forty,
traveling to mile marker four fifty one, and then turning
around to travel east at I forty. The warrant says
(28:39):
that he took exit four forty seven, made a U turn,
then took exit four fifty one and moved the road barricades.
He then hardly became stuck between those barricades while triving,
trying to drive his commercial vehicle, blocking the path of
road workers. Tennessee Highway patrol was stationed at mile marker
(29:01):
five forty one at the time the incident occurred. When
police made contact with this young man he said to
have mentioned as GPS several times. It was arrested without
incident and booked into the county jail. A co driver
took over operated the truck after his arrest, said the
police report at the time. So I'm like, really, you
(29:27):
can't not read English and expect to drive a commercial vehicle.
I see a lot of people doing like a Google
Translator or something like that when they come into a
ship or a receiver. You can't hold up Google Translator
to street road signs and expect to know what they say.
(29:49):
I just I don't get that. And here five or
dead after a semi truck strikes three vehicles on a
Texas break, police are investigating a fatal multiple vehicle crash
involving a semi truck in Zevalia County, Texas. This crash
occurred about one in the morning on January twenty first,
(30:13):
on the Nucas River Bridge USIS carrying US Highway fifty
seven near La Pryor. Officials say two white Ford vans,
both towing trailers, were involved. In a rear and collision
while eastbound on the bridge. A white Ford pickup truck
stopped on the bridge due to the crash. The public
(30:34):
Texas dot said that several people exited the vans and
attempted to signal the driver of a white freightliner to
stop for the crash and due to ice on that bridge,
the driver of the semi attempted to avoid the crash
by traveling in the middle of the road, but lost
control and ended up striking all three vehicles. The van driver,
(30:56):
Maria sixty, was killed in the crash. Van opins who
were sixty three, sixty, and forty three, as well as
the pickup truck driver, were found dead at the bottom
of the bridge. Seven others were hospitalized with no injuries.
New York Times reports that police are investigating whether the
individuals found at the bottom of the bridge were stuck
(31:18):
or whether they jumped to avoid Were they if they
were hit, let's say, or did they jump from the
bridge to avoid being hit by the semi. The truck
driver was not seriously hurt at that time, which our
hearts and candulses go out to those families, and a
(31:38):
trucker still tried to make a delivery after fiance stabbed
him while resting he was resting at a fuel island.
A woman is facing felony charges and up to a
decade in prison after stabbing her fiance as he rested
in his truck cab at a truck stop earlier this year.
The incident occurred on the seventeenth of January, Little America
(32:01):
at Rock Springs. According to the local news, truck driver
at his forty three year old fiance, Nicolette Anne, were
parked tried a fuelile and when the truck driver went
in to lay down in the sleeper. Shortly after, Nicolette
Anne started yelling at him and eventually stabbed him. She
then left the truck and walked into the store. The
(32:22):
driver followed her into the store and questioned her why
she stabbed him, all while bleeding through his clothes. He declined.
Stores employees offers to call an ambulance, and he left
the store. At some point inside the store, Nicolett Ann
told the store clerk that her fiancee had beat her
up and asked that someone called the police for her,
but left the store before the officers showed up. A
(32:45):
short time later, she returned and admitted to employees that
she had been the one to stab her fiance. The
trucker then returned to the store requested that if a
police call be canceled because he had a load to
deliver and he needed to leave police anyways. When questioned
by the police, the truck driver explained that nicola And
had bawled up a knife in her fist stabbed him
(33:07):
in the abdomen before quickly withdrawing the blade. She then
was taking into custody and the truck drive was taken
to the hospital for treatment of his stab wound. Nicola
And is being held on a seventy thousand dollars bond
in the local detention center on charges of felony aggravated assault.
Preliminary hearing was scheduled for January twenty ninth, and she's
(33:28):
facing up to ten years in prison and at ten
thousand dollars fine. Truck driver did not have liver or
diaphragm damage as a result of the stabbing, but did
require surgery to repair the wound. The stab wound, of course,
he's lucky, dang lucky. I just I don't get it.
I just don't get it. Now, this is a video
(33:52):
and YouTube gets real funny about me, as I always
say about me showing a clip video clips, and I
don't want to get a copyright strike. But this picture
is kind of grainy. But as you could see, this
(34:12):
semi right here slides to the last, slides to the right,
and all of a sudden loses it and then lays
it over. He takes a curve on it curve excuse me?
An iten eastbound near Maple Fork at mile marker twenty four.
On iten in Louisiana. They're again, does is how much
(34:36):
know that they had in Louisiana eight to ten inches?
The driver loses controls furs back and forth multiple times,
and then eventually he overturns it. Several other tractor trailers
then just appear to drive by. But at the same time,
in their defense, they don't know what had happened. You
came upon it, and you don't know if it happened
(34:58):
a while ago or not or why so, And it's
hard to stop and that's a pretty sharp curve. So
you could see it on YouTube if you would like.
I could also put the link in the description if
you'd like to care to watch it. But I see
(35:20):
that quite a bit. I'm was always leary all the
years that I was driving about somebody spinning out in
front of me on roads like this that I couldn't
stop and I would, you know, run them over. So
that always got me skittish on driving those kind of
(35:42):
road conditions. I know you should pull it over, but
if you know that looks like it's during the day,
you think that the road is good, you run into
black ice. You know, what do you do? Try to
slow down without hitting the brakes, and then you end
up what he did. And there's a recall of over
one thousand Kenworth and peter built trucks because the throttle
(36:06):
pedal could stick. Truck maker pack Car recently issued a
recall for certain Kenworth and Peterbilt semi trucks due to
a potential throttle pedal issue. The recall is certain twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty four Peterbilts and Kenworth. According
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the effected trucks
(36:28):
may contain an oversized magnet carrier, slowing the responsiveness or
causing the pedal to stick, which would increase the risk
of crash. Now, these are the models and makes. There's
a total of one one trucks that are being recalled
Kenworth T one eighty, the T two eighty, the three
(36:51):
eighty and the four eighty all ken Worths twenty twenty
three is twenty twenty fours, Peter Builts five thirty five,
five point thirty six, five thirty seven and five forty
eight twenty twenty three. Twenty four's owner notification letters are
expected to be mailed March seventeenth of this year to
remedy the issue dealers who will inspect to replace the
(37:13):
throttle paddle as necessary free of charge. So look in
your mail if you happen to have one of those models.
Look if look for a recall letter in the mail.
Truck owners may contact Peterbolt's Customer Service and Kenworth's customer
Service for this recall and the recall numbers are twenty
(37:34):
five PBA and twenty five k WA. So look for
the recall letter in the mail if you happen to
own one of those models of trucks. And in this story,
a driver survives a wreck that left the engine in
his lap and it was caught on surveillance video. From
(37:56):
this there's this local business and this is their parking lot.
And I could describe to you the truck come down
the hill behind him, came up the hill, crosses this median,
almost hits that power pole, almost hits the power pole
right here that you see, and van crashes and ends
(38:22):
up with the motor in his lap. This happened in Warrington, Missouri,
off of Veterans Memorial Parkway near I. Seventy sixty year
old trucker was heading east when he misjudge a curve
on the highway that somebody then veered off the road
across the median and struck a concrete retaining wall lining
(38:45):
warranted steals a lot. The accident crushed the truck driver
and scattered its load of meat. The incident was caught
on the businesses surveillance cameras, and workers could be seen
rushing to the aid of the wreck driver. Thing I
knew they were screaming. Called a fire department. It's really bad,
said Holly Scott, one of the employees at the steel company.
(39:07):
It was just talking to him, trying to make him breathe,
keeping him calm as much as we could. The guy
was completely crushed by the steering wheel. The engine was
in his lap, but he was still alive when they
took him away, said one of the other workers. He
said they were unable to get the man's name because
he did not speak English, but that didn't stop them
(39:28):
from doing what they could to comfort him during the
two hour rescue. Once first responders arrived, he knew we
were there to help him. He understood some of what
we were saying. He kept saying, Mama, Mama, come take me,
Come take me. So I just kept telling him, Mom's
watching out for you. You're going to be okay. Scott said.
(39:48):
They were just praying, they're hoping he'd come out of
it alive. He was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
As of last week Thursday, he was still alive. Details
on its current health status were not released. And yeah,
that was pretty scary. Can you imagine having a truck motor,
(40:11):
you know, a couple of thousand pound motors sitting in
your lap. Anybody would be crushed. Good night, And Ohio
Turnpike is to crack down a commercial truck drivers set
haven't paid tolls coming next month. February of twenty twenty five,
The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission issued a warrning to
(40:33):
drivers last week about plans to punish toll scoff laws
next month. Last week, they issued had notice to customers,
including both passenger cars and commercial truck drivers, to pay
their unpaid tolls or face the consequences, including late fees
and vehicle registration holds. I'll pull your registration. In April
(40:55):
twenty twenty four, officials rolled out a new open road
tolling system on the Ohio Turnpike. Following the rollout, many
drivers without an easy pass traveled in easy pass lanes
and were issued unpaid toll in voices by mail. As
of at the time of writing of this article, three
(41:15):
hundred and forty seven thousand tolls transactions remain unpaid from
the period between April and December twenty twenty four. Because
the open road tolling system was new, Turnpike offered a
grace period to allow customers to adjust to it. During
this grace period, the Ohio Turnpike suspended all late fees,
(41:37):
collections and vehicle registration holds. But the grace period is
now coming to an end and truck drivers with unpaid
tolls have just days to get it paid up starting
February third, twenty twenty five, Turnpike officials say they would
begin issuing the following late fees run paid tolls. Customers
who incurred an unpaid toll by driving through the easy
(41:58):
Pass lane and do not pay the first unpaid toll
invoice within thirty days will have five dollar late fee
added to the second mailed invoice for each toll that
remains unpaid. Customers exiting through cash Credit lane who are
handed an unpaid tolled notice by a toll collector for
failure to pay will incur a five dollar administration fee.
(42:21):
If the notice remains unpaid for thirty days, the customer
will be mailed as second notice. An additional five dollar
late fee will be added for each toll that remains unpaid,
so that could add up pretty quick. Starting on the
tenth of February, officials will send an unpaid toll incurred
since April tenth to the Attorney General's Office in Ohio
(42:42):
for collections and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles for
a hold on your vehicle registration. Mailed invoices and notices
that remain unpaid for ninety days from the issued date
will be sent to the AG's office for collections and
like I said, for the vehicle registration hold. So yeah,
there they gave you a chance. Now they're not playing.
(43:04):
And this story a truck driver is sentenced for slashing
a fellow driver's throat in a fight over slow fueling
in an Arizona truck stop. His crap is getting out
of hand. A man was senced to prison for a
truck stop knife attack following an argument to escalate it
at an Arizona truck stop last year. This mister, Arlen Arline,
(43:28):
was sentenced to three years in prison excuse me by
Mohave County Superior Court. Shade at Havasu in December twenty
twenty four, was found guilty of second degree attempted murder
for an altercation and left a fellow truck driver injured.
This happened last year February fourth of twenty twenty four
at the Pilot in Lake Havasou, Arizona. At the trial,
(43:50):
the victim testified that Arleen confronted him at the Pilot
fuel station for fuel for take it too long to fuel.
A verbal altercation ensued inside the Pilot, which promoted him
an employee of Pilot to separate them prompted. Excuse me,
they say promoted, but it's prompted. The victim testified that
(44:12):
he walked outside, but was followed closely behind by this
our lane. A second altercation took place outside the station
and ended in our lane abruptly, abruptly and violently slashing
the victim in the neck with a pocket knife, then
fled the He then fled the scene, and a subsequent
interview with law enforcement, he admitted to cutting the victim,
(44:34):
but steadd who was acting in self defense. Of course,
throughout the trial he claimed self defense, but also admitted
during his trial testimony that he pulled the knife out
as he was walking behind the victim. That is not
self defense. This state argued the fact demonstrated his intent
to kill the victim over a fuel station feud. I mean, really, really, wow,
(44:59):
you know, it's just it's just ridiculous, just ridiculous. The
road range and A bill seeks to relax certain CDL requirements.
Building on the COVID nineteen waivers, lawmakers interest To introduced
a bill intended to make it easier to conduct CDL
(45:20):
by streamlining certain requirements oh Joy, including allowing the CDL
holders accompany student drivers to be in the sleeper birth
instead of the passenger seat. Oh joy, how many more
accidents are we going to have out on the highway
with this garbage. On January twenty fourth, Senator Cindia Loomis
(45:44):
and Mark Kelly introduced the Licensing Individual Commercial exam Takers
Now Safely and Efficiency Act. Lawmakers say that the bill
builds on waivers of the FMCSA implementing during the COVID pandemic.
Major provisions of the bill were laid out. Expand CDL testing,
(46:05):
provide flexible supervision streamline testing across the states. Yeah no, no,
that's just nuts no, And sadly, workers open up a
(46:27):
door to find a truck driver crushed moments after guiding
another driver into the loading dock. A truck drivers found
dead after an accident at a bottling plant crushed him
against the loading dock Thursday evening. This happened is seguin,
(46:48):
Texas around six point thirty in the evening. According to
the local news, a plant employee told a truck driver
to back into the loading dock and gave him the
green light. Employee then instructed the driver to reposition the
trailer and wait for further instructions. Tragically, employees opened the
loading dock door moments later discovered Vargas pinned behind the
(47:13):
trailer and immediately instructed the driver to move the vehicle
to free him. The driver the truck that backed into
the man then attempted to perform CPR and the injured driver.
Police officers then arrived on the scene and took over.
Despite those efforts, the emergency medical team pronounced this man
(47:34):
deceased at the scene. The deceased driver has been identified
as thirty nine year old Arlen Vargas from Houston. He
was waiting at the plant to pick up a load
at the time of the accident. They said he was
out of his vehicle for unknown reasons. We don't know
why he was out of the vehicle, especially that close
to the building. We're still investigating, but ultimately it appears
(47:58):
to be just an accident and a fatal one. We're
deeply saddened to share that one of our truck and
partners was involved in a terrible accident in the outside
doc area, they said, and no criminal charges were filed
against the driver. The incident was still under investigation, and
(48:22):
a truck driver's charged with cocaine trafficking following a truck
stop on I eighty in Illinois. Illinois State Police issued
multiple felony charges after a semi traffic stop along I
eighty and covered a large amount of cocaine. This happened
on January eighteenth. Illinois State Police performed a traffic stop
(48:44):
on a semi traveling east on I eighty. Probable cost
search was conducted, revealing multiple packages of suspected cocaine weighing
more than ten kilos. The arrested fifty five year old
California based truck driver Jose Gulin and booked him into
local jail. He was booked on possession of cocaine, possession
(49:08):
with intent to deliver, and cocaine trafficking. As always, I
want to thank you so much for joining me this week.
Like I mentioned, there was a lot of news to
get to, so thank you so much. I greatly appreciate
all of you tuning in and you all have take
care and have a very blessed week and keep the
(49:31):
shiny side up until next time.
Speaker 1 (49:54):
You have been listening to Julia's Truck, a Cafe Truck
and News Hour. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
Take care, have a blessed it
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