Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020:
Husband-wife team named Highway Angels for helping boy after fatal crash
William and Becky Gregory, a husband-wife team based in Shelbyville, Tennessee, for Titan Transfer were named Highway Angels for rescuing and caring for a boy following a crash that killed his father.
The owner-operator team was driving westbound on I-40 on June 4 with William behind the wheel and Becky in the sleeper with their dog. Traffic came to a stop, and he moved into the slow lane. He saw four trucks ahead of him and people running ahead with fire extinguishers.
William and Becky GregoryTwo cars had collided head-on. The first vehicle was on the shoulder, and the elderly driver was deceased. The other vehicle was on fire, and William could see this driver was also deceased.
There was a boy slumped down on the floor board, but we had to get the flames extinguished before we could get him out,” he said.
The vehicle was crumpled, and the group worked quickly to get to the boy. One driver pulled up on the dash, and William helped the 10-year-old boy out of the wreckage and handed him to another driver who held him until help arrived. The boy was hurt, sustaining many broken bones.
“We sat there and talked to him,” William said. “He kept asking for his dad; we told him people were taking care of him.”
Becky was awakened by their barking dog. She got out of the truck to see what was happening.
“We sat there and talked to the boy to keep him calm until the Life Flight arrived and took him,” William said.
The Gregory’s learned a couple weeks later the child had several surgeries and was expected to make a full recovery.
“I’ve come across some rough [accidents],” William said, “but this was the worst.”
William has been driving for 28 years, and he has been team driving with Becky for 20 years.
For their willingness to help, TCA presented the Gregory’s with a certificate, patch, lapel pin and truck decals. Titan Transfer also received a certificate acknowledging their driver as a Highway Angel. EpicVue sponsors the Highway Angel program.
Amber brake-activated pulsating lights now allowed on van trailers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted a waiver to lighting manufacturer Grote Industries that will allow motor carriers to install amber brake-activated pulsating warning lights on the back of trailers and straight trucks in addition to steady-burning red brake lights.
The waiver is effective immediately and is currently set to expire Dec. 2, 2025.
In its request, Grote contended that the addition of brake-activated amber pulsating lights would improve safety and stated that research shows that pulsating brake lamps installed in addition to required steady-burning red brake lamps improve visibility and prevent accidents.
The agency has previously granted similar waivers to Groendyke Transport and the National Tank Truck Carriers.
A 9 MILLION REMAN-BRAKE-SHOE MILESTONE | The Bendix company noted that the company hit the threshold of more than 9 million remanufactured brake shoes produced in 2020 since serial production began in the fall of 2012. “The demand has been continuous and growing,” said Mark Holley, director of marketing and customer solutions, Wheel-End. The goal from the outset — to maintain original-equipment-level quality and performance while delivering bottom-line benefits that can come from a remanufactured product. A close focus on returning shoes to their original geometry to perform as designed has made it possible, setting Bendix apart, the company believes, from brake shoe relining processes. “A relined but uncoined reman shoe may not make full drum contact or sit in the S-cam properly, resulting in reduced brake performance and uneven wear,” the company said. Another key The Bendix Remanufactured Shoe Center in Huntington, Indiana, uses a 1,000-ton coining press that applies the tonnage needed to return a shoe to its proper shape and OE specifications. The company says that process, combined with high-quality coatings, restores shoes to the original design. The shoe center opened in 2012 and was significantly expanded in 2014 to more than 74,000 square feet.Broker RLS Logistics expands with office in Nashville
The RLS Logistics company’s second freight brokerage office is opening in Nashville, Tennessee. The location complements it operations team in the company’s first such office in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
Brokerage “continues to be one of our fastest growing business units,” said Russell Leo, president of the company’s transportation group. Sales and operations in Nashville will be led by Adam Williams.
