Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024:
Carolinas waive hours regs for Tropical Storm Debby responders
Following the landfall of Tropical Storm Debby as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning in Florida, and emergency declarations issued in Florida and Georgia, officials in the Carolinas are now following suit, issuing declarations for the storm, which is expected to remain along the South Carolina coast into the latter half of the week.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s emergency declaration waives hours of service rules for truck drivers providing direct assistance to the emergency in the state, or in other states impacted by the storm, including North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
The waiver applies to drivers transporting equipment, materials, or persons necessary for the restoration of utility services or debris removal and those transporting essential goods.
[Related: Trucker dies after cab floods in I-75 wreck during Hurricane Debby]
It also includes drivers hauling products such as food, water, medicine, medical supplies and equipment, fuels and petroleum products (including fuel oil, diesel oil, gasoline, kerosene, propane, liquid petroleum, and other refined petroleum products and related equipment or assets), livestock, poultry, feed for livestock and poultry, and crops and other agricultural products ready to be harvested (including timber and wood chips).
Likewise, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an emergency declaration waiving HOS regs for drivers transporting essential fuels, food, water, non-alcoholic beverages, medical supplies, feed for livestock and poultry; those transporting livestock, poultry, and crops ready to be harvested; and vehicles used in the restoration of utility and transportation services.
North Carolina's declaration also temporarily suspends weighing for vehicles used to transport livestock, poultry, livestock or poultry feed, or crops ready to be harvested.
[Related: Hours regs waived for hurricane response in Florida, Georgia]
Four-truck crash closed I-80 early Monday
A section of I-80 EB near Iowa City, Iowa, was closed Monday morning following a crash involving four tractor-trailers.
Local reports state that around 5:30 a.m. Monday, the driver of one truck lost control for unknown reasons and overturned, blocking all lanes of the interstate. Three other trucks then crashed into the overturned truck, two of which ended up in a ditch.
Two people were injured in the crash and were taken to a local hospital.
A post on X by the Iowa State Patrol shows the aftermath of the crash.
I-94 rest area closed this month
A rest area along I-94 in Michigan will be closed through early September for maintenance work, the Michigan Department of Transportation announced.
The Sandstone Rest Area, along I-94 EB near Jackson, Michigan, officially closed Monday, Aug. 5, and is expected to reopen Wednesday, Sept. 4.
During the closure, crews will resurface the parking lot and construct a truck scale, according to MDOT.
The closure and maintenance are part of a multi-year $162 million I-94 road and bridge rebuilding project in Jackson County.
CVSA crowns annual IDEA winner
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced Tuesday that Darryl Tolle with Ryder System has been selected as this year’s International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA) recipient.
With more than 41 years of crash-free professional driving experience behind the wheel, Tolle has driven 3.6 million safe miles -- 2.8 million of those miles during his 35-year tenure with Ryder.CVSA
“I was ecstatic. I had goosebumps,” said Tolle when recounting the moment he found out he was the 2024 CVSA IDEA winner. “I was at a loss for words.”
When Tolle first joined Ryder, he told the hiring manager he’d work at Ryder until he retired. Thirty-five years later, Tolle is still there.
“Thirty-five years at one company speaks for itself, but Darryl had it in him to go further than that,” said Corey McSweeney, logistics manager at Ryder. “He has a sense of duty not only to his company, but to his country as well. For the first 22 years of his employment with Ryder, Darryl was also serving in the Kentucky Army National Guard. It’s crazy to think that he’s had a whole career in the National Guard and a whole career with Ryder, all while being a family man through it all.”
[Related: Enter today: Overdrive's 2024 Trucker of the Year competition]
CVSA’s International Driver Excellence Award isn’t the only award Tolle has received during his professional driving career. In July, Tolle received Ryder’s Driver of the Year Award -- an award that recognizes the exemplary efforts of the company’s standout professional drivers -- joining Ryder’s elite Driver of the Year Hall of Fame.
Tolle will attend the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Big Sky, Montana, in September where he will receive $5,000 and a crystal trophy at the general session and awards ceremony on Sept. 9.
