No. 9, no. 9, no. 9
LOL, right? That’s exactly what Kerstan Hughey, posting to Overdrive‘s Facebook page had to say, likewise other readers on my own profile. I couldn’t resist the temptation to ask Parker to elaborate:
So, how exactly did you come to learn this particularly peculiar rule of the road?
Here’s what she had to say:
“I honestly had no idea there were intercoms at the scales. We got pulled into one in Georgia, and the guy buzzed through to ask George [Parker, Wendy’s owner-operator husband] if he’d bring his registration and insurance card around. It scared the piss out of me when the voice came through the window.
“I remarked, ‘Go ahead and order a cheeseburger and fries so it’ll be ready when you get inside.'”
And then the voice crackled back this parting shot: “Not a good idea, ma’am.”
CRASH, PATT and OOIDA take same side in stand against larger, heavier trucks
In a story by David Tanner on Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s Land Line mag’s website, broad cross-organization support for new SHIPA (Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2013) legislation is detailed, interesting for several reasons, not least of which being the fact that OOIDA is joined in their support for the bill to close a loophole allowing 80,000-lb.-plus trucks on some portions of the National Highway System by organizations like Parents Against Tired Truckers, CRASH and (something of a less-strange bedfellow, as it were) the Teamsters.
Also somewhat strangely given trucking interests’ support, New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg is the primary sponsor of the bill, which Tanner details as follows:
If it passes or gets attached to the next highway bill, SHIPA would extend the current limit of 80,000 pounds on five axles in 53-foot trailers to the entire 220,000-mile National Highway System and not just the current 44,000 miles of interstates. The bill would close a loophole used by states to allow longer, heavier trucks on certain federally funded roadways.
What’s also interesting is that these groups’ alignment also means that you’ve got trucking and driver interests siding with a group that is using the term slaughter to describe what’s happening on America’s highways in car-truck collisions today. Deborah Lockride has a dissection of the inflammatory perspective the Truck Safety Coalition (made up in part of PATT and CRASH) has taken attendant to their support of the bill here.
Click through the image to download the mag’s app for Android.Mack’s Bulldog publication on Android
Mack Trucks has launched its long-running Bulldog Magazine as an Android app available free of charge through the Google Play store. It joins the iPhone/iPad app for mobile access.
The apps allow users to access current (and past) issues of the quarterly magazine on their smartphones and tablets. There have been many of those (issues) — Bulldog‘s been published since February 1920 for Mack customers, dealers, collectors, employees, retirees and fans to keep them up-to-date on industry trends, company news and more. Mack says it’s “among the oldest corporate publications in the U.S. and has avid subscribers around the world.”
Click through the cover image here for the Android app; otherwise, check it out on your desktop here.
