A truck driver who was illegally parked on the shoulder of the highway sleeping was struck by a pickup truck.  The pickup then veered back in to traffic where it was struck by another semi.  The driver of the pickup was taken to the hospital where he died.  I will link the article at the end of this.  I know what people are saying:  "Mark, the pickup truck driver should have moved over so as not to hit the semi".  I agree.  I also think that parking illegally contributes to accidents and unless it is an emergency you are not allowed to park on the shoulder.  I see it almost every night.  Trucks parked on the shoulder.  It is so dangerous.  This accident didn't have to happen.  The semi driver currently has four charges against him and possibly more to follow.  He will likely be fired and sued by the family.  There can't be an excuse for doing things that you know are unsafe even if the proximate cause of the accident is another's negligence.  This happened at like 3am.  People who don't drive at night are tired.  They swerve and are all over the road.  I see it DAILY.  Please, park somewhere safe and legal.  Don't even start writing down HOURS OF SERVICE or anything else.  I don't want to hear excuses about why someone does something unsafe.  The bottom line is you cannot park on the shoulder to get sleep in Virginia.

HERE is the article.

See you on the road!

July 29 will be the first day that wearing a mask will be mandatory at all Love's.  What about that?  I think the rest of the truck stop chains will follow suit soon.  As someone who strongly believes in private business doing whatever it wants, I have no problem with it.  I have a problem with the government mandating masks as my state of Indiana just did.  A private business I can choose to go or not but the government mandating masks and then threatening people with a fine or even jail is ridiculous.  For crying out loud, they are letting people OUT of jail due to the Rona.  Love's will have masks for sale if you don't have one although I have to believe most people have a mask by now.  I have a couple in the truck and one in the Trucking Answers mobile unit.

Funny story:  I had a regular doctor appointment Tuesday and the place I go requires masks to enter.  OK.  I wear my cloth mask and at the desk they gave me a surgical grade mask to wear.  They don't allow the cloth masks.  I asked why and they said the cloth masks don't do anything, they don't protect the wearer or others.  I then asked my doctor about masks and he said if you aren't wearing a surgical grade mask you aren't really doing anything.  Hmmmm.  He gave me a few more to take with me.  He said if everyone wore surgical grade masks all the time they are in contact with others we could stop the Rona but other than that it is going to be a long haul for us, maybe years.  Interesting.

​See you on the road with a mask!

According to THIS article, if you are planning on being in the Rochester, NY area this weekend expect protesters to shut down 490 at 2pm Sunday.  Why?  We all know why.  Avoid the area.  It is currently illegal to block the highway even for a protest but I am sure the police will look the other way.  Interfering with interstate commerce is also against the law but I am sure nothing will be done about it.  All I can tell you is to be careful and try to find another way around if you are headed there.  I have no idea if they will be on time or what will happen.

See you on the road (but not 490)!

Here is a blog post to share.  You can't have too much Rona info so take a few minutes to read this good information.


Key Takeaways
 Introduction
 WHO guidelines for long -haul truck drivers
 About Matrack COVID Heat Tracker
 How to use the heat tracker
 Benefits of Matrack COVID Tracker
 Bottom-line

Introduction
The United States of America has recently seen a deadly rise in the case of affected
Coronavirus patients with more than 69,000 deaths in the last few weeks. The daily life and
businesses in America have shattered, and people are on the extreme verge of fear and
anxiety with chaos all around. During this terrible pandemic, the nation’s truck drivers are
among those who risk their lives and personal health to ensure that products and freights are
carried and reached. Today, truck drivers earn huge respect who equally join hands with the
doctors and nurses to serve the nation. 

WHO guidelines for long-haul truck drivers
The recent studies of WHO indicate that Coronavirus can be spread by people who don’t
even show symptoms, which is a serious concern. As truck drivers spend long hours driving
from one place to another, meeting truck stop attendants, store workers, dockworkers, and
other truck drivers, they must protect themselves and slow the spread of the virus. 
 Wear face masks, especially when you are in the affected area. 
 Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently using a hand sanitizer. 
 Clean and disinfect your truck, especially on surfaces where you often touch. 
 When you start showing symptoms, notify your supervisor and stay home. 
 Keep track of activities you do while driving so that you know where you got the
disease, in case you are affected. 
 Make a plan with your employer and your family to let them know what to do if you
become sick while driving. Include where to stop and where and how to seek medical
advice and treatment. This way, the employer can make necessary plans for the
smooth flow of freight delivery. 
 If you are sick, make sure you follow the guidelines and recommend steps. You
should not return to work unless you have completed home isolation in consultation
with health care providers and local health departments.

 Strictly maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet when possible. And limit close
contact with co-workers and people as much as possible.
 Go for paperless documenting and invoicing for fuelling, deliveries, and other tasks. 
 Carry home-made food or self-prepared food, water, and supplies instead of halting in
the hotel or restaurant. 
 Avoid shaking hands and keep your truck well-ventilated. 
 Once the drivers are back from the service, they must complete their self-quarantine
period and get temperature checks daily. 

About Matrack COVID Heat Tracker
GPS fleet management solutions provider, Matrack Inc, has developed a COVID tracker that
notifies the hotspots and areas which are worst affected by the virus. As the truck drivers
need to cross the state and national borders, it is imperative that they know the intensity of the
virus spread in the cities, states, and counties they are or need to travel. The Matrack COVID
heat tracker is available at the FMS portal. It comes with an easy user interface that helps the
truck driver get segregated data on COVID-19 updates. The Matrack COVID Heat Tracker
provides the following information:
 The total number of Coronavirus confirmed cases in the U.S, which keeps updating
regularly.
 Total number of cases per million residents
 Total number of deaths throughout the country
 Color-coded key to helping you identify the profoundly affected areas. 
 State-wise and county wise information on COVID affected and death rates. 

How to use the Heat tracker?
The Matrack COVID tracker is available at free of cost. The updated current information
about the total number of confirmed cases and death rates can be seen in the top-left corner.
This data keeps changing with updated figures to give you exact facts. 
For state-wise and county-wise data, the driver can browse through the geographical location
in which they want to know the details. You will get information about confirmed cases and
death cases, both state-wise and county-wise. 
The color-coded key in the map shows how severe that location is. The darker the color-
codes, the higher the risk is. The COVID tracker by Matrack also allows the truck driver to
fetch data by filtering county-wise and save locations for future use.

Benefits of Matrack COVID tracker 
The introduction of the COVID Heat tracker by Matrack provides many benefits for both
truck drivers and fleet managers. Amidst the global pandemic and lockdown, many
industries, including fleet management, logistics, and supply chain management, have lost
their consistent income source. Many companies have also laid off their 30% workforce due
to zero business. Now that the government has eased the restrictions, businesses are gearing
up to resume its operations. So does the COVID tracking tool by Matrack benefit you?

​ Through this COVID tracking app, the truck driver and fleet managers can easily find
out the low-risk areas and keep their drivers safe from not getting novel coronavirus
disease.
 The tracker also shows areas where there are zero affected cases of Coronavirus. This
way, the fleet manager can assign travel routes for the driver that is safe to go. 

Bottom-line
Having a good CSA score attracts additional new businesses. Even during this world crisis,
Matrack keeps track of your fleets and trailers by reducing cost and increasing revenue.
Ensuring driver safety with sophisticated GPS tracking software and systems to give 100%
visibility for the clients - is what Matrack serves to achieve. Be it in a distant location or at
storage, Matrack has DOT compliant tracking devices to track your assets. Although the
global Coronavirus has paused the supply chains and businesses, this same public health
crisis will also be remembered as a time when the trucking industry acted as the front-line
responders.

​Get the tracker HERE. 

​See you on the road!

The DOT is back at work and Operation Safe Driver this year is July 12-18.  Are you ready?  This year they are going to focus on speeding.  I wish they would focus on following too close.  That is what I see violated most often.  I guess speeding is a part of that as well.  Many of these violations would be cured by simply paying drivers by the hour.  Employees, that is.  If you were getting paid by the hour, would you be speeding?  I doubt it.  The reason Lytx and all these other obnoxious cameras are around are exactly the things the po po will be looking at during the blitz.  Professional drivers should not really need to change the way they drive next week or any week.

​See you on the road!