New Mexico Department of Transportation increased speed limits on two state roads after speed studies suggested that increased speed would better meet current traffic conditions and promote traffic speed uniformity. The limit on U.S. 70 west of Roswell was increased from 65 mph to 70 mph for a 23-mile stretch, while the limit on U.S. 82 west of Artesia was raised from 55 mph to 65 mph for a 31-mile stretch.
Iteris (www.iteris.com) said less-than-truckload carrier Saia Inc. is making Iteris’ AutoVue Lane Departure Warning (LDW) Systems standard equipment on all new tractor purchases. Iteris’ LDW system employs a windshield-mounted camera with “machine vision technology” to track visible lane markings and warn drivers when they are leaving the lane or roadway.
CEI (www.ceinetwork.com) – a provider of vehicle accident, driver safety and fleet risk management services – says its DriverCare Risk Manager clients now have an online library of more than 100 safety articles to use for driver training, for one-on-one coaching sessions and as periodic refreshers.
Labelmaster (www.labelmaster.com)teamed up with Instructional Technologies to launch an online hazmat training program in the United States for professional truck drivers. Labelmaster has completed beta-testing the program, which will be marketed and sold by Labelmaster under the name Online Transportation Training.
Con-way Freight announced that three driver sales representatives achieved two million safe miles: Michael Umphrey of Hartselle, Ala.; Bill Henderson of Savannah, Ga.; and Jim Lubash of Munhall, Pa.
It soon may be a lot easier for Interstate 95 travelers to get information about traffic backups, road construction and other delays, thanks to a $6.4 million partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the I-95 Corridor Coalition. “The goal is to make it easier to learn about traffic backups on I-95 than it is to find the next gas station,” says Paul Brubaker, administrator of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).
The program is intended to help the coalition continue testing vehicle probes to provide travel time information along the East Coast. After this information has been verified, commuters in selected areas of the I-95 corridor will have the potential – through a variety of information resources – to make more informed travel decisions, according to the agencies.
Preventable or not: Shopper drives Doe hog wild
After a short break at Dinotelli’s Truck Stop for a tasty Chicago-style pizza lunch, tractor-trailer driver John Doe wheeled his rig back onto Interstate 94 heading toward Fergus Falls, Minn., with a pig-laden livestock trailer in tow, and a bag of Spicy Ranch Doritos by his side. The sun was shining, traffic was light and, looking at the dense woods adjacent to the highway, Doe found himself thinking about hunting season. Perhaps it was time, he mused, to buy that 12-gauge Ithaca Deerslayer II from fellow trucker Joe “Leadfoot” Johnson.
Ah, hah! There was the Fergus Falls exit, dead ahead. Doe turned off I-94 onto South Cascade Street and
