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LAWRENCEBURG — A tractor-trailer ran off a two-lane road and into a house early Wednesday, but no one in the house was hurt, the homeowner said.

The truck cab managed to stay upright, but its trailer fell onto its side and slid 150 to 200 feet and into the house owned by Brian Flood, 46.

"I saw it coming," Flood said. "When I looked out, it was flipped over and sliding towards the house. ... It was pretty scary."

The trailer, carrying 24,000 pounds of plastic paper-towel dispensers, crashed into a bedroom on the southeast side of the house. The crash happened shortly before 6:30 a.m. on Ky. 151 (also known as Graefenburg Road) about 2 miles north of U.S. 127. A stretch of Ky. 151 remained closed to traffic until 12:47 p.m.

Truck driver Gurmail Singh Kler was taken to a Frankfort hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening, Kentucky State Police said. He was driving south from Canada to Danville.

Flood, the homeowner, was recovering from surgery Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. But after the crash, he was able to run to a back bedroom to check on his fiancée, Suzanne Tate. She was unhurt.

Flood said vehicles are constantly running off the road and into his yard, but this is the first time anything has hit the three-bedroom house.

"There's no reason for trucks to be on this road. They've got 127 to take," he said.

Flood, who has lived there 20 years, said his house might have to be condemned, but if so, he intends to build back.

Source: Kentucky

OTAY MESA, Calif. (WUSA9) --  U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Otay Mesa seized a truck carrying more than $1 million worth of marijuana Friday, May 17.

At about 6:15 p.m., a 39-year-old male Mexican citizen pulled into the the Otay Mesa cargo border crossing driving a tractor-trailer with a shipment of clay pots.  The vehicle and shipment were inspected by an officer with a narcotic dog.  The dog alerted others to the marijuana.

Officers report 750 packages of marijuana were found hidden inside of the pots.  The packages weighed about 2,243 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $1 million.  The driver was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center, authorities say.

Earlier that same day, at about 4:45 p.m., a 34-year-old male Mexican citizen arrived at Otay with a tractor-trailed that was supposed to be empty.  Upon inspection a narcotic detecting dog alerted officers to the tires on the trailer.

After searching the tires, CBP officers found 16 packages of marijuana hidden in the tires.  The marijuana weighed about 185 pounds with an estimated street value of $83,000.  The truck and drugs were seized and the driver was sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigation (ICE HSI) agents.

Later that same night,  at about 7:45 p.m., a 45-year-old male Mexican citizen arrived at Otay Mesa driving a tractor-trailer with a shipment of peppers. After more intensive inspection, the shipment was offloaded and an officer and narcotic detector dog swept the vehicle and shipment.  The dog alerted officers to the pepers.

Officers found 14 packages of marijuana, a total of almost 100 pounds,

Source: wusa9

Donations continue to pour in for support relief and rebuilding efforts for victims of the tornado that hit Moore and the greater Oklahoma City area on May 20.

The head of the Oklahoma Trucking Association says they’ve run out of warehousing space in Moore for the truckloads of donated relief supplies that have come in.

Dan Case told “Land Line Now” that the appeal now is for cash donations to the relief agencies, and he says the response has been overwhelming.

“With the grace of God and the American people,” says Case. “You can’t believe all the states that’ve called in and offered aid to us. It’s tremendous. I just can’t say enough good things about the American people right now.”

Among those large corporations that were quick to pledge help are Love’s Travel Stops, which announced it is donating $3 million to the Moore recovery effort. The first $1 million will be designated to the OK Strong Relief Fund established this week by Gov. Mary Fallin to meet the long-term needs of victims in partnership with the United Way of Central Oklahoma. Another donation of $500,000 will be given to Catholic Charities. The remaining $1.5 million will fund a benefit event to honor those affected by the storm and to raise additional relief funds.

“Our company has been engrained in the fabric of Oklahoma since 1964.  Our hearts are saddened by the news of this tragedy affecting so many of our friends and neighbors,” said Tom Love, Chairman and CEO. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and all those impacted by this horrific event.”

Love’s Travel Stops operates 63 stores in Oklahoma, including several in close proximity to the destruction path.

Walmart announced this week it plans to give $1 million in cash and “in-kind” donations to help with relief efforts in Oklahoma. After the tornado hit, Walmart was one of the first companies to respond by activating its Emergency Operations Center, which reached out to its own employees in Oklahoma, plus offered assistance to the state of Oklahoma and other federal partners.

ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, which both got their start in Oklahoma, each will contribute $1 million to the Red Cross and match employee donations to the relief effort. Exxon Mobil Corp. has announced it will donate $500,000 to the Red Cross as well.

Toyota announced a $250,000 donation. The Volkswagen of America Foundation, which was created by Volkswagen Group of America Inc., announced today that it will make an immediate donation of $250,000 to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity to help with the disaster relief.

Meanwhile, residents of Moore, OK, whose homes were destroyed by Monday’s tornado were allowed back into their neighborhoods for a few hours on Wednesday to recover what personal items they could before the bulldozers move in.

Courtesy of Landline Magazine

A new law in Tennessee is supposed to do away with an unfair practice to truckers and others traveling through the state. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2014.

Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law a bill that is intended to rein in “civil asset forfeiture.” The practice allows police to take cash, or property, from people pulled over along roadsides without charging them with a crime.

Supporters say the change is warranted to stop law enforcement agencies from seizing money, vehicles and other property based on mere suspicion that the property is related to criminal activity. They point out that in some instances thousands of dollars worth of property or cash is seized, yet the property owner is never charged with a crime.

Previously SB891, Rep. Barrett Rich, R-Somerville, said the new law will help ensure that innocent drivers get their due process. People who have money or property confiscated by police would get an immediate hearing before a judge, instead of having to wait months.

Specifically, the new rule forbids “ex parte” hearings. The practice prevents individuals from getting a hearing before a judge to determine whether law enforcement had probable cause to take their property.

Instead, individuals would be able to go before a judge and tell their side of the story, as well as present evidence to support their claim. The judge would listen to both sides and make a decision. If the judge rules in favor of the individuals, their property must be returned immediately.

Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, said the new law re-establishes the trust between government and the people of Tennessee.

“This bill is a remarkable start in the right direction in protecting our citizens from the overreach of government,” Shipley said during recent discussion at the statehouse.

Critics caution about a loophole that allows law enforcement to bypass state seizure laws and instead take the money to the feds. A local media report says that the federal process can take more than six months to play out.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Tennessee, click here.

Courtesy of Landline Magazine

Fred Weaver was just tooling along Interstate 15 in Montana back in June 2011. Before he knew it he was passing the Shelby scale, having missed the sign that would have alerted him a scale was ahead.

Needing fuel, he went ahead and stopped to fill up. While at the fuel island, a sheriff’s deputy approached Weaver and asked him if he knew he had missed the scale. Weaver, who is an OOIDA member from Melbourne Beach, FL, said he was aware and was going to return after fueling his truck.

Apparently content with Weaver’s response, the sheriff’s deputy went on down the road.

Upon Weaver’s return to the scale, he was presented with a citation for not stopping at the scale and the violation was noted on his inspection report.

Weaver hired an attorney and battled the ticket through the Montana courts. In January 2012, the ticket was dismissed without prejudice – allowing the state 60 days to appeal the decision and refile charges. That never happened.

The citation was wiped from Weaver’s motor vehicle record.

But the violation remained on Weaver’s records maintained by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, used in both the Pre-Employment Screening Program and Compliance, Safety, Accountability enforcement program.

With the help of the OOIDA, Weaver requested that the violation be removed from his record through the DataQ process.

Requests through the DataQ system are routed back to the agency in which the inspection reports are generated for a decision.

Weaver’s request to remove the violation was denied by FMCSA, which, under the DataQ system, simply defers to the decision of the state agency – in this case the Montana Department of Transportation’s Motor Carrier Services Division.

The denial, in part, states that Weaver was in violation by failing to report to the Shelby Scale and that the citation was filed as “deferred prosecution.”

OOIDA filed a dispute on that decision detailing the facts in the case and that Weaver’s ticket was, in fact, dismissed.

A final response from the state of Montana states the citation and the violation are different. “The two actions are treated and handled totally separate from each other.” The response called the violation a valid “safety” violation and it “can be listed whether a citation is issued or not.”

In response to the court’s dismissal of the citation, the state responded that by keeping the violation on Weaver’s record, the state was “not in violation of the court order as it only addresses the citation.”

In that final response, the state warned that further DataQ challenges to this violation would be “turned over to the FMCSA as a violation of the DQ processes.” The response does not explain what penalties or consequences, if any, FMCSA or the state agency would impose for violating “the DQ processes.”

That response was issued on March 19.

OOIDA filed a petition for review on Weaver’s behalf on May 10 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Association asserts that FMCSA is continuing to report that Weaver violated the law, when the citation was actually dismissed. The Association is seeking to prevent FMCSA from reporting that Weaver violated the law to the public and is seeking to remove that information from his records.

“The tactic that FMCSA is employing is a familiar one of ‘don’t confuse us with the facts. We don’t even want to talk about the facts,’” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said. “They are going to talk about this – and if we wind up having to take it to the pope to get them to pay attention, then we’ll take it to the pope.”

This is the second legal challenge filed by OOIDA contesting FMCSA’s refusal to discontinue reporting violations that have been overturned or dismissed in court. The previous lawsuit was filed in July 2012 on behalf of four members who encountered similar situations. That case is still pending.

“In our country we’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. These guys went to court and had the allegations dismissed. How can FMCSA continue to report that they violated the law?” Spencer questioned. “We live in a system of law, justice and courts. The agency obviously is under the delusion that they are above that system.

“Fred Weaver deserves better – and so does every other hard-working trucker out there.”

Courtesy of Landline Magazine

NEW YORK — The price of oil fell below $93 on Wednesday after disappointing economic reports from Europe and the U.S.

By late morning in New York, benchmark oil for June delivery was down $1.78 to $92.41 a barrel. That marks five straight days of declines after oil rose above $96 last week.

New figures released Wednesday showed the eurozone's economy continued to contract in the first quarter, keeping it in recession for a sixth consecutive quarter. And a report in the U.S. showed factories cut back sharply on production in April, suggesting economic growth may be slowing this spring.

That added to the pressure on oil prices seen Tuesday after the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for U.S. oil production while cutting its prediction for global crude demand.

The dreary economic news is overshadowing the latest data from the Energy Department showing that oil supplies declined unexpectedly last week.

Crude supplies declined by 600,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 394.9 million barrels, in the week ended May 10. Analysts expected an increase of 300,000 barrels. Still, demand for gasoline and distillates such as diesel remain below year-ago levels.

Meanwhile, traders were monitoring news that the EU has launched an investigation into possible price-fixing on the oil markets. Three oil companies, Britain's BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Norway's Statoil, as well as Platts, a division of McGraw Hill Financial which compiles prices for energy markets, confirmed they were being investigated.

The EU, which did not name the targets of its investigation, said oil companies "may have colluded in reporting distorted prices."

"Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers," the EU said.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was down $1.32 to $101.17 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 5 centx to $2.79 a gallon.

— Heating oil lost 4 cents to $2.83 a gallon.

— Natural gas added 2 cents to $4.05 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: The Trucker