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| 16 Jun 2008 09:15:41 pm |
 Floods in midwest causing headaches for truckers. |
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· Interstate 80: in Cedar County I-80 is expected to open in Cedar County at 4 p.m. There are no other closures on I-80.
Flooding continues to affect many roadways in the state, according to Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) officials. Iowans are urged to closely monitor conditions and never enter a water-covered roadway.
The Iowa DOT's temporary customer service phone line will be in operation from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily until further notice. That number is 866-452-8510. This number was set up for assisting travelers navigate state roadway closings. It is not an emergency number. Emergency calls should be made to 911. This phone line is extremely busy, so if you get a busy signal please call back.
For Internet users accessing closure information, visit ww.511ia.org (use the low bandwidth service since the high bandwidth service has been temporarily disabled due to high volume).
Update:
· Interstate 80: in Cedar County I-80 is expected to open in Cedar County at 4 p.m. There are no other closures on I-80.
· U.S. 136: Lee County - Keokuk bridge U.S. 136 from Keokuk into Illinois will be closed between 8 p.m. tonight and 6 a.m. tomorrow morning for flood control activities.
Roadways now open to traffic
U.S. 218 ramps in Black Hawk County The northbound U.S. 218 exit and entrance ramps at Lone Tree Road are open.
Previously mentioned and updated road closures
Interstate routes
· I-29: All exit and entrance ramps at McPaul interchange All exit and entrance ramps are closed at the McPaul interchange (exit 20) in Fremont County.
· I-80 and Dubuque Street interchange: in Johnson County Flood waters are over Dubuque Street south of this interchange in Iowa City. The southbound exit from I-80 is closed.
· I-380: in Johnson County North- and southbound lanes of Interstate 380 (also U.S. 218/Iowa 27) in eastern Iowa between exit 4 (North Liberty) and exit 10 is closed.
· I-380 and H Avenue Interchange: in Linn County (ramp closure only) The southbound I-380 exit ramp (#21) to H Avenue has been closed due to flooding.
· I-380 and 1st Avenue interchange: in Linn County (ramp closures only) The northbound I-380 entrance ramp (#19A) to 1st Avenue West and the southbound I-380 exit ramp (#19B) have been closed due to flood waters over 1st Avenue West in downtown Cedar Rapids. I-380 remains open.
· I-380 and 1st Street interchange: in Linn County (ramp closures only) The northbound I-380 exit ramp (#19C) to 1st Street West and the southbound I-380 exit ramp (#20A) to 1st Street East have been closed due to flood in downtown Cedar Rapids. I-380 remains open.
· I-380 exit ramp Diagonal Drive Interchange: in Linn County (ramp closure only) The northbound I-380 exit ramp (#19A) to Diagonal Drive has been closed due to flooding.
U.S. routes
· U.S. 6: in Johnson County U.S. 6 is closed from Burlington Street to the intersection of Iowa 1 West within the city of Iowa City due to flooding.
· U.S. 6: in Johnson County U.S. 6 is closed from Iowa 1 to Gilbert Street within the city of Iowa City.
· U.S. 6: in Muscatine County U.S. 6 is closed from Muscatine County Road X-46 to Iowa 38 due to flooding.
· U.S. 18: in Floyd County While flood waters have receded, the water damaged the roadway east of Charles City. U.S. 18 will remain closed from Charles City to New Hampton until repairs can be made. This is a long-term closure. Detour is in place using local roads.
· U.S. 30: in Boone County U.S. 30 is closed at the Des Moines River west of the city of Boone.
· U.S. 30: Clinton County U.S. 30 is reduced to one lane between the towns of Wheatland and Calamus due to water over the road. Traffic is being flagged through the lane closure.
· U.S. 61: in Scott County U.S. 61 is closed in the city of Davenport from Iowa 22 to U.S. 67 south due to the rising Mississippi River.
· U.S. 61: in Louisa County U.S. 61 is closed from the north city limits of Wapello to south of Iowa 92.
· U.S. 61: in Lee County: U.S. 61 in Lee County is closed from Iowa 103 and Lee County Road X-38 due to water covering the road. Traffic is suggested to follow local detour signs for U.S. 61 at
Fort Madison.
· U.S. 63: in Tama County This road is closed south of Tama due to flooding of the Iowa River.
· U.S. 65: in Cerro Gordo County The outside lanes of U.S. 65 are closed on the north edge of Mason City.
· U.S. 65/Iowa 5 bypass: in Polk County The left lanes of south- and northbound U.S. 65 have been reopened. The right-hand lane of southbound U.S. 65 will be opened as the water recedes. However, the right-hand lane of northbound U.S. 65 has been undermined and repairs must be made before opening that lane later this week. The Vandalia Road exit remains underwater and is still closed.
· U.S. 67: in Clinton and Scott County - U.S. 67 is reduced to one lane between the towns of Folletts and Princeton due to water over the road. Traffic is being flagged through the lane closure.
· U.S. 67: in Scott County - U.S. 67 is now closed from the Illinois State Line to Iowa 74 due to flooding of the Mississippi River. This is located in the downtown areas of Davenport and Bettendorf.
· U.S. 136/U.S. 61: Lee County U.S. 136/U.S. 61 is closed until further notice due to flooding at the Missouri state line. This closure will detour travelers between Iowa and Missouri.
· U.S. 151 Business: in Linn County The city of Cedar Rapids is closing the 1st Avenue bridge (also Business U.S. 151) due to rising flood waters.
· U.S. 151: in Iowa County Road closed from Iowa 220 to U.S. 6 between the town of Amana and Homestead.
· U.S. 169: in Dallas County U.S. 169 is closed one mile north of Iowa 141 due to a gas leak.
· U.S. 275: in Fremont County This roadway is closed from the Missouri state line to Fremont County Road J-64 (old Iowa 333) at Hamburg.
Iowa routes
· Iowa 1: in Linn County Road closed from U.S. 30 to the city of Solon due to flooding.
· Iowa 3: in Butler County This highway is closed west of Shell Rock. There is roadway damage that must be repaired.
· Iowa 5: in Warren County Iowa 5 is closed in both directions at Hartford. Water is over the road about 2.5 miles north of the intersection of Iowa 5 and Warren County Road G-24.
· Iowa 14: in Marion County Iowa 14 is reduced to one-lane from northern city limits of Knoxville to Marion County Road G-40 due to a landslide. Electronic traffic signals are in place to direct traffic.
· Iowa 21: from Iowa 212 north to Benton County Road E-66 The road remains closed south of Belle Plaine.
· Iowa 22: in Washington County - Iowa 22 is closed from U.S. 218 to U.S. 61.
· Iowa 22: in Muscatine County Iowa 22 is closed east of Muscatine to Scott County Road Y-40.
· Iowa 22: in Scott County Iowa 22 within the city of Buffalo from Scott County Road Y-40 to I-280 is closed due to the Mississippi River rising.
· Iowa 24: in Winneshiek County Iowa 24 is closed at Fort Atkinson due to a washed out bridge approach.
· Iowa 70: in Louisa County - Iowa 70 is closed to traffic from IA 92 to before Muscatine County Line due to flooding.
· Iowa 92: in Louisa County Iowa 92 is closed in Columbus Junction. Traffic is being detoured onto local roads.
· Iowa 92: in Mahaska County Iowa 92 is closed at Mahaska County Road V-13. Traffic is being detoured on local roads.
· Iowa 92: in Marion County Iowa 92 is closed to traffic from Mahaska County line west to Marion County Road T-17 due to flooding.
· Iowa 92: in Muscatine County Iowa 92 is closed within city limits of Muscatine due to flooding.
· Iowa 98: Van Buren County Iowa 98 is closed from the start of Iowa 98 to Iowa 16 due to flooding.
· Iowa 150: Benton County Iowa 150 is closed from the Cedar River north to Benton County Road E-16 due to wash outs and road failure.
· Iowa 220: Iowa County - Due to the flood damage to the roadway, Iowa 220 will be reduced to one lane from U.S. 6 to West Amana between the hours of 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily. Traffic will be flagged through the lane reduction. The road will then be closed to all traffic from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. This schedule will continue until further notice.
· Louisa County: Meyerholz Lake area Louisa County Road G-26 is closed. Several local roads are also closed in this area.
· Van Buren County: Lacey State Park area - Van Buren County. Iowa 1 and Van Buren County Road J-40 are currently still open, however; all roads leading in and out of Lacey State Park are closed due to flooding.
Flood safety tips and other helpful information for travelers are available at: http://iowadot.gov/floods/index.html |
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Category : Trucking Jobs
| Posted By : admin |  Comments[0] |  Trackbacks [0] |
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| 16 Jun 2008 09:10:58 pm |
| Roadcheck 2008 |
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The trucking industry is currently in full swing of Roadcheck 2008. Roadcheck is a co-op program from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and state transportation departments in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, which was scheduled from June 3rd through the 5th.
During this three day blitz of roadside inspections, nearly 10,000 certified officers have been conducting road checks around the clock with a 37 point procedure for examining drivers, vehicles, and cargo safety. CVsa officers will also being handing out educational safety material to drivers.
Roadcheck 07 brought 62,370 inspections with 21.5 percent of those vehicles being placed out of service for certain problems. The results also show that the driver out of service rate roase for the second year in a row to 6.2 percent, the highest since 1999.
If you've had the experience of dealing with Roadcheck 2008, already my advice is to just keep rolling. But if you're on the road and you have not met up with an inspection yet, do what you can to ensure you and your vehicle are in compliance. |
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Category : Trucking Jobs
| Posted By : admin | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Jun 2008 09:37:08 pm |
| Trucker Srike |
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I found this myspace page about the trucker strike. http://www.myspace.com/truckerstrike08 Seems like I've heard about the "big trucker strike" coming a few times before. Hasn't happened yet though.
Seems odd to me that most of us truckers don't think the big bad government should tell us how long we can drive but when diesel prices get too high the big bad government is the one we look to for help. Strange! |
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Category : Trucking Jobs
| Posted By : admin | Comments[0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Jun 2008 09:27:22 pm |
| Trucking jobs won't be so plentiful soon |
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With diesel topping $5.00 per gallon in some areas, many trucking companiese are re-examining their business practices, and some are even examining whether they should keeps the doors open at all. Jevic Transportation recently decided to cease operations, citing high fuel and insurance costs as main factors in theire decision. Many fleets are turning down the speeds on their trucks to help increase fuel economy, a move that they have pushed back as long as possible, but now are being forced to do just to stay in business.
Turning down the speed of trucks has always been a sticking point with the drivers, and managers know this all too well. Schneider had it's trucks set at 65 mph for several years and made a strategic move to attract drivers when they increased the speed of their trucks. Schneider may be rethinking that move now becuase turning a truck's speed down does not sit well with the guys and gals who keep the country moving.
What alot of company drivers aren't considering is that alot of fleets don't have a choice in turning down the trucks. It's either turn them down to increase fuel efficiency, or close the doors. For the past few years, for the truck driver, this meant holding his hand up in the air and seeing which job offer ran into him first, it really was that easy. But with many companies choosing to close the doors before they go bankrupt, and thousands more already having closed the doors this year, finding another company to drive for may not be as easy as it was 2 years ago.
Take this as our nickel's worth of free advice, and don't jump ship before you know the boat you're swimming towards will be floating when you get there. Truck driving jobs operate under the same supply and demand laws that everything else does. When there are less companies, and therefore less jobs available, trucking companies won't be forced to hire every guy that walks through their door. Only the strong companies, and drivers, will survive.
Keep on truckin' |
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Category : Trucking Jobs
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