The Trucker News Channel 100th episode

In this episode we cover…

– GATS canceled

– Milk tanker spills

– Arizona adds emergency parking for trucks

– Semi hit and run

David Compton:

Hi, I’m David Compton. Welcome to the 100th episode of The Trucker News Channel. The Great American Truck Show cancels. Troopers need your help finding a hit and run trucker. And there’s an old saying there’s no use crying over spilled milk, that is unless you’re this tanker driver. And Arizona begins an emergency truck parking project. These are just some of the stories we’re going to cover on this 100th episode of The Trucker News Channel.

David Compton:

MATS, GATS, rats. Yep, that’s right. Another trucking show is canceled. The 2020 Great America Trucking show, which was scheduled for August 27th through the 29th has canceled following in the footsteps of last month’s Mid-America Truck Show’s cancellation. The decision to cancel the show has been made with the health and well-being of the participants, first and foremost in mind say its promoters. So that leaves us with Walcott Truckers Jamboree scheduled for July 9th through the 11th at the World’s Largest Truckstop on I-80. No word yet from that show’s promoters as to its status, but hopefully we’re going to see you there.

David Compton:

Oregon State Police needs your help as they’re trying to locate a semi truck driver who was involved in a crash caught on dash cam near La Grande. The crash occurred at 5:47 PM on April 29th on I-84 near mile marker 277. 56-year-old Robert Floyd was the other motorist involved in the crash and Floyd suffered minor injuries. Take a look at this video and if you have any information, contact the OSP Dispatch at 800-442-2068.

Speaker 2:

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David Compton:

Well, you’ve heard the saying there’s no crying over spilled milk. But I don’t think this was the case, especially if you were this tanker driver. A Vermont man shared some footage of a tanker truck rollover caught on security camera. The accident occurred on a curve on Route 102 in Maidstone, Vermont. The driver was injured in the crash, but survived. Take a look.

David Compton:

A project fast tracked by the Arizona Department of Transportation will be adding 38 truck parking spaces to the Haviland Rest Area along Interstate 40 West to Kingman. Deemed an emergency project due to the COVID-19 crisis, the upgrade will allow more commercial drivers to rest as they travel long distances delivering essential supplies. The Arizona State Transportation Board awarded the $3.98 million project to Fann Contracting on April 28th.

David Compton:

The Arizona DOT is adding 22 truck parking spaces to the existing seven spaces at the eastbound rest area and 16 spaces to the existing seven spaces at the westbound rest area. The facilities are located between mileposts 22 and 23 about 25 miles southwest of Kingman. Hi, this is Dave Compton with The Trucker News Channel. Joining me today is Daniel from Rocketail. Daniel, welcome to the show.

Daniel:

Thanks very much. Glad to be here.

David Compton:

So I’m familiar with Rocketail and it’s a great product, but it’s been a year since I’ve talked to you. So what makes the product special? What makes it unique? What’s new?

Daniel:

Okay, so in order for a tail-end solution to work and to be economically viable for the owner operator, what we say is you have to solve three D’s. The three D’s, and you have to solve all three. You have to be certified and proven to reduce drag. You have to have an auto deploy technology that does not require any effort on the part of the driver. So you’re a hundred percent deployed all the time and your product can’t cause damage. And what you realize is, the wing extends into the wake, you back into closed loading bay doors, you back into fences, you back into other trailers, you cannot cause damage and you have to do all three.

Daniel:

So Rocketail, our new Rocketail XR system does just that. It reduces drag and has been certified by MVT to save 3.58 gallons per thousand miles driven and 11.12 gallons in a packaged solution. We have an auto deploy technology so the driver only opens and closes the doors and never has to touch anything. And the key with our new XR system is a technology we’ve invented called Automatic Collision Retraction. So when the trailer backs into a fence or backs into a loading bay or another trailer, we’ve designed our wings so that they automatically retract and rebound, which eliminates the risk of damage. So if you back two trailers like this, it’s going to close.

David Compton:

Very, very cool. So I know for me, when I look at add on equipment, it’s how much hassle do I have to go through? Can I do it myself? Do I have to have somebody else do it? Tell me about this, how easy is it to install?

Daniel:

Well, first of all, it takes two men about a half an hour to install it. And we’ve designed this out of all industrial gate components with only four hinges, four touchpoints. So this is a product that is designed to be bulletproof, is designed to last the life of the trailer, and designed to last the life of the trailer with very, very little maintenance and very, very little damage. And our whole objective here is to deliver a profitable solution without standing return on investment.

David Compton:

Very cool. So if our viewers want to find out more about Rocketail, where do they go?

Daniel:

www.rocketail.com.

David Compton:

That makes sense. All right everybody, this is Rocketail and this is David Compton with The Trucker News Channel, back to you in the studio. It’s been said that you can’t fix stupid. If that’s true, this is a testament to that old saying. YouTuber Brian Miller caught a bicyclist drafting a dump truck at 45 miles an hour. You can only imagine the carnage if the trucker was to have tapped his brakes. Get ready to start shaking your head as you take a look at this one.

Brian Miller:

This guy on the bicycle I think is drafting the semi truck. Seriously, I’m doing 35 coming up on 40, this truck hits the brakes, he’s dead.

David Compton:

Well that’s it for this 100th edition. If you’re watching this on YouTube, make sure to click that little red subscribe button below. You can also go to TheTrucker.com to read the latest breaking news stories. That’s all, so on behalf of myself and everybody else here at The Trucker News Channel, thanks for watching.

The Trucker News Staff

The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.