Driver of a Semi-Tractor Pulling Twin Trailers Fatally Injured in Single Vehicle Crash

In the spring of 2008, a 40-year-old tractor-trailer driver died after his vehicle left the interstate highway, crashed, and was engulfed in flames. The tractor drifted over the fog line and rumble strip onto the right shoulder, began to skid and left the highway. The tractor slid through the grass beside the roadway, struck a concrete culvert, sideswiped a small tree and then hit a large tree head-on. The tractor and trailers then skidded back down the embankment toward the highway where the entire unit came to rest. The tractor and lead trailer overturned onto the driver’s side. The second (rear) trailer uncoupled from the first trailer but remained upright and attached by safety chains. Emergency medical services were contacted. Upon arrival, EMS found the entire unit engulfed in flames. The coroner was contacted, and upon his arrival, declared the driver dead at the scene. To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: Recommendation No. 1: Commercial tractor-trailer drivers should be trained to recognize signs of fatigue and when to seek appropriate rest areas. Recommendation No. 2: Companies should provide new and refresher commercial driver safety training for company drivers addressing driver distraction and including defensive driving techniques. Recommendation No. 3: Vehicle stabilizer and sensory systems should be mandatory equipment on all commercial vehicles. Recommendation No. 4: Log books and other important driver records should be stored in a fireproof container in the cab

Methods of modernizing and operating lamp warehouses as an aid to lower distribution costs

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Future heavy duty trucking engine requirements

Developers of advanced heavy duty diesel engines are engaged in probing the opportunities presented by new materials and techniques. This process is technology driven, but there is neither assurance that the eventual users of the engines so developed will be comfortable with them nor, indeed, that those consumers will continue to exist in either the same form, or numbers as they do today. To ensure maximum payoff of research dollars, the equipment development process must consider user needs. This study defines motor carrier concerns, cost tolerances, and the engine parameters which match the future projected industry needs. The approach taken to do that is to be explained and the results presented. The material to be given comes basically from a survey of motor carrier fleets. It provides indications of the role of heavy duty vehicles in the 1998 period and their desired maintenance and engine performance parameters

An evaluation of materials handling equipment in general merchandise warehouses Richmond, Va.

Like most persons exploring a new and unknown field, the writer did not know, at the start, in which directions his research might take him, how far it might lead or what he would find. The stated purpose of the study was to learn what methods and which types of equipment for handling materials were being used currently in general merchandise warehouses in Richmond. The stated objectives were to make a comparison between methods and equipment being used in Richmond and to evaluate them in light of these methods and types of equipment which were considered best by the authorities on these subjects. The author considered it probable that he would find differences in points of view and actions taken to solve similar situations and problems and in this respect he was not mistaken. It was the hope of the writer that he would be able to make direct comparisons of methods and equipment which would lead to definite conclusions, establishing that certain warehouses were superior to others in particular respects

Tractor and Semitrailer Routing Problem of Highway Port Networks under Unbalanced Demand

In China, highway port networks are essential in carrying out tractor and semitrailer transportation operations. To analyze the characteristics of tractor and semitrailer routing in highway port networks, this study examined the situation in which the demands at both ends of the operation might be unbalanced and multiple requirements might be raised in the operation of tractor and semitrailer transportation. An optimal tractor and semitrailer routing model for an entire network was established to reduce the total transportation costs and the number of towing vehicles in the network. Moreover, a heuristic algorithm was designed to solve the model. The comparisons of Strategy 1 and Strategy 2 for a two-stage network swap trailer show that the number of pure network swaps trailer tractors decreases by 21.6% and 18.6%, respectively; and that the cost drops by 7.8% and 7.9%, respectively. In other words, swap trailer transport enterprises can abandon the original swap trailer transportation mode for a two-stage network and adopt a routing optimization strategy for an entire network to achieve superior operation performance, reduce costs, and enhance profits. The study provides a reference for optimizing tractor and semitrailer routing in highway port networks with balanced and multiple demands

Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky\u27s Burley Belt

Whereas most crops drive farmers apart as they compete for the best prices, the price controls on tobacco bring growers together. The result is a culture unlike any other in America, one often forgotten or overlooked as federal and state governments fight over the spoils of the tobacco settlement. Tobacco Culture describes the process of raising a crop of burley from the perspective and experience of the farmers themselves. In the process of gathering information for the book, the authors performed most steps in the tobacco production process, from dropping plants, burning seedbeds, topping, and cutting to stripping and baling the finished product. Van Willigen and Eastwood document both present practices and historical developments in tobacco farming at the very moment a way of life stands poised for dramatic change. In addition to growing practices, the authors found other common threads linking growers and tobacco producing regions. Where tobacco is grown, it often becomes the major cash crop and carries the health of the economy. Farmer Oscar Richardson states, “It’s bread and butter. It’s the industry of the community, the state as a whole. . . . You take tobacco out of Kentucky and this farmland wouldn’t be worth a nickel.” Combining cultural anthropology and oral history, John van Willigen and Susan Eastwood have created a remarkable portrait of the heart of the burley belt in Central Kentucky. Relays in vivid terms the extraordinary process of cultivating this most delicate and difficult plant. -- Agricultural History Commendable for publishing a body of intrinsically interesting local knowledge that would otherwise be hidden away in Kentucky archives. -- American Anthropologist Uses interviews from scores of farmers, giving a perspective not often found in books about the industry. -- G21 Books Compared with other books about the controversial but colorful history of tobacco in America, Tobacco Culture is valuable precisely because its authors understand the work. . . . This book allows farmers to speak for themselves. -- Lexington Herald-Leader An understanding of the cultural significance and history of a crop that, as much as horse races and beautiful women and whiskey, has defined Kentucky life. -- Southern Seen A much needed examination at a time of incredible change, Tobacco Culture effectively utilizes oral histories to offer first-hand accounts of tobacco production in the words of tobacco farmers themselves. -- Terry Birdwhistellhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_cultural_history/1006/thumbnail.jp