Stronger Emission Regulations On Commercial Trucking

Uh-oh sorry guys, we hate to be the bearer of bad news but Berrier Insurance, commercial truck insurance specialists, just had to share the latest news about the EPA granting the federal government the ability to tighten emission regulations.

Federal government now wants to regulate commercial trucks and RV's in a similar way to passenger cars in attempt to decrease emissions. Commercial trucks and buses must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent and overhaul engine design starting with models built in 2014. Most operators will need to spend thousands upgrading their rigs or buying new vehicles, as you can imagine not everyone is happy about this. With thousands already invested into their trucks, most owner operators fear that they won’t be on the roads much longer. In recent years the trucking industry has been feeling the chains of regulation tightening around them making business harder to manage and keep afloat financially. A group of California truckers contending the regulations has filed suit to block them. Even so, these regulations have the support of the large and powerful American Trucking Association.

Commercial Truck Leaves Family Suspended on Bridge: The Amazing Rescue

Berrier Insurance, commercial truck insurance specialists, would like to thank the amazing Fire Fighters Police Officers and especially the Navy Seabees for their bravery and quick action. We would like to share their story of bravery with you.


A mother and her two daughters were rescued from their car left teetering on a California freeway bridge after a gravel truck had hit them in the northbound lanes of U.S. Route 101. The rescue was a joint effort of the fire department and a team of Navy Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion.

The truck rear-ended the car then plunged into a creek bursting into flames, killing the California trucker, while the BMW struck the bridge’s railing and sat suspended on the edge of a 100-foot drop into the creek with Kelli Groves and two daughters, ages 10 and 10 months, trapped inside.

The Navy Seabees happened to be passing by the scene in transport of a forklift from Fort Hunter Liggett where NMCB 3 had finished a pre-deployment certification exercise in mid-December. Equipment Operator 1st Class (SCW) Frankie Cruz, Construction Mechanic 2nd Class (SCW) Michael McCracken, and Equipment Operator Construction man Clinton Roberts of NMCB 3 along with Construction Mechanic 2nd Class (SCW) Shawn Legg, Construction Mechanic 2nd Class (SCW) Benjamin Mead, and Construction Mechanic 3rd Class (SCW) James Winters from the 31SRG.

"As the fire department was cutting the car to get the family out, it kept on slipping over the bridge and faced a 100 foot fall," said McCracken, the forklift operator. "I talked to the fire captain in charge and he was excited to hear that we had an extendable-boom forklift just 200 to 300 feet behind the wreck and he said to go get it." The Seabees off-loaded the forklift to stabilize the car so rescue crews could use the Jaws of Life to extract the mother and her two young children.

An hour later family was pulled out of their demolished car and hospitalized. "The mom and two children are all alive, and we had a hand in it," said McCracken. "That is the biggest thing that I got out of it." "We were just in the right place at the right time,"

Once again thank you to every one who had a part to play in this rescue from Berrier Insurance. To read more on this story visit: SFGate Article

Attention Commercial Truckers!: Important Change in CDL Requirements

Have a Commercial Driver License? Doesn’t matter if you are currently operating or not, this new law applies to you. If you have not self-certified as an "interstate" or "intrastate" driver by 2014 you could be pulled off the road and have your CDL revoked. How do you know which one to register as? If you plan on trucking outside of your state or if the load you are hauling originated out of state or is headed out of state, then you will be required to self-certify as an interstate commerce driver. If you do self-certify that you’re operating as interstate commerce, then your medical data, or medical examiners certificate, will become part of your driver record. If you self-certify as an intrastate driver, no medical records are required and you will simply receive a "U" restriction on your license. Either way you are required to go into a DMV office after January 30th 2012 and register as one or the other. The following video further clarifies this new Federal requirement.

Commercial Tow Truck Driver Bitten By Police Dog

A police dog sniffing for illegal drugs chomped the arm of a commercial tow truck driver, who had been hired to tow a vehicle suspected of containing hidden compartments full of drugs. The driver was not seriously injured, having been released from the hospital with only a few bandages.

The department would not release the canine's name, saying the matter remained under administrative review. "Right now we're looking at the conditions that were present and the dog's temperament," Capt. Mark Gagan said. "I would mention that in the past few days, this dog has helped the narcotics unit seize 4 kilos of cocaine and arrest an armed felon."

Why the dog bit the tow driver remains a mystery. Drug traffickers often modify cars to hide large amounts of contraband in door panels, the engine compartment or other spots. "They were raising the car to search under the engine block," Gagan said. "While the tow operator was raising the car, the dog walked away from the vehicle and approached the driver and two undercover officers."

The incident happened in Richmond California, about 7 p.m. in the Police Department's rear parking lot.

Police would not comment on the narcotics investigation.

Source: Tow Industries Week