Roses & Razzberries – July 2022
RAZZBERRIES to a Baltimore man facing federal charges for an alleged gift card scheme resulting in seven counts of fraud and identity theft. Leroy Holmes, 61, used re-encoded gift cards with stolen financial information to purchase fuel for truckers at half the price in exchange for cash. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Holmes used, created or possessed at least 594 counterfeit credit and debit cards, resulting in a loss of at least $170,000. Now, he’s facing a maximum of 37 years in prison for his role in the scheme.
ROSES to Christopher Hight, who was named Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association. Hight drives for Tulsa, Okla.-based Melton Truck Lines. He was driving between Laredo, Texas and Dallas when he saw a crash ahead of him. Hight pulled his truck to the side of the road and ran to the car, where he could see a baby was still inside. Hight, and another bystander, twisted the metal of the wrecked vehicle for what he said seemed like hours, but they were able to free the baby and reunite him with his mother, who climbed out of the vehicle on her own. It really hit home with Hight as he has six children of his own.
“They needed help,” Hight said in a TCA news release. “I hope someone helps me if something happens with me.”
ROSES for the recent addition of amenities available to truck drivers in the Southeast. Love’s has opened a travel stop in Springfield, Ga., on Interstate 16. This location has more than 70 truck parking spaces, six diesel bays, CAT scale and a dog park. Inside the 14,000-square-foot Love’s are shower and laundry facilities as well as dining options and more. At what is being called a “Taj Mahal-type” rest area off Interstate 26 in North Carolina, high ceilings, fine wood finishes and energy-efficient plumbing are all featured. The rest area also has 30 spaces for truck parking and an area dedicated for pets. A similar facility on the opposite side of I-26 is planned to open this summer.
RAZZBERRIES for legislation making its way through the Louisiana statehouse. The bill would designate the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge as a highway safety corridor. Sounds reassuring, but if this bill is signed into law it would authorize double fines for speeding up to $1,000. This legislation also includes a provision to authorize the use of enforcement cameras to track vehicle travel times. In addition, six sets of “trucks right lane only” signs would be equally spaced on the eastbound portion of the bridge. Critics cite a driver’s inability to confront their accuser when it is a camera, which conflicts with Fourth Amendment rights. Lawmakers contend it’s unsafe to put state troopers on the bridge to enforce traffic rules because of limited shoulder space. One more thing: fine revenue above the cost of operation would be split between the parishes of Iberville and St. Martin. There it is!
ROSES are due for the recent announcement of increased and – in one case – free driver training. Gadsden Community College in Alabama has created a truck driving program at their Ayers Campus in Anniston, Ala. The program is part of the school’s workforce development division and will train students to drive trucks, buses, delivery and commercial vehicles. In Maine, an eight-week program at Northern Maine Community College will host three sessions this summer at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.
What’s more, the training is free for qualified trainees thanks to a partnership with the Maine Jobs and Recovery Act and the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce.
RAZZBERRIES for a Tennessee truck driver facing 45 charges after a grand jury indictment. Abdalla Arbo, 41, is charged with 32 counts of forgery and multiple motor carrier safety rules violations. Arbo is also facing five counts of reckless endangerment by a motor vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by reckless driving. The charges came after crash investigators with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Nashville police allege they found falsified logbooks and unreported brake issues with his Freightliner tractor.
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