Trucking History – July 2024
July 12, 1932
Harold Groendyke, founder of Groendyke Transport, completed the first delivery of kerosene from Borger, Texas, to Beaver, Okla., in the company’s history. Groendyke drove a two-axle Ford truck with a 3,000-gallon tank mounted on a homemade chassis on the 110-mile route. Groendyke Transport’s website says this haul “pioneered the tank truck industry in the Midwest.” Today, Groendyke operates 40 terminals across 15 states and hauls more than 390,000 loads of specialty and industrial chemicals, refined and aviation fuels and asphalt throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico annually.
July 14, 1960
A law that established the National Driver Register took effect. The register is a computer database containing the information of United States drivers who have had their driver’s licenses revoked or suspended or who have been convicted of serious traffic violations including driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The records are added, maintained and deleted by the motor vehicle agency of the state that convicted the driver or withdrew the license.
All states currently participate in the register.
The Federal Highway Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are among the groups authorized to receive information from the National Driver Register. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, drivers are entitled to request a file search if they have a record on the register.
July 3, 2007
“Transformers,” directed by Michael Bay, was released in the United States and became the fifth-highest grossing film that year, with an estimated
46 million tickets sold in the U.S. The sci-fi film based upon the Hasbro line of toys features Optimus Prime as the protagonist and supreme commander of the Autobots faction. The Optimus Prime character transforms into a Peterbilt 379.
July 1, 2013
New hours-of-service rules – finalized in 2011 – took effect. The rules were FMCSA’s response to a petition filed by safety advocates in 2003. OOIDA called it “chipping away at a driver’s flexibility.”
Under those new rules, drivers were required to take at least a 30-minute rest break if more than eight hours of on-duty time had elapsed since the previous rest break. The regulation also mandated that the 34-hour restart provision must include two overnight periods of 1 to 5 a.m. The restart was also restricted to only once per seven days. LL