Tennessee State Police arrested a truck driver with $1 million worth of marijuana at a sleeper dock
Trucking news and recaps for Monday, September 18, 2023:
A driver was arrested with $1 million in marijuana in a sleepover in Tennessee
Last week, the West Tennessee Drug Task Force arrested a truck driver with more than $1 million worth of marijuana in the dock of their truck, police said.
According to a task force Facebook post, agents with the task force’s Interdiction Unit out of Memphis conducted a traffic stop on an 18-wheeler on I-40 late Tuesday, September 12.
A probable cause and consent search of the truck revealed U-Hual boxes “almost completely filling the sleeper containing 307 pounds of marijuana” with a street value of approximately $1,075,000, police said.
A quantity of marijuana was seized and the driver was arrested.
The Paccar recall affects approximately 900 units
A potential problem that could cause remote second-stage fuel filter hoses in about 871 Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks has led to the recall, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents.
The recall stems from a Cummins recall affecting the company’s L9 medium-duty engines.
Affected model year 2023-24 units include the Kenworth T280, T380 and T480 and Peterbilt models 536, 537 and 548.
The recall said the hoses may have been damaged during production, allowing the hoses to leak or separate. The recall added that a disconnected hose will cause the engine to stall, increasing the risk of an accident, and fuel leakage in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire.
Dealers will replace both hoses free of charge. Landlord notification letters are expected to be mailed on November 4. Owners can contact Kenworth customer service at 425-828-5888 with recall number 23KWF and Peterbilt customer service at 940-591-4220 with recall number 23PBF. The NHTSA recall number is 23V-617.
A separate Paccar recall affects a small number of 2023 Kenworth K270, K370 and Peterbilt 220 trucks. The driveshafts in the affected trucks can break under certain loading conditions.
The recall stems from a Dana-Spicer recall resulting from certain driveshafts manufactured with components supplied to Dana with non-conforming materials from two specific production lots.
Dealers will replace driveshafts free of charge. Landlord notification letters are expected to be mailed on November 4. Owners can contact Kenworth Customer Service with recall number 23KWG and Peterbilt Customer Service with recall number 23PBG. The NHTSA recall number is 23V-616.
Estes Brokerage expands with acquisition
Estes Forwarding Worldwide (EFW), a domestic and international freight forwarding and logistics company and a subsidiary of Estes Express, announced on September 14 that it plans to acquire Superior Brokerage Services (SBS), a Minneapolis-based single-source supply chain company. In domestic and international transportation, customs brokerage and warehousing services in the United States.
EFW, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, expects the acquisition to double its annual revenue. The deal will include SBS’s Asian business, giving EFW a footprint in the region and a control tower in Taiwan. This supports the growth of EFW’s international services into new markets, increases international capacity and allows it to engage more deeply in the supply chain, ultimately leading to better end-to-end solutions for US customers, the company said.
“SBS has built a tremendous reputation in our industry,” said Scott Fisher, CEO of EFW. “We complement each other’s businesses very well with little overlap, and together we will prove more agile in serving our clients, both internationally and domestic.”
Paul Goff, founder and president of SBS, will remain at EFW as executive vice president, and Fisher will continue to lead the combined companies. The acquisition is expected to close at the end of October and increase EFW from 750 employees to more than 1,100, with hiring continuing over the next few months.
(Related: JB Hunt acquires BNSF’s brokerage business
A driver called Highway Angel to help his fellow truck driver after the accident
David Williams, a truck driver based in Yadkinville, North Carolina, was named an Angel of the Highway by the Truck Carriers Association for stopping to help rescue a fellow driver when he crashed his truck and got stuck inside. Williams leads ABF Shipping.
“I was able to stop and block traffic, and (the crashed truck) stayed in the middle,” Williams said. “I took off running after the traffic stopped on the highway. The guy was shouting, ‘I want to get out of here!’ And I said, ‘Just wait, take it easy, we’re here to help.’”
Williams and several other bystanders were able to pull out the pinned and injured driver through the broken windshield. A motorcyclist who was driving stopped and told them he saw fire coming out of the truck. While Williams tended to the injured crash victim, he gave the motorcyclist a fire extinguisher to put out any flames and waited for emergency officials to arrive.
Williams, a former EMT and firefighter for 17 years, said he never hesitated to stop and help.
“It’s just in my blood,” he said. “I can’t let something like this pass me by if I can do something to help someone else.”
(Related: ‘Highway Angel’ honor revoked: Driver did not save ‘children in cages’ from human traffickers)
