ATS PARTICIPATES IN "A TRUCKER'S EYE VIEW"by Fred Kovall
Last month we received a call from St. Cloud Vocational School asking if we would help for a TV spot with Channel 9. The Minneapolis based television station wanted to do a mini-documentary to show the motoring public what kind of problems truck drivers have seeing cars. This was something that we really wanted to do! What an opportunity to show the general motoring public where we (truckers) do not want them to be, and why!

The video ("A Trucker's-Eye View") was shot at the Minnesota Highway Safety Research Center in St. Cloud. Bill Ruhr from the Minnesota Highway Safety Research Center told me was that Channel 9 wanted to do a story on blind spots and asked if we would be willing to bring a tractor/ trailer out to there facility and do the driving. A safety guy on a test track? Kind of scary right?

On the day that Channel 9 shot the video Scott Anderson and I went out to the research center a few hours early to talk to Bill and find out a little about the track. We took the truck out on the track and a practiced a couple of turns so that Bill and I would know where the trailer would track when the news crew was filming. I also had a chance to drive around the track and check out emergency braking.

When the news crew arrived we went out and showed them how a car could hide in the right front corner of a truck, and that it was hard for a driver to see a car in that position, though I did experience first-hand that if you sit-up in the seat you can see a lot of that area. Then we went over to do right turn squeezes. What we were trying to show is that it sometimes looks like a truck is going left, when in reality the driver is setting up for a right turn, and if you get between the truck and the curb it could become very dangerous. We made several runs doing the right turn to show the news crew what it was like. The first time they road with Bill in the car, he thought that they were all going to jump out of the car. I know it’s not nice to scare the news crew, but it really did make a point with them.

Next we setup for the crash. We parked the truck part way into the turn and drove the car under the trailer. I pulled up until the door popped in and the window broke with a big bang. We all went back and looked at what had happened and we were surprised at the amount of damage just a little bump could cause. Then I drove the truck the rest of the way around the corner so we could see what would happen next. If you don’t know, big trucks are hard on little cars.

The last thing that we did was emergency braking. NO you cannot try this on the road just for fun!!! I managed to get the rig up to 65 mph for the test, and found out in a hurry just how long it takes to stop. When you get out the tape and check the distance it is a lot farther than it looks!

All and all it was an interesting day and learned a lot more that I thought I would. If you watched the show I hope it helped you. If you missed it and want to watch it, stop by safety in St. Cloud and we will show it to you.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ICE FOR A JOB WELL DONE
This is the text of a letter ICE received for a job well done:

To Whom It May Concern: This is a letter to express our appreciation regarding the excellent level of service provided to us over the last year by Mirza Merly, the Puerto Rico Sales Manager. Our last shipping needs involved a complicated transfer of Anaerobic Biomass from Jacksonville, FL to Mercedita, PR Mirza was very helpful in the coordination of shipments and in troubleshooting the complications that arose throughout the whole campaign. We will continue to seek your company's services for our future shipping needs.

I would also like to thank her support staff in St. Cloud, particularly Adam Kilmer, for all their excellent work during the Anaerobic Biomass shipping campaign.

With our best regards,
Roberto J. Serralles, PhD