Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025:
North Dakota snow plow driver sustains serious injuries during crash
The driver of a Freightliner pulling doubles on Highway 2 in North Dakota lost control and crashed into a guard rail before flipping over a snow plow truck and seriously injuring the driver, according to authorities.
"On February 5, 2025, at 3:30 p.m., a North Dakota Department of Transportation snowplow was westbound on HWY 2 near White Earth, in the right lane with its blade down," a Facebook post from North Dakota Highway Patrol read.
According to the National Weather Service, the area had been getting light snow much of the day, and as a passenger vehicle trailed the plow, a "commercial motor vehicle (CMV) was also westbound on HWY 2 and approached the passenger car and the plow truck," NDHP's post continued. "The CMV braked and moved into the left lane," at which point it "struck the guard rail, lost control, and then struck the DOT plow truck."
The plow truck itself was pushed into a guard rail, "causing it to overturn," NDHP said.North Dakota Highway Patrol
The driver of the plow truck was "transported with serious injuries" after the crash.North Dakota Highway Patrol
The Freightliner's driver was uninjured. He was cited for careless driving around snow-removal equipment.
The Freightliner appears to belong to a local salvage company whose FMCSA profile shows 24 drivers and 35 power units.
Currently, that part of North Dakota is under two winter weather advisories as Northern areas of the country grapple with colder-than-normal weather and winter storms.
[Related: Pennsylvania DOT's road restrictions, including parts of I-70 and I-80, ahead of winter storm]
Bear in the air: Louisiana uses helicopter in recent blitz
Three divisions of the Louisiana State Police, along with the state’s Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) police, conducted an enforcement blitz, including commercial vehicle inspections, with a focus on combating human trafficking.
The joint enforcement detail was in response to Gov. Jeff Landry’s proclamation of January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative.
Louisiana State Police Transportation Safety Services (LSP-TSS) conducted North American Standard inspections on commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), enforcing federal motor carrier safety regulations and Louisiana criminal and traffic laws.
LSP-TSS also emphasized unauthorized passengers in CMVs, and with LSP-Air Support used a Bell 407 GXP/GXI helicopter to introduce its newest technological system, the Trakka System. Trakka can assist with search and rescue operations, mapping and video management for law enforcement on the ground, LSP said. It helped LSP-TSS identify unsafe operating CMVs during the blitz.
DOTD-Police controlled commercial vehicles entering and exiting their fixed-scale facility and directed LSP-TSS to CMVs bypassing the facility when directed to enter.
LSP posted the following video on Facebook showcasing its efforts during the month:
