AMES, Iowa - Aug. 11, 2010 - Interstate 35 near Ames and several other state highways are closed due to flooding, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT). Many county roads and city streets are also closed in the counties covered by the National Weather Service flood warnings. 

Record flooding is forecast along portions of the South Skunk River from the Ames area to below Colfax. This is a particularly dangerous situation and travelers need to exercise additional caution in these areas. Flooding has already resulted in the closure of U.S. 30 and I-35 near Ames. 

The Iowa DOT is also making preparations to close I-80 between Mitchellville and Colfax on Thursday, Aug. 12, if the situation warrants and river levels rise as forecast. 

Interstate 35 in Story County - The southbound and northbound lanes of I-35 are flooded just south of Ames between Iowa 210 and U.S. 30. 

Due to other area highway closures, a lengthy detour has been established. 
For current updates on state road conditions - 24 hours a day, visit www.511ia.org or call 511 

Bobtail on over to the Cass County Fair in Weeping Water on August 14 for a complimentary barbecue dinner and some trucking fun. It’s the annual Nebraska Trucking Truck Pull. To register, contact Nickey at 402-292-6050, nickey@flatbedexpress.com. Dinner for pullers and their families starts at 5:30 p.m., but you must pre-register and get tickets for the meal. The pull will start at 7:30 p.m. There is no admission charge to enjoy the pull, and parking is free. Make a day of it—enjoy the Historical and Working Truck Show in Gretna from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., also August 14.

Congressman Adrian Smith invites you to attend one or more transportation summits in Nebraska next week. On August 16 in Gering, the topic is Highways and Motor Carriers at the Gering Civic Center. Nebraska Trucking President Larry Johnson will participate in the afternoon program in Gering. August 17 in North Platte, the topic is Highways and Railroads at the Sandhills Convention Center. August 18 in Grand Island, the topic is Highways and Aviation at the Bosselman Conference Center in Fonner Park. Each summit will run 10 a.m. - 12 noon and 1 - 3 p.m. local time. There is no charge to attend, but reservations are requested. Phone 308-384-3900, or e-mail RSVPtoAdrian@mail.house.gov.

Courtesy of the Nebraska Trucking Association:

Effective August 1, 2010, New Mexico will require carriers with more than one truck to file weight-distance returns online. However, the system does not require you to pay electronically. There is an option to file the return electonically and mail a check to New Mexico by the due date of payment, thus avoiding the transaction fees of electronic payment.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is conducting a study on the various security credentials that drivers transporting hazardous materials must obtain. The American Trucking Associations requested this study to obtain data on redundant security credentials and help make the case for a consolidated credential. In connection with this effort, the NAS contractor has designed a web-based driver survey. Please ask your drivers to complete this survey, which takes less than five minutes and does not solicit any personal information.

A “foodie” is a person who loves everything about food—not just eating it, but also preparing it, studying it and following trends about it. Bray Entertainment is casting for a role in an upcoming project involving truck drivers and food. Please share this information with your drivers and owner-operators: 

If you are a trucker age 25 – 45 knowledgeable on the subject of food, we want to hear from you. We’re looking for someone with an outgoing personality and the ability to make people laugh. Send us an e-mail with a short paragraph about yourself and your trucking and food experience to info@brayentertainment.com. Please also include your age, a recent photo and tell us why you want to be on TV. If we think you’re right for the show, we’ll give you a call to talk further about the next round of casting.

http://www.nebtrucking.com/news/greensheet8.asp

From today’s CCJ Digital:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has decided not to require any motor carriers to retain certain documents related to drivers’ hours of service. The agency also will relieve carriers that use electronic mobile communications and tracking technology of the burden of maintaining numerous other supporting documents in order to verify driver logs.

Read the entire article here: http://www.ccjdigital.com/fmcsa-revamps-supporting-docs-policy/

Beginning July 1, 2010, commercial vehicles in Iowa traveling off the Interstate highways will have higher weight limits. Commercial vehicles with six axles will be allowed from 80,500 to 90,000 pounds, and seven-axle trucks will be allowed up to 96,000 pounds. Click here for a copy of the amended Iowa bridge chart.

Heads up to everyone hauling to/from California:

http://www.ttnews.com/articles/printnews.aspx?storyid=24424

For those of you wondering what kind of improvement you’ll see in your fuel consumption take a look at these numbers…

Between April 16th and May 4th we ran six tanks of Ruby Red #2 in our 865B Challenger using CleanFire in four of the tanks and running without it in two tanks.

When running CleanFire we burned an average of 15.125 gallons an hour and without it we burned an average of 16.6 gallons.  That’s an 8.9% improvement!

Give us a call at (888) 892-1811 or visit us at www.cleanfire.net to put CleanFire to work for you!