Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/135388
Logbook 'Trucker spy' found guilty in road incident A Tennessee jury has found a "trucker spy" – a spy hired by carriers to report unsafe truckers – guilty of attempted murder in the second degree of a trucker he was following and filming. On May 9, a Hamilton County Criminal Court jury returned a guilty verdict for Joseph John Volpe, 46, of Rossville, Ga. The jury also found Volpe guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the 2010 incident. Sentencing is set for June 17, according to county records. Volpe, who was filming a trucker on Interstate 24 in Chattanooga, said the trucker tried to run him off the road after realizing he was filming him, according to video clips of the trial provided by WTVC-TV News Channel 9. The trucker said he then heard gunfire and that a bullet entered his sleeper. Volpe's attorney, Sam Robinson III, countered that Volpe had a handgun permit, but the trucker did not actually see his client shoot the truck. The shooting occurred near an exit where shootings are not uncommon, Robinson said. – Jill Dunn A FINAL RULE issued in April by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will remove the requirements of drivers to tell the state that issues their CDL when they are convicted of traffic violations in other states. Now only the state in which the conviction occurs is responsible for reporting. TWO DRIVERS were shut down with imminent hazard warnings in May by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Bobby Cleveland, of New Mexico, was under the influence of alcohol when his rig overturned and spilled 2,400 gallons of propane onto I-40. South Carolina driver Arnold Williams was charged with reckless homicide and possessing an open alcohol beverage container in his truck. Rule would expedite medical exam reports The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration May 10 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring medical examiners to report results of completed physical exams of truck drivers to the agency by close of business on the day of examination. This is the second part of an original rule created last year by FMCSA that established the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, which requires truck drivers to receive medical certification from an agencyapproved examiner. The bulk of the requirements go into effect next year. FMCSA says the new portion of the rule also includes a requirement that the agency transmit medical information electronically for all CDL holders to state driver's license agencies upon receipt from the medical examiner. This would ensure that state and federal enforcement officers have the most current information available regarding a CDL holder's medical status, FMCSA says. It also means, however, that a medical report that voids a CDL due to failure to meet medical requirements also would be transmitted immediately. However, the rule change would mean drivers no longer would have to submit their medical certificates or any medical documents to their state issuing agency, FMCSA says. Also, fleets no longer would be required to verify the National Registry Number of the medical examiner who issued the certification, the agency says. FMCSA is proposing that the rule go into effect three years from the The first part of the rule established the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, which requires drivers be certified by an agency-approved examiner. date it is finalized, which is expected to be this summer. – James Jaillet (Continued on Page 82) 22 | Overdrive | June 2013 Logbook_0613.indd 22 5/28/13 10:20 PM