Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/778830
28 | Overdrive | February 2017 O n Dec. 30, truckers across Poland honked their horns to pay homage to murdered trucker Lukaz Urban, whose truck was commandeered by Tunisian jihadist suspect Anis Amri. The truck crashed into the Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people. The incident followed a truck terror attack on Bastille Day, July 14, in Nice, France, where 86 people died and 434 were injured. Kat Morris, an owner-operator and Iraq veteran who has a concealed-carry license and carries a .40 caliber Ruger, wonders if an armed Urban could have prevented the attack or saved his own life. Any answer would be speculation, but the question is increasingly real for more truckers. ISIS is encouraging truck attacks. More than 60 percent of surveyed OverdriveOnline.com readers say they believe an attack using a truck is likely to occur in the United States. The United States has had two truck-related attacks – the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Much closer to over-the-road truck- ers' daily routine, though, are threaten- ing encounters at truck stops, rest stops and docks. Cargo theft occurs about twice a day, reports FreightWatch International. Countless other incidents against truck- ers, many of them unreported, also occur regularly. Even road rage can escalate into the use of weapons. Last month on Interstate 20 in St. Clair County, Alabama, two truckers got into an argument. One shot the other in the stomach. While reason might indicate that those working in such a dangerous occupation should be allowed to carry guns, other fac- O n Dec. 30, truckers across prevented the attack or saved his own ing encounters at truck stops, rest stops Danger zone Three out of four drivers in an Overdrive survey say they have felt endangered while parking, delivering or driving. Two proposals at the federal level would improve state-to-state reciprocity for concealed-carry permits.