News Archives - Whiteline Express, Ltd.

Trucking: This truck driver caught a ghost on his dash cam

March 20, 2023March 20, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

Even though the connection might not be obvious, the trucking industry is no stranger to the dark and mysterious. Whether it’s a haunted truck stop or a disaster on the road, scary things happen all the time. It’s unavoidable in an industry that employs over 6 million people across the United States.

If you’re reading this article at night, you may want to close it out.

This week, we saw another example of a creepy occurrence captured on a truck driver’s dashcam at night.

https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/1637778515306377216?s=20

Even if the trucker’s video doesn’t show a ghost, it’s extremely creepy

The video originally depicts something that looks like a human standing next to the road. In fact, most attentive drivers would go so far as to move their vehicle out of the way. This includes William Church, the driver who saw the ghost, who actually twitched the wheel to miss whoever it was.”

Church states that while he originally thought he had seen a human, a review of the dashcam footage showed that the figure did not appear to have an upper half. Despite the bottom half of the figure seemingly having two legs standing up, this one remains a mystery to this day.

Either way, it’s not something that you’d want to see while driving down the road. Best case, it’s some sort of animal or a reflection of one. Worst case, you just saw a ghost – a few feet further into the road and it could have caused any driver to swerve out of the way and crash.

This guy dunked a basketball over a semi-truck

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

Anyone remember the guy who dunked a basketball over a semi-truck? We do.

If you don’t remember, it’s probably because it was done over a decade ago and the only remaining evidence of this can be found on a YouTube video titled “WTH!! 5’7 Mexican DUNKS OVER A SEMI-TRUCK!!! NO TRAMPOLINE!!”

The video can be seen below, with the dunk in question taking place at the 1:55 mark. It’s certainly… something.

As you can see in the video, he doesn’t really clear the semi-truck. We can cut him some slack here – I mean, it is physically impossible. Still, it’s a bit disappointing.

If you can’t see the video for some reason, it’s pretty simple. The man, who is only labeled as a “5’7 MEXICAN” can be seen performing some impressive dunks throughout the video, including instances where he jumps over people and cars. The man is clearly extremely athletic.

But the real show begins and ends toward the end of the video, when the dunker brings in a semi-truck to jump over. The disappointing part is that he just jumps on top of the hood of the semi truck and dunks the basketball. His “bounce” is still impressive, but the dunk was extremely anti-climactic.

If you want to watch somebody dunk a basketball over a semi-truck and completely clear it, you’re on the wrong planet. Unfortunately, that is physically impossible. It won’t happen.

Trucking: The best names from MN’s Name a Snowplow Contest

February 9, 2023February 10, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

This year, Minnesota DOT held a “Name a Snowplow” contest and some of the names to come from it are… creative.

According to Minnesota Department of Transportation, over 60,000 people voted on their favorite name among the 60 options. They compiled some of the best and funniest names that were submitted and the winning eight will be on actual snowplows in the state of Minnesota. Here are those eight in order from first to eighth.

Yer a Blizzard, Harry
Blizzo
Clearopathtra (my personal favorite)
Better Call Salt
Han Snowlo
Blader Tot Hotdish
Scoop! There it is
Sleetwood Mac

More names were produced in this contest, for better or worse

The list does not stop at the winning eight, as Minnesota DOT released the full list of 60 names, their rankings, and how many votes each received. For example, the name that received the lowest number of votes was “As the Snow Flies.” Boring. Here are some other noteworthy names from the list.

Taylor Drift
Hippoplowtamus
Alice Scooper
Clark Blizzwald
I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered
Plower to the People
Blades of Flurry
Queen El-ice-abeth II

In reality, it’s just a contest to see who can come up with the worst snow-related puns with no lack of submissions. My personal favorites are “Clearopathtra,” “Better Call Salt,” Blades of Flurry,” and “Alice Scooper.”

Trucker got $500,000 after being wrongfully arrested during delivery

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

A truck driver was recently awarded $500,000 after being wrongfully arrested for loitering during a delivery.

This story involving a California trucker is a perfect example of why all truckers should know their rights — it could pay off. I mean, it probably wont. But it could. Tommy Franks Jr. proved that after a February 2019 incident.

This truck driver’s false arrest got him $500,000

The San Bernardino Sun reports that Tommy Franks Jr., a truck driver, was dropping off a delivery at a WinCo Supermarket when he was arrested by police officers. The driver parked his truck, went inside to alert store employees of the delivery, and grabbed a snack. On his way out, he was hassled by police officers.

Even though Franks wasn’t perfectly cooperative with the officers, dodging questions as they hounded him, he answered what he was legally required to. When asked what he was doing, Franks replied and said “walking.” He would be accused of loitering to which he would retort “how can I be loitering if I’m walking?”

Was he being uncooperative? Slightly. Was he being smart with the officers? A little bit. But he didn’t do anything illegal.

You see, by law, it’s not illegal to refuse to identify yourself to police. So while Franks might have been annoying to these officers, they had no reason to arrest him or apply any force. The driver’s lawyer claimed that he was arrested as a result of his verbal protests and requests to speak with a supervisor.

Four years later, Franks has been given $500,000 for his wrongful arrest in 2019.

How did this video game get this trucking detail so wrong?

January 24, 2023January 24, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

Semi-trucks are well-represented in the media. There are countless films, commercials, and advertisements that feature 18-wheelers as a key piece in their storyboard. Truckers and semi-trucks are a huge part of pop culture and gaming is no exception to this.

Many of these games are hyper-realistic, like American Truck Simulator or any game in the Forza series. Generally speaking, these games do a good job of recreating semi-trucks down to specific details in the engine.

Sometimes, however, the creators of these games do a bad job. No — scratch that — sometimes, they do a terrible job.

Saints Row: The Third put all of the semi-trucks backward into the docks

If you haven’t already, go look at the image above from r/Truckers on Reddit. If you’re a trucker, you’ll immediately spot the issue.

That’s right, the trucks are somehow forward-facing to the docks in this screenshot of Saints Row: The Third Remastered. It’s unclear just how anybody would rationalize the positioning of these trucks, as it would be pretty much physically impossible to get them into the docks without backing them in. A Reddit user jokingly mentioned that the trailers might be double-sided.

Here’s the positive — sometimes games like this do things incorrectly on purpose. As an example, Grand Theft Auto V has stats that show each car’s acceleration, speed, and handling. These stats are known to be completely made up. Why? The developers thought it would be funny.

Let’s hope that this is another example of a gaming developer trying to be funny. Otherwise, it’s one of the sillier-looking mistakes that I’ve ever seen in a video game.

And the worst part? This game was remastered, meaning that the developers updated all of the graphics in the game. This means that they had the chance to fix this error and once again, left the trucks facing the wrong way into their respective docks.

Trucking: Former FMCSA employee was caught accepting a bribe

January 17, 2023January 17, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

The United States Department of Transportation can be notoriously stingy. As a trucker, if you do a single thing wrong, they can and will make your life extremely difficult. The department is known for being extremely strict with rules and regulations.

Sometimes, this doesn’t necessarily apply.

In this case, Patrick Gorena, a former border investigator for the FMCSA,

Patrick Gorena was a border investigator for the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Spoiler — he’s not anymore. In fact, it’s looking like Gorena never will be again, as he was recently caught accepting a bribe from an undercover law enforcement officer.

Patrick Gorena, a former DOT employee, admitted that he failed to report violations

Patrick Gorena originally put himself on the radar by demanding $3,500 from a trucking company. In exchange, he would look past violations that could potentially cause fines or even loss of DOT license. He would eventually be targeted by law enforcement, who would catch him accepting a $2,000 bribe from an undercover officer. This is what would lead to his eventual demise.

Extortion of this degree doesn’t seem to be very common in the industry in the United States. When it does happen, it seems like the perpetrator is always caught.

In Gorena’s case, he was caught and has pled guilty to extortion under color of law as recently as this week. Is your career really worth $3,500?

This truck driver just won $1 million lottery jackpot

January 13, 2023January 13, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

A truck driver from Pittsylvania County stopped to get some food in Virginia. He would leave with $1 million… sort of.

According to the Virginia Lottery, a truck driver stopped at Mills Grill and Grocery for a BBQ sandwich. While he was there, he purchased two tickets for the state’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle. He won.

The truck driver, Tim Allen, said that it was his first time doing the raffle and described his emotions as “pure excitement.” But he’s not the only truck driver who has won the lottery this year.

Truck drivers have a history of winning the lottery

You’ve probably seen more than a handful of headlines that are very similar to the one above — that’s because it has happened many times before. In fact, it seems like truck drivers are always winning the lottery. Just look at the anonymous lottery winner from Illinois who won $1 million earlier this year. The driver claimed that he frequently drives through Michigan and always buys tickets when he’s in the state.

And perhaps that’s the secret to winning a lottery ticket — access. Truckers are constantly passing through new areas and stopping at gas stations and rest stops. Lottery tickets are, in all likelihood, staring them in the face at all times.

Just a few years ago, a truck driver from Brooklyn cashed in nearly $300 million after winning the Powerball. Taxes would reduce it all the way down to $114 million but still. That’s over $100 million.

The trucking industry has an arson problem

January 11, 2023January 10, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

If you keep up with the trucking industry, you’re no stranger to the plethora of stories involving the arson of a trucking terminal, fleet, or shop. At this point, the total number of fire-related accidents in the industry is starting to seem suspicious. With each new debilitating fire, we seem to find a new suspect who began it.

The most recent victim was Gentry and Sons, a prominent YouTube channel and trucking company. Tim Gentry, the owner of the company and channel, recorded the fire and his reaction to the fire. It’s extremely sad to watch. As things stand, there is no known cause for the fire and no true reason to believe that it was done by an arsonist.

Still, it brings up an important topic that isn’t frequently discussed in trucking — why are there so many fires? To take it a step further, you could even begin to ponder why so many of these fires lead back to an arsonist, or someone who intentionally began the fire.

Why are people burning down trucks, fleets, and shops?

Most people probably remember the Michigan man who set fire to 25 Swift Transportation trucks over roughly a two-year period. If he is found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison. It turns out that this man, who would be identified as Viorel Pricop, had been involved in other criminal activity such as transporting illegal goods. Swift is the company that helped put him behind bars, giving him a reason to retaliate.

But he’s not the only one who has set fire to a truck recently.

Anthony Dick, a 39-year-old former Estes Express employee, set three small fires which eventually would cause damage to a handful of trucks and trailers. He is also facing legal issues. Dick claims that the fires were set “accidentally” but law enforcement contradicted this by stating that there is no way that the fires were an accident.

Just last month, Patrick Excavating and Trucking took serious damage by fire. Another fire devastated a trucking company in Iowa, causing up to an estimated $4 million in damage. The list goes on and on.

At some point, the question has to be brought up — should something be done about arson and fires in the trucking industry? It seems like every week, there is another company devastated by a fire.

Most of this trucking YouTuber’s shop was taken out by a fire

January 10, 2023January 10, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

A prominent trucking YouTuber’s shop was taken out by a fire, leaving his business in shambles.

Gentry and Sons Trucking may not be the most exciting name for a YouTube channel. That said, the relatively small trucking company has developed a very large audience on YouTube. The owner, Tim Gentry, works with his son Braxton to create custom truck builds, developing an audience of over 200,000 fans over the past few years.

Those projects may soon be coming to a halt, as an accident at the company’s shop quickly turned to disaster.

Gentry and Sons Trucking literally and figuratively burnt to the ground overnight

The situation began when Gentry and his wife were in their home at 11:00 PM having a normal night. But things quickly turned for the worse, as he would receive a call from the police, alerting him of smoke coming from the company shop. The couple would quickly turn on a camera and head down to the shop.

And just like that, eight years of business goes down the drain.

Gentry notes that the cost involved with getting back to work is upwards of $400,000 to $500,000. He goes on to mention that while the company does have insurance, there are a couple of obstacles. For one, it’s really difficult to make a claim and it takes a long time. Even if this claim does go through, it’ll only cover roughly an eighth of the damage.

The couple recorded their reaction as they approach their burning shop. The video posted to their YouTube channel is extremely depressing to watch.

The two noted that you can help by either purchasing their merchandise or going to their GoFundMe to donate. So far, over $44,000 has been raised, though their goal is much higher, sitting at $250,000. This would cover just half of Gentry’s estimated $500,000 to get his business back in action.

This California trucking law just banned over 200,000 semi-trucks

January 3, 2023January 9, 2023Jack WilliamsLeave a comment

The trucking industry in the United States is very dependent on laws, rules, and regulations. These laws, rules, and regulations often determine how long a driver can drive, how much money a driver can make, and even where a driver can work.

They completely control the trucking industry.

And unfortunately for a lot of truck drivers, a new 2023 law will be impacting their livelihood. Thankfully for Whiteline Express drivers, this law is specific to California and mostly owner-operators.

Trucks made before 2011 are no longer allowed on California roads

Financially speaking, new laws can turn out to be a big negative for a truck driver. In this case, over 200,000 trucks will be impacted — this means that tens of thousands of truckers will be impacted, too. Possibly even hundreds of thousands.

To keep it simple, trucks built in 2010 or earlier will no longer be allowed on California roads. This has been coming for a long time and is a result of clean air regulations set in place by California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) back in 2008. According to MotorBiscuit, big rigs make up for just six percent of vehicles but account for about half of the state’s total emissions. This number increases as trucks age.

For many owner-operators, this change will have devastating consequences.

https://twitter.com/hib343434/status/1609716100002099201?s=20&t=3TZh7wGntAhXUO-j1AnAzg

There are exceptions to California’s new law, but not many

Before all drivers are sent into a panic — there are acceptions to this rule.

For example, if you have a truck that was built before 2011 but has never been used, you can continue to drive it. I’m not sure about the specifics of this rule going forward, but if the vehicle has less than 1,000 miles per year of use since its original acquisition, it can still be used.

Another example is that of vehicles that have had their engines replaced with one built past 2010.