INFRASTRUCTURES * Canada & USA

* Canada - Big Build '09 will cost truckers

Constructional Lesson: Time is money. Expect to lose both this spring and summer

Ottawa,ONT,Canada -Today's Trucking -9 April 2009: -- In he last federal budget, the Conservatives set aside $12 billion in funding for highways and bridges and the like. Only time will tell whether or not the Big Build of 2009 will pull Canada out of its economic rut, but in the meantime a lot of patience will be needed from the entire motoring public... Construction season is fast approaching and with countless stretches of the nation's highway system to get treated with the backside of a shovel, this summer could extend many trip times from truckers. And it's going to cost... The B.C. Trucking Association estimated the trucking industry was losing anywhere between $3.3 million and $10.3 million every day. Even just a 30-minute delay could make a big impact on fuel and wage costs. The cost? An extra $18.80 per typical trip for a straight truck. Hard to swallow... All the sitting around will pay off in the end with better roads. But in the meantime, a lot of trucking dollars will be lost waiting for it all to happen... (Funding for 2009's budget is the second highest the federal government has spent on infrastructure projects)


* USA - Median cables drastically cuting crossover crash death rate in Missouri

Jefferson City,MISS,USA -The Trucker -9 April 2009: -- Missouri highway officials say only one person died last year in crossover crashes where median cables were installed... The Missouri Department of Transportation said Thursday that the lone fatality was on Interstate 70. None were recorded I-44... In 2002, with only limited miles of guard cable installed on I-70, there were 24 cross-median fatalities while I-44 had 25 such deaths in 2006. MoDOT has installed 550 miles of guard cable in medians of the state's busiest highways... High-speed traffic on Interstates 70, 44, 29, 35, 55 and 435 and Missouri 67 was resulting in vehicles crossing medians and colliding with vehicles going in the other direction... Additional guard cable will be installed on Interstate 470 and Routes 63 and 65 in the next few years... (Photo from modot.mo.gov: Guard Cables)