UNUSUAL TRUCK ACTIVITY

The following information was reported recently on the message board attached to www.carnicom.com:

Photograph of the truck referred to in the message board post

Following Message Posted May 8 2000:

An interesting event happened last Friday
(5/8/000 on a trip down Northern California’s main
highway (I-5). Somewhere around Yreka,
California, I was passed several times by a tanker
truck as we went up and down the mountain
grades. This truck did not display any DOT
placards giving the code of its contents (such as
the 1206 = gasoline). It was obviously a chemical
hauler and obviously was carring a load. As I
pulled into the Weed, California, rest area this
truck pulled in next to my rig. The cylindrical silver
stainless steel had an expanded metal walkway
running the full length of the top of the tank,some
type of gauge on its left side, a conical rear
section and was dripping yellow-amber-brown
sticky-looking fluid from the top vents down the
sides of the tank. This is the same fluid
appearance of the stuff that hit my windshield
last June 10th, and burned my exposed skin, and
caused sun coronas, so I didn’t touch or sample
this fluid and returned to the road. The tanker and
I continued to pass each other on down the
highway and as we drew up to the Northern
California Highway Patrol Truck Inspection Station
at Dunsmuir, California. I expected to lose my road
companion as “ALL TRUCKS MUST STOP FOR
INSPECTION” and all trucks were pulling in, except
this tanker! This was in broad daylight, there are
three sets of truck monitoring equipment;
cameras, radars, and height infra-red lights just
prior to this station, and the station never closes
as it is the northern portal of entry to California.
This tanker slowed down to 50 mph on the
highway, the driver looked directly at the station
office and cruised by all the trucks in line. I laid on
the horn for one half mile as this went down, so
the truckers waiting in line could see this. Again,
there was no bypass signal on and trucks in front
of, and behind this tanker, pulled into the station.

Now this truck had my full attention, and as I
passed I photographed it and got its numbers.

Tractor unit = dark blue Ray Booth, Cottonwood,
California
Tank unit = Trimac Western, McMinnville, Oregon?
Tank unit’s licence plate = Tennessee Apportioned
#006 197 T
Tank serial number = 481016 “Non-SPEC”

As I was getting this truck’s numbers, I got
tagged by a very dark blue new Chevy Caprice
with an anti-sway bar under the rear axle and a
man in his late 30’s early 40’s with blond hair and
a stone glare and wrap around sunglasses.
Although we were now in a 70 mph zone around
Redding, California, this car paced me at 75, 45,
35, 55, 35, 75, etc. etc. etc. for about 20 miles
until I forced it to either crash into me or get in
front of me. Then I paced him and made a very
abrupt exit and changed my course.

On my return trip Sunday I came around a bend at
Vollmers, California, on Highway I-5 to find a
similar tanker, Trimac Western, with a different
tractor and driver going north, broken down on
the side of the road. I stopped to assist the driver
and found he was hauling “paint” (the sky?). He
also had no DOT placards, also had Tennessee
Apportioned plates, but his tank was freshly
washed and not dripping goo.

www.dsiti.com/

“Trimac is the fifth largest tank company in the
United States, with a system of tanks, ships, tank
farms, rail car tanks, highway tankers and
terminals serving the chemical industry. Trimac is
owned by Rentokil Initial of the UK which employs
140,000 people in over 40 countries.They haul
pesticides and chemicals for BASF,DuPONT,BAYER,
and all the other big chemmies.

No Department of Transportation placards.

No stopping for California Highway Patrol
inspection that all trucks must stop for.

And escorted by spooks?

The following additional information has been received by email on Jan 16 2001:
(The name of the submitting party will be withheld unless permission for posting is granted)

“Regarding your page:

http://www.carnicom.com/truck1.htm

The Dunsmuir I5 scales had prepass installed in late 1994.

http://www.prepass.com/what_is.html

This is now very common. It allows trucks to be weighed electronically without stopping.”