Did you know that the world’s largest heavy dump truck, the Caterpillar 797B, costs a cool $4.6 to 5.7 million? Twenty-five feet tall, thirty-two feet wide, and forty-seven and a half feet long, this heavy dump truck can carry up to 345 tons of waste. It’s so huge, the heavy dump truck has to be shipped in pieces to any buyers with millions to spare and assembled on site.

The world’s largest heavy dump truck, most often used for open pit mining, can hit speeds of up to 42 miles per hour with its 3550 horsepower engine. Any company that can afford the minimum $4.6 million asking price probably knows that maintaining the Caterpillar 797B is no inexpensive matter, either. If you ever need to replace one of the four-ton, thirteen-foot tall tires, be prepared to shell out $40,000 each!

Unless you are the owner of a huge open pit mining operation, the heavy dump trucks you deal with at your farm or construction, mining, or demolition company are probably smaller and less expensive than that. Still, what’s small and inexpensive next to the giant Caterpillar 797B is not necessarily small and inexpensive on its own. Half a million dollars is not an unheard of asking price for many heavy dump trucks, although there are quite a few in the $50,000-100,000 range.

The best bet for anyone looking to buy a heavy dump truck for their farm or business is to look for a used dump truck at a used heavy equipment classifieds website. While the wealthy Caterpillar 797B owners are out on a few million dollars, you could find a gently used dump truck like the 1983 Ford F-700 for as little as $7000 at a used machinery classifieds Web site! Some sellers even offer their used dump trucks at negotiable prices, so you might find an even better deal!

If the used dump truck is as effective and as functional as the latest new heavy dump truck, why not save yourself thousands by buying the used dump truck online? If you find the right used heavy construction equipment Web site that charges absolutely no buyers’ fees and requires no upfront down payments, you’ll have the freedom to inspect the heavy dump truck firsthand before committing thousands to a used dump truck that might not be as high-quality as the For Sale Ad picture made it out to be.

Need to rent a used dump truck? Some used machinery classifieds Web sites offer no-fee For Rent Ad services so that you can spend perhaps a couple of thousand dollars for one month’s use of a used dump truck without breaking the bank for a heavy dump truck you’ll only use a few times.

If you can’t find the exact heavy dump truck you need at a used heavy construction equipment classifieds Web site, look and see if the site offers free Want Ads. Describe the used dump truck for which you’re looking, display your price range, and the sellers will find you!

If you’ve got a few heavy dump trucks going unused and taking up space at your farm or construction company lot, find the right used construction equipment classifieds Web site and you can sell or lease your heavy dump trucks to earn back some or all of your initial heavy dump truck investment!

A good used machinery classifieds Web site charges sellers nothing to place For Sale or For Rent Ads and also charges no transaction fees when a buyer or renter is found. What may seem like a small percentage—10 or 20%—adds up when you’re selling used machinery worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. What’s the point of going online to sell your heavy dump truck if the classifieds Web site makes such a large portion of your sale?

Don’t forget: If you have quite a few used dump trucks to sell or lease, a used heavy equipment classifieds Web site that offers a free company store link will increase your odds of selling more than one heavy dump truck to each customer. Why not take advantage of a service that lets buyers browse through your company store selection at no cost to you?

Free basic membership in these websites sometimes offers every buyer and seller the above features at absolutely no cost to them.

You may not be able to afford (or even need) the Caterpillar 797B, but you can afford a heavy dump truck that’s going to meet your farming or construction needs if you look for a used dump truck at a free used construction equipment site. Sign up for a free membership at a heavy equipment classifieds website and shop around for the best pices on used dump trucks—you’ll have nothing to lose!

Every truck enthusiast knows that it is not just the sleek design and look of the truck that matters but in fact the nut and bolt operations and the service that goes with it. When one is talking of the world’s best trucks it is but natural that the simple and elegant red and silver bug logo of the Kenworth truck come to mind. Kenworth, the name stands for superior quality, for life. It has always been the aim of the company to produce trucks of quality that provide the best use to the trucker and his company.

Kenworth was founded in 1923 and has a long and rich history. The name Kenworth is a combination of the names of the partners, Fredrick Kent and Edgar Worthington. Kenworth has been a pioneer in the trucking industry and has always stepped ahead to produce better trucks using the most modern technology. In 1933 Kenworth became the first trucking company to switch from gasoline to diesel engines and in 1957 it produced the first cab-over-engine model. In more recent times the Kenworth trucks have used state-of-the-art aerodynamics to give them an edge over other trucks.The Kenworth truck sales indicate the long nose Kenworth W900 has been the most popular Kenworth over the years is the preferred choice of owner operators. The T300, T600, T660, T800 and the T2000 are also popular models.

A subsidiary of PACCAR, the company manufactures semi-trucks, medium and heavy-duty class 8 trucks. The Kenworth trucks and have even been featured in several films such as in ‘Smokey and the Bandit’, James Bond’s ‘License to Kill’ and ‘A Fountain for Susan 2’. They have also starred in TV series such as ’18 Wheels of Justice’, ‘Movin’ On’ and ‘BJ and the Bear. The cartoon series M.A.S.K also used a Kenworth W-900 and was even a part of its logo.

Kenworth is known to take seriously the needs of truckers and does everything to enhance the performance of the Kenworth trucks. Whether one buys a new Kenworth truck, semi truck or a used Kenworth truck, the owner is assured of the superior quality of the machine as well as the services they will receive.

It’s no secret that the initial purchase price of a Kenworth Truck is more expensive than most other semi trucks. However most educated semi truck owners realize that the upfront cost is only one of three components that actually determine which truck delivers the best return on their investment. Year over year, Kenworth used trucks consistently command the highest in resale value amongst class 8 trucks. Add this to the fact that Kenworth trucks also deliver the lowest operating costs of any semi truck in the market. The bottom line is that the world’s best truck is also delvers the greatest investment value of any semi truck in its class.

The strong sales network ensures that irrespective of where you live you will find the Kenworth truck of your choice. The Kenworth truck company offers the PremierCare program that ensures that the Kenworth truck or any other manufacturer’s semi truck is in excellent shape on or off the road. This program includes roadside maintenance, preventive maintenance and many other services. Furthermore the PremierCare Parts & Service dealer ensures that you get the parts you need for the price you want.

For its incomparable production and sales performance Kenworth has won many JD Power Awards. It is an acknowledged leader in the trucking industry for its persistence in providing its customers the best machinery, technology and services.

Ford F-150 Seat Covers

Remember how happy you were when you bought your first Ford pickup truck? You drove that new truck home and parked in front of the house so all the neighbors could enjoy your purchase. Don’t let those feelings of pride and satisfaction fade due to worn out seats. There are many reasons this small investment will benefit you over time.

Give your truck a custom look

You can buy either custom made seat covers for your specific Ford F-150 or Super Duty truck or you will find pre-made seat covers from many aftermarket accessory sources. The nice part of the custom covers is that they provide a true Custom Appearance in your pickup. But either way, you’ll be setting yourself apart from
most other Ford Pickup owners and protecting your investment at the same time.

Protect your Seats

Most of us drive a truck because we are usually around dirt and mud and other things in our environment that will regularly stain our seats if unprotected. Since most truck owners aren’t going to worry about the conditions of the environment, the easiest way to protect their seats is by adding covers. Many Ford Custom Seat covers are actually waterproof so they will also protect your
seats from coffee spills and the like.

Keep Your Truck Clean

For the few extra dollars, you should really consider the custom Ford Pickup truck seat covers. They will not only provide a custom appearance but give you some great fabric choices that are waterproof. If you really search, you can find these in the pre-made types also. This will protect your seats and your clothes.

Increase value, or Resale value

With the prices of trucks today, this relatively small investment in Ford Truck seat covers will really pay off at trade-in time. After years of rough use, you can simply remove the covers when you pull into the dealer’s lot to get your trade appraised. You’ll smile when you see the dealer’s appreciation for the good care you took of your vehicle. After all, if an owner has taken the time to keep his seats clean, he must have cared for the rest of the vehicle. This really is reason enough to purchase Ford Seat covers since it pays real dividends at the end of the road.

Chrysler and Nissan Motor of Japan said Monday that they had agreed to build vehicles for each other in a deal that could signal closer cooperation in the future.Chrysler, which is based in Auburn Hills, Mich., and has been cutting truck production as demand falls for less fuel-efficient vehicles, will make a full-size pickup based on the Dodge Ram for Nissan at a factory in Saltillo, Mexico. In turn, Nissan will assemble a small car for Chrysler in Oppama, Japan. Both vehicles will be sold in North America, though Chrysler plans to sell the car in Europe and other markets, too.

Officials from both automakers said the deal was limited to these two products, but analysts say Chrysler and Nissan could eventually join forces in many areas of their operations to become more competitive. Nissan has expressed an interest in having a North American partner join its alliance with the French carmaker Renault, since talks with General Motors in 2006 were called off, and Chrysler is eager to expand its footprint outside North America.

“Forging the right tactical partnerships is critical to the long-term success of Chrysler,” said Thomas W. LaSorda, Chrysler’s president and vice chairman. “Nissan has a proven track record in these win-win product exchanges with multiple manufacturers around the world.”

Both vehicles will be designed by the companies that will ultimately sell them. Nissan will begin distributing the car in 2010, and Chrysler will start building the truck, which replaces the Nissan Titan, in 2011.

Mr. LaSorda said Chrysler recently finished designing the car, which will be that automaker’s first offering in the subcompact, or B-segment, category. Sales of small cars have increased rapidly as consumers seek more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles at a time when gasoline prices are nearing $4 a gallon.

The Titan is by far the weakest player in the full-size pickup segment, in terms of sales, which have fallen 39 percent so far this year. In contrast, sales of Nissan’s subcompact, the Versa, are up 22 percent.

Some Upstate elementary school student had a terrifying ride home from school Friday when their bus collided with a logging truck.

The collision happened on Highway 8 in Anderson County near the intersection of Highway 88.

No one was seriously hurt, but the log truck flipped over, sending big logs flying, and the impact ripped the front off the school bus.

The truck driver said that the bus hit the side of his truck.

South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Kathy Hiles said that the bus was attempting to make a right turn onto Randall Road, and turned to wide, striking the read axle of the logging truck.

There were eleven children on the bus at the time of the wreck. No one was injured.

South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Kathy Hiles said that the bus driver, Harris Oakes, was charged with failure to yield the right of way.

Automobile Resources and Automotive Info available at ViewPointVehicles.com

More beetle-killed timber will be hauled out of a rural area northwest of Prince George in the next two to three years, organizers of a road safety meeting told residents of the Saxton, Ness, Nukko and Reid Lake areas.

The meeting was called to respond to residents’ safety concerns related to log truck and other forestry traffic.

A lot has been done to improve the roads and safety enforcement in the area already, but the province is willing to do more, said MaryAnne Arcand, the manager of the B.C. Forest Safety Council’s forestry TruckSafe program.

Initially, organizers of the meeting held at Nukko Lake elementary school, about 35 kilometres northwest of the city, said representatives of government and industry would be at the meeting.

Carrier Lumber was at the meeting, but no representatives of the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Forests or B.C. Timber Sales were at the meeting.

Organizers said the provincial representatives had been invited but some had conflicts.

Instead, Arcand provided a briefing of road and safety improvements in the area provided by the provincial government agencies. The briefing noted that $9 million had been spent improving roads in the area, that the RCMP and province’s commercial safety officers had stepped up speed enforcement, more signs have been put up, speeds have been reduced on some sections of road and extra maintenance undertaken. Log truck traffic was also being diverted north to the Salmon Forest Service Road and onto Highway 97 whenever possible.

Still, the residents were told to expect log truck and forestry traffic — which includes pickups and service vehicles — to continue during the winters along Saxton Lake, Ness Lake, Chief Lake and Nukko Lake roads.

The rural residents — about 30 people attended the meeting — had continuing safety concerns.

Those included speeding trucks, sections of road they considered too narrow, lack of communication, and sections of road with shoulders that were not wide enough.

Residents cited several log truck spill-overs along Ness Lake Road.

They also said there are situations in which they believe that proper planning is not being done. “We’re fed up,” said Judy Freeburn, who was particularly concerned with speeding.

Organizers suggested that residents start taking down information on speeders themselves.

Freeburn was frustrated that representatives of the government agencies were not at the meeting.

Arlene Ellison, who is particularly concerned about a two-kilometre stretch on Saxton Road, said it needs to be widened. Arcand said she will make that case to Transportation Ministry which has responsibility for the public road.

Arcand said information she received from the ministry indicated there was some resistance from property owners to sell land to the province that would be needed to widen the two-kilometre section of road.

Ellison, who helps run a recreation site at Vivian Lake, was also concerned about log truck and forestry traffic in the summer mixing with recreational vehicles. She was told there would be no log hauling in the summer.

Alf Nunweiler, who has lived in the area for more than three decades, said he’s seen the population quadruple during that time. He said he believed in some cases roads need to be widened as well. “The job is still to be done,” said Nunweiler, a former NDP MLA in the 1970s.

Inspections for log vehicles differ from most in state

Log truck drivers Larrence Ellis and Charlie Thompson have time for only a quick snack during a pit stop for fuel on a typical workday.

Those trips usually entail hauling rigs loaded with fresh logs to designated destinations — a task tied to what their paychecks look like.

“Gotta get that production,” Thompson said, gearing up to take the wheel of his 48-foot trailer to make the day’s load quota.

Besides making sure loads are secure, a more daunting task when delivering their cargo is negotiating between other vehicles on the road.

“It’s all the time, the last-minute braking,” Ellis said, describing his daily driving experience during his five years of driving for Columbia, Miss.-based Forest Products Transports. “It’s like, ‘Oh, here’s where I wanted to turn!’”

Standing in the shadows of a load of about 30 cedar logs aboard his 40-foot trailer, the Port Gibson native is quick to say how difficult it is to stop a truck loaded with 25 tons of logs traveling about 60 mph.

“It takes at least two football fields to come to a stop,” Ellis said.

A vital necessity for a major Mississippi industry to some and a driving hazard for many motorists, trucks like the ones driven by Ellis and Thompson remain a common sight on the state’s major highways.

Like most heavy road traffic, the trucks carrying cedar, oak, pine and other timber processed during harvest season, are inspected for possible safety risks such as bad brakes, low tire treads and working lights.

Those seemed to be in working order on a fully loaded log truck headed north on U.S. 61 North shortly before noon Jan. 11, as scores of law enforcement officials processed a fatal wreck scene involving big rigs.

As Vicksburg police and Warren County sheriff’s deputies sifted through what remained of a cement tanker and another truck carrying concrete beams, the log truck driver lost control and, for an instant, further catastrophe appeared imminent.

Beyond the sight of officers and rescue personnel who ran for cover, the log truck driver regained control.

An irate Sheriff Martin Pace radioed for extra traffic control farther south of the accident scene and ordered the driver stopped.

“Our concern was the inspection of the truck,” he said. The driver “did a pretty good job of avoiding an accident.”

While the Mississippi Department of Transportation Office of Law Enforcement was contacted, neither state nor local officials could do anything beyond checking for valid inspection stickers.

“They told us what we already knew,” Pace said.

County sheriff’s departments cannot inspect commercial big rigs for safe operation and use of on-board equipment. That task belongs to the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s law enforcement division and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

State law governing the inspection of motor vehicles includes commercial trucks permitted to carry more than 10,000 pounds by its gross vehicle weight rating, or GVWR. It also contains 11 specific exemptions with various accompanying conditions, including school buses, hearses, emergency vehicles and certain farm equipment, among others.

Also listed are provisions protecting from inspectors’ eyes trucks carrying logs and gravel, indicative of the legislative influence wielded by industries supplying more than $1 billion to the state’s economy annually.

Described in the law, the exemption applies to “motor vehicles engaged in the transportation of logs and pulpwood between the point of harvest and the first point of processing the harvested product.”

Willie Huff, MDOT’s Law Enforcement Office director and a former police chief in Natchez, said trucks may be inspected at various weigh stations when empty — but not when they are loaded.

“We can weigh and check whether their loads are secure,” Huff said. “Things like glaring safety concerns like loose air lines, lights that don’t work, tires that don’t have enough tread.”

Drivers are checked for valid commercial driver’s licenses, Huff said, adding drivers of some farm trucks are exempt from needing a commercial license, usually $40 in Mississippi. By contrast, a regular driver’s license is usually $20. Fines for violations found can run from $500 to $1,000.

Self-employed loggers are subject to having a Class A license, which enables hauling loads more than 26,000 pounds, only if the logger is traveling more than 150 miles from his house, Mississippi Highway Patrol Capt. George White said.

Annual salaries of drivers and others in the forest services and logging sectors fell off a bit from the mid-1990s to the present decade, according to recurring studies by the Department of Forestry at Mississippi State University. More than 63,000 industry employees averaged about $25,500 in 1993. Ten years later, 52,580 forest industry workers average income was $24,853.

Huff said recent efforts to convey a message of safety in the industry have centered on education classes moderated by MDOT and regional logging associations, where instructional videos and diagrams are used to promote safe operation among drivers.

Seminars were held most recently in Tupelo and Hattiesburg, Huff said, featuring programs showing companies how to self-inspect their trucks for brake problems and other potential safety hazards.

Also, state compliance manuals have been updated to reflect more aspects of trucker safety, such as properly securing loads that often trail the rear of most trucks by about 6 feet.

“Load securement is covered in our workshops and in the field,” said Jason Cutshall, manager for the Starkville regional office of Maryland-based Forestry Resources Association.

FRA participates in 10 to 12 workshops annually in Mississippi. While each session has no overriding theme or goal, the points covered derive from information from member loggers.

“We hope to do more across the state,” Cutshall said. “There’s good and bad, and the bad always captures the headlines.”

As seen with other loopholes and exemptions in state law, industry pressure on lawmakers to balance safety and economics is prevalent.

Huff said the litany of exceptions regarding log trucks makes for a “tough issue,” with plenty of efforts through the years to reduce the number of exceptions.

Newly elected Rep. Alex Monsour, R-Vicksburg, was named in January to the 29-member House Transportation Committee and has begun poring over a full slate of topics with others on the panel.

“It’s my first time dealing with transportation,” Monsour said, adding further study on inspection exemptions was on his to-do list for the session.

On the regulatory level, officials prefer to stick with what they describe as balanced approaches.

“You’ve got to look at both sides,” Huff said. “There’ll always be some who cut corners.”

In the interim, the state’s forest industry is expected to record another net decrease in the 2007 timber harvest as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina.

Marc Measells, a forestry researcher for the Mississippi State University, said two other factors that mitigated a rosy long-term outlook continue to affect the industry in varying ways.

“Drought conditions have allowed more harvest, driving down prices,” said Measells, adding the continuing nationwide housing slump figure devalues Mississippi’s delivered forest product.

In the university’s 2006 report on forestry in Mississippi, timber harvests were valued at $1.21 billion, just behind poultry and eggs as the state’s top agricultural commodity. The latter brought in $2 billion.

Overall, the timber harvest decreased more than 16 percent and severance tax collections were just more than $3.4 million, or 7.1 percent lower than 2005 — losses attributed to continuing hurricane recovery, increased imports and energy prices and the nationwide housing slump.

Measells predicted another decrease in the value of the state forestry product of about 8 percent.

The university’s report on the state of forestry in 2007 is being prepared by Measells and fellow researcher Dr. James Henderson. Results are expected by the end of the month, Measells said.

More beetle-killed timber will be hauled out of a rural area northwest of Prince George in the next two to three years, organizers of a road safety meeting told residents of the Saxton, Ness, Nukko and Reid Lake areas.

The meeting was called to respond to residents’ safety concerns related to log truck and other forestry traffic.

A lot has been done to improve the roads and safety enforcement in the area already, but the province is willing to do more, said MaryAnne Arcand, the manager of the B.C. Forest Safety Council’s forestry TruckSafe program.

Initially, organizers of the meeting held at Nukko Lake elementary school, about 35 kilometres northwest of the city, said representatives of government and industry would be at the meeting.

Carrier Lumber was at the meeting, but no representatives of the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Forests or B.C. Timber Sales were at the meeting.

Organizers said the provincial representatives had been invited but some had conflicts.

Instead, Arcand provided a briefing of road and safety improvements in the area provided by the provincial government agencies. The briefing noted that $9 million had been spent improving roads in the area, that the RCMP and province’s commercial safety officers had stepped up speed enforcement, more signs have been put up, speeds have been reduced on some sections of road and extra maintenance undertaken. Log truck traffic was also being diverted north to the Salmon Forest Service Road and onto Highway 97 whenever possible.

Still, the residents were told to expect log truck and forestry traffic — which includes pickups and service vehicles — to continue during the winters along Saxton Lake, Ness Lake, Chief Lake and Nukko Lake roads.

The rural residents — about 30 people attended the meeting — had continuing safety concerns.

Those included speeding trucks, sections of road they considered too narrow, lack of communication, and sections of road with shoulders that were not wide enough.

Residents cited several log truck spill-overs along Ness Lake Road.

They also said there are situations in which they believe that proper planning is not being done. “We’re fed up,” said Judy Freeburn, who was particularly concerned with speeding.

Organizers suggested that residents start taking down information on speeders themselves.

Freeburn was frustrated that representatives of the government agencies were not at the meeting.

Arlene Ellison, who is particularly concerned about a two-kilometre stretch on Saxton Road, said it needs to be widened. Arcand said she will make that case to Transportation Ministry which has responsibility for the public road.

Arcand said information she received from the ministry indicated there was some resistance from property owners to sell land to the province that would be needed to widen the two-kilometre section of road.

Ellison, who helps run a recreation site at Vivian Lake, was also concerned about log truck and forestry traffic in the summer mixing with recreational vehicles. She was told there would be no log hauling in the summer.

Alf Nunweiler, who has lived in the area for more than three decades, said he’s seen the population quadruple during that time. He said he believed in some cases roads need to be widened as well. “The job is still to be done,” said Nunweiler, a former NDP MLA in the 1970s.

Janet Valdarchi and her neighbour Brian Ellison stress they are not against logging or log truckers, but they are concerned that traffic coming out a narrow section on Saxton Lake Road is unsafe.

Valdarchi and Ellison are also worried about the additional logging traffic coming onto Saxton Lake Road from a new piece of road built recently to connect to the Reid Lake area.

Valdarchi lives just off of Saxton Road at the turnoff to Vivian Lake, and Ellison lives at Vivian Lake, about 30 minutes northwest of the city past Chief Lake Road.

The connector road from the Reid Lake area comes onto Saxton right at the Vivian Lake turnoff. The two-kilometre stretch of road from there to the beginning of Saxton Lake Road is of particular concern to Valdarchi and Ellison.

They believe the road is too narrow for logging trucks to pass in both directions, and also believe the increased traffic creates a hazard for people who live in the area, especially when the road is slippery.

Both of them say the stretch of road should be widened, particularly if more beetle-killed timber is going to be taken out of the area.

“You just hold your breath — you don’t want to meet a logging truck,” said Valdarchi.

Ellison said he can’t understand why log truck traffic has been diverted from the Reid Lake area onto Saxton Road since there are more people that live in the area of Saxton Road, which turns into Ness Lake Road.

Ellison, who has started up a recreational site at Vivian Lake, is also concerned that logging trucks and RVs in the summer will be a bad mix. “Somebody is going to get hurt, before this is over,” he said.

The two-kilometre stretch of Saxton Road falls under the responsibility of the transportation ministry.

The ministry’s Fort George district manager Rick Blixrud said the difficulty in widening the road is the province owns only the road top, and it would be costly to purchase private property to widen it. He said there have been measures taken to improve safety, including posting proper signage, ensuring plowing and sanding are done and monitoring speeds. Blixrud noted that three speeding tickets were handed out by ministry staff last week, although he didn’t know what type of vehicles were ticketed.

Although Saxton, as a public road, is not technically a radio-assisted road, forest companies have put up radio calling and mileage signs, which Blixrud said he believes will also improve safety. Log trucks will often let other truck drivers know when and where there is other traffic on the road, he said. Log haulers have also been advised of school bus times as well.

Blixrud said he also believes that there is not likely to be log traffic during the summer months. He also noted that the transportation ministry had spent a considerable amount of money in the region to improve roads to stay ahead of the massive amount of beetle-killed timber being logged. He said $9 million — well above the district’s normal budget — was spent fixing up Chief Lake, Ness Lake and Nukko Lake roads to accommodate increased logging traffic.

“In our long-term plan we’ll look at some of those hot spots, but it takes time,” he said, referring to the section of Saxton Lake Road.

Greg Rawling, the Prince George district manager for the forests ministry, said the Reid Lake connector road was built quickly in January to alleviate concerns about logging truck traffic from Reid Lake residents.

A school bus driver and three students were taken to a Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, hospital with minor injuries after the bus they were riding in was hit by a log truck.

The school bus driver is 30 weeks pregnant.

All those injured were treated and released at Punxsutawney Area Hospital.

Police said the truck was trying to make a sharp turn when it slid. The bus driver was able to avoid the truck’s cab, but then hit the trailer.

Fire officials described the section of road as narrow but dry at the time of the wreck.