Inspirational, AND, educational stories, videos and accounts of our military and our civilian soldiers... pause... serving our country behind the wheel, "GETTIN' IT THERE".

Feel free to honor someone you know who is serving in our armed forces as a driver of any type of vehicle, and in any capacity, that is making a difference for our country. We may feature your story, and post your pictures and/or videos. So, don't be shy, honer them... they deserve it !!!

In Iraq and Afganistan, the recent surge in attacks on truckers carrying supplies for US troops has been aimed at both military and civilian convoys. But while many civilian contractors have suspended deliveries until the violence ceases or eases, for drivers in uniform, that's not an option.

These are dangerous days for American military convoys on what could be the world's deadliest roads.

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Who was the ProDriver that lost his life in the Minneapolis bridge collapse ? Every other ProDriver who saw that video footage had thier heart break and wants to know what happened and who he was...

Paul Eickstadt, 51, a truck driver from Mounds View, was identified Friday as the fifth victim in the Interstate 35W Bridge collapse.

He had just started his shift at the Sara Lee Bakery in Roseville and was driving a Taystee truck bound for Mason City, Iowa, when the bridge gave out. He died of multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

Eickstadt's truck - a white semitrailer - was located just to the left of the school bus widely seen in video footage, said Mark Goldman, a spokesman for Sara Lee Food & Beverage, the Illinois parent company of Taystee. Employees at the Roseville bakery and executives at company headquarters recognized the truck when they saw images of it engulfed in flames, he said. Sara Lee officials began calling all employees and grew more concerned when they could not reach Eickstadt.

Rescue workers extricated his body from the cab late Thursday, Goldman said. The company has placed grief counselors at the Roseville bakery, where employees are in a state of shock, and has pledged to support Eickstadt's family. He had worked at Sara Lee Foods since 1993.

He is survived by a brother and two sisters.

Paul Eickstadt of Mounds View was remembered Tuesday as a man motivated by his family and expressions of God in nature. The service, at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Fridley, was attended by a large extended family, a devoted congregation and a knot of gray-uniformed Sara Lee drivers, his co-workers, each of whom could have been driving that truck at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Paul Eickstadt drove a delivery truck for Sara Lee Bakery for 14 years. He was just beginning his shift, on his way to Iowa, when the I-35W bridge collapsed. His truck fell forward, burst into flames, and dangled dramatically between two sections of concrete.

Eickstadt, 51, lived in Mounds View. He is survived by a brother and two sisters. One of his oldest friends is also feeling his loss.

Paul Eickstadt and Sue Weatherly were about 7 years old, laughing and running in the muddy swamp around the corner from their homes in Mounds View.

"None of the houses in the area now were here at the time," Weatherly recalls. "So Paul and I, we'd catch tadpoles and guppies and haul them back home in these buckets, and run back down to the swamp and gather up a whole bunch more and bring 'em back home. We were covered in mud. Our parents were just horrified."

The service, attended by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, was marked by traditional songs that family members found listed on an envelope in Eickstadt's home after his death: "This Is My Father's World", "What a Friend We Have in Jesus", and "Amazing Grace."

AmericanProDrivers is deeply concerned about the impact of diesel price increases on the motor carrier industry and on our national economy. In the face of continued high fuel prices, we are working to find solutions to this national problem by ensuring that trucking -- the backbone of the American economy -- does not break.

In addition to working with Congress and the Bush Administration on this issue, we have created this Web page to provide you with the latest information on diesel prices and other information.

Regional and National Fuel Price Averages

$3.148 East Coast
$3.250 New England
$3.250 Central Atlantic
$3.251 Lower Atlantic
$3.122 Midwest
$3.062 Gulf Coast
$3.281 Rocky Mountains
$3.394 West Coast
$3.406 California

(pending)

Nationally, over 900,000 trucking accidents occur every year with 9,000 resulting in fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration, many (about 130,000) resulted in serious injuries. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in two-vehicle accidents involving an automobile and a big truck, 98% of the deaths were to occupants of the automobile.

Why are so many people killed or injured by trucks? Simply put, because trucks are bigger. An 18 wheeler can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds while the average passenger car weighs a little over 3,000 pounds. Trucks, being so much larger than passenger cars, are harder to control and take longer to stop or slow down.

While most professional truck drivers are skilled and careful, some take shortcuts that compromise highway safety. Drivers of big trucks are often cited for some or all of the following unsafe conditions:

Driving trucks that are not properly maintained, particularly with brake defects.
Driving trucks without adequate guards allowing cars to fit under the truck body.
Driving longer than the permitted number of hours per day leading to driver fatigue.
Driving trucks that are dangerously over loaded.
Driving in a manner that is unsafe for the weather conditions.

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Truck Driver Drug Testing Results are Easily Falsified.

Truck drivers, are required to undergo drug testing, however, the Government Accountability Office discovered rampant problems in drug testing for commercial truck drivers. The investigators found that the testing was avoided so easily that officials were surprised that anyone would ever fail a test.

The GAO found that drug users could easily beat urine tests with widely available drug-masking products. In addition, the GAO found that 21 of 24 sites that collect drug samples failed to follow Department of Transportation guidelines. The GAO reported that only 1.7 percent of tested drivers failed the federally mandated tests and were surprised that the numbers was that high.

Lawmakers, though, said with so many loopholes there is no way to determine just how many impaired truck drivers are on the roads today. Illegal drug use has been cited as a factor in 2 percent of all truck crashes government requires drug and alcohol testing for nearly all mass transportation workers, including commercial truck drivers.

The investigation of the private collection sites that offer drug testing found that 75 percent failed to secure their facilities from substances that could alter or dilute urine samples. Almost half failed to ask employees to empty their pockets, which could hide substances used to defeat the drug tests. Such products with names like "Urineluck" and "The Whizzinator" are available over the Internet. Drug-free human urine can also be purchased in many locations and smuggled into testing sites. Also, those who are not drug users may use fake driver's licenses and take the tests for others, investigators found.

At all 24 sites surveyed, government investigators used bogus drivers licenses. Committee members said it was easy to see that drug users are consistently using products from the Internet to skirt the law. "It's one thing to go to a pop concert and use these drugs," said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. "It's another thing to get behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle."

With no centralized federal database of drivers who have failed drug tests, lawmakers and trucking industry officials said drug users can easily apply for a new job if a driver fails another company's drug test. The "job hopping" can be fixed with congressional action, said Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, a member of the subcommittee. "We really do need a system where employers can very readily look and see where somebody's been fired four times for drugs," Boozman said. "I think that's where Congress comes in. I think that would be very doable."

An Arkansas law that takes effect Jan. 1 creates a statewide database that indicates positive drug and alcohol tests for holders of commercial driver's licenses. Six other states have similar laws.

The American Trucking Association supports a national clearinghouse for test results, said Greer Woodruff, a member of the association's safety policy committee and a senior vice president at Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Woodruff said he was convinced J.B. Hunt and other carriers are following federal regulations. He blamed "holes in the system" for drug users that go undetected.

"The ATA recommended Congress consider a ban on the sale of substances that dilute or adulterate urine. With more than 12 million people subject to mandatory drug testing, each one using the products poses a serious safety concern, Woodruff said. The industry also called for more government oversight of collection sites and for rules that allow alternative drug testing methods, such as by hair or saliva.

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