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Holiday travel plans? Compare your itinerary to this list A national survey of long-haul truckers IDs best, worst U.S. roads, drivers, scenery
All roads are not created equal. Some states' highways tend to be a long string of potholes, while others are as manicured as a suburban lawn, according to a survey of U.S. truckers who, as a group, log nearly 200 billion highway miles annually and know those highways better than anyone. Worst Roads: Arkansas, Louisiana, California Arkansas' I-40 and I-30 are the worst roads in the nation, according to a third of 1,115 truckers surveyed for Overdrive's 10th annual "Best Roads / Worst Roads" survey. Interstate 40, which crosses Arkansas from east to west, and I-30, which runs from Little Rock, Ark., to Texarkana, Texas, were named the pits for traffic, potholes, cracks and other issues. Truckers also identified Arkansas highways as worst overall. "All the bolts came out of my lights, and my lights fell off," reported trucker Neal Holsomback of Sugar Valley, Ga., who crossed Arkansas on I-40 for the first time this past June. "All of it was dragging when we got to Oklahoma. We needed to take a parts inventory when we got done." Next on truckers' worst-road list were:
This was the second consecutive year that Arkansas' I-40 has been voted the worst stretch of road and the first year that Arkansas roads have been voted worst overall. For the first nine years of the Overdrive survey, Pennsylvania had the worst roads overall. Following Arkansas on the worst-overall list were Louisiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania (a tie), California and Michigan. "A trucker's livelihood depends on his or her knowledge of the roads," said Pettus Randall, chairman and CEO of Randall Publishing. "The 'Best Roads/Worst Roads' survey is an opportunity for the trucking community to share that knowledge with the nation's four-wheelers." Truckers hail improvements On the upside, the truckers acknowledged states that had made investments in their highway systems. Their most-improved list included:
Best Roads: Tennessee, Florida, Georgia Ironically, I-40 in Tennessee -- Arkansas' neighbor to the east -- is the best road in the nation, according to truckers. Second best: I-75 in Florida. Georgia's I-75 was third. All were chosen for the relative absence of the maintenance issues that plague Arkansas, Louisiana and California highways. Pavement's not everything Of course, good maintenance isn't everything. Truckers also held forth on the states with the worst drivers (California and Georgia, a tie, followed by New Jersey, then Illinois), best rest stops (Virginia, followed by Georgia, then Indiana and Pennsylvania, a tie) and best scenery (Wyoming, followed by Pennsylvania, then Oregon). The truckers surveyed have a mean of 22 years of commercial driving experience, including 14 years as owner-operators of their own trucks. Approximately 40 percent drive throughout the 48 contiguous states; the rest, primarily within a specific region. And they're educated: Nearly half (43.9 percent) were high school graduates, while 46.7 percent had at least some college. Their average age was 45. "Truckers are experts on roads," said Linda Longton, editor of Overdrive magazine, Randall Publishing's 140,000-circulation monthly for long-haul truckers. "They move 60 percent of all U.S. freight and serve virtually every community." Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Randall Publishing operates the Construction Media Group, Trucking Media Group and Industrial Media Group. The Construction Media Group publishes Equipment World, RentSmart!, the Equipment World Spec Guide and TOP BID. The Trucking Media Group publishes Overdrive, Truckers News and Trucking Co. magazines. The Industrial Media Group publishes Pumps & Systems and Modern Woodworking magazines. Randall Publishing also owns and operates online media, trade shows, radio programs and other services. In addition, Randall publishes Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges and manufactures and markets a complete line of recognition and motivational products, promotional items and award materials through the Award Company of America. The company also owns Northbrook Publishing, Waukesha, Wis., leading publishers of company-sponsored publications serving several Fortune 500 clients; and Equipment Data Associates, a Charlotte, N.C., data collection and analysis company serving various industries. With gross revenues of about $50 million in 1999, Randall Publishing continues to grow in both profitability and product offerings. # # # Overdrive magazine's 10th annual Best Roads/Worst Roads survey
Worst Roads
Best Roads
Most Improved
Worst Overall
Worst Drivers
Best Truck Stops
Best Rest Stops
Best Scenery
--30-- Note: A December 1999 tally showed that Randall Publishing achieved 9.2 million "impressions" via this news release. Top of the list: "State of Disrepair: Arkansas tops ranking of 'worst roads,' but officials pledge improvements coming," Dallas Morning News / Nov. 28, 1999 "Truckers say state's drivers tied for worst," San Francisco Examiner / Nov. 14, 1999 "Pa. ends nine-year tour in top spot for bad-road list," Philadelphia Inquirer / Nov. 5, 1999 "Truckers dump on state drivers," St. Petersburg Times / Nov. 14, 1999 "Study: California drivers and roads among the nation's worst," The San Diego Union Tribune / Nov. 9, 1999 "Ga. drivers nation's worst, truckers say," Atlanta Constitution / Nov. 15, 1999 "Truckers Rank Wyoming Tops for Scenery," Omaha World-Herald / Nov. 13, 1999
And this word from my client... "Just to put in writing my pleasure over the stellar success of the Best/Worst Roads PR campaign. The publicity we received was unprecedented in the 10 year history of the study. It exceeded my best expectations. "The release was well crafted and the distribution finely targeted. You...did a hell of a job, and I thank you for it and making me look good." -- Derek Smith, National PR Director, Randall Publishing
 Mark
E. Dixon
757 Upper Gulph Road
Wayne, PA 19087-2022
USA
610-971-0649
dixon_mark@verizon.net
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
(Nov. 8, 1999) – If you're among the more than 30 million
Americans likely to be traveling this Thanksgiving, consider this tip from the
nation's travel experts: