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There still is hope
Full speed ahead
Lack of volunteers forces Relay for Lifes to merge, form group to host multiple events By Ali Braboy NEWSTRIBUNE REPORTER
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTOS/SCOTT ANDERSON
Semi trucks flood interstate 39 near Oglesby. Illinois ranked third in total freight shipped in 2016 and those numbers are expected to increase. Locally, truck drivers are in high demand and truck traffic is soaring across the Illinois Valley area.
Truckers needed as freight demands increase By Brett Herrmann NEWSTRIBUNE REPORTER
Job applications are stacked across several tables at Illinois Valley Community College’s Truck Driver Training building just waiting for potential candidates to spill ink into the boxes and hand them in. Who’s hiring? Just about everyone. “I’ve never seen so many jobs available for drivers,” said IVCC truck driver training program director Bruce Hartman. “It’s got to be the economy.” Hartman’s not wrong. Rapid growth in the logistics industry has led to high demand of truck drivers on the local level. “The amount of freight transported in the United States is expected to increase significantly as a result of further economic growth, changing business and retail models, increasing international trade, and rapidly changing consumer expectations that place an emphasis on faster deliveries,” a recent report by TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit, states. That impact has carried down to the local level. And Hartman said the demand for drivers has been more of a recent boom — mostly taking place over the past
two years — than an ongoing trend. “The sand jobs are big and the logistics jobs are big,” he said. “Most students that come through have jobs before they graduate.” WHAT’S CHANGED? As TRIP noted in its study, consumer habits have changed how products are shipped across the country. Options like next day delivery have become commonplace, but are only possible with how distribution is currently set up. “The whole concept of transportation of goods has changed dramatically over the past 20 years,” said Don Schaefer, executive vice president of the Mid-West Truckers Association, based out of Springfield. He said the rise of distribution centers has made logistics a regional business. Long-haul truckers are less likely to take a 2,000 mile trip to the coast. He said trips today are more likely in the 600 mile range or shorter due to strategically placed distribution centers, such as Walmart’s in Spring Valley. They are built right next to interstates where shipping containers can be hauled in, broken down, and shipped back out as needed.
“Eastbound and down.” David Peterson of Compton, a student at Illinois Valley Community College, practices backing up a semi truck at the college’s truck driver training facility in Oglesby. “It’s more cost effective and more efficient,” Schaefer said. And he said to keep expecting more logistics centers to pop up due to the way consumers purchase products. “The economy is absolutely good,” he said. “It’s been good and it’s going to keep being good because of demand.” WHERE DOES THE AREA STAND? In 2016, Illinois ranked third
in the nation in the total value of freight shipped by all modes of transportation, including truck, rail, water, air and pipeline, according to TRIP’s study. Illinois also has two of the worst truck bottleneck areas for interstates along the Interstates 90 and 94 corridor in the Chicago area. While the Illinois Valley’s interstates are not among the See TRUCKS Page A3
A difficulty finding enough volunteers and leaders to manage large, annual events led to a merger of two long-time groups that have helped save lives and fight cancer. American Cancer Society announced Relay For Life of La Salle County and Relay For Life of Upper Illinois Valley are joining forces to create the La Salle County Days of Hope. Relay for Life of Upper Illinois Valley started in 2010 and was around for a decade, reportedly raising $1 million between funds raised at, or resulting from, the annual events, said Mitch Landgraf, a founding and sustaining leader of Relay for Life of Upper Illinois Valley. The group came about because the Relay for Life of La Salle County had grown so large that there was enough support in the county to have two events, purposefully placed in opposite corners of the county so residents could participate in the event most convenient for them. Although Landgraf has stepped down from his Relay leadership role, he will continue to be a cancer-fighter. “Between the free local patient care services and cancer research and prevention programs of the American Cancer Society, and great local-only supports like Cops 4 Cancer and the IVCH Cancer Support group, our area gives cancer the relentless onetwo punch it deserves,” he said. As the years went on, both events found it increasingly difficult to find enough volunteers and leaders to manage large, annual events. As such, leaders from the two Relay events are working as one group to host a See HOPE Page A2
TONIGHT Evening rain. Low 44. Weather A8
INDEX
Final run a little different for Canal Connection
Astrology B4 Classified B6 Comics B4 Lifestyle A8 Local A3
Washout on canal path forces race organizers to reroute the last annual 10K By Brett Herrmann NEWSTRIBUNE REPORTER
The annual Canal Connection will be sandwiched between a couple of washouts this year on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The usual route — from La
Salle to Utica — is not possible this year due to a washout that occurred earlier in October that has closed a section of the path east of Split Rock. “Initially, the (Department of Natural Resources) expected it to be repaired in time for the
race,” said race director Janine Sobin. “I received an email earlier this week that it will not be repaired in time for the race because the washout is still in the engineering phase.” So, Sobin and fellow race
organizers with Starved Rock Runners LTD had to redraw the 10K’s route on the fly. “So far we have mapped out, accurately measured and marked our new course,” she said. But the closed trail will mean
Lottery A2 Obituaries B5 Opinion A6 Religion A7
COMING MONDAY Established 1851 BOTTOM OF THE SEA Technology locates No. 210 ships lost in the © 2019
Battle of Midway est. 1851
See CANAL Page A5
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