Manure Truck Hits Building In St. Albans

[Mike Raburn]

Joey Chitwood Jr.

[Mike Raburn]

I am trying to be PC and polite from now on...
So some of my posts my take some thought.
Even though I have NO thought process.

Mike                       You've covered two of my one-liners that I thought of yesterday when I read  the posting .....Still , much credit needs to be given to the driver of the truck ( and whatever it was carrying ) for avoiding traffic obstacles ( cars & people ) on probably the busiest corner in St . Albans .

[Mike Raburn]

Manure Truck Story Made www.fark.com.

My birthplace makes me PROUD!~

[Henry]

I heard the young man has a broken neck and a concussion - I expect the Messenger will have more details on Monday.

[Henry]

It was a liquid manure spreader truck:

[Stand Alone Defense]

I know this won't sit well with others but I hope this brings some new laws and regulations into place about hauling this dirty nasty payload around on public roadways. Spilling, stinking, leaving a trial.
Much of it looks like uninsured, unregistered equipment that shouldn't leave the fields.

Not likely to happen, it is Agriculture Equipment and it is the same in almost every state in the United States.  Agriculture is the back bone of Vermont and I don't see regs on farm equipment changing anytime soon.  There is no difference between this truck and a farm tractor they are both pieces of farm equipment as far as the law reads.

As far as the smell and hauling it on public highways?  Well 90 percent of the farms in this area were here way before all the developments went in.  So when it comes to tractors using the roadways and the smell of cow manure all I have to say is WELCOME TO VERMONT!!!!!! If people don't like it why do they move here? Why don't they move to Burlington where they don't have to see or smell it.  Sometimes I really wonder about people, as if farming isn't hard enough then people want to make it even harder on the Farmers.  My buddy who runs a dairy farm in Fairfax gets complaints all the time from people!!

A couple of my favorites I have heard-

“Hey next year you can’t plant corn in that field over there, my house borders it and my Allergies can’t handle the pollen from the corn”

“Do you think you can find another way to your field?  Your tractors make a lot of dust and my house and car’s get dirty with you driving back and forth”

Or the best one

Complainant “You need to clean your tires off on your tractors because you’re getting the road dirty”

Farmer’s response “but it is a dirt road?”

Complainant “you get mud from your field all over the road and it isn’t fair to us that live here on the road.  So either it needs to stop or I’ll get lawyer and contact the town”

Remember when you are out enjoying the views, open fields and country life style in Vermont that most of that land is open because a Farmer owns it.  Spreading manure, doing crops, plowing fields and picking stones isn’t fun for them either but it is how they pay their bills.  Vermont would not have the beautiful country side if it wasn’t for all the farms that operate and work hard here to keep their land open.  I wish people would remember that.

[formerfxfd15]

As far as equipment being not road worthy that may be true for a few farmers here and there, but I can tell you the majority of farmers do their best to make sure that if their equipment travels on public roadways that it is safe.  There are those few out there, as with anything that give good farmers who try their best a bad rap. Most farmers DO have insurance on their trucks, have them inspected and registered annually.  The fines if caught without proper paperwork is not worth it.  Nobody sets out to endanger the lives of themselves or others, that is not the intention of anyone.  As for the smell, what do you want? It's like Josh said "Welcome to Vermont"  it's an inconvenience to one's senses a few weeks out of the year, farmers try their best to make it as quick and painless as possible.  It is certainly not our favorite job either, but it is a necessary one that needs to be done.  When enjoying your sweet corn, eating your ice cream cones, and putting milk on your cereal, remember all the hard work that went into producing it.

[CindyG]

I agree. This is an agricultural state and there are far worse things than manure that get hauled!
Farmers are the back bone of this state.
All the farmers I know are very conscientious about their equipment and not blocking traffic.

As a public safety threat, they are minimal.
Now ATV's around here, that's another story....literally on this forum.

To resurrect an old saying: Don't talk about Farmers with your mouth full.

[Mike Raburn]

I think it is wrong to paint a broad sword on this horrible accident, towards farmers.

SOMETHING failed on that truck and or the driver.

Let the investigation come out before judgement.
(my new PC persona.)

[rod anode]

quit being such a mike

[Henry]

Click on the following link to see a video & write-up on Clean-Up Operations:

http://www.wptz.com/video/28722315/detail.html

[cedarman]

I was thinking the same thing as Mike.  IF this incident had been a commercial dump truck full of sludge from a sewer treatment plant, or a tractor trailer full of methyl-ethyl- bad stuff, would you be calling for MORE REGULATIONS on All commercial trucks?

We have ENOUGH (too many) regulations.  Lets just use what we have instead of creating more.

[logical]

This is Vermont.  Agriculture vehicles (to include manure tractors/trucks) are part of our society.  Deal with it!

[mkr]

I have lived by a farm almost my entire life (minus college) and even then I was close to one at JSC.  I am an extremely pro-farmer lifestyle.  Manure and farm equipment is a part of life in Vermont and if you move out of the city to the country or new to VT entirely, learn to live with it or move.  We have lost so many farmers as it is in Vermont.  (Also, ditto to everything Josh said)

I went to Fairfield Pond a couple weeks ago with my Dad and it was so nice to see all the beautiful farms up there still and a teeneager using the ATV for travel between fields and the barn and no one making a stink of it.  He rode behind me.  It reminded me of how Fairfax looked and acted not so long ago.

As for the Conspiracy Theory on the Manure truck and the building having recent extra insurance; seriously, I am at a loss for your thinking......

I truly hope the driver will fully recover and kudos to him for dodging the people and cars.  What a scary ride that must have been.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Thanks for the lessons...I knew it would spark some thoughts and I certainly didn't want to ruffle any feathers.
I'm surely not against farmers or farming...where would we be without them?  I know I'd be starving.
I guess the frame of mind I was in when I typed was the thought that it seems the Ag industry is behind other industries and not keeping up with technology or environmental concerns.  Not any farm in particular, but the industry as a whole. 
I admit I'm not real educated in the ways of the farmer or the Ag Industry.  But it seems I don't see many advancements in technology and some of the equipment I see on the roads looks "iffy". (worse than my old truck).

Thanks everyone for the explanations, and "lessons".  I'm always willing/wanting to learn.
And...I certainly admire the skill the driver displayed and hope he is okay.

By the way, I do get to visit many farms in my line of work.  However, I'm not allowed to spill any fuel oil, allow a gas leak, or release refrigerant into the atmosphere.
I'm just sayin.