The reported owner of an auto shop died after a pickup truck fell on him Wednesday night in southwest suburban Orland Park.

Mark Minonne, 32, of the 5200 block of S. Kostner Ave., was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m. at St. James Hospital and Health Centers in Olympia Fields after a truck fell on him at 15622 S. 70th Ct. in Orland Park, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy is scheduled for later Thursday.

Midwest Fuel Injection Service Corporation is listed at the Orland Park address.

At 7:35 p.m., the Orland Park Fire Protection District responded to the car shop for a report of an injured man, according to Battalion Chief Steve Smith.

The man, who reportedly owns the car shop, was working under a Pickup truck held by a lift when it possibly failed and the truck fell on him, Smith said. Nobody else was injured.

“We don’t know what happened,” according to Smith, who said police are probing the incident. Orland Park police were not immediately available.

News and Updates on Pickup Trucks at One Stop

Recent figures concerning traffic safety in the continent of Europe shows a reduction of fatalities caused by traffic accidents. The number of deaths has been reduced by as much as 20 percent starting from 2001 up until this year. This shows an increased benefit of safety systems used on vehicles running on the Europe’s roads.

The European Union though aims to continue that trend by reducing the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents by the half by the year 2010. Already, automakers are jumping on the bandwagon of developing safety systems that will help them reach that goal.One of the foremost automakers that come to mind when safety is concerned is Volvo. The Swedish manufacturer of trucks has already taken steps to participate in the battle against traffic accidents.

Volvo Trucks, the second largest manufacturer of trucks and buses, recently introduced two active safety systems that will be integrated into their production trucks. These two systems are the Lane Keeping Support (LKS) and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). Both of these are developed by Volvo’s safety experts.The Lane Keeping Support is essentially a system that warns the driver of the vehicle if he or she is leaving his or her lane. The technology constantly monitors lane markers and warns the driver with an audible signal when the vehicle is leaving the lane. The safety system is activated when the vehicle reaches speeds of 60 kilometers per hour.

This technology is recommended for large vehicles like Volvo’s trucks since their sheer size makes them hard to steer especially during high speed driving. Claes Avedal, the head of the accident research for Volvo Trucks, expound the seriousness of the threat of a truck without a Lane Keeping Support system. “The driver loses his concentration for a moment and that is when the risk is greatest of also losing control over the vehicle,” says Avedal.

On the other hand, the Adaptive Cruise Control is an improved version of the previous ACC employed by Volvo’s vehicles which may or may not be equipped with a volvo antenna . Well, not that it matters of course. The Adaptive Cruise Control is a safety system which uses radar or laser, (Volvo uses a radar-based ACC) to calculate the proximity of the vehicle to the vehicle in front of it. When the distance reaches a preset constant, the system will slow down the vehicle to a preset speed.

Volvo’s improved ACC features a greater braking force to give the driver maximum stopping power in cases of emergency.

Big serious trucks are not usually what comes to mind when you think of the word “hybrid” but in a world of $100+ barrels of light sweet crude, Peterbilt is putting out some products that may change that. Its medium duty Peterbilt Model 330 (photo above) is just like a Prius. Except it takes diesel and boasts as much torque as a herd of Prii.

Featuring the Eaton parallel hybrid power system, the Model 330 and Model 335 both offer electric motor assist, regenerative braking, lithium ion batteries and fat tax credits. The 330 uses about 30 percent less fuel in an urban driving cycle while the 335 can save a whopping 60 percent when it’s used in a utility configuration. How does it do that? Say you’re up in the bucket restoring power after a thunderstorm, the battery supplies the juice you need to maneuver. If you need more than the battery has, the motor will automatically turn on and quickly recharge it.

Peterbilt has another type of truck that features Eaton’s Hydraulic Launch Assist (HLA). The imaginatively-named Model 320 is designed for “vocational stop-and-go applications” or “garbage truck,” in the modern parlance. As a vehicle that may stop and go a thousand or more times a day, this Peterbilt takes advantage of hydraulics to recover up to 75 percent of the energy from stopping to use for relaunching.

As has been found with other heavy duty hybrids, maintenance, as well as fuel, savings are significant with these workhorses. Quieter operation and lower environmental impact seal the deal.

Read more about :- Peterbilt showcases hydraulic hybrid

Ford Motor Company is recalling a whole herd of trucks to see the team doctors over concerns about a hose in the braking system that could adversely effect the vehicles’ braking power. According to the NHTSA, about 605,000 2005 and 2006 model year Ford F150 and Lincoln Mark LT trucks equipped with the 3-valve 5.4-liter V8 will receive a hose replacement free of charge. The problem hose supplies the brake booster with engine vacuum, and could swell over time and eventually become disconnected. While the hydraulic braking system will function without the power assist, pedal effort will be significantly increased, and if drivers are taken off-guard by the problem an accident could occur. Ford will start notifying owners in June, and the recall campaign will kick off in July. According to FoMoCo, there have been 11 minor accidents related to the issue.

Things have definitely changed. Today’s drivers have plenty of choices, from basic work trucks designed to haul cargo to option-filled trucks that rival a luxury sedan.So how do you choose the right pickup truck? One way to get started is to take some time to analyze your wants and needs.

Compact trucks are smaller in scale than full size trucks.They can usually tow up to about 3,000 pounds, a weight that accommodates many trailer and boat towing tasks. If you have heavier towing needs, move up to a mid-size or full size truck.

Mid-size pickups can be closer in size to a compact or to a full-size truck. Comparing trucks on dealer lots is the best way to understand how they compare to each other in exterior and interior size.

Engine Choices

You’ll find four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines in compact trucks. Full-size trucks offer more variety, with six-cylinders, V8s, V10s and diesels.

Drivetrain Options

Most of the trucks on the market are available with either a manual or automatic transmission and your choice of 2WD or 4WD. You’ll find many trucks offer limited-slip or locking differentials and electronic traction control. Safety options are becoming increasingly popular on new pickup trucks.

There are several truck cab styles, so you should be able to find one that suits your seating needs.

• A standard cab truck has one bench or two bucket seats–no second row seating and (usually) no substantial storage behind the seats.
• An extended cab truck has jump seats or a bench seat in back. Be sure to sit in the back while someone else drives the vehicle so that you have a feel for its seating comfort.
  • Extended cabs provide extra space to carry groceries or other packages behind the first row — out of the weather and locked up for security.
• A crew cab truck has full second row seating, with 4-doors that swing open towards the front. Crew cabs are gaining in popularity as more and more people use pickup trucks as their primary vehicle.

Nissan is reportedly going to show their light commercial vehicle (or vehicles), otherwise known as LCV(s), at the next Detroit auto show in January. As has been reported, Nissan plans on introducing three LCVs in the United States within the next few years. One is expected to be a van, quite possibly based on their Primastar van (pictured), which is sold in many other markets worldwide. If so, it’s most direct competitor here would the the Dodge/Freightliner Sprinter vans, which have proven so popular with delivery services and tradesmen.

As to the other two LCVs? Nothing certain has been announced to date, but there’s certainly a lot of speculating going on. One such speculation centers around a heavy duty pickup (Nissan truck news), which I think is a pretty safe bet. The big question is, will it be a Detroit-style pickup, fashioned along the lines of the very successful Ford Duper Duty? Or will it be more of an “international style” of truck? By that I mean a vehicle that is totally unlike that coming from the domestic truckmakers. Perhaps something like the Primastar, but with a pickup bed and/or dump body instead? That leaves the third truck up for grabs. A small box van perhaps? Almost certainly these trucks will be diesel-powered.

How safe is that truck next to you? The true answer is very safe.

Big rigs account for 17 per cent of all road miles, and only three per cent of fatalities.

This means the average big rig is five times safer than the average vehicle on the road.

Most truck drivers are dedicated professionals who take pride in their safe driving and the proper condition of their trucks.

Inspectors target trucks that they think are more likely to fail an inspection, recognizing that most trucks will pass easily.

Most of those trucks that are “ordered off the road” are merely ordered to replace a burned-out sidelight or to correct some other minor fault, and are not found to have unsafe mechanical condition.

Truckers are once again protesting the high cost of fuel. Last month, many of them tried to drive home the point to congress, some are doing it again.

This time it’s on a local level. More than a dozen drivers parked their big rigs in Vanceboro to send a message to lawmakers about the high cost of diesel fuel.

They say they’re losing profits and emptying their wallets to fill up their tanks.

Levis Lane has been a truck driver for almost 30 years and he says this is the worst he’s ever seen.

Levis says he spends more than eight hundred dollars filling up his tank. Other drivers tell us they’ve spent as much as 12 hundred dollars on diesel fuel.