Letters: Closed Rest Areas, Those Railroad Ads (Cont.), Diesel Prices, Road Tax, Honoring Covenants

Closed Rest Areas

Someone needs to read the article that was published about the truck driver shot and killed in Knoxville, Tenn. If these rest areas are closed (3-16, p. 14), do you expect the big rigs to pull over and take their time off on the ramps when their hours of drive time have expired? Last that I heard, that is against the law.

Or, if the drivers want to take a bathroom stop, what are they supposed to do? Stop on the side of an interstate and take a leak? That’s not supposed to happen, either — it’s against the law.

It sounds to me like there is a lot of pencil-pushing going on. These people don’t know the rules and regulations of trucking. They don’t have any idea what truckers go through every day. They might just need to get to a rest area to stretch their legs or make a phone call. Leave the rest areas open.

Everyone knows there are budget cuts going on everywhere, but hey — face reality. These guys are trying to get the products to where they need to be. If it weren’t for truckers, grocery store shelves would be empty. No one could go to buy clothes.

And what about the cars everyone is driving? I know that here in Tennessee, I don’t see everybody riding their horses to get to work or to take their families out for the day. All of this is brought to you by the truckers.

Joyce Starkey

Owner-Operator

B&J Transport

McMinnville, Tenn.

Those Railroad Ads (Cont.)

I must respond to the letter in the March 16 edition complainingabout the CSX advertisements and fuel economy (p. 9; click here for previous letters). Here is yet another example of trucks vs. railroads.

I find it difficult to believe in these times that someone still fails to comprehend that the trucking industry and the rail industry complement each other to the point that neither could exist without the other. In fact, many railroads have their own trucking companies.

As far as the fuel issue goes, the advertisements are essentially correct if one takes the time to seriously crunch the numbers — although my personal opinion is that the CSX estimate is a little low to the tune of about 16 cents. But in the long-term picture, fuel economy is not — and should not be — the issue. The issue should be taxes.

While the trucking industry bickers with the railroads and vice versa, ask yourself this: How much in taxes does the river barge faction pay?

One must also ask why the river barge faction is quietly sitting back and laughing their collective heads off because of this petty bickering.

Because the barges traveling the Mississippi, Missouri, Co-lumbia and other rivers are using waterways maintained fully by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, how much in taxes does the barge faction pay for rights-of-way?

Ask yourself how much money in fuel taxes the barge faction pays.

And this list could go on endlessly. Instead of these petty grievances, why don’t the trucking and railroad factions create a united front to show how much they do in fact complement each other?

Francis E. Amiot

Retired, U.S. Department of Transportation

Monroe, Mich.

Diesel Price Rise

Please tell us why diesel fuel jumped 7.3 cents per gallon last week — nearly 4% — instead of just reporting the increase (“Diesel Jumps 7.3¢ to $2.09 a Gallon,” TTNews, 3-24; click here for previous article).

This is the time of year when home heating oil demand is going down, so that can’t be used as an excuse.

I don’t see freight traffic going up, which would cause more diesel fuel use, so that doesn’t explain it.

The farmers already have laid in their initial supply of diesel fuel for spring work, so that isn’t the reason.

It looks like the greedy oil barons — the AIGs of energy — are going to have another run at destroying our economy. When will our government realize fuel prices aren’t controlled by supply and demand, but rather by the big oil monopoly that exists worldwide, and do something about the situation?

Richard Dafforn

OEM Chassis and Powertrain Engineer

Muncie Power Products

Saline, Mich.

Road Tax

Why would anyone promote mismanagement of the road tax we already pay (3-9, p. 5; click here for previous subscriber-content article)? Any toll road, increase in mileage tax, etc., will not cure the problem. All you would be doing is giving more money to be mismanaged. The states would be in better shape if they hadn’t put the money into their general funds.

Going to other sources for funding the trucking industry isn’t a blank check. We pay more than our share anyway. If you want to raise the road tax on the bigger trucking companies that get money from the government for their driving schools, do so, but leave us small guys alone. We pay more than our share.

Also, will the rates for hauling freight go up or will the larger companies cost us more?

Mike Lembke

Owner

Lembke Transport

Boise, Idaho

Honoring Covenants

I am neither on the side of the Mexican truck program nor on that of the greed- and fearmongers who use scare tactics as a means of blatant protectionism. I am on the side of American integrity and against the message we are sending to the entire world that we are a nation that welches on its bets and reneges on its covenants (3-30, p. 1; click here for previous story).

In 1995, the Clinton administration imposed a moratorium on Mexican trucks in violation of a signed and sealed covenant called the North American Free Trade Act — NAFTA. Was it a wise pact? That’s what should have been determined before signing on the dotted line. The way it was handled is more along the lines of a man awakening beside his new wife after the first night of their honeymoon and strategizing how to divorce her because he never took into consideration what she would look like without makeup.

It took the system six years to come to the conclusion that the moratorium was a violation of the pact. It has taken approximately another eight years for the injured party to finally give up trying to work through it and react in a way that is monetarily inexpedient for our country.

Now, a representative from Oregon thinks his opinion is above the law and calls the resulting tariffs “illegal.” Oregon, you need someone to represent you who understands the difference between legal and illegal and between right and wrong.

I am a native citizen of these United States of America, and I couldn’t care less if another Mexican truck ever enters this country, but let us not talk out of both sides of our mouths. The government can scuttle the whole program today, and I will not lose one instant of sleep, but let us be strong enough and have enough integrity to say it and do it outright.

Let us not imagine that we will prosper through deception.

Francisco Gomez

Independent Driver

San Angelo, Texas