Letters to the Editor: HOS, TMC SuperTech, Satellites and Mexico, Tolls, Fines
These letters appear in the Oct. 8 print edition of Transport Topics.
Hours of Service
The battle for acceptable hours-of-service regulations continues, but is this battle moving forward or backward?
The effort to have a “final rule” seems to suffer because of special-interest groups outside the industry. I went to a Web site of one of those groups and read their version of how “they” were instrumental in making the highways a safer place for the general public. They spoke of “potential hazards” and how the general public “could” suffer.
The response of American Trucking Associations, representing a 4.7% reduction of trucking accidents during the period of these newest regulations, seems to mean very little.
The trucking industry is trying to make positive changes. The 11-hour driving rule compensates for the flexible 15-hour rule being reduced to a more restricted 14-hour period. In past discussions, one question drivers have asked is, “What does what I did last week have to do with what I will do the next week? I’m ready to begin a new week when I’m fully rested.”
For many professional drivers, the 34-hour restart rule is an excellent option.
Professional drivers work hard in the trucking industry. To earn an honest living, they sacrifice personal time and holidays with their families, their spouses, etc. Several drivers have told me stories of how a previous trucking company wouldn’t route the driver back home in time for their daughter’s high school graduation or the funeral of a family member.
When they are on the road, their effort always is to do the job and get back home safely.
It’s no wonder the industry is experiencing such a shortage of drivers.
Larry Hopper
Safety Director
T.G. Stegall Trucking Co.
Charlotte, N.C.
TMC’s SuperTech
I want all fleets to know the value in the SuperTech competition of American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council. The spirit of competition and the desire to compete makes a technician hungry for knowledge.
Knowledge-hungry technicians self-educate to win, and it is through the gained knowledge that a fleet will enjoy lower maintenance costs, more productivity and efficient workers. Self-education is priceless, and any cost in sending a technician to a competition like this one or a state competition is paid back many times what it costs a fleet up front.
We also profit by raising morale and promoting excitement on the job among those competing. Furthermore, we are promoting pride in the technician and for the company.
Without reservation, the results are very positive and exciting for participating fleets. I challenge fleets to keep the nation’s technicians up to date with cutting-edge knowledge and technology.
Winston Minchew Jr.
Asset & Training Manager
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
Thomasville, N.C.
Satellites and Mexico
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration states they will use satellite tracking for the Mexican commercial trucks traveling throughout this country, and that they will do so at no expense to the participating Mexican trucking company (10-1, p. 4). Of course not: It will be at the expense of American citizens and our taxes.
Can’t this administration come up with better ways to spend our tax dollars? Isn’t it enough that Mexican trucks are threatening our jobs as truck drivers, not to mention the port-of-entry workers who would offload and load the cargo passing through and the customs paper pushers — all of whom will lose their jobs. No, this administration wants us to pay to track the trucks.
Cathy Mack
Owner-Operator
Naples, N.C.
I guess the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has lost all sense of reason. I have always known they know nothing about trucks. They simply make rules that no one can follow, rules that make no sense. They just give in to the lobbyists contributing to their needs.
Why should we pay to have Mexican trucks followed by satellite tracking? Don’t we already have enough ports of entry, weigh scales and inspectors who don’t know what they are doing without the added expense of tracking Mexican trucks at no cost to them?
Lewis [Last Name Withheld by Request]
Owner-Operator
Dillon, Mont.
Turnpike Tolls
Why are there tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike? Why is the turnpike not part of the federal Interstate Highway System? There are toll-free interstate highways all over the United States. Are the bonds paid? Are the politicians skimming money from the tolls that should be used for bond payment?
James Morgan
Retired Police Sergeant
Cleveland
High-Risk Fines
As is common, the honorable Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, fails to recognize that most truck fatalities are the fault of the motoring public, not the truck driver, and certainly not the mainstream carrier.
I don’t care how many fines are assessed and to whom; until the motoring public is held responsible for their part, the fatalities will never substantially decrease.
Bobby Kelley
Assistant Safety Director
Robert Bearden Inc.
Cairo, Ga.
