Letters to the Editor: No Parking, Fuel Surcharges, Silent Attack, Driver Surveillance, Ports’ Truck Ban

These letters appear in the Nov. 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

No Parking

For almost 30 years, we have had parking areas in mile-zone 262 near Elk Mountain in Wyoming. In 2006, the westbound parking area was removed during road repair. In 2007, the east-bound parking area was removed during road repair. Apparently, Wyoming does not intend to replace these two parking areas.

Because Wyoming I-80 carries more than 1 million commercial vehicles a year and because Elk Mountain has been closed from time to time every year since that section of I-80 was opened for traffic years ago, we need both of those parking areas.

In fact, those parking areas should have been enlarged, not removed. While they were there, every day they were used for rest breaks, truck checks, chain-up, chain inspection and a lot of other things. They need to be rebuilt.

Harold Eugene Johnson
Kansas City, Mo.

Fuel Surcharges

You know and I know high fuel prices are here to stay. The fuel surcharges that have been imposed were really for temporary spikes, not long-term fuel price increases.

Even if you get a surcharge, it’s only an attempt to address the high fuel costs and does nothing to help with poor rates and soft freight volume.

I never understood the backhaul load, as everyone calls it. You get a good rate going down but a poor rate coming back? I’m sorry, but deregulation has not made things fair for anyone. Even a shipper in the Midwest pays a lot more to ship to, say, Florida than a shipper in Florida pays to ship to, for example, Chicago?

I understand the freight vs. truck demand dictates the rates. But this is unfair to all. My cost per mile is the same mile after mile. It does not matter if I go to Florida or Colorado. A load should pay a decent rate going anywhere. This is my point.

Fuel is not the only thing going up. We need to address why rates cannot stay in a range where we do not need fuel surcharges. We just need a rate we can pay bills on and have something left over for ourselves.

John Scott
Owner-Operator
Landstar Ranger
Mount Morris, Ill.

Silent Attack

Ever since 9/11 this country has been on watch at every major city and location within those cities to thwart any possible reocurrence of a devastating attack.

Well, the attack on our economy by fuel prices is happening every day. The evidence is all around us and, like before, we will ignore it until it is too late. The price of oil — a major commodity that helps to move major items such as shelter, food and water — is silently attacking the nation.

When will action be taken to stop this?

Monty Ayers
Senior Buyer/Supply Chain
Southbend, a Middleby Company
Fuquay-Varina, N.C.

Driver Surveillance

This letter is regarding the Opinion article titled “Active Surveillance Can Be Tricky” (11-5, p. 9).

I am in full agreement with the article in working with a professional driver-monitoring company and further agree with the mixed results obtained from “How’s my driving?” signage.

However, I want to underscore the need and duty for those of us in the trucking industry to do our part and contact a driver’s company on those rare occasions when we do witness a truck driver performing badly — and even more important, make a call now and then to report on the professionalism of the many that do the job well.

As a routine business traveler, I log many miles per year behind the wheel and also could do more to report driving behaviors. I have made calls and would like to think that my two decades of experience in the industry make me credible to report good or bad performance by drivers.

Let’s help each other out and be vigilant about other companies’ driving habits and also be dutiful about phoning in reports to their safety departments.

Chris Simmons
Senior Vice President
Craig Transportation Co.
Perrysburg, Ohio

Ports’ Truck Ban

If this ban on older trucks goes through, it will send a message that the state of California can do the same to over-the-road trucks and get away with it (11-5, p. 5). It is just flat-out wrong and will put many people out of business.

It is another way for the unions to get all port drivers to be members. I do not believe they are even thinking of “clean air.” I pull containers in Minneapolis, and I am sure that if this ban happens, eventually it will spread here.

Pulling these containers does not pay enough to cover a new truck, unless you work seven days a week. Then you might as well go back to driving over the road — and with the price of fuel, that doesn’t pay either.

The drivers who go into these ports have to call their representatives and let them know how they feel, and if it goes through, stop going to California.

Rick Crosby
Owner
Tykatie Transport
Minneapolis