Letters: Keep the Step Vans, Calling it Quits, Natural Gas, Background Reports

Keep the Step Vans

Please keep step-van drivers in the National Truck Driving Championships. I attended my first truck-driving rodeo two years ago because the step-van category was added, and I had a blast. Now, I’m hooked on NTDC.

I am a FedEx corporate trainer, and I teach defensive driving classes in step vans. Step-van drivers are as serious about safety as any other professional driver.

These competitions promote safety, teamwork and camaraderie among all the drivers. My knowledge about the trucking industry has been greatly enhanced as a result of my involvement at these rodeos.

I even have incorporated some of the NTDC obstacle courses into my classes. The drivers love the challenge, and I get them excited about possibly competing in NTDC next year in Florida.

Please do not take away this much-anticipated event because it is quickly becoming one of the most exciting activities of the year.

Long live NTDC and the step-van category!

Paige Rothar

Senior Training Instructor

FedEx

Sunshine District

Orlando, Fla.

Calling It Quits

I started trucking back in 1982 — a life full of trial and error. Boy, has it been cruel, but nowadays, the hours-of-service regulations have made a tough life even tougher. To see truckers drive those big rigs like cars makes my heart suffer. I’m calling it quits.

Mark Yeskie

Safety Advocate

My Highway Group

Sparks, Nev.

Natural Gas

It was nice to see the article in Transport Topics regarding natural-gas vehicles (“Trucking’s Use of Liquefied Natural Gas Hindered by Dearth of Fueling Stations,” 9-6, p. 1; click here for previous story).

I found it interesting that the article concentrated 100% of the discussion on liquefied natural gas and neglected compressed natural gas as a viable fuel for the transportation industry.

Daimler Trucks North America is the largest supplier of conventional natural-gas vehicles in North America, and we have about 500 LNG tractors operating in Southern California. However, as the Long Beach/Los Angeles port project has matured, the interest in North America rapidly has changed to CNG vehicles.

The CNG fueling infrastructure is still a work in progress, but its ability to provide retail fueling facilities is at least 100 times that of LNG stations. We are in a position today where we can factory-build almost any configuration of truck or tractor for local or regional applications where CNG is available.

If you refer to www.cngprices.com, you will see how the availability of CNG stations has increased nationwide.

Thank you for the excellent article. We truly believe that the utilization of domestic natural gas in transportation, whether CNG or LNG, is the wave of the future.

There is enough domestic natural gas available to displace millions of barrels of imported oil. However, the fuel station infrastructure needs a great deal of improvement, as customers require fuel stations that will fill vehicles quickly and efficiently in close proximity to their operations. When this issue is overcome, the use of natural gas as a motor fuel will see unprecedented growth and acceptance.

Robert Carrick

Western Region Vocational

Manager-Natural Gas

Freightliner Trucks

Portland, Ore.

Background Reports

With more than 300 million people living in the United States, someone out there has the same name as you — possibly lots of someones. There’s even a good chance they share your birth date. Add to this the current rash of identity theft, and you can have a real problem when it comes to background checks by prospective employers.

Background companies often jeopardize drivers’ employment opportunities by erroneously reporting their supposed criminal and employment histories. These inaccuracies can include falsely reporting that an applicant is a felon, has been convicted of a misdemeanor when the charge actually was dismissed or has a history of accidents.

As the economy recovers, analysts predict increased demand for truck drivers to transport the backlog of freight. A recent United Press International article said the current driver workforce is insufficient to meet an expected 10% increase in trucking positions. Couple these new jobs with stricter hiring standards, and the qualified applicant pool becomes a shark tank full of hungry drivers seeking re-employment.

Background-reporting companies have a duty under federal law to follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy when providing reports, but problems still arise.

Drivers can suffer even when someone else’s name is merely similar to theirs. Given a large population and loosely followed procedures, it is likely the reporting agency will confuse Terence M. Jones of Los Angeles with Teri Z. Jones from Philadelphia — and matters become problematic for Terence Jones when Teri Jones is a convicted felon.

Background reports also can be inaccurate with respect to criminal charges that didn’t result in conviction or have been reduced to a lesser offense. For example, Terence Jones may have been charged with a bogus domestic violence offense because his wife wanted the upper hand in a divorce. Through his attorney, Terrence may have defended against the charges successfully, or he may have pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace, a minor misdemeanor in many jurisdictions. Unfortunately, reporting agencies may say that Terrence was “convicted” of both a domestic violence felony and disturbing the peace.

The speed at which prospective employers now receive criminal background reports and employment records via the Internet also can be a problem. Many employers immediately decide against hiring an applicant, using the information without first notifying the applicant the decision was based on the report.

Several days later, the applicant may receive in the mail a copy of his or her report falsely detailing a criminal history. This alone violates federal law, which requires that applicants receive a copy of a negative criminal background report at the time it is provided to a prospective employer.

Employers also must provide applicants with notice of intent to decline employment when the decision is based on a criminal background report.

Truck drivers are notoriously subjected to violations of these laws by reporting companies and employers. Remedies lie within the federal court system and can include statutory damages, lost wages, emotional distress and attorneys’ fees.

Fortunately, there are law firms that dedicate significant time and resources to the representation of truck drivers who have been adversely affected by inaccurate background reports or have lost job opportunities because a carrier failed to follow mandatory requirements related to the use of background reports. There are consumer law attorneys in every state who handle this problem, and they can be located easily by way of the Internet or local telephone directories.

Anthony Pecora

Attorney

Stumphauzer, O’Toole

Sheffield Village, Ohio