Letters: Weight Limits, CSA Delay, Handheld Phones

These Letters to the Editor appear in the Jan. 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Weight Limits

This is in reference to the letter headlined “Raising Weight Limits” in the Nov. 1 print issue on p. 7.

This is a very competitive economy, particularly where supply still exceeds demand. Therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to increase freight rates.

The solution, of course, is to find ways to increase productivity in order that the carrier can carry more freight without increasing freight rates to the shipper.

Increasing gross vehicle weights — by 8,000 pounds, for example — would make it possible for the carrier to charge for 8,000 pounds more without increasing the rate per hundred and not increasing the price to the shipper.

Donald Reimer

Chairman & CEO

Reimer World Corp.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada

I cannot agree more with the arguments in support of “larger” trucks. However, when applied in support of “heavier” trucks, they fall short — particularly when compared with the effects on outdated, deteriorating highways and bridges.

These two issues — larger and heavier — are distinctly different and likely would have more success if argued separately.

Terry Ellenwood

Director of Transportation

Variety Wholesalers Inc.

Henderson, N.C.

DOE Predictions

I feel it is pointless to publish the Department of Energy price predictions because they change them every time there is a major increase or decrease in the cost of a barrel of oil (“Diesel Premium to Remain in 2011, Analysts Predict,” 12-13, p. 1).

Every time I see one of their predictions, I have to laugh. Most any one of us lay people could use the same information and come up with the same guess. Our wonderful government in action.

Robert Gilliland

Chief Executive Officer

Michigan Produce Haulers Inc.

Fremont, Mich.

CSA Delay

Talk about creating animosity, hate and discontent all at one time; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has become a master at all three. Instead of working to create an atmosphere of “goodwill and partnership” with the trucking community, the FMCSA continues down the path of destruction for the very industry it represents.

It is quite apparent to me that the going-forward goal of the FMCSA is to do whatever it can to defeat and bring to its knees the very industry that supports the heart of the U.S. economy.

This is no longer about safety. Trucking has the best safety record in the United States. It’s about control. This is big government at its very worst. How long do we stand for it?

The recent actions of FMCSA with Compliance Safety Accountability, or CSA, and now the safety measurement system (SMS), are nothing short of legalized hijacking.

It’s time for the trucking industry to reclaim control and get trucking back to where it needs to be. Why in the world would FMCSA want to cripple the No. 1 industry for the delivery of goods in the United States? And why do we let it happen?

Lawrence Hartung

Director of Safety

deBoer Transportation Inc.

Blenker, Wis.

Handheld Phones

I’m responding to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ban on truckers’ handheld phones (“DOT Proposes Ban on Truckers’ Handheld Phones; Rule Would Set Stiff Penalties on Drivers, Carriers,” TTNews.com, 12-17). I’ve been trucking for only 37 years without a wreck, so I’m not a expert on safety, but really — a $2,750 fine because we shouldn’t take our eyes off the road even for a second? OK, then, from now on:

• No looking at our gauges.

• No passing that requires us to keep looking in the mirrors.

• No citizens band radio.

• No Global Positioning System devices.

• No radio.

• No CDs.

• No coffee drinking.

And what about all the signs along the way that we must read to be safe? All that takes our eyes off the road.

Looks like we all need to have an assistant so we can just drive with no distractions.

So, fine me and take my Commercial Driver License. “Welcome to our store. Can I get you a cart?” I’m just practicing — but on second thought, without truck drivers, there won’t be anything in the store to buy, so I guess I’ll just go on welfare.

Bill Ater

Owner

Ater Trucking Inc.

Arlington, Texas