Letters to the Editor

I differ from the “Reregulation, Please” letter writer’s view that small carriers are offering transport service prices that are too cheap. Yes, there are some shoestring trucking operations hauling for very low freight rates, but there also are large carriers doing the same.

In reference to the story, “Safeway Fleet Set to Fill Tires With Nitrogen,” which appeared July 6 on p. 8, I have been using nitrogen in my fleet since 2005. We have noticed that the tires stay at a constant pressure, and we have been able to get well over 250,000 miles out of our drive tires and 150,000 miles out of our steer tires.

Any trucking company that takes the leadership position in safety and in clean air is to be commended. But doing so through high-tech safety and Environmental Protection Agency ventures makes the outcome risky.

In normal financial times, banks usually turn down 95% of all loan requests. During today’s difficult times, banks are just not making loans — especially to new clients. So, what should you do: Give up, or go the route that can keep your business prospering and even growing?

Now that the federal government is taking over big businesses, it is time to reregulate trucking industry rating structures. We need price stabilization of rates so we can purchase equipment and train our personnel properly.

There are some good safety points that should be considered, including a “graduated” commercial driver license, but it makes no sense for new CDL drivers to be transporting hazardous materials, oversize loads or double and triple trailers until they have accumulated 100,000 or more accident-free miles driving a commercial vehicle.

I know we’re in a national recession, money and credit are very tight and the banks are hogging all the money and have put wicked restrictions on everyone’s cash flow. But despite these money problems, third-party people seem to expect the trucks they hire to run for nearly free — especially when it comes to hauling overdimensional freight.

Since 1978, when I started operations, I have watched the trucking industry continually tear itself down. There will always be another fool with enough money to buy a cheap truck, charge below-profit rates and go out of business, while the next fool is in line to take his or her place.

Where would the trucking industry be without technology? Consider for a moment the vast array of technology available to carriers and the benefit each provides.

I enjoyed the opinion piece titled “To the Swiftest Go the Spoilers” by Phil Romba in the May-June Equipment & Maintenance Update supplement to the May 18 issue of Transport Topics.