Ports urge trucking firms to hire full-time drivers
1/13/08
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How would the companies owning the trucks make them any better maintained? i doubt the port is going to pay them more.

The ports believe the companies would be running newer trucks. If you look at the company trucks, most are newer than the owner operators. Their emissions desire is for newer trucks.

Their theory is that the companies will all buy nice shiny new trucks and then put the former independent drivers in them. As a result, the older trucks that the owner operators drive will go away.

One of the problems that has contributed to this is the weather. Without the weather that we face elsewhere in the country, and the road salts and other materials that shorten the life of a vehicle, it is possible for much older trucks to operate out west than do here in the midwest. So the older trucks, with earlier engines, run around and emit their pollutants. Unless they force the companies to purchase late model trucks, the independent drivers have no incentive to do so.

What the companies are leaving unstated is that they do not want to have the drivers as employees, where the company will have to carry the health care benefits required. They want to shift that cost to the independents, along with waiting costs and all the other things that make working to ports such a miserable job.

The Port Authorities haven't yet realized that in the process of meeting the emissions goals, they are going to have to set up a completely new economic system to support the changes. When that finally dawns on them, the fur will start flying and fill the air.

Burky please check your pm. I have left several messages
in regard to the situation.
Thanks,
Toby

Speaking of ports why do they stop you and check your ID and truck going into the port in New Orleans, but wave you through coming out? Seems like if you was going to smuggle something it would be coming out, not going in.

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

From what I understand tarps, the N.O. Port Police are instructed to check info and contents on the way in, because of bombs, etc, that might disable the port or set off God knows what. They have a system set up on the inside for dealing with freight comming into the port from sea vessels and monitoring the freight being loaded and before it goes out. That's what I was told by a buddy in the Port Police. They also have spot inspections on closed containers, going out. They made us go through and get inspected at the frieght port when we showed up at the port for the Cruise Ships downtown. A Port Police guy rode with us and another followed us to the cruise ship terminal after inspection of our cargo areas and interior. I went to the academy with the guy who rode with us and he was telling me about it. That was over a year ago so I guess the same thing goes now. But they waved us and some trucks through as we were leaving inspection.

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That makes sense. I never thought that they would have a very good security system coming via ship. Would take forever to search cargo.

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!