Chief Administrator of the FMCSA, Anne Ferro, recently spent two days riding along with Leo Wilkens, a veteran Owner Operator and award winner for 21 years of safe, accident-free driving. Ferro drove with him between Maryland and St. Louis and according to her, learned a lot.
According to an article written in Overdrive, Ferro was able to gain some new insight on how the hours of service changes actually impacts drivers. When time came to stop for the night, Wilkens slept in a hotel and Ferro bunked up in Wilkens’ sleeper.
Said Ferro, “[Wilkins’ bunk] is a lovely sleeping cabin. I looked at that and thought about what it would be like to be in a normal sleeper berth, and how difficult it is to change your clothes, how difficult it is to get fresh water, how you have to get up in the middle of the night or in the middle of your rest period to go to the bathroom at the truck stop if you don’t have something like this accommodation.”
Wilkens had positive things to say about Ferro saying that he wanted to thank her for coming out to actually see what the job is like. While Wilkens’ setup may be a little higher-end than what might be average for truckers, he claims that Ferro has learned a lot about the job.
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A minimum of five years of verifiable over the road experience should be the minimum requirement for any member of any rule making authority…
It’s nice to know that the higher ups are taking the time to become more familiar with what drivers actually go through.
Amen to that
It was great that she took the time to take this trip. What I would realy like to see is she take a trip with a refrigerated out fit and deal with some of the grocery warehouses like C&S and see how theese grocery warehouses do nothing to work with the drivers when it comes to hours of service. Cant count how many times I have sit on their lots 8 hours while getting unloaded and had to start my 10 hour break over again because we were forced to leave their facility once we got unloaded . So now not only am I in violation but once i get to a safe haven area I have to start my 10 hour break all over again , When is the government going force shippers and receivers to start playing fair .
I will be impressed after she spends a week OTR, in a regular condo unit, not a Winnebago.
I agree a few nights in a condo hardly compares. And how about a Dallas to Newark run that should cover some of the fun. Oh let’s add riding with a company driver maybe 6 months out of school.
Agreed. Chicago during afternoon rush hour to an angry customer deliv in the bronx 24 hrs later. Or send her to Laredo or Cali to sit for a few days waiting on freight and not being paid. Give her a week without a shower. Then have the company fire her for the truck being “too dirty” or for being out of route or looking at the EOBR camera wrong. Maybe then she’ll see what we deal with. (make her work 2 weeks and see how her 30-minute breaks and a 34 hr reset REALLY play out. She’d probably quit her FMCSA job.)
I agree with everything except maybe a fresh driver out of the driver mills who got hired on by CRST or CR Englund and could relay that experience. But riding for what probably was a day and a half in a freaking done up condo unit is pretty bullshit. Again more than any other Admin before. A quarter victory, unless the actual driver had the balls to really explain what is happening to the industry.
me too, not all of us have the uptown stuff!!! OR if she had to deal with an DOT officer and the officer doesn’t know who she is!!!!! Better yet one of these small town cops.
This was not the normal sleeper it was a huge one. Two days doesn’t not show anyone how a truckers life is. Try a month. This is like taking your kids along. For about 3 days it’s fun but after a week they’re bored. I’m glad she did try but my question is why haven’t they done this long ago. How can they make regulations on something they don’t know anything about. It would be like me writing regulations for what a neurosurgeon is allowed and is forced to do.
The story lacks details, what kind of truck, what type sleeper, did she experience the joy of trying to sleep while a reefer unit was running at full speed?
I firmly believe that the people in charge of governing our industry should have went through a CDL school and have real world experience (more than 2 days, but it’s a start) riding along to go along with pushing numbers. I could go on and on but I’ll leave it at that
It’s about damm time someone from the Gov’t, that helps to make the rules, got “out there” to see what it’s like and how the rules affect those that have to a ide by ’em!! She needs more than a couple days to really feel the affects that drivers deal with everyday!! From the 4-wheelers to the DOT!! Let her bear witness then make the rules!!
They should have put her in a random truck for a week with CRE, CRST, Swift, or any of the other carriers that run CDL mills. She would probably consider pushing minimum training standards/requirements before their “drivers” get to train another potential driver. That, at the very least would do all of us a favour. I think she would have had a blast.
That’s a start, I guess.
My dispatcher was asking me to do something impossible HOS-wise. The argument escalated to where the FM had to join in. In desperation, I pleaded, “So, what did YOU do when you were in this situation of being asked to do something impossible?” What was the fleet manager’s answer? “I have never set foot inside a truck in my life.”
There you have it. I took the load, and was late. Fortunately, I had requested, and received, QC verification that I was taking the load under protest, so it wasn’t on me.
My mind boggles at an industry where immediate supervisors, and their higher-ups, have never done the job they are supervising over. Oh well.
I’m sure that run was somewhat candy coated, just to give the Feds a general idea of traffic and living conditions, but in my mind as a 25 yr vet it doesn’t even scratch the surfice ! I’m sure she was heavily Gaurded when she was in his bunk all night , try sleeping in the bronks at night just make a del at 4am and then find a place to sit and wait till your dispatcher finds a load for you. Or any major city for that matter. FMCSA HAS TO LIVE IT TO KNOW IT !!! And that will NEVER happen,we as trucker have been screwed for years and we always will be, BIG GOV and BIG MONEY have us by the nuts. Truckers get absolutely NO RESPECT unlike law enforcement fire fighters and our military personal even farmers. We are all just spokes in a great big wheel but we are still treated and payed like 3rd rate citizens ….
Amen Brother
They need to put her in a typical Swift trainer truck. Put her in with a typical cigarette smoking, farting and once a week shower taking trainer with a loud C-Pap machine. Let her eat pilot food. Make sure that she rides for a couple of weeks and then see’s her paycheck.
Rob. I have in my possession, a picture of one of the a fore mentioned trucks, after it was pulled back from certain death, at the Georgetown Loop Railroad in Colorado, Just above the tour mine entrance. Hangin’ over the cliff, 15 feet back of where it stopped, after taking out two concrete barriers, guard rail and rock stop fence. First wrecker could only pull it back 15 feet, had to have two full size wreckers to get it back to pavement……. sent the pix to Swift….no reply.
It was extremely icy.
She should have been in that jump seat.
Here is an even better one how about a load from the deep south say Union Springs, Alabama to the old Meat Packing District in Chicago there are still a couple of players that haven’t gotten pushed out yet but once they are forced to move it will be better like they did for the produce market … so thankful that’s been moved but haven’t been there yet just told its locked nice and tight.
Or maybe a run on 94 during a blizzard or just a run through Iowa the night of a winter storm or the morning after when the Iowa plows still are not our on I80, everyone should remember those nice storms last winter.
They should spend at least three months in a typical company truck OTR with a company driver. That will open their eyes.
YES ,SHE WENT ON A JOY RIDE. 2 DAYS IS HARDLY ENOUGH I LISTEN TO THE GUY THAT TOOK HER, ON ROAD DOG. THE LONGEST SHE SAT AT A DOCK WAS TWO AND HALF HRS WHICH WE ALL KNOW HE GOT LUCKY. SHE SHOULD OF BEEN 15 MINUTES FROM HOME AND RUN OUT OF HRS AFTER SPENDING 2 TO 3 WKS ON THE RD AND THE OWNER OPERATOR DIDNT HAVE AN EOB IN HIS TRUCK. IM PRETTY SURE. SO WE ALL KNOW WONT NOTHING BE DONE FOR THE GOOD. BUT PROBABLY THINKING OF WAYS TO PUT MORE REGS ON US NOW.
better yet!!! Wyoming climbing elk in a blizzard with 60 mph winds throwing iron and watching a beginner or fedx ground put it in the middle making it impossible to pass. then you are late for your appt. by one day due to the snow and accidents, so now you have to run over hours to make your appt. then you sit at the receiver for 10 hours fighting with the receiver and lumper. your next appt you bounce 200 miles to pick up going right over the top of elk into lets say umm boise. nothing but snow an ice. she had it easy like being on the beach in mexico….
She should have at least stayed out for three weeks and had a lot of the different runs to do, NJ, NY, VA, TX, GA with all the traffic and a lot of places with nowhere to park, old cities to get around in and all the potholes and rough roads that shake drivers to death. The worry of where do I park if the shipper/receiver won’t let me stay when I’m almost out of hours to move, etc.
I hope she got a good look at all the 4-wheelers and what they do too. And last but not least, why not have her go in a neutered truck that so many companies want to risk their drivers lives in; the ones which will not go up a hill at much more than 35 mph, have no pickup speed for merging, etc. This would have been fun I think for a new person to trucking to experience.
right on
You go girl!! I understand completely, being a sister in the field also!!!
So you mean to tell me this woman ran the Maryland Motor Truck Association from 2003-2009 as well as being the Motor Vehicle Administrator for the state of Maryland from 1997-2003 and she is just now enlightening herself as to the trials and tribulations you guys have to deal with day in and day out? She knows damn good and well what you all have to deal with and knows exactly how the HOS changed have affected you. I sat through about two hours of the listening session at MATS back in 2010 and the one common denominator during the entire time was that you guys asked for some flexibility in determining your break and sleeping times….. Suffice to say I was not impressed with her comments and walked out feeling as if she was only doing these as a “check in the block”. What got to me most was the passion that those that stood up and made comments felt in their requests…from one truck O/O’s….to fleet owners…company hands….all passionate and professional comments…..and she and her “panel” sat up on that stage and made comments to appease…looking like lemmings if you ask me.
I applaud all of you for what you do. I’m the 4-wheeler that is giving you your needed space on the highway….slowing up to let you merge….and letting you out into traffic when other’s won’t. I also the guy that’s at the truck stop saying thanks….shaking your hand…and buying that cup of coffee for you. So thank you very much for your service to our great Nation. 🙂
Won’t matter this is 2013. and a like TV reality stunt.. …Today your hired to do these useless government desk squatter jobs on what you don’t know…So when this woman was hired did they ask her if she knew any area of transportation ? Guess not.. Today what does actual transportation have to do with being Head of FMCSA ..She was probably was asked…Do you believe in climate change….Oh yes.. Do you believe in big government and that government should write rules, regulations, laws, issue taxes fees and fines ..In order to control the dumb citizen….Oh yes most defiantly …And lastly do you prescribe to the Progressive ideology of Barrack Obama. Of ever growing Big Government, Big Brother….Oh yes I get chills just thinking about him….Ok then good your hired….
I notice she didn’t say exactly what she learned
Other than bathroom habits . I’d have been more
Impressed if she’d found how stupid the 30 min break is!
right on.
oh yes let’s help the tired drivers by making their day 30 minutes longer.
the person in these positions should have already spent time in a truck. but i guess having trucking experience was too much to ask.
so, why is this person in charge of anything? they haven’t driven a truck? so they are like the people at work who are telling us what to do.
they have not driven a truck before either. so they do not understand a god damn thing about what we do, or the problems we face.
oh boy she spent two days in a truck, I am so impressed.
let’s get real people in these positions, people who have walked a mile in our shoes.
so sick of seeing under qualified people in these jobs.
people making more money than us, knowing less than us, and then telling us what to do.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Well you just summed up the reason the industry has sunk to the level it has today….But don’t worry….Some genus is going to fix it with a electronic recording device….
Yeah whatever. Nice PR move. Our government serves big business not working people. If you really think they care about us drivers then you are naive or ignorant. If we all stuck together (never gonna happen) then things could truly be different and/or better. In the mean time, you can eat up this fake display of caring.
Good on her for doing this !
com’on guys, when is it enough for you? when had you heard of a white collar worker doing this? specially the head of such an office that controls our does.. she went on the ride, she understands there were special accomodations for her and she has learned a lot, “NOT ALL OF IT”
Props to her new charge and I look forward to positive input in our industry from such a fine lady!
thank you for giving us the time Anne Ferro.
Wow, 2 whole days? Get back to me when she is out for a month and her dispatcher is giving her the run around. And put her in a cramped company truck, that doesn’t have the power to pull a hill, or pass a slow moving vehicle.
Riding in the passenger seat, is nothing like doing the actual driving. And do it when the D.O.T. is doing one of their 72 hour crackdowns, so she can actually see how arrogant and ignorant these officers actually are. I’m sure every scale house in the country knew what truck she was in, and what area she was in, and the green light was given at every scale.
Her intent to see what trucking is really like is a nice gesture, but her “visit” to our world was a mockery.
Run her through Baton Rouge at rush hour on a Friday going east, so she can see how our hours are eaten by a 15 mile backup. Keep her out there so she has to wash cloths at a truck stop. Have her hunt for a place to park at 3:00 in the morning. Let her lump some canned goods, for 3 or4 hours and then go load up and be 500 miles down the road by 7:00 am tomorrow.
Sorry Anne, but your “visit” doesn’t impress me at all. You have seen nothing by taking a cushy 48 hour ride.
I wish she could have ridden for me for the three weeks that I was in the mountains of Colorado, with a broken fifth wheel, blown fan clutch, windshield leaking on the inside into the breaker box, broken air suspension, repaired in the yard after a temp repair by a good mechanic to get it home, the repair in the yard was end game duct tape,(I went to Kenworth, got the parts,fixed it and was rolling in fifteen minutes) bald tires and broken chains (given to me by the mechanic), the safety manger putting new tires on the trade in tractors, and when I asked for the new snow tires off of one of the dead-lined trade ins, was told no, the dealer bottom line was more important, then dispatch took me off a load to fix the windshield, glass repair tech said don’t drive the truck for at least three hours, to set the glass correctly, then I asked for loaner to do the run, batteries on that tractor were dead, mechanic charged batteries and then gave it to another driver for Nebraska deadhead drop, that driver showed me the bald drive tires they send him to California with, then another driver did the same, the batteries died on the tractor again after he shut it off, the dispatcher for the client called and asked why I was late for the load which was taken away from me, and that ended it for me. Was livid, to say the least, and while other drivers watched, owner of company came out(never been a driver), got in my face and personal space twice while I was unloading my personal belongings, trying to tell me I can’t quit this nightmare of a company, then said if I didn’t listen to him, he would not pay me my last paycheck. Then started preaching his Christian faith to me in the cab while I was unloading my personal belongings. I took pictures, tires and all, and he tried to lock me out of the tractor while still unloading, by taking the keys, but I didn’t let that happen. I put the keys in an envelope in maintenance mail slot, the safety vest and company hat and paperwork in the accounting mail slot and went home.
This companyy has provided rigs/drivers for the State patrol for driver road rage incident training,
yet has a ‘run poor safety culture/ environment’.
I must admit that there was a deer strike the 2nd day I was there, not a lot of damage considering and called the state patrol, 1:45 a.m. and he was annoyed he was called out for a deer strike. The deer’s rear left quarter was destroyed and it was trying to get back acroos the road, I kept it off the highway till the trooper showed up, wrote the report and said i hoped to meet the trooper under better circumstances, and he told me that the next time would not be a positive experience. I said thank you and left. The day before, 1 st trip, the stocking crew backs you into a dark blind side back, I got out three times, din’t think I hit anything, but the stocking crew had put the door down 3 inches below the upper stop, after i had pointed out this trailer is 13’6″ tall, they said ok.
Didn’t stop me when came close or hit the over head door. I had video so I wasn’t charged with the damage,the whole dock was beat up, including inside guard rails from a lot of previous strikes.
I told the owner that his dispatcher on the account I was on wasn’t a driver, ever, can’t dispatch as he doesn’t know HOS rules or logging, safety manager has never driven(has lots of wall paper though), and wants to be the head of some Colorado safety alliance(see tires above) and the owner has gone bankrupt a couple of years ago, and was never a driver. He said he would make them ride with drivers, but he wouldn’t, so i said the king needs to see his country…..wne t over his head like the bird of paradise.
They didn’t pay me my last paycheck….,
I have sent a three page letter to the head of the Colorado State Patrol, detailing my experience, and that logging program is deficient for a company that is friends with the Colorado State Patrol.
So far, no reply from the State Patrol. Nor Channel Seven News investigators…….
No, I’m not a perfect driver, and after no accidents, dui’s, speeding tickets in 35 years, it was my time in the barrel. I reported for the sake of the other drivers with bald tires, another with a leaking windshield,etc, along with the myriad electrical and mechanical problems on the tractor I was driving, everything being reported to the company and some over the yellow DVIR’s not getting back to me. The one for the windshield/electrical problem was marked ‘repaired by Glass
company, yet not signed by a mechanic, maintenance head of company. That’s when the maintenance head came out to the yard and red tagged the tractor, gave me the one with dead batteries, I spent 2 1/2 hours waiting for the repair, got my hat handed to me by the client after the dispatcher lied about me being on the load……..
So… Anne Ferro, would you like to ride with me?
Well..she might not have had it so bad..but..give her some respect! She at least had the nerve
to get out and take a look for herself. Hell..in my opinion she has bigger balls and a lot more backbone than the man who appointed her.
She’s never driven a truck. She’s given the elite treatment with a very nice sleeper and a couple of days on the road. Another 1 per center, who although she admits that she hasn’t seen it all, is still treated liked she ‘s entitled. The true backbone would have been to tell the answering service, if one is available, to hold all calls, that is what email and face plant and twitter-pated are for…… .
Unless you are a driver or have been, you see only one part of the picture… she received a political appointment….. doesn’t have the experience….. go out and run with a woman driver….nothing sexist about it. A two to four or five week period… like in the tractor I was driving, with water running down the inside of the windshield, in to the fuse/breaker box, a broken fifth wheel, no heater lights in the sleeper, bald tires, and sling some chains on two inches of snow……no…..just treat her like the political appointment princess that she is.
A pure political stunt!
You can’t learn the impact of new CSA regs in 2 days Anne. What about all the delays at shippers and customers.traffic.weather etc. You learned about 2% of trucking. And yet you and others like you still dictate to us how to best do our job. Here’s a story for you. I went to the beach last year and my little niece came along also. There was a pool table in the basement and she really wanted to play. Surprisingly I said ” I didn’t realize you played pool”and she responded by saying “ugh…yeeaahh..I play on the computer all the time and I’m good at it”. Anne you are my niece. Things are much different in the real world.
Chief Administrator of the FMCSA, Anne Ferro, recently spent two days riding , OK and……. did She care about trucker, did she feel what we hade in the road ,did she did anything about thos big losers company who use us, with no home time no insurance ,all the delays at shippers and Customers….traffic.with no pay ,what about DAC Report the truck company the can put whatever the wan , a driver he can report to got that all no one eles ,lol or just she did ride have some fun that all. as truckers we dont have No respect for they trucking law or even from our company, but We cant say nothing this is USA, pay The tax and suck ppl blood the way you want no problem ,Welcome to usa, Sam need you ,
UNBELIEVABLE……………….. She has made the changes to the HOS for the last couple of years and she finally gets in a Truck??? And with an O/O that probably has as she puts it a “High End” truck??… Geeeez.. Did she have the press there in the cab too?? My name is Kurt Wien. I was Trainer Manager over 350+ OTR Trainers for Central Refrigrated Services of SLC,UT. At 1700+ trucks.. At Anytime we had 200+ trainees in our system. When I took over as Trainer Mgr… We had Major and Minor accidents all the time.. Because like her.. They had people who “THOUGHT” they knew training because they trained at Walmart.The Army etcc etcc… And they couldn’t see the problem.. ACCOUNTABILITY!!!.. You have to have the right person for the job… This isn’t the drivers total problem and it can’t be solved by hurting/hindering the other drivers.. From day one…. I made the Trainers RESPONSIBLE for there trainees for 6 months while at our company.. If that new driver had an accident.. Their Trainer was the first to call them and with us in Training/Safety we fixed the problem… Saved us Millions$$ and INJURIES!!!.. Fast forward… It’s the Federal and States fault for allowing these poorly run CHEAP!!! Truck schools with Dualy trucks and a Fifth wheel trailer to get them through with minium requirements and NO professional Training on skills at fault.. They should be all over these schools.. Here is the challenge Anne Ferro.. Just like you…. IT STARTS WITH EDUCATION…. NOT PENALTY… Don’t penalize the rest of these hardworking Women and Men who drive truck for their “LIVES”… Look in the mirror… ” IT STARTS WITH YOU”!!! Kurt M. Wien
Oh Yeah,
Maybe you should start sorting out what schools they went too???? Anytime they get a CDL they need to come back in to to the State. For a 6 month class on Safety and have DOT officers there to go over there records.. Find out what they have learned. Every Truck school in that area needs to represented there.. Start rating the TRUCK SCHOOLS on how trainees/drivers come out and have accidents… Put bad schools on probataion… Need to go all day on this????? To all the DRIVERS…. Be safe today….. KW