Rules , regulations

What will you do if they mandate it for your company?

 

This is the biggest problem with this industy people like you who think all these regs are good for us and for safty its all BS i've bin at this game since 89 and i dont need some ahole in washington to tell me how to run my operation am i illegal no i have all my ducks in a row but there have bin plenty of times i've bin written by a dot cop for nonsence so tell me how this will make us safer and get rid of the bad guys it wont. IT's not about breaking laws it 's about saying enough is enough all ready something to many want do.

 

The problem with this statement is you guys let them hold you up and make it so you have to run illegal if every company stoped letting shippers and recievers use your trucks like warshouses you would'nt have to run over hours to get to your next stop and as far as this getting rid of 2 to 250000 drivers it might most likely guys with years of exsperiance only to be replaced by rookies with none and rates will not change because of this because most of the big guys are the ones cutting the rates to get the loads.

 

The regulations are put in place by folks who have never seen the inside of a truck, who are over-reacting to some event blown out of proportion by a news media, which chases ratings by strictly adhering to the "if it bleeds, it leads" policy, in order to work the ignorant public into a frenzy against those dirty truck drivers because ALL they see are the fat slobs who waddle into the travel centers emitting a noxious odor that lingers long after they leave, filling the CB airwaves with immature and foul banter. The ignorant masses then beg their elected crooks and liars to do something to solve the non-existent problem they think they see, and wanting to ensure their re-election, the crooks and liars comply by arbitrarily dictating new rules and regulations without ever pausing to consider the effect it has on an industry vital to the nations economic survival.

If the government REALLY was concerned with safety on the nations highways, the "distracted driver" regulations would be enforced on ALL motorists, not just on CMV operators. HOS regs would be enforced not only upon truck drivers but on ALL "safety-sensitive" jobs....heck, even on all motorists! You can't tell me that driving 11.25 hours in a 14.25 work day to make it home (instead of having to buy a motel room 10 miles from the house) is any more dangerous than a doctor performing a 15+ hour surgery...but HE still gets to drive home at the end of HIS long shift. I'd be in a world of hurt if some drunk ran up under my trailer as I slowed to turn into my driveway. Cops would randomly pull over ALL vehicles for safety inspections, not JUST CMV's.

Nearly 80% of the fatal car vs. truck fatalities are caused by the car driver's screw-up. That was the AAA that came out with that little study a few years ago, but it has been widely ignored. If SAFETY was their goal, you'd think they'd have enough sense to focus their attention on more than 20% of the problem.

The problem is, how often are you driving in your home state? How often are you driving in your home district? Your own elected crooks and liars don't give a rats rear end about you, because they don't perceive you as being a large enough voting block to affect the outcome of their next election. How many of us are even registered to vote? How many actually take the time to cast a ballot? Do you phone your elected crooks and liars to make your voice heard? Not enough of us do...and our voices are being drowned out by the 80% causing the problems.

As long as truck drivers are perceived to act like children, we will be treated like children. Turn on your CB near any truck stop and you'll hear what I mean...nothing but overgrown kids being stupid on the radio for the world to hear.

If you want to be TREATED like a professional, you have to ACT like a professional.

 

If you do write or phone your elected officials I hope you speak or write better than most do here. If you talk to them like you talk in a truckstop or you write like most do on this forum you will be ignored.
I'm an owner operator and I ignore most of the posts I see here. If you can't find the shift key or figure out how to use spellcheck why should anyone waste their time trying to figure out what you are saying?
If you speak like a third grade dropout you will probably be treated as such.
I've seen threads started with "good mourning" a lot lately. I've never known someone that was mourning to think it was good. Perhaps I'm missing the joke but I don't get it.
I see a lot of "professional drivers" posting here that can't use the shift key. Do you bother to use your turn signal when you make lane changes? A lot of "professionals" don't.

As Ramblin Redneck said," If you want to be TREATED like a professional, you have to ACT like a professional."

If you want to be treated like an "outlaw" keep acting like one. They'll keep passing more and more laws to try to stop you. One day they might succeed. Until then they will just keep making it harder and harder for those of us that do try to be professional.

 

The biggest problem I can see is people like you trying to cast myself and others as wanting more regulations. Point me to ANY statement by me wanting more regs. I have posted many times I don't like more regs any more than the next. CSA2010 is a attempt to enforce laws already in place and hold drivers and carriers feet to the fire if they can't or won't follow the law. The problem with that is what? Some feel they are above the law? Some feel they are above any law that don't suit them?

 

I have no problems with anything you have said...in fact, I agree with most of it. However, I also understand how it came to be this way. The industry hasn't been very good at policing our own to maintain any standard of quality in the people we associate with or the services we provide our customers. They say it takes several positive experiences to counteract the effects of only one negative one. Unfortunately, those who bring a negative light on our industry get their bad deeds put on the front page of every newspaper and as the top story on the evening news....while the good deeds go unnoticed.

Until those in the industry quit hiring people who have no business being in a truck....and people in trucks start acting like professionals whenever they are out in the public's eye, I'm afraid it will only get worse. We need to improve our public image before there is any hope of any improvement.



All you can do is to do is live your own life in a manner which allows you to sleep peacefully at night with a clear conscience. I try to follow the regulations as closely as practical...but I know how to get things done, too. The cost of non-compliance is high, and I am not yet in a position where I can afford to pay that "cost of doing business".