Warning all leased O/O

And I did write them as well as visited their local offices.

Anybody interested can copy and paste my letter below...

I am writing to you for your help in rejecting the "Invest in America Act" due to several key elements that are very damaging to the trucking industry. I am an independent owner operator based in ___, I am a single truck and trailer operation with a spotless safety record with over 25 years experience in the industry. The Invest in America Act can very well put myself and many of my other owner operator friends right out of business. The thought of raising our minimum insurance from $750,000 to $2 million is a nail in the coffin for many small independent trucking companies when the real problem should be stopping the nuclear verdicts awarded against trucking companies in jury cases. We truckers are just simply doing our job, transporting goods and providing services for the country, paying our bills at home, taking care of our family, and sending our kids to college. What good is a highway bill when it does more to support the unbridled greed of trial lawyers than truckers? The last thing a trucker or the country needs is for their expenses to rise, and that's what this bill will do. If my bottom line gets effected by the Invest In America Act I will be transferring those new costs into my rates, therefore increasing the cost of transportation along to the shipper, who in return will have to increase the price of their product onto the consumer. There are other pieces of this legislature that are also bad for the trucking industry, eliminating the lease operator business model and putting speed limiters on commercial vehicles is a terrible idea. With the increase of truck traffic on the roads these days and the impatient motoring public behind us this is a recipe for disaster. We already have this problem on our roadways with fleets that are speed governed trying to pass one another taking almost 2-3 miles to do so, backing up traffic for miles behind them. Violent acts of road rage are sure to happen as a result of commercial vehicles having their speed limited. The only good portion of the Invest in America Act I see is the creation of much more needed truck parking, hopefully with facilities. It's hard to believe that in this day and age this problem still exists, but with many states closing much needed rest areas it is much harder to find adequate parking. As for maintaining our bridges and roadways, I am 100% onboard with that, but I am sick and tired of having to worry about new ideas that take from my income when I am already paying enough into the system via fuel tax at the pump, IFTA, IRS 2290 Heavy Vehicle Tax, and income tax. I am asking you and Senator ___ to vehemently reject the Invest in America Act until the portions of it that will crush the independent trucker are removed. I also ask that you speak with your fellow members of Congress to also reject the Invest in America Act until it is refined, as it will have damaging effects on so many small businesses and trickle down effects to so many consumers.

Politics is about improving the lives of people, not destroying the hard work and dedication they have put into their lives.

Thank you, I look forward to your response.

 

I hate to inform you, senators and congress nor House of Representatives, could care less about you.
You’re a truck driver, and they have no use for you, unless it’s a state of emergency, then they ignore safety laws, and drivers are stupid enough to run 20 hours a day to “make the money while you can.”

they will vote like they always do, down party line row, not in the interest of the people.
Somehow, it’s now you work for the government, not the government works for the people, if you rock the boat or make waves, you’ll go to jail as a traitor to your country, and they’ll prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, which they wrote.
Victors right the books.

 

So what will companies like Landstar and Mercer do??

 

In the short run this will kill us. If you can hang in there it may actually help in the long run. This will jack their rates up so fast that they will have to lobby to be able to hire contractors again. Look at YRC and UPS freight. Ups freight had to sell at a loss because they became unionized after the original purchace. YRC was close to filing chapter 11 until we bailed them out over 1 billion dollars

 

Thats not good..... I cant imagine the competition, I also cant imagine there not being a Landstar or Mercer around.....maybe they(those companies) rework the contract somehow...idk. Its weird to think about

 

Is this what the ATA wanted?