Five BAD trucking companies

Myself I look forward to when the current company has them, though I bet the transition is going to be godawful. Right now stupid doesn't hurt enough for dispatch, shippers, and receivers. If the time wasted on my 14 every week by dispatch was removed I could probably make another 4-500 miles a week. Lots of bad customers as well that I think are going to have to clean up their act when the total truck and driver availability cost is on the screen in black and white.

As for the cost I have enough confidence in the market to believe a lot of somebodies are going to want this business and will have turnkey systems for a decent price when there are lots of new customers to fight over.

 

I disagree. Rates will not come up. Driver wages will come down because of lower productivity.

On an average LA turn I run out of hours coming back somewhere between 45 & 75 miles from my house. I'm not going to sleep in the truck along the freeway. I'm going to drive home for a hot shower, a healthy meal & my own bed and no rule, electronic device or unarmed human being is going to stop me from doing it.

 

hmmm ...i have been out here 20 yrs and hubby 27....i have never taken cross tops and never heard about gang showers.....and last time i checked it was "steering" not "stearing"....and most of the newbies like you are the ones that give us old school drivers a bad name due to not having enough exp. and causing accidents...granted not all do.......so before you start talking about talking about something you dont know about...(you admitted you have only been out here 5 years)...remember we will probably have forgotten more than you will ever know

 

I appreciate the insult Giggles(?) I'm guessing that's the chick name of your duo...thank you also for proofreading my post as well. As you re-read my post it wasn't directed nor addressed to YOU in any way. If you have the nerve to deny any of the points I brought up can be heard every freakin' day at your friendly Petro counter, well maybe you're in your own world.

I never had the opportunity to truck as a driver with a spouse as you have the benifit of. I have always worked alone. I know female team drivers that can't even bump a dock, they have to wake the hubby up to do it.

I'm not saying that's you, I'm just saying....assuming as you did with me.

And I PRAY that what you have forgotten isn't important enought to keep your vehicle from killing me in mine....

Arrogance in motion!

 

well first off...lindalou....yeah giggles is the chick name of our duo as you put it...and i was driving a truck when i met my husband ...you need to learn a little respect....you may be older than me...but i sure in hell didnt think i knew it all, like you do after only 5 yrs behind the wheel.

 

LMAO,everybody gets upset when you disagree with them,lol.

 

LOL,im never gonna disagree w/anybody anymore,it does no good.Heck everybodies right.

 

SB 3884

Here is the text.

 

Greetings Mr. Lewis. I read your 'TSA terrifies, Too' column in the Denver Post. I must agree wholly with you assessment of the TSA. Who was is that said that the TSA has implied consent to microwave (millimeter wave, actually) you in one of their machines, and if you don't agree, pat you down and grope you like a holiday turkey? Janet Napolitano, John Pistole, Janet Reno (remember the tank with the flame thrower that 'wasn't there' in WACO) all are government terrorists. Our ex-vice president is another, along with Mr. Bush. The facts are that the government is and has been over-arching and over-reaching in mis-use of their powers, not just since 911.

My answer is not to fly anymore. Don't worry, even if enough fliers do the same, the airlines won't go out of business. The government loves pork,that's why it's so fat. It will simply pour more money into the industry, just as it did with the auto industry. The airlines themselves will continue to treat their passengers poorly and charge for every peanut (oops, can't serve those anymore because some fool who is allergic will eat them and sue!) and pillow. The airlines and the government are alike. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Take back your power, vote with your wallet and don't fly. Call your congressional representatives and call your neighbors. Swamp them with the idea that they can and will be recalled if the government continues to toss aside Constitutional rights and protections.

Take a look at what the FMCSA is doing to Truckers rights. You know, the people who bring you EVERYTHING?! The last HOS (Hours of Service) rules change were implemented in 2005. The FMCSA has again changed the game with the implementation of CSA 2010. The new hours of service will be a huge game changer for Commercial Drivers. The FMCSA Part 395 rules state that a company, which has been ruled ' an entity' , must require Commercial drivers to keep and provide to any qualified DOT officer, their hours of work via either paper or electronic log. It is considered 'implied consent' that an officer of the law, can require you provide him/her proof via a logbook, of where you have been, and what you have done, including off duty and rest breaks, and 'on duty' time. If you don't you can be severely fined and lose your license. Again ,the law makes the 'entity' force you to give up your right to refute illegal search and seizure, as you are in public on a public road and the Supreme Court itself says that makes the search probable cause that does not preclude 'implied consent' to search.

I consider this ' touching my junk' and an incursion into my right to privacy. The average unregulated civilian driver, ie, You, does not have to take a drug screen, rigorous DOT physical, TSA/FBI/U.S. Postal service fingerprint/ background check. I have done all of those many times. and I have over 80 DOT drug screens and numerous background checks since the 1980's. I have never failed one! Yet you and grandma can take over the counter and or prescribed drugs at will, get on the road and go where you want, driving as many hours as you please. And maybe get into an accident with a professional truck driver, such as myself, and if you fill the space I was keeping in front of my rig for safe stopping distance,cutting me off, I get the fine, the points, and the lawsuit.

Now, the press is for Electronic Onboard Recorders, with cameras in the cab, forward and sides of the rig. Not to help the driver, but to record his EVERY move, and because these are linked to a GPS transponder, or company supplied cellphone , see www.xataturnpike.com/eobr for one example of many, you are absolutely transparent to everyone from the dispatcher to the FMCSA. Will this government and industry intrusion help the driver? The industry providing these ' safety tools' will be making a lot of money and has pressed the government ( read 'terrorists') to be able to force their hardware and software/spyware onto Commercial vehicles. There is no ' safety provision ' as yet, mandatory, for private citizen and private vehicle onboard monitoring.

Yet you must remember John Pistole's ( equates to Gun to your head, you will like groping or else) response to Congress. Congress mandated a long time ago that the Truck driver does not have fair labor rights, see Fair Labor Standards Act, as we do not have wage protections and do not have the right to claim over- time pay. The average long haul over the road truck driver, if he/she is on the road every day of every week, for weeks at a time, spends 168 hours, 7x24, a week, tied like a dog with a leash, to the truck/trailer and load. The logbook shows 'off duty, sleeper berth, driving, and ' on duty', not driving. Every move you make and what you haul via a Bill of Lading/ commodity statement. The industry move is to track every shipment via onboard electronics and the back office and infrastructure is in place or being forced into place to do so.

The fact that many of us as trucker's, needed only supply that much information has now been precluded by the above required , soon to come, mandatory EOBR's. We are now treated as part of the machine, nothing more. Not that we, as professionals, haven't always brought, you, the unregulated public, everything. The large, BFI's (bottom feeders, Inc.) trucking school companies are in league with the insurance and government agencies to train new drivers via the widely available 'government grants' that BFI companies use to entice and poorly train new drivers. Train a driver poorly, put him on the road, treat him like he's a dog in the dog house, try to keep him six or eight months so he can pay you to drive you truck while paying off his training school, and have 70 percent of new drivers quitting before their first year in the industry has arrived. See http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/, for an eye full regarding this situation. This way, government terrorists( includes the insurance industry) can justify the overt and covert intrusions and tell you to like it or lump it. It's now just a part of life.

We are being told by a machine ( Hal, again!) many times over that we as humans, cannot make rational decisions, when to sleep, what to eat, where and when we can go, and even who to associate with, when we are tired. That the system is broke and the government that broke it will save us.

A co-worker of mine saw a new 2017 tractor(yes 2017) prototype that has complete voice command of the onboard electronics. Where does that leave the driver? There are non-manned trucking systems that are being tested in the Mongolian desert, with only a driver/technician onboard in case of emergency. There is a government funded system that allows convoys of autos to follow an electronically selected tractor/trailer or truck/ bus on our U. S. highways. The truck electronics do the braking and movement selection, and when you get to your destination ramp, you ( I mean HAL) select to disconnect from the convoy. This is another large government intrusion that will be forced on you. Remember, driving is a privilege, not a right. Yes , a lot of money is to be made, telling you that you have no rights in our society.

See above comments, if you need a refresher! . By the way, I am a Professional Driver of 32 years, with no accidents, DUI's, or speeding tickets.

TWDY means technology will destroy you! And because we now have this wonderful technology, we are being told that we don't need rights any more. We have the TSA/Homeland Security/ NSA/FBI/ CIA /FMCSA and the insurance industry to protect us from ourselves. Don't get me started on mandated government health care!

You need only look out side the government/industry boxes, be it TSA/Airlines or DOT/FMCSA/insurance industry to see who is making the money and money equates to Power! Congress created The Patriot Act, TSA, etc. A bunch of lemmings following the leader, whoever that may be, to the cliff.

Happy Groping,

Wing