Owner operator outlaws

I hear guys saying things like this and I used to see guys that looked like zombies in truckstops from time to time in the early days of my career...But they were the exception and not the norm as far as I know.
I never ran till I couldn't remeber the last 50 miles or had a problem sleeping from the drugs...Because I didn't take the drugs.

That was a bad way to run back then and it would still be a bad way to run today. I'm glad I always had sense enough to not do that!

Deregulation had NOTHING to do with log books, hours of service or any of the things that you're concerned with these days. It was about operating authority, freight lanes, freight rates and that sort of thing.
Back in the day an O/O couldn't just go out and buy his authority and a ####### freightliner and go to work...You had to prove a need for the operation and then go through all of the hoops and expense required to get the authority to run that lane.
It was very expensive and complicated and it was virtually impossible to get operating authority without buying out a carrier that already had authority to operate that lane.

The rates were set and you couldn't go and cut a rate to get an account...It just didn't work that way.

Deregulation changed all of that...Now it's much easier to get the authority to operate as a total independent but because there are so many people doing that that don't have enough sense to charge a realistic rate for the service they provide....It has crushed rates to the point where it's hard to get someone to pay a decent rate for your services.

Used to be that the best way for an O/O to run his business was to lease on to a carrier like Mercer or some other carrier and let them deal with the "paperwork" and let you concentrate on trucking.

For many that's still the smartest option because they are not interested in or capable of "running the whole business".

These things and the whole EOBR/HOS debate are unrelated issues and are very often confused by people that were not in this industry before deregulation.

 

At this point, increasing driver pay to a level where trucking is a viable financial alternative to other trades will have a significantly greater positive impact on safety than endless tweaking of the HOS and associated regulations.

 

The HOS needs to be abolished. It's rediculous to put every person in the same catagory. Every persons work habits and bodily functions (talking about brain functions, how soon they get tired, how long they sleep) are all different. Most people are different on a daily basis.. depending on how well they slept, how hard they worked the day before. etc etc etc..

But placing us all on the same schedule, isn't realistic..

Since i've been leased to a company that monitors qual coms, I have found that I run more when Im tired and I make less money. Sure I get more rest & sleep.. But too many times I've had to take an OTC to help fall asleep. And I wake up hours before my driving time can start.. So therefore, anytime sitting, is less time making money.

Without HOS, we could all drive when we were awake, reguardless of how long we'd been asleep... Ever went to sleep and then woke up a couple of hours later and couldn't go back to sleep? If your closely monitored for HOS, all that time sitting and can't rest, sure makes for a long day when your driving clock starts again.

 

As I stated before, i am just a young gun. I as born in 1980...when deregulation happened. I have been driving since I was 14, as I started by running hopper-bottom for the local farmer who owns the CO-OP and it got into my blood. As soon as I turned 18 I ran Intra-state in IL/Chicago hauling Bio-Haz waste, then at 23 I bought my 1st truck and have been going at it since.

That being said, I love the old stories, as my grandfather started driving after WW2 and my dad after Vitenam and I grew up riding in the rig with them. I just think I was born in the worng era. I am trying to keep the 'older" style of driving going. Such as i wear jeans, boots and a nice iron'd shirt...not shorts, flip-flops and a tank top. I shower daily and don't swear everytime I open my mouth. I hate most the breed of truckers out here now as I see them all day long and it disgusts me.

 

to do this, the first thing we need to do is get rid of NAFTA, with that being done, we can self-sustain ourselves as a country and then things might be great again. Plus you know that the Canadian drivers (not saying all, but most) will drive for days on end w/o sleep.....and w/o changing their turbin's LOL

 

You wasn't born in the wrong era.. Too many stupid people got elected into office and decided to use statistics to create laws that were designed to collect revenue and make it seem as if they (the gooberment) was protecting us.

Sort of like the railroad uses advertisements to show how many trucks they can take off the road and free up congested areas...Of course we all know, that if you took the freight off the rails, the congestion in area's wouldn't be that much more congested, because the trucks carrying the freight wouldn't be arriving in the congested areas at the same time..

A close friend of mine, who's a 35 year driver was completely spot on when he said the reason why we have so many regulations and taxes now, is because they didn't stop it when it started... And the main reason they didn't stop it then, was because too many driver bought the propaganda that was being sold...

As in the CDL. Many drivers thought it would get the bad drivers off the road which would lead to less competition...

You can hear the same thing going on now.. Many drivers, usually driving school grads, say that the HOS makes the roads safer. They actually think the CSA 2010 is going to get the bad trucks and drivers off the roads..

All in all, all it's going to do is put more money in the DOT's pocket.

Ever had to undo your seat belt so you could reach something that slid to the passenger side of the dash board? Bam, you got a seat belt ticket and CSA points.
Blew a tire going down the road? Bam!! You got a faulty equipment ticket and CSA points..
Blew a light when you turned them om in the evening? BAM!! You get faulty equipment ticket & CSA points..

How many people does it take to do a REAL pre trip inspection? It takes two.. One to check your brake lights when someone presses the brakes..
Check the stroke on the slack adjuster? Two...

The DOT understands this.. And loves giving brake adjustment and brake like tickets.. Cause they know, you can't really check those things by yourself.. But none the less, you'll still get a ticket and CSA points. And it will give them more ammo to create even more laws and regulations against drivers... Cause everyone knows, if you have a flat, a bad brake light, your brakes are out of adjustment or anything else, then you must not be a good safe driver....

According to statistics, that is.
Ever blew a tire

 

I've never had any of these things get me a ticket....

One...

So....You don't know how to check the stroke on a slack adjuster by yourself? Really?
Do you have a trolly bar? Because if you do...The brakelight test is a simple one man operation as well. If you don't have a trolly bar...It's a little more difficult but not to much more.

Sorry dude but you're flat out WRONG on this point...Any driver can check every item on a pretrip alone...They usually don't because they are too lazy to do it, But they could if they chose to.

While I agree that there is far too much government regulation of this kind of stuff I think that we as drivers do ourselves a disservice by spreading false arguments like the ones I just quoted...It makes us look like a bunch of fools!
As far as the HOS thing goes...We need to be realistic. They are never gonna abolish the HOS nor should they. But they would be well served to allow a lot more flexibility in them.
Instead of screaming for the HOS to be abolished we ought to aim at some more realistic goals.

 

I've never had to look at a log book to determine if I was too tired to drive or not.. They are there for nothing more than revenue. If you think otherwise, then you are the foolish one..

To me, it's an insult to my freedom as an American, to have to write down every minute of my driving life just because I drive a commercial vehicle..It's none of no ones business where I'm at when I stop to take a break and for how long, except me and the one that's paying me.

Especially since there are sooo many sue happy attorneys out there who would have the ability to scrutinize my log books to find 15 minutes out of 7 days, where he could ruin my life, just because his client ran a friggin red light.

As far as the stroke on a slack adjuster goes, sure I can check it. But don't. I look at my brake pads too see if any of them are further away than they should be.. If they are, then I adjust them. But getting a set of calipers or a depth guage out, as the DOT officer at the west bound N. Platte scales do.. No, I'm not gonna do it.

That officer wrote me up for the stroke on my slack adjuster being 1/16 out. When I got to the machanic, he checked it, and said it was in tolerence and that it didn't need to be changed.. When I contacted Nebraska about the "fix it" ticket I got, they told me that since I left the scale, then there was no proof that I didn't correct the problem and then have a mechanic say the origanal one was not faulty. Same thing happened to my friend.

Of course there's ways of fighting crap like that at the scene. But why should we have to go through so much BS. Especially when you do that, the officer will just find something else wrong. If you've been driving long enough, you'll know, that if they look long enough, they can find something to get you on. Especially if you've proved them wrong on something..

 

SHC and Hardman..... you two squirts are way too young to remember "the good old days". 17 years between ya? Pffeh, I've got belt buckles with more years on the road than both of ya's.

Let me clue you two toad tracks in. When I started the National average was around 17 cents per mile for a driver. R model Macks were still a "new thing" and Chevt Astros were considered "futuristic". We ran like we did because that was "the norm". Even you Americans ran at least 3 logbooks. "Black Beauties" and "West Coast Turnarounds" were a USA invention that were in common usage long before I threw my first gear. NY to LA and halfway back on one pill. Ol' JB Hunt used to brag about not caring if "his trucks only made him a dollar a day each". Wrecks and dead drivers were "a cost of doing business".

Y'see "back then" we was still fighting the RR for freight. They were a much bigger player back then, they were "the big guys" in the playground. We.... not you... fought them and their govt toadies to a standstill because we ran impossibly hard and beat em at their own game. Because of us you enjoy the wide variety of freight you haul today.

So Waaa..... they won't let you run your guts out like we did nor will they allow the companys to burn down drivers in ####ebox trucks. Waaaaa!! Shut the hell up.

It ain't logbooks and regs that're keeping you poor guys. It's the Freakin Pols and their Ivory Tower "Social Justice" experts that are picking your pockets dry. Get rid of them and you won't need to run like a fool to survive on dollars that are actually worth your work.

 

I can't believe that we are having the discussion on the need for regulation on how long a person should drive. Sure, maybe you have the common sense to understand when you are not safe to drive but what about the other guy?

You know that guy.

The one that thinks he is superman and can run 24-hours straight.

The one that has a dispatcher that screwed up and needs a load delivered 800 miles away in 12-hours and he just drove overnight to deliver the other hot load.

The one that is taking cheap freight because he doesn't understand his own business and needs to run 4,500 mile a week just to pay the bills.

The one that did a lease purchase and unless he runs a team load solo he will only take home $300 this week.

You may have common sense but we all know plenty of people who don't. And I don't want to be on the roads with a bunch of zombies. All ready scares the S out of me watching some of the yahoos bump drafting at 65 mph.

Yes, we are seeing way to many regulations based on someone wanting to show that they are doing something or collect more revenue. But to say that HOS do not, in general, make the roads safer is not based in fact. We have many years with current HOS rules and the data to show that as a group we have become safer drivers.