Speed-limiter protest Monday

Sorry, but can you detail how you arrived at an estimation of my value of freedom of choice? Especially when it applies to the private-for-profit sector? Transportation is a for-profit industry, and consequently is subject to greater regulation than personal affairs. I strongly suggest you reappraise your reaction to my comments until you've thoroughly grasped this concept. There are many drawbacks to some regulations governing commerce, but there are a great many benefits as well.

Please stop trying to pontificate authoritatively. It's really quite annoying.

"Who knows what you're looking at." Good grief. And my CB's set to channel 29, eh? My CB features a 'Select/Channel 9/Channel 19' switch. When I run the 401 corridor, I set it to channel 7 (anyone who runs the GTA corridor knows why), and then flip the switch to 19. If I need to get a hold of a driver from a certain type of company, I flip the switch and reach channel 7 instantly, without having to take my eyes off of the road. When I run other areas, I just dial it to 1 or 19, depending on the area.

Given that I've posted pictures of my past and current equipment and have posted comments discussing technical aspects of transportation, you think I'm actually a covert MTO officer with no actual transportation experience?

Am I an immigrant from another country? How dare you imply that it even matters what ####ing country I'm from.

Am I a truck driver? Yes. How long have I been driving? Not nearly long enough.

 

tdb you just need to add MORE lights and join the GLITTERMOBILE CLUB

I had a discussion today with one of Ontarios White car and Green stripes real nice guy , was pleased with everything , I think the reason he stopped me was to find out what is going on at the site I have been hauling stuff into.

 

No I did not attend the protest as I was out of the country.I will also clarify that the getting thier crapp together comment was directed at the lack of organization of these protests.I'm sure there will be some interesting opinion as to what I should have done but I will tell you that before this became law I was being very proactive with my opinions of the proposed law unlike alot of people who have decide to act after the fact.As far as how fast you and the companies you listed choose to drive your truck that would be your choice and I just want to retain the ability to excersise my choice without it being made illegal.I drive very little in Ontario or Canada for that matter and in alot of places that I do drive in do not agree that 65mph has to be the limit. There was a time (35yrs.)not so long ago that 55mph was supposed to be the savior of the world and there were people like yourselves that jumped on that band wagon too.Some (included in your list) stayed there and most did not.You guys can do what you feel is best for you and I feel I should within reason be able to do the same. Reguardless one of the biggest things that ticks me off about this whole situation is the lies and disdorted facts that were used by the proponents of this law.

 

TDB, don't be sorry! I have gotten my details from your long winded BS in this and other threads on the subject. You have tried to pick apart anyones comments that disagree with this law.In short you have your opinion and you are entitled to it but that does not mean that what you think and spent alot of time typing is correct.You have talked about public perception,severity of accidents and many other things to support your position but there are many other ways to realise bigger benefits in any of the situations you have spoke of other than making speed limiters manditory.
Annoying???You should in Websters for the definetion of the word. FYI the "get thier crapp together" was directed at the organization or lack thereof in this protest and others that have failed before this one and the word "here" was meant to be Ontario.You aslo spoke of me not being able to grasp the concept of regulation well I do know this industry was regulated and it must not have worked well enough because that and the 55mph speed limits of that time are things of the past. You have to wonder what the motivation for deregulation really was.You want regulation??Then at least be able to put together a complete package not just a half as-d deal that this law would be part of. I wonder if you really stand behind your well thought out opinion of how good this law is because it will help give Ontario carriers get more work because the American trucks that choose not to comply with this law will also choose not to come into Ontario. Maybe you are like some that believe Canada doesn't need the U.S.? Maybe you would like it if the U.S. came up with some laws that would have a similar effect on us doing business in thier country? I wonder who would win that battle?We have already heard the crying over the "buy American" quote.
I'll address one last part of your comments that caught my attention...the one about immigrants and whether it matters what f----g country you or they come from?NO! I do not care where you or anyone else comes from but if you can't speak our language or read it and have not been in the country long enough to understand our road structures you have no business in a truck! Maybe you should should let us in on your opinion of that safety disaster too!

 

Sorry but do not need the HISTORY LESSON , besides the 55 MPH everyplace in the USA was 36 years during the Energy Crisis in 73.

Heres some Truckin History for you , at 1 time AMERICAN trucks / truckers could not enter Canada , had to drop the trailers that were then pulled into Ontario by Ontario truckers , delivered , reloaded and brought back to the American Side.

Very much the way the majority of freight is done in Mexico.

Yet Canadian trucks were allowed to run in / out of the USA.

 

Why start with "sorry" when that is the last thing on your mind?You were likely so excited that just maybe you could make yourself seem smart by maybe knowing something that I maybe I did not.Maybe next time because I do remember that part of history....so what was your point ??? I'm thinking both you and TBD are just on here trying to aggrivate people.You guys have certainly been doing a fine job of that.I've been in the trucking industry for quite a while and I had been trying to enjoy the progress that had been made in our industry and do not want see things to go backwards because it still has a long way to go!I also understood the "glittermobile club" remark. You two just wish it was as simple as installing some lights and chrome to put you into the catagory of what I have done in this industry.I'm sure you two will have some long winded comments about what you likely know very little or nothing about.

 

Lighten UP only getting AGGRIVATED seems to be YOU

Funny how you can post SARCASIM but if anyone else posts ANYTHING negative to your way of THINKING we are sending trucking back to the STONE AGE.

I have been around trucking all my life and likely forgot more than most on here remember about it.

The GLITTERMOBILE look has nothing to do with what anyone has accomplished in trucking and I do not see ANY reference in the post towards you.

I have had show trucks and non show trucks ( made the same $ ) so you having one means diddly , I have 1 as well along with a few others and a whole bunch of trailers a big house on a nice lake , big motor home

So you see in the words of the Sexy Canadian "YOU DONT IMPRESS ME MUCH".

 

It would seem by your remarks directed at me that maybe you haven't read some of the responses,especially in the other thread on this subject so....only me?? NO If you have had or still have what you say,I would just have thought you would think more along the freedom of choice theory but? That is what I get for thinking! Just to be clear any of my refferences which were at best very vague that may have had to do with anything I have or do certainly was not meant to impress you or anyone.

 

Sure, in retrospect I can see why DD14 misperceives me as an ardent supporter of speed limiter legislation because he makes the understandable mistake of assuming that comments detailing the possible benefits of speed limiter legislation, combined with a lack of comments condemning speed limiter legislation, mean that the poster endorses speed limiter legislation.

My aim in this thread, as in others, has been to clarify the meaning of certain legislation and to lay out the real pros and cons of ideas and legislation. Since this is a forum intended specifically for that purpose, I think my posts are very appropriate (and futhermore, DD14's denouncement of them as 'long winded BS' runs counter to the forum's very purpose). I began posting clarification on speed limiter legislation when I noticed Hawkeye001 posting blatantly myopic and misleading comments about the cons of speed limiters.

You want to know my explicit opinion on speed limiters? You never asked for it explicitly. You just worked yourself up into a frenzy speculating about it! For me, I'm actually fairly ambivalent about them. They're just another cost of doing business in the transportation industry, just like wheelbase restrictions, HOS, minimum light standards, Schedule 1, and so on. I am ambivalent because speed limiters do not impact neither my ability to comply, nor my productivity, nor my safety: Compliance isn't an issue because the equipment I operate runs most efficiently below 105kph, and I run it at 98kph (60mph) to achieve a reasonable compromise between traffic flow, productivity, and fuel economy. Furthermore, the 400 series highways are only a small part of Ontario's infrastructure, and limiting trucks to 105kph does not affect their ability to operate safely on all other roads (especially 11 and 17).

Productivity is unaffected because my runs are consistently comparable to other drivers' at the carriers for whom I have worked in both P&D and long haul operations. Moreover, my productivity was undiminished in other jurisdictions and freight types. I used to run expedite freight between courier nodes at Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Moncton, and Halifax in a truck governed at 105kph. I ran at 100kph and still achieved my delivery times. The combination of this and other experiences makes me skeptical that speed limiters will have a broad reaching impact on productivity (I won't speak universally here because I am aware of operators with reefer contracts in jurisdictions in the mid-West whose appointment times demand them to run at the jurisdictions maximum speed limit, usually 75mph. This does not apply to Canada however, and besides those contracts will necessarily be renogotiated if the speed limit is adjusted anyway, so this counter example does not prove that speed limiters will affect productivity).

I am skeptical of users' claims that speed limiters necessarily entail increased risk because I find their claims often misrepresent the content of the studies documenting the increased danger. Here I tried repeatedly to clarify that the studies only claim that danger increases when two variables are increased, namely, traffic volume, and merging traffic from the side. When these two variables are low, the traffic interactions that make speed limiters 'dangerous' are minimal. There are only two or three sections in which these two variables fluctuate significantly and drivers have adopted driving habits to mitigate the increased risks, thereby nulifying them. For example, when traffic gets heavy through the GTA, the flow of traffic slows to 90kph, well below the speed limiter's thresh hold. When traffic merges heavily from the right, as in the Oshawa corridor, trucks typically run down the centre lane. I can enumerate countless other examples, but that would probably be more long-winded BS.

I drive 98kph through the busiest sections of the 400 series highways on a daily basis without incident. Daily, I see convoys of cars and trucks running at 100-105kph without incident. Daily, I pass, am passed, and merge without incident. I have succesfully run coast-to-coast on expedite runs with tight schedules in a truck governed at 105kph, and made my appointment times without incident. I have never sought out equipment that operates ineffeciently at the posted speed limits of my home province because it neither compliments my driving style nor does it make good sense in an increasily regulated industry in which fuel is a serious concern. Consequently, I am not threatened by speed limiters and profoundly resent the bullying from lobbyist groups like OOIDA, et al. who seek to brow beat me into conformity (and accusing me with criminalality and betrayl should I disagree), while I continue to operate safely, with comprable productivity, and greater effeciency.

 

And for the record, DD14 and I agree that comprehension of at least one of Canada's official languages (French or English) should be a basic requirement for working in the Canadian transportation industry. I define basic comprehension as the ability to communicate with a figure of authority whose power is imbued by the government. If an individual cannot communicate in English or French with the police or an inspector, that person should not be allowed to operate a truck in Canada.

I became a firm supporter of minimum language requirements when I meet a Polish driver who was unable to understand that his load was HazMat and had saved some of the load for personal use without realizing that the product was extremely harmful to himself. I was unable to tell him exactly what it was, but thankfully was able to convince him with many hand gestures that it was very toxic. Such occurences are profoundly unacceptable.