72 Hour Blitz

I was a manufacturing engineer.


I used to be an MP in the army guard but retired from there.

 

I can play the game with the best of them but I refuse to play when they tell everyone that they are focusing on safety !!

They can and will prove joe six pack that they are out there keeping them safe from those dirty nasty baby killer truckers that are waiting to run over their family as they go about their meaningless lives!

I play the game all year I just choose not to temp them when they are out to save the world from me and my type...... The average working stiff just doing the job he is paid to do .

besides that I have 33 years and almost 4 million miles without any wrecks dents scratches or scrapes I believe that I am as safe as I need to be and there are very very few if any of them that say the same

 

How does a LEO official doing the job he is paid to do making life hard on anyone...man. Can't you see the childishness of that argument? If you speed and get caught , I guess it's the fault of the officer that caught you speeding , if you hook up to a trailer with safety issues and knowingly take off down the road with-out having those issues addressed/repaired whose fault is that....take a good...long....look in the mirror there jr. You by only being a driver a very short while...... haven't learned yet just what a professional is supposed to be...not to worry though you'll learn. Ultimately....it is the driver/s who IS responsible , each time he gets under the wheel , to make sure that not only is he prepared to make the trip safely (had enough rest , not taking any drugs, alcohol) but he is charged with the responsibility of making sure that the equipment is in a safe enough condition to be operated.....PERIOD....not the dispatcher , not the company owner , not the receiver , not the shipper....THE DRIVER. Now, if you the driver makes the choice to either ignore that simple fact , or like you said yourself....{Quote}me personally would just rather avoid ALL contact as much as possible i could care less about that little sticker if i get it cool if i dont then so be it i know what to look for next time.{UN-quote}...that sort of view not only hurts you , but makes all drivers look like what the general public thinks we are....Outlaws...that don't think we have to obey the law.Don't get all butt-hurt when you get caught by an officer doing his job...with that attitude of yours...you're part of the problem...instead of trying to make sure that you and your equipment is safe...and be part of the solution....

 

I am going to disagree with you.

If a cop is doing his job it's one thing. When the entire system decides to make an example out of the industry in one push, that's getting carried away.


What is the difference between them doing their job on Jun 4-7 vs the other 362 days out of the year? If it was REALLY a concern, then it would be un-needed.

It's a publicity stunt for making people feel good.

 

Bring it on. The old 'shaker is tight.

 

I get what you're saying Mndriver I think and to a point I agree....with the 4-day push I mean.....We both will agree that its for show mostly. But....if the funding was available it would be a really good thing. I remember running Ca. many years ago , and if I was gonna be delivering in the LA basin , I always stopped in Cabazon at the Wheel-In you know the place that had the dinosaurs out front....I stopped there to..... 1. get some decent food. 2. catch a nap. 3. make sure all of my paper-work and everything was "right" on the truck.....Never fail...I stopped before I crossed the scales at Banning. So did LOTS of other drivers, because we KNEW that if you got pulled into one of those bays they were gonna "find" something.

But think about this though.....how many lives were saved by hundreds if not thousands of drivers in a years time doing that very same thing..... before entering one of the biggest and most populated areas in the country , with some of the worst traffic situations too. Lots of brakes got adjusted , lights fixed , broken suspension parts replaced , tires that needed to be replaced fixed...the list goes on. Just think if we had "Banning" at the edge/city/corporate limits in most of the larger cities and towns.....Don't you agree that a good percentage of folks would start to take a more and serious/safety conscious look at the equipment that they were driving...and after paying the fines that would be levied...the company owners would start to make sure the equipment they put on the road.....was/is more road worthy.

There used to be a place on the way to Bakersfield too....I think it was Thousand Oaks...they were really strict on brake adjustments and logs.......

Another way to help yourself out is.....make sure everything is right..paperwork..... equipment etc....then pull in and ask for an inspection....used to do that too. Got a window sticker every time....got some wild-eyed looks from those Banning truck inspectors though....

 

I MIGHT agree that a 4 day push would be worth it.....

If it weren't for the fact that 70% or more of the fatalities involving trucks are caused by CARS and the stupid things they do around us.

Direct from the FMCSA.....

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/outreach/Unsafe-Driving-Acts.aspx

 

This was back in 2003 and I did not think anything about it since I didn't use the things anyway. As for now I will check it out all the time and tell the mechanic. Actually refused to leave lot until a tag light was repaired and when they had to call and explain why I was going to be late for delivery there was nothing they could do to me. Found out they said that I had mechanical issue with truck and of course it was funny.

 

I am going to ding FMCSA and DOT more on this.....

But really....

WHAT serious hazard is there for having a non-functioning license plate light?

Or not having a BOL instead of a shipper/product entered in on your Logsheet?

Yeah, find some bad brakes, etc, it's one thing. But with all the form and manner violations that they ding folks on. Get real. Heck, most of the DOT officers I have spoken with can't even agree on how some things should be shown.