As EOBR mandate, CSA 2010 loom, on-board technology takes center stage

More people are making commets on here than where they need to be every one should do there part and make a commet before you start you should know you only have 20min to finish your commet so make sure you know what your gona say
http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FMCSA-2004-18940-1152

 

I have talked to all of my state representatives and will again. and if any body can tell me who else to talk to I will gladly do it.. I have also commented several times on the FMCSA site and took the survey on the OOIDA site etc.. let me know who to call I will call them all...

 

Calling your state representatives won't do much good when it comes to federal legislation. You need to contact your congressional representatives. Call your congressman and both senators from your state. I would also give Senator Alexander of Tennessee and senator Pryor of Arkansas a call. They are the sponsors of the bill. You may want to put your thoughts down on paper. Try to keep the emotions out of it. Just explain how this bill was ill conceived and how it will impact your business or career. Just because a bill is put forth doesn't necessarily mean that it will pass.

 

Maybe this will be the end of people accepting cheap crap freight...

 

How do you figure? The logbook rules havnt changed, its just now you will actually have to run legal with the e-logbooks...

Maybe this will actually force companies to pay decent just to keep drivers...

 

Do you actually think the government is going to listen to the ones they make laws against??

My few experiences writing my senator and congressman, you get a return email totally agreeing with you. Then they go vote the other way when it comes to it.

 

Most companies do pay decent wages. I would not count on wages going up with the EOBR's. If all carriers are forced to install EOBR's there is no incentive for any to pay higher wages. The bill is really a way to limit competition. The major carriers want to eliminate the smaller carriers and independents. The EOBR's will cost money to install and a monthly fee. That increases the carrier's cost of doing business. At some point, enough could leave the industry to have some impact, but my guess is that the major carriers will just start recruiting from south of the border if they cannot find enough American drivers.

 

Let them know you will be watching how they vote on issues that directly affect you and your business. I would also follow through and work to unseat them if they go against your interests. I plan to work to unseat Lamar Alexander from office in the next election. He voted for the stimulus bailout tax without reading it and he has also sponsored a bill for these EOBR's which are not in my best interests, will cost me money and can directly impact my business. I may even vote for a democrat, if needed, just to get him out of office. With his voting record, he may as well be a democrat. You know, as truckers who travel the roads, we could put signage on our trailers that can help get the word out about certain issues that impact us. We could also put signage on trailers that either support or detract from a candidate. Putting a sign on the side of a trailer isn't all that expensive and it is seen by millions of voters. If I pulled vans, I would have already put signs on my trailers. Unfortunately, there isn't much space where I can put a sign on a step deck or flat bed trailer.

One thing we can all do is VOTE!!! I NEVER miss a vote. There is absolutely NO excuse for not voting. If you can't get back home in time to vote, you can vote absentee. My state has early voting, so I have a window of about 2 weeks prior to elections where I can vote. Voting is an obligation we have to maintain our democracy. Fewer and fewer people vote which means that those who decide on what goes on in our country and who is elected is diminishing. Our votes are more critical today than ever before. We have between 3-5 million drivers in this country. That is enough voters to impact an election.

 

I'd like to through out an interesting question here? How will EOBR affect the freight haulers--Is there a way to change them from driver to driver--I mean look at the majors--those trucks in slip seat operations rarely stop--I know each companies systems work differently--but those tractors don't sit much--weather it is line-haul slip seat or swap offs where tractor runs line haul @nite and local PD all day? Just wonderin?

 

You pose an interesting question concerning slip seating and EOBR's. I would think in that situation there would be a way for one driver to sign off and another sign into the system. I have wondered about that myself.