CSA 2010...Government Garbage

First off, this "professional driver" crap...I don't buy it. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a "professional" and everything to do with the almight dollar! Some of the best drivers I know are FAR from "professional". In fact, if you call some of these 40+ year veterns a "professional", you will make an instant enemy! Some of the best can't use a computer, send an email, sit down an write their nanny a long "hello letter", but, they can back that van into any hole you show them, they have never been cited for speeding, unsafe driving, etc. In short, "professional" or not, your still holding the short end of the stick. Remember, Barney needs/wants to be promoted as well, so the more citations he hands out, the better the job he is doing...right?
But that's not what gets the most about what you said. You said, "If a DOT officer decides that every truck he pulls over will get a ticket for something, then over time this will show. And he will eventually get fired or have to be retrained. Due to all the complaints.
All complaints against Officers go onto their permanent record. Get enough of them and you will have issues. Same with drivers. Get enough points and you will have issues." SERIOUSLY????? Did you even think about this statement before you posted it??? Ok, so we have DOT officer "X" who, during 1 month, inspects 100 trucks. Of those 100 he cites 90 of them for something. (Remember that promotion?) Lets say he averages 2 citations per truck. That's 180 cites in a month. Good job! He must have been doing his job right? OR he is just a total pr&%k! 5 drivers of the 90 he sited had "old" violations (no less then 12 mos old, no more then 36 mos old) Under the the "new system" the carrier can not afford to keep those 5 drivers on board anymore simply because of the "weight" of their brand-new-shinny BASIC score. (under the old system they were great drivers!) That's 5 more unemployed drivers all because of this particular DOT jerk. Not only are there 5 unemployed, from his 1st month "cite-rage", there are now 85 other drivers out there that are walking on thin ice! Until, one by one, they meet another "high and mighty" at a weight station/inspection lot. By the end of the year, that's 90 drivers out of work all because of one single "Barney-b-law"!!! Now, multiply that by...I don't know, 5,000 or so other DOT officers. NOW...what is the result? ALOT OF DRIVERS OUT OF A JOB AND NO CHANCE OF GETTING ANOTHER IN THE ONLY FEILD THEY KNOW!!! And guess what...ALOT of them were "professionals". Of course the numbers I just used are not "real numbers" but you get the picture! And SO WHAT if the DOT officer with the golden log book up his butt eventually gets fired!!!! He did PLENTY of damage in his 1st month alone! Not to mention the damage he could do in the time it would actually take to investigate, process, and repremand him!!! You get what I'm saying here!
CSA 2010 is simply a system of control, a revenue generating wheel of endless and long-term consequence. Do you know why CSA 2010 was developed??? It was developed because highway fatalities involving trucks leveled out and has not increased nor has it decreased in 2.5 years. And because they have not decrease but have only platued using the SafeSat system, the government decided it was time for a new program. That is not rederick, that is an absolute fact. As our "training" DOT officer said, "The system they have now has worked to the best of it's potential, so, it's time for a new one." (sound familar? TAXES) In a perfect world there would be zero fatalities, but, as we all know, this is not a perfect world! The only way the government is ever going to bring highway fatalities down to 0%, as one official so blindly dreams, is to take truck off the roads all together. To out-law them! And with the way things are going, I wouldn't be suprised if my grandchildren one day look at pictures of trucks and ask, "Yall used to drive those things all over the country???" So, what's next, mandatory government transportation of goods and services? Don't fool yourself by thinking that has never crossed their minds!!!

 

As of right now, the program only has levels of "intervention" and compliance enforcement. Insurance companies and the carriers will decide further employment after x amout of points. However, it was expressed to us [drivers] in 2 of the 3 training sessions, by two differnet DOT agents (not officers) that the possibility of having your CDL's suspended/revocked/terminated may not be an option now, but it is certainly something that is being looked at as the program evolves. In the words of one DOT agent, "the option [of suspention] has not been taken off the table...CSA 2010 is a work in progress and anything is subject to change.

Do I think that taking ones CDL's will be an option/penalty or form of "punishment" in the future of this pile of garbage known only as CSA 2010? ABSOLUTELY!

 

Thats absolutely rediculous!!! And to think, BS like that will happen every single day, on a regular and routine basis! That is a perfect example of what we will have to deal with day in and day out!