DOT Proposes Speed limiter

That hourly yard jockey job is looking better everyday.

 

This country is getting more and more like the EU every day. Those trucks are limited to 54mph. They don't even have the ELD thing figured out, and they are tackling this?

 

When you are given an opportunity, take it with both gear shifts as I have done. Twice.

They offered me a chance to do a jockey bit but mack rig had two gear shifts and it was not that hard to learn. I think we crossed the box twice a day with it the time I spent in training with it. The second time was involved with a front end loader which to me was like hitting the Oz curtain and getting a golden ticket so to speak.

A driver mentioned 55 mph limits. I recall when young around 1974, the Arabs quit shipping us oil in a total embargo. I recall that morning the papers headlined the problem the first day it happened. We were a 70 mph speed limit nation until that time and quickly evolved into 55 mph and also into what was odd-even days according to your license plate ability to get gasoline at all. Even if you sat in line 5 or more hours each day you were allowed to get gasoline you still did not have the certainty that you will get any.

We were not around trucking at that time in my life being so young and gasoline shortages did not allow for me to be transferred to the "Other" home during that time anyhow which was close to the 76 back then.

300 miles was a hard day's work in those days maybe more. 10 days to california and wages paid by western union each weekend. Uncle was fortunate to have a thousand dollars to his truck many a week. It did not cost anywhere near that much to run it. Prior to 71, US Money was convertible to Government issued Silver. None of that is possible today.

Any teenager willing to rake in a pile of money only had to walk into any transfer or trucking operation or warehouse/grocery etc and start throwing boxes. Pallets were still new then I think they were invented about the mid 60's, otherwise everything was on the floor or slip sheet.

The Sleepers were nice to have and strictly for sleeping. I don't recall anyone having a sleeper big enough for two or even a studio etc as we know them today. Maybe there were a few custom.

That's all I have for tonight.

 

Very well heeled insurance company lobbyists and megas are likely the ones to be thanked for these proposals. This is just the way it is when an industry is government regulated and overseen by people (politicians and government employees) who can be influenced by money, gifts, and favors.

 

Lmao,you guys will keep accepting anything the government tells you too!

 

Not necessarily.

The Moderators are pretty stern with what I have had to say in the past so thus via enforcement and moderation the Government gets to do what they wish over my silence.

 

You'll probably be governed at 8.5 mph on company property

 

The article I read about this said they were doing this in the interst of fuel savings and safety (and fuel savings was mentioned before safety).

This is more corporations and mega-carriers dictating to politicians to make laws that get their pricey tech installed in all trucks and level the playing field so cheap, overseas labour can help cut freight costs even more. It's a real shame that a professional driver is becoming less and less important as a means for a carrier to make money.

 

A couple things that I've been thinking about on this subject:

• It's unlikely it will be an OOS violation to not have it set.

• There will be trucks exempt and higher truck speed limits (nobody has suggested a national truck speed limit, wouldn't that be easier? Oh yeah, that inconvenient State's rights thing) , shouldn't be able to pull you over for "probable cause" exceeding limiter speed.

• Probably won't be able to regulate intrastate trucks.

• If your logs average under the set speed, won't force them check on lower level inspections. Not hard to do if you only exceed when passing.

Seems like a bit of an enforcement mess to me.

When they outlaw trucks without speed limiters, will only outlaws run trucks without speed limiters?

I may leave mine where it is and retain the ability to safely move through slower traffic. Although I'm sure the % of small carriers checked "randomly" will be a lot higher- that's also my thinking on the pre-99 ELD exempt trucks; I'm guessing they will have a higher % of logbook checks.