FMCSA passing the buck on non English speaking drivers

This seems to be a weekend routine. Y'all drivers can't find something else to be pissed off about? Why is it automatically assumed that just because they are foreign they can't speak English? This ain't even the biggest problem in the industry. Many truck drivers just dislike diversity, and that, to me is what consistently drives this dialogue.

 

Biggest problem in this industry to me is headlights. I drive nights and it’s a huge safety issue with me and the top reason I want to exit the industry.
Seems like 4 out of five trucks has a headlight way out of adjustment. Or has multiple off road clear lights, light bars that are illegal. Calling them fog lights when they aren’t is bs. Aftermarket light manufacturers competing to make the brightest lights..

Why aren’t they enforcing the regulations about properly aimed headlights. Why aren’t they checking during a level one. Why don’t they have a wall setup at these weight stations where drivers can pull up to and adjust their headlights for free?

Why are people running around with blue lights on their trucks..been noticing it more and more lately.

It’s really becoming like the Wild West out here. Where the F is law enforcement. Aside from a few states you rarely see police out enforcing speeding, aggressive driving etc etc.

Coming up on police cars at night is insane because you just can’t see from being blinded by the excess lights they’re using..multiple cruisers and holy crap.

It’s rare now to even see inspections being done and some of us depend upon getting a couple now and then to satisfy brokers.

 

You better preach about those lights. They provide this unnecessary glare on the highways, to the point where I debate cleaning my windows just to ease the glare with the dirt lol....don't go tonthe truck stop, and try to back in to a spot but the guys that fall asleep with the lights on is a distraction.

I think the biggest problem in the industry is poor quality training. You get guys out here thy can't drive mountains, that don't learn how to back in various situations, and have poor road etiquette. If there was better training, then little things could be avoided, like over-reliance on the GPS, paying attention to road signs, and getting over in the granny lane at least a mile prior to your exit.

 

Because its a disporportinate number of them causeing issues. Does that mean every non english driver is an unsafe mass murdering swine like that peice of #### in colorado who pretended to not speak english? Absolutely not. And if you look through the accident forum there are plenty of born and cornbread americans doing equally stupid ####.

But enough of them cause issues that it IS a serious issue. Additionally you really see the effects when they cant read signs which regardless of your view on it IS a safety issue. See the chaos over in NC as a prime example, or even see prime and the typical type of driver they hire and their absolutely ludicris accident rate as another. There is also this whole trend of them shoveing cellphones in your face with someone translateing or just not understanding which causes even more issues both to customers and to other drivers trying to get things done. Also doesnt help many of us have pretty piss poor experinces with non english drivers in general that stand out.

So us wanting one of the big issues in trucking solved seems reasonable. Granted many take it to extremes and have conflated other issues with someone being unable to speak english. But it IS a safety issue and the fact it does intersect with other issues in the country currently (think over capacity, excess drivers, and many of them cutting each others throats on the way to the bottom of rates, large amounts of fraud and tag swapping tax evasion ect more then illegals imo at least) just makes it more of an eyesoor.

Dont misubderstand me. There are a LOT of issues in trucking. Some that are far worse. But this issue just happens to be sitting in the crossroads and gets a disporportionate amount of hate as other issues interstect over and over even if solving this issue wont fix them all.

TLDR people focus on the obvious squeeky wheel rather then the worn track.

 

Is it really a disproportionate number of illegals causing problems or is it just the narrative being pushed? I mean every time there's a situation with a gentleman that has a name that seems foreign, automatically it's assumed that he can't speak English. We don't always know that. That's not to say that there are foreign drivers out here that don't speak English. I've come across a couple of them. I just tend to believe that certain immigrants are being singled out as opposed to all. You can get every single foreigner out of the industry and you'll still have over-saturation of drivers in the industry, particularlyin the spot market. Foreigners don't make up the large percentage that many seem to think. Majority of foreigners I come across speak English very well, many of which become fluent in their own country prior to coming here. I believe that not being able to read signs, and blatantly ignoring signs, are too different things. I tend to believe it's more the latter. I understand where you're coming from though.

 

I never said illegals. I said non english speaker. There is a diffrence. Many here on H2Bs and such who cant speak english any more then someone who just jumped the border. Same issue applies. A forigner is nither any better or worse then an english speaker. Someone who cant read signs or communicate with other drivers IS an issue. Regardless of their legal status or where they are from.

 

Ok cool....we can eliminate every non-English speaker out of the industry and we would still have an over-saturation of drivers, particularly in the spot market. I don't that the number of drivers in that category is as high as many drivers seem to think.

 

It is a lot larger then youed think.....my personal guess with nothing to back it up but personal experince is around 30% or so. Trucking is an easy industry to get into and dispite what everyone says pays pretty good compared to many jobs especially when you dont pay rent. So a lot of people american and otherwise gravitate to it. Especially as if you cant communicate english its an easy industry to "blend" into due to not needing to interact constantly.

But as i also said people conflate the issues. And since so many intersect its the focus of many. That said its also one of the easiest issues to solve and still a large one even if not THE issue or even the largest. So many people want it fixed. Especially because the fix is as simple as saying prove you can understand the signs and communicate at an acceptible level or no cdl.

Thats not the case with something like say....a company regardless of if forign or domestic opening a new carrier every time they get to many violations or when taxes come due and just keeping on doing what caused the issue before.

Regardless its unsafe, unprofessional and frankly disruptive to the industry as a whole having people who cant even read signs let alone understand our laws or communicate even basic issues. So again needs to be fixed.

 

30 percent? That definitely seems like a large number to me. You did say it's your personal experience, so sometimes feelings about a situation can exaggerate it for real.

 

Perhaps but its not that unreasonable either. Just checked google. We have around 50 million legal forign residents which is around 15% of the population and about the same on work visas or illegal status combined. And around 4 million truckers or so in the u.s. so 30% especially with how desireable this job could be to someone who is only here to make money seems about right in that context.

That said its all a personal guess and i admit it freely. But regardless of your feelings on it. Its still a violation of law and does need to be inforced or if you dont like it voted to be changed. Lot of laws do frankly. But again this one is an outsized issue.