Motor Coach Plows Into 6 Vehicles On I-95,5 People Killed

The driver ia the answer for both questuions. But! Who allowed this person to become a CDL driver?? There is enough blame on this accident to sue the driver, the company, the state of NY and the state of N>C. My opinion, in a few months, the rug will be lifted and all this crap will be swept under.

 

Naturalized, which means 'domiciled' cdl.

 

Look at Mr Optimistic thinking this story will last a few months. When the time the accident investigation is done we might get a few news articles, but within 14 days most people won't remember this story. There won't even be a need to sweep it under a rug.

It's little different than Leonard's Express (headquartered in Eau Claire, WI) hiring drivers in Florida, which is the other end of their freight lane. It's a bargain basement bus line running from Charlotte to NYC and back, probably with stops in Richmond, DC, and Philly.

Why does the driver not deserve a CDL? All we know right now is that he is a recently naturalized citizen and the Secretary of Transportation has said he doesn't speak English. Those two data points are contradictory. Naturalized citizens must be able to speak, read, and write basic english. Though the standard from passing is far from what I would consider necessary to a good citizen, it's still more than enough to satisfy the ELP proficiency tests. I think the CDL test is far to lax, and if you care to spelunk through my posts you'll find that I've been saying that for almost my entire time on TTR. Regardless of my thoughts on the matter, the gentleman was able to pass the CDL test.

North Carolina is allowing this type of operation because "Industry" is manipulating both parties to change government regulations to boost profits at the expense of public safety. FMCSA proposed a rule in 2016 that would create a passenger-facing rating system, so a family buying a seat could compare one bus line against another. FMCSA pulled it in 2017.

If anyone one entity is to blame for the unqualified drivers on the road it's those constantly spouting "regulations are killing business". People like Chris Lofgren, who stated "training is an expense that doesn't create revenue", fired safety critters for high student wash out rates, and tried to create a pipeline of temporary drivers from Kenya and South Africa. Chris Lofgren is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which (along with the ATA) supported "Biden handing out CDLs like candy".

Way back in 1996, FHWA found that driver training was inadequate . 8 years later, the courts mandated that FMCSA do something. FMCSA said "carriers will be responsible". Court responded "I said fix it, not pawn off your responsibility". 2007 FMCSA publishes a proposed rule, and EVERYONE threw their poop every where until FMCSA withdrew it in 2013 and started from scratch this time with "stake holder help". 5 years later, ELDT starting in 2019 is announced. In 2019 it's delayed until 2021. Five years later, the only impact I can see is that it's increased the cost of CDL training without actually increasing instruction.

This is why we see inadequate skills wreaking havoc. "Safety groups" make demands that are at best inane and most often counter productive while the various Industry associations resist any attempt to bring meaningful regulation into play. So long as an entity can fill out the proper forms and pay the proper fees they will be allowed to act with careless disregard until calamity occurs. I doubt even the most in depth of investigations would be able to find evidence that NC, NY, or Federal regulators didn't do their jobs. They within the scope of their authority budget.

 

How about all those who cheered FMCSA's budget being slashed last year?