OOIDA Vs. FMCSA 2016

Lol commercial pilot in people's minds is like an engineer or a doctor. A truck driver in people's minds is a fat, dirty, stupid guy, who could not get an education and only was able to get a truck driving job, because it requires minimum skills.

 

I think these things harass the hell out of you. CRST would send the dumbest messages every 1-2hrs, and a load consisted of 8, and they expect you to read it ASAP, wether your sleeping, or driving. Which interrupts FMCSA regulated sleep time. So which one is it? Sleep a whole 10hrs or read your stupid messages? Not only that but they're so slow, it doesn't even make up for the 15 minute intervals on paper.

You can complete the same things on paper.
It's more expensive
It can put smaller companies out of business
It's harassment
I hate it
Kill it with fire

 

I at one time in life learned a bit about flying. Due to my 40 pound ham fisted arms and hands (Paraphrasing... to illustrate how bad my hands are vs a Cessna 172 or a Piper Archer which is a very nice plane. Better than some cars equal to a Buick Luxury car back in the day...) I navigate better than I pilot. So I really enjoy solving a problem of where am I, what do I need the pilot to do? And when will we get to say.. Camp David's Prohibed zone and we need to avoid that air space by taking this VOR airway or perhaps turn into Hagerstown or Finksburg ADF AM radio towers and use that to work east or west as necessary before returning to a base course north. My skills with a map and nav was proven when my pilot took us for his cross counrty trip which included a Dulles Airfield fly over at a certain speed, transponder code for VFR and altitude in a specific direction so that Tower approach and Washington Center knows what the other much much faster planes are doing in relation to us. Im still remembering that King Air that passed below 1000 feet on a course that he was supposed to be on that airway he was on. ZOOOM! That was interesting, the noises from below when Im used to planes from above.

Fast forward to 9-11 I understand that private planes anywhere in Washington Airspace which is like a 100 mile radius now... have to ask mommy may I after filing a plan with same and being approved prior to take off. Here in Arkansas I know of two airfields to the north that are quite busy and the two to the south, the Little Rock Adams Field (I refuse to call it the clinton name or whatever it is that puffed their already insufferable ego...) and the Jacksonville Airforce Base which houses not only 4 wings of C130 responsible for America's 911, the 82nd and 101st they house international pilots from other Nations like Israel recently when they broke in and trained 4 new Colonels on the J model which the Israelis are beginning to purchase and they call the Samson while we call ours the Hercules. 44,000 pounds in the back. Wherever you want it in a 1000 feet or so.

What Im trying to express is the Professionalism of the Airmen (Including Women, it is generally understood that all people who fly are called Airmen for respect and proper occupation for what they are doing.) who fly all sorts. Everything from Sports gliding all the way up to Russian Heavy Lift which actually do good service here and there around the USA, and are actually heavier believe it or not than the new Airbus A320. Or was that the 380? I understand Boeing just introduced a new 747-800 model with a range of something like 11,000 KM on a tank of gas which is really, hard to beat when you load it to the nuts with a payload or 400 souls.

The Pilots get paid for what they do VERY well. There has been times in the past I have read reports from the NTSB where some pilots have DIED because they failed to get crew rest (Sleeper time... or Hotel or home time... for us) because they were prodded by very bad and terribly greedy airlines who wont tolerate planes sitting or hire good crews to man them. I myself stand against driving when tired. Ive been there and done that one time too much. Enough. No more. The last time and the day I decided enough was enough was the day a bike rider on his 10 speed endured my blowing by him with maybe a foot to spare. My spouse saved him by howling look out otherwise we all be in jail or fried by now. It's his birthday too. I dedicate my life to making sure that there will be NO more driving tired. We actually in our personal car recognize when we are tired after running a few hundred miles here in Arkansas on what we call errands. People back east run down the street with the car to get groceries. Here in Arkansas we drive 100 miles just to serve family dinner. And we cut our losses by going home right then the errands are not that important and will eventually be completed. Sometime.

With that said. (And it's alot bear with me, some of your eyes are glazing... hang in there...)

I have gotten to where I strongly believe this mileage pay does not cut it anymore. There is a certain amount of pay lost such as in the old Household Movers Mileage Guide which goes zipcode to zipcode. We have so much technology now to recogize that we need to be compenstated differently than mileage pay.

If we know that a fleet average is 45 miles per hour, if you take my top pay at .50 a mile like in 2001-2002, you come up with $22.50 per hour as a company driver. For the 11 hours you clear 495 miles, call it a nice even average of 500 miles per driving shift of 11. 22.50 an hour works out to a gross of $1575 for 70 hours.

There is no point in dividing the 70 hours in daily wages because every certain hours, you flip from day time to night time as a company driver by yourself. I have been a Trainer at a salary high enough to net me 1450 a week after taxes and my withholding form to fed and state (200 fed and 150 state...) the net existed for only a period of some months long enough to certify my spouse to run with me as a full driver. Which was our sole mission for the year.

ANYWAY....

IF... Shippers and Recievers treated Truckers with professionalism and respect, and loaded preferably drop and hook (Which is the very best of both worlds, seriously....) With actual appointment times and dates that are very common sense and themselves professional. (Too many shippers and recievers make appointments in my day bordering on fantasy. One in particular I remember, the Fleet Manager actually left a shipper in his personal Mustang of 1999 vintage with the then big V8 engine and arrived at the Reciever about a day faster than the big trucks can do legally. And then signed a contract with both of them committing to that schedule with his 200 some odd trucks, half of which were dollar trucks and the other half were casterated trucks at 60 mph (Mine included... big 550 detroit with a rock well 9 which at 60 max the fuel pump quit leaving you to down shift and up shift at something like 56 stacking traffic on two lanes of interstate at 70+ and making you public enemy number one on the blasted radio.

I quit that outfit two weeks later. It was about a few years before that outfit quit trucking entirely. They got burned out really badly. Thinking back on those bad old days as a professional now... I seriously have a problem with that. Starting with their cursed Dispatch. I folded everything bad in life into a box and tossed it. That was the mid 90's Things have changed for the better. WAY better, and I think Im happy I had that indian summer, the last good harvest of decent trucking with decent companies for the most part until my own end of trucking.

22.50 per hour for driving hours. 20 an hour for unloading non drop and hook. (Comparable to flatbed and tanker work for unloading and loading.) And if the Logbooks, now ELOGS... are proper Legal documents to which we sign and swear and attest to it's accuracy end of each day... it's high time we claim across the board this pay regardless of our experience. 22.50 and 20 and done. Per hour. FLAT.

That will also help the CARRIERS knowing they can budget (*Finally) per driver per 70 hours a week which is TWICE what someone does in walmart in terms of real hours worked. And only managers for the entire store and district managers above them in Fayetteville made more as they should.

For the driver's part, there will be no more excuses, no more whining about miles. Quitting will become rare. Everything else will fall into place. It might take about 5 to 15 years across the entire industry for salaries to take hold based on a 70 hour work week. There is no reason why we cannot (Who is this we? About 9 million of you active truckers out there...) get this started.

There will be no more sillyness such as driving 5 hours today to save hours and avoid running out of Elogs. Making 1200 pittance miles per week. That is nothing but a schoolboy avoidance of REAL Adult work for a Living.

It will cost me about 4000 to 6000 dollars to gain a pilots license, if I can get a medical card for that which is somewhat less strenous than that for a 18 wheeler beleive it or not. Im willing to give it a go, that will give my life some purpose. Either that or find a small ready mix and get back to feeding same with rock and sand with my beloved heavy CAT front end loader. But it's not going to be actual behind the wheel driving. Possibly Safety or Dispatcher (And wonders never cease...)

It will simplify for company drivers taxes. No more explaining to non trucker employers what cents per mile actually means in terms of salary or per hour. No more stress about the State if any, and no more problems with Uncle Sam other than to carry a copy of your electronic logs to show service days away from home more than 100 miles to claim your 60 dollars or whatever per day food money expenses. Yes the People are more than happy to pay your 320 days times 60 against your tax liability as a company driver. (320 days out on the road, in the work place... times 60 per day is 19,200 dollars you can apply against your Federal Taxes instead of or perhaps in addition to the regular deduction of 8000 or whatever it is. Since I have been medically retired from trucking as a driver forever I don't do taxes anymore. But I don't allow myself to get rusty.

Since Truckers with CDL are examined and prodded and relatively very few go get the CDL A with the Med Cards, endorsements and Ive learned new ones from different states increasingly being more strict. Im hearing things like keeping a DNA sample or other bio-markers in a small box on your CDL License like United States Military does with their people or high level Government Officials and Diplomats with actual no &^%$ Authority vested in them over other people. The Federals have worked over the States so much since 1994 and show no sign of quitting. But actually approaching the same requirements as are held over Military Active Duty. And the States have to follow along with Dear Old Demanding Uncle Sam....

I think that Trucking is very vital to the United States and all of our States.

With that in mind... I show a theory that the entire trucking industry should then be a 6th Branch of Service or a Rated GS whatever salary is equivilant to 22.50 an hour that's what GS 10 and above?

Airline Commerical Pilots rated for multi engine passenger or heavy cargo across oceans and continents carry a special green ID card declaring their Nationality and "Demanding" Diplomacy in regards to safe passage between Nations similar to a Passport, if not more powerful than a Passport. A pilots License is a very official and very much a honor to recieve for those who get through the extremely demanding training, medical work and so forth to be rated a pilot.

Truckers are approaching that level just to get into a 150,000 brand new (OR any truck even a 1940's tank transporter...) KW anything at 26,001 pounds and over require a CDL A or B plus endorsements and a medical card etc etc etc etc.

For those truckers with medical disability depending on what they made the last good and productive monies they made are having to live on very little. In many cases less than what (Thankfully) we pay our Vets each month (I understand 60% rating is around 1100 dollars. 100% rating is roughly 3100, or was it 2900 each month, no taxes either. And you should not tax these people who have bled, suffered quietly and served our Country.

That should change to rate Professional Drivers to be paid a certain amount of money each month and... Companies should be able to access a data base of said drivers willing to work in the industry part time or learn a set of new skills entirely and become a Officer in the company structure for Safety, Training, Logs, Compliance, Permit dept etc etc etc. That way they don't sit home full time rotting on medical pay that is not that great for many. And you can have a chance as saving good people who now have time to learn new things and stay in the industry.

You might as well do away with the DAC, Secret PSP's and so on. Black lists too. I realize you have a certain percentage of bad drivers. Fold all of that stuff away from Recruiters and FOIA requests needed to dig that crap on your own self for example or someone else to learn why you were fired, denied etc.

Let the States Attorney build a State CDL Enforcement Division similar to what the Arkansas State Police does to maintain a database of licensed Concealed Carry. (We should not have license to carry and we don't now in open carry. But out of our State's citizens were approximately 165,000 now. Texas has almost a million.

See where Im going? A State Enforcement CDL Board, just LIKE A NURSING BOARD being used to day for all Caregivers, LPN's PN's RN's- which is a holy Grail for tens of thousands someday, something like 50 dollars an hour and personal liability for narcotics and malpractice to equal that out...

See where Im going?

Arkansas has a Motor Carrier's Association. From what I can tell, they have nice dinners and roasts for each other while privately talking over things happening like you, you and you and me talk over things here in the Forum Online about stuff impacting Trucking and in many cases your lives.

There is a Highway Department too. But... we are typical in our Government moving along slowly but sure.

A New State Professional Driver's Board just like that for all Nurses, you cannot be allowed to work in Arkansas as a licensed Nurse with completed training and experience without having your name specifically on this Board published regularly. Just like you cannot drive a truck legally without yourself being licensed and endorsed out the wazoo.

A New Board in all States will toss DAC out of Business, It will toss Black lists out. It will remove the overly secretive and unnecessary PSP that most drivers never heard of. Your name as a PROFESSIONAL will be on a Published list with either no violations or a specific list of Violations, just like Motor Carrier's have lists by the DOT Number.

Anyone with a computer and the Carrier's DOT number off the Door USUALLY have the ability to learn things about that Carrier which Im pretty sure the Carrier does not want us to know about. It should be the exact same for Professional Drivers. I don't care if you are 21 and no experience. YOUR NAME will be on the golden list ready to go along with all other Professional Drivers regardless of Status, actually more specifically due to status like myself, medically retired, 31 years on the road. All of which today under the current rules say I have none at all. Bull.

This is one of the longest posts I have ever made or intend to make. It took me about 3 hours to think carefully and write this down in a way we all can understand.

I want to hear from a thousand of you to express your thoughts, opinions and so forth.

Let's get this Professional Driver's Board started.

This should be in all of our States.

One more final thing....

There are many more things...

My Rubicon was the new Tier One CDL with medical card which means I'm unrestricted Interstate Commerce. In the past prior to 1994 a Class A or B meant you can drive anything except a motor cycle, school bus which was a regulated Class C then I may be wrong.

I'm not exactly certain where the Tier One and Tier Two came into play, a few years ago sometime after 2008 when it was time for me to Reup my CDL which was at the time active with no medical card in sight, the Revenuer handed (Yes we actually have Revenuer which also handles Motor Vehicle Licensing because part of thier work assets your personal vehicle whatever it might be assessed for tax purposes once a year to the State, I pay something like 80 dollars a year for the Tahoe. That will change once I complete a replacement vehicle. Im working on putting together the required cash so I never participate in loans or expose my Insurance (Insurance agents now are especially interested in knowing if your vehicle is paid for free and clear which is very very good, the best or you are making payments for 84 months subprime. Which will fail at some point in your subprime future. (I am actually low enough in the credit score as to be one, which is why I do not borrow money...)

Tier One CDL is one of 4 possible things. Unrestricted CDL across state lines. WHoo hoo FREEDOM!
Another possible is unrestricted in State only hauling. And there are two other classifications in which I know nothing about, but all require a medical card.

Fast forward to this year, you have to have a medical card to keep your CDL here in Arkansas. Correct me if Im wrong, but if you have a CDL and are not driving because you are between jobs in trucking for what could be literally years, you have to stay fit and keep your medical card active. To be allowed to keep your CDL.

Now. Tier Two... this is very , very, very special. I tell you why. A CDL without a medical card *That's me. I was to fill out a sworn affidavit informing the Arkansas Court system and DMV that Im a Tier TWO and DO NOT hold a Medical Card but Im allowed to keep (And did until 2013, more on that in a minute, hang in there....)

My CDL under Tier Two. Means one thing. When or If these United States suffer a disaster big enough such as the pending Cascades Subduction Fault which will along it's 1400 mile distance between Prince Rupert Canada all the way down to Redmond California near Oregon. will generate a series of problems for that entire coast line. How bad? The most recent FBI Evaluations given to trusted Agents as of a few months ago and accessible on Zero Hedge back then... (Not secret, but contains pretty specific information most the public do not know... and should know.) says specifically that everyone west of I5 itself from Vancover all the way to at least Portand Oregon will be lost. As in dead. Buried by the large waves or sunk in lahars which are essentally liquified mud from the 5 active volcanos in the area which will bury the Cities and probably light off some or all 5 of these volcanos adding to the death and destruction. The paper specifically informed the FBI agents that about 5 million dead. Lost. Gone. and three times that hurt bad enough to require immediate care which will no longer exist. So if you are a resident along 5 on the west coast, the big one has not happened yet. You still have the time (And hopefully the money) to go out, take a last look around the beautiful land in which you have lived this side of Heaven and migrate East. Save yourself the trouble of enduring.

If that happened tonight, the Tier Twos will be called up by Uncle Sam all across the United States. These are the reserve drivers who are not certified for ANYTHING EXCEPT HAULING DEAD BODIES for Graves disposal. That's Tier TWO. If you doubt me, go to your DMV and ask for the form that contains the specific information for Tier One and Tier Two.

I turned in my CDL on 2013 after a spiritual warfare because... Dead will be hauled in Reefer trucks that look like food trucks. Im intending never to be what happend to that poor driver the rioting crowd hauled out of his truck on wiltshire and florence ave back in the Rodney King Riots which required 20,000 Infantry to put down over a week. That man got hurt really bad, Something like 97 fractures in skull and both eyeballs were removed or fell out of the bone sockets to hang on the optic nerves due to the sheer damage done to the poor man.

Even today if memphis and st louis burned (And they will) after the New Madrid Quakes, I think my phone will ring. Im not sure.

Anyhow. that's it for tonight. And you have it.

 

I am so glad I have a novel to read on my 2.5hr bus ride home. Should take about that long to read it

 

What I did was keep a insulated boot box with a small notch for the cord... I throw the Qualcomm Unit into the insulated Boot Box. THE BEEP! Is reduced to a nothing at all. No light pollution either. The big red beep Boop light on the dash is electrically taped over. And the Century's Dashboard up above the tach and speedometer which you know also contains messages from Qualcomm with a special order from Dispatcher to write STOP---STOP---STOP---STOP---STOP until the truck is stopped and the stupid unit is read with a emergency message or other.

I hate to have had the attiude back then as I did that day, one hour north of Memphis= from Chicago we barely escaped the previous evening about two hours from home in central arkansas looking, laughing and dreaming about 10 days laying around in a nice big bed in a quiet home away from the unwashed masses.

As a result of that stop order we abused the poor truck kicking it across the Ozarks straight through to Voss MO, at the truckstop there (One of our Favorites... the Staff are so friendly we don't deserve such world class treatment as we got there as a couple...) I don't talk about Voss too often but it is one of the top 5 favorites and I think we can recall about another 50 more that will be in the top 5...

This fella, he was fixing to be fired. He sat and gambled in NM too long. Making his Flower (Fresh cut... the hottest, of the hottest of the burning scorching megaton nuclear hellfire hot load...) Out of Mexico for crying out loud. Bound for...

Chicago. Calumet to be exact. GREAT.... NOT.

We threw the empty at him. Grabbed the load, shaky paperwork too... (More on that later... things were Grim and getting really worse by the hour.)

We were cranky. We were angry and we took it out on each other. Right there in the middle lane of 70 in St Louis during afternoon rush which hated us because were doing battle with them and getting ahead believe it or not. All of 63 governed mph for lawd's sake...

Nice Undercover police man pulled us over, we were in a herd of trucks and he must have seen us gestulating and yelling dove into the herd and cut us out like Cowboys cutting a calf to be branded. A quick DOT inspection shut us up. Restored peace with a few smiles (Hard ones...) and heeyuks worthy of Branson.

We liked him. As far as Cops go. He could have grilled us or arrested us etc... But he took time out of his day to save our day and understood our real situation and basically listened like a Daddy would. Whoever he was. He does not know it but he saved us.

Anyhow.

We are up on 55 this time running for that cursed Calumet with me under a black cloud touching my holstered blade. Wife kept her peace which is a good thing. Kept me company rather than going back and shutting the curtains.

Dispatcher would not be quiet out of Memphis. We called Lancaster (FFE) and talked to a particular person we trusted to get the low down on something. That was where the information came up with the Gambling etc. So we settled down. 60 miles out and closing.

Illinois pulls us over. Now what? Solid 55, solid Gold on this one proven by Live GPS on the Laptop open and running right there on the dash for the bears to see standing on my tank. Avg speed 48, max speed 55.

He hears two words. Flowers. Mexico. Vanishes back to his car.

6 more cops cars show up. We squawked on Qualcomm feeling threatened to FFE. They told us to sit tight no mater what happens. Be good.

More smokies showed up. ALL had the attiude that someone was about to score a million plus or 10 million dollars and they all wanted to be in on it. That's our trailer. And the flowers in it.

Like Dumbkofts were told that it's a drug search now. Flat out. We told them back off it's a sealed trailer. One of the special red ball seals believe it or not.

They cut it.

Pulled every flower out of there. lined em up on the grass. We felt for lack of a better word, violated and raped.

Drug dogs got involved. Rus! Auf! Rus! Auf... Auf!!! Suche!!! Suche!!! auf!!!!


WOOF back at cha. By then we were really in a foul mood.

No drugs. No money, No nothering. Flowers tossed back in the trailer.

The last 59 miles was driven like a funeral hearse carrying a dearly departed beloved flowers to bury the multi million dollar account with which we are about to lose.

We were planning our airfare home expecting to be fired so completely we would be treated as lepers forever in this Industry. It's actually hard to get a flight from KORD to KLIT (Chicago downtown airport to Adams Field, Little Rock...) K Prefix is for airports open to civil Traffic in the World for the United States.

We arrived at midnight. Smiled at the reciever standing at the dock with arms akimbo.

There is a saying.

When you have money, Bankers smile at you.

When you need money, You smile at the bank.

The piled flowers were swept off the trailer pallets tossed. And the reciever stomped into the office, slammed the door after savagely scouring a line through many copies, not talking about writing, Im talking about STABBING the pen through and then viciously slashing the papers (Plural) almost in half.

The yelling started on that end through the door. A peal, a roar of someone truly and homicidal angry.

We vanished.

For all things bad luck we had to stop in Calumet 76 for fuel. Threw in 30 bucks enough to get out of town to the next one.

I had wife fortified in the bunk before I went to pay, no one saw anything but me.

They must have thought I was prey, the two of them.

The result of that particular problem was a great deal of blood stress relieved. A thousand elephants left my back, no more worries, no more trouble and piss on the precious flowers. And the two laying howling by the pumps last we saw of them.

Seegago... see you later gator....

And ###### if we ever see that city again ever. They can burn it. And the predators too. Oh wait. Wall the place off like Jericho. Fill it with empty US Prisions and felons. Let them two things. A decent burial and water. Everything else they have to fight each other for it.

 

Fmcsa point 4 ... reduse crash ... loooooool

If you see the 401 in ON and 94 in MI in the last 2 winters

Who was all the time insolv in the bug chrashs ..

Trucks/comps who running under e-log

E-log is only good to ##... drivers and comps.