So I was reading the article about the CVSA workshop wrap up in Land Line yesterday. Contrary to the belief of some, who enjoy calling what I write “fluff and puff and stuff” (I secretly like it, but I’m not letting on too much), I do try to keep up with the issues at hand, and I do vote and make my opinions known to my representatives in Congress. I don’t drive a truck, but the industry fully supports our family, both monetarily and physically, and I really do care about the state of it.
Tis the season for inspections. Read more about the heat turning up this time of year at this link. Oh, and did anybody see inspection action Wednesday?CVSA, as we all know, are the fine folks who host an annual inspection party, and have for the past 28 years. Roadcheck isn’t a bad idea. No one who is serious about the industry wants to have a bunch of raggedy, unsafe vehicles sharing the roads with them. It just seems like if they’d do inspections regularly, instead of a big, rabid push all at once, the overall safety would improve. I mean, it is the only industry with a dedicated police force. It makes more sense to spread it out a little, but this is coming from H.R. Fluff and Puff, so please, take it with a grain of salt.
That being said, I had to read this sentence three times, to make sure I had it right.
Among the big issues up for discussion was the organization’s petition to remove the English language proficiency standard from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a request that was denied.
Well I can’t imagine why it was denied. All of our street signs and traffic warnings are tri-lingual, right? Oh. They’re not? Then why are we even talking about this? This is where someone should stand up in the meeting and say, “Are you effing even serious with this right now?” I’m going to go as far as to say thank you to the FMCSA for having the sense to stand up for something that actually increases safety, instead of the exact opposite. Bravo.
The absolute scariest part of the article was a quote from Doug Morris, OOIDA security operations director, who stated that language proficiency resulted in 101,280 violations in 2014, with only 4,036 of those drivers ordered out of service.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s terrifying that 101,280 people were out there driving big trucks and unable to read the road signs proficiently? And 4,036 of them were so bad they had to be detained? It sounds like the opening of a horror story to me. (Excuse me while I scribble down some notes…)
Before the racist fluff and puff and stuff comments commence, this has absolutely nothing to do with hating other languages, cultures or people. It has to do with the fact that English is our most commonly spoken, used and recognized language in this country, and as a matter of self preservation alone, it should be learned well enough to read caution signs on the highway before you cut loose with 80,000 lbs. underneath your butt.
Safety first.
