Letters to the editor

ONBOARD RECORDERS WILL PUT MOTOR CARRIERS MORE IN LINE
As an owner-operator, I am all for onboard recorders to be installed in trucks. It seems most drivers have no backbone to stand up to their companies. A company driver recently told me a typical story of a long wait to get loaded only to face an unreasonable delivery schedule. He told his company about his predicament, and they told him it had to be there on time. Of course, as he said, they worded their response so as not to imply that he should drive illegally over hours. But how else could he do it?

Companies will never get the backbone to stand up for their drivers who are stuck in conditions that are out of their hands. Delivery times can change, and loading times could be improved. The trucking industry could be more efficient.

But these changes won’t come without regulation that better monitors hours of service. Now more than ever, we need to take steps that would help protect our shrinking driver pool.
JOHN SCOTT
Mount Morris, Ill.


HIS ‘RIGHT’ TO SMOKE ALSO AFFECTS OTHERS
I take exception to Billy Whyde’s opinion of smoking bans [“Smoking is a trucker’s right,” WriteOn, February]. I live in Ohio, and I voted for the ban.

Whyde seems to forget that his right to smoke ends with the rights of others not to smoke. If he wore a bubble on his head so he would be the only one breathing his smoke, I would then say there’s no need for a ban.
MICHAEL CORWIN
Franklin, Ohio


TRUCKER OF THE YEAR KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING
I can’t believe anyone would attack your Trucker of the Year, Henry Albert. Bill and Melody Fisher’s letter [April, Writeon] was full of jealousy. Albert has a solid business plan, which is more than what most other owner-operators have.

Wearing a tie is a bit much, but I’d prefer that to seeing truck drivers wearing sweatpants and scruffy hair. Not delivering to places where he might get dirty is not his fault; his business plan doesn’t call for that.

Also, the mention of “paying his dues” makes no sense. He doesn’t have to drive across the country. He makes enough money so he can stay home and he can have a family life. All you have to do is look at his beautiful house to realize this man knows what he’s doing.
NOEL UNGER
Rochester, N.Y.


SPEED LIMITERS PUT SAFETY ABOVE BENDING RULES
The American Trucking Associations’ speed limiter proposal of 68 miles per hour for commercial trucks is not a bad idea. I cannot understand why anyone would be against this. Safety should never be sacrificed for profit.

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The majority of states have a 65 mph speed limit, or less, for commercial trucks. If you cannot make a dignified living and a profit running compliant with the hours-of-service rules and obeying speed limit laws, it’s simple: You are definitely working too cheap.

Drivers have the misconception that speed is the key to making a profit, when in reality it is the freight rates. Rates are too low to begin with, and then there’s the skimming and double-dipping of the brokers.

Just say no to cheap freight, non-paid time and inadequate wages.
DAVID GAIBIS SR.
New Castle, Pa.


Send letters to Write On, Overdrive, P.O. Box 3187, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403, or fax to (205) 750-8070, or e-mail [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for length and content.