TAX ADVOCATES IN THE DARK ON TRUCKING
I would like to say to anyone who is in favor of increasing fuel taxes for truckers that they should ride with a trucker for a trip and then see if raising fuel taxes is necessary. Truckers pay 15 cents a gallon for fuel tax. Truckers need a break somewhere. They pay more at tollbooths than four-wheelers, and they have to fill out log books to record their time behind the wheel or they have to pay a fine. Maybe four-wheelers should think about having to do that.
So instead of trashing truckers about what they do to our highways, or how they don’t even pay an equivalent share in taxes, you should remember how the things you enjoy at your home are brought to you.
Michelle Gray
Monmouth, Maine
AGELESS QUESTION
I am a 19-year-old truck driver from Nebraska, and I am in full support of lowering the age limit to 18, not only because I am in this age group, but also because I don’t see any real sense in the existing law. I have had my class A CDL with all my endorsements since I turned 18. I have had some truck driving jobs, but I always run into a problem when the boss gets a load going out of state, because I either have to turn it down or risk my license by going out of state. What I do not understand is that I can drive 500 miles across Nebraska one way, but I cannot drive 15 miles across the border into Colorado or Wyoming.
I know some of us might be inexperienced, but how are we ever going to get the experience if no one wants to give us the chance?
A lot of the drivers out there today started 30 or 40 years ago when they were 18 or 19 years old, and they are some of the best and safest drivers out there. Age has nothing to do with it; it has to do with experience. When you reach a certain age you do not automatically have some superior knowledge on how to drive a truck.
Besides, most of the 18 to 21-year-olds who are driving have grown up around trucking. Most have probably driven their grandfathers’, dads’ or uncles’ trucks and have some idea on how to do it and how the industry works.
When you turn 21, most companies will not count those three years of driving experience. Then, you are forced to go out on the road as a rookie.
We take and pass the same test, so why are we not offered the same opportunities? Something should be done about this law. All we want is a chance.
Brandon Mayfield
Julesburg, Colo.
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