Another trucker was shot last week, this time the guy lived, but he’s still in bad shape with a gut wound from some cretin’s .45 caliber handgun. He was described as arriving “several hours early” to his destination at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., and was denied permission to stay on premises until his delivery time. He was directed to park nearby, where he went to sleep and woke up to someone breaking his passenger window out, who then robbed him, shot him in the gut and fled on foot.
But of course, he deserved it, because truckers are dirty and leave piss bottles everywhere.
Do you see how completely ridiculous and stupid this sounds when related to a real life and death situation? Can I get at least one person to witness the insanity of even considering attaching this phrase to this story? It will be, eventually, believe me. Some genius will come up with the astounding revelation that a small number of our colleagues are pigs, and therefore, by some leap of insane reasoning, no one deserves a safe place to park.
We absolutely cannot stand for it any longer. Safe parking is a real issue and the lip service we’re getting in the form of Jason’s Law isn’t solving any parking problems. Instead of looking to alleviate issues, the FMCSA has further compounded them with the recent ELD mandate. Their actions speak louder than any of the language in Jason’s Law — they care more about making rules than the actual safety of anyone on the road, truckers or otherwise.
Shippers and receivers must take some responsibility as well. There weren’t enough details in the above-mentioned story to make informed opinions about the situation that led to the driver being denied parking at the coliseum, but I fail to see how space could be an issue. The most common reasons we have encountered for being denied parking are insurance concerns and city ordinances, and in my opinion neither of these is more important than human life.
The parking issue is not insurmountable, but it will require action instead of lengthy surveys, data collection, and general gubmint assing around. The time has come to quit talking and start doing.