Taking issue with a few of the issues

Letters to the Editor

 

Mr. Grider, I’m an 11-year veteran driver out here and thought I would voice my opinion on some of the issues you had in your magazine. I’ll start off with the hours of service. Why does the Department of Transportation have to change the hours all the time? I’m not really seeing that many accidents out here, and from what I hear everyone is following the law. Are they trying to change the 11-hour driving time to 8 hours? If so, where are we going to park? Not to mention we have now both border trucks crossing and taking up room. I like the 34-hour reset as is, and [I] don’t understand [the proposed revision] at all.

Now, the second issue the handset issue. I don’t use my phone that much while driving but if I do I have a Bluetooth like they required. What is going on with this industry, and why do we not have anyone behind us? I’m going to be 33 this month, and if I could do something else, I would. We have a guy in office making all the rules, and Ray LaHood has no idea what a trucker does! I haven’t seen this many rules since President Bill Clinton was in office. No, I wasn’t driving then. But my dad was.

One more, now I believe this used to be the Overdrive magazine and you all published a story my dad did back in the day. His name was Michael Ray Rogers, a long-time trucker. I still have that magazine. I hope you read this, and I hope I didn’t take too much of your time. I’m a concerned driver and worried about my job with all the new rules coming out.

Michael A. Rogers

Duncan, Okla.

Editor’s note: Overdrive is the sister publication of Truckers News.

 

 

We are requoted to death

In response to “Proposal to tie sleep apnea testing with body mass index” at https://www.truckersnews.com/.

Isn’t it amazing how more and more requirements/regulations/laws are loaded on top of the industry, stealing money that underpaid drivers have been waiting for for decades now?

[The Department of Transportation] treats drivers like third-class citizens wanting to treat truck drivers like airline pilots yet treating them like criminals that are guilty until proven innocent in almost any and every circumstance.

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[Hazardous material] drivers have been vetted by the Transportation Security Administration yet they get frisked/screened before boarding a plane by who? The TSA! These drivers paid for the hazmat and background checks yet they can’t board a plane though they have been cleared to drive dangerous products around our nation? So much for being treated like a pilot!

Finally, safety regulations have all but choked the little guy out of business. Maybe the DOT is intent on creating a transportation cartel amongst the biggest trucking companies and could care less about the independent.

Is there anyone — seriously, anyone — at the federal DOT that has ever driven a truck for a living? That has been subjected to risking their career by driving in California or New York?

I have to admit, being treated like a pilot would be a lot better than being treated like a scum-dog, third-class citizen like we drivers get treated. I recently walked away from hazmat and fortunately, I am in a position to walk away from driving altogether and this bogus piling onto the trucking industry with what? Sleep apnea testing?

Licensing plus permitting plus unique state and federal requirements plus insurance plus bogus testing like sleep apnea and physicals plus fuel costs plus taxes plus any fines or penalties plus load/unload as applicable plus tolls plus miscellaneous — and what’s left goes to the driver who is then taxed again for income.

Joe Hall

Reno, Nev.

 

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