Trucking Regulations: 14 day challenge to OOIDA.....

I think a committee of CDL holders should be put in charge of all of the Safety issues in the Airline Industry.

If, in return, the Airline Industy fails and planes start falling out of the sky, just come up with a simple solution: Let people walk.

After all, they say people don't exercise enough.

Same logic. ... or no logic at all. Seems it doesn't matter.

What is the big rush for people who know absolutely NOTHING about the trucking industry to suddenly attempt to take total control of it?

Please don't tell me it's a direct result of collective data that has been gathered over the years.

We are just another vulnerable industry, supposedly with extra money to spare, and we have all had lobotomy's performed... numerous times, thereby rendering us ignorant, illiterate and incapable of making rational decisions on our own.

When the economy flips upside-down, people can just immediately start pointing the finger.



Or better yet, when we run out of diesel fuel, we will ALL perish.

Life depends on Air, Water and Diesel fuel.

Obviously certain individuals do not think that diesel fuel is a huge part of the equation when it comes to sustaining life.


From the time a raw material comes out of the ground (or from a tree being chopped down) it is hauled a MINIMUM of SEVEN times on a truck until it is a finished product in a store... and available to sell to a consumer.

People on this earth cannot exist unless PEOPLE drive trucks, build trucks, operate diesel-powered farm equipment or take oil from the ground and turn it into diesel.

If this is a fact, and what I say is even slightly true, why would you want to make it impossible for me, a 36 year veteran of the highway) to be able to do my job? To take my hard-earned-underpaid money?

This is a really bad time for the trucking industry and I cannot for the life of me figure out what has prompted such a sudden increase in public perception towards truckers that results in the government trying to put an end to us... almost as if they are throwing us in prison and tossing the key.

Are we (and what we do) really that completely misunderstood?
Uhm no. We choose to have trucks.

Yeah the way we operate now requires them, but we could (with great pains and whining from city scum) become far more localized. A move in my opinion that needs to happen anyways.
 
What would be the first step?


Sorry @Tazz


Into become "more localized?"


Not trying to be facetious, for one, I really don't know (in industry terms) what it means to become 'more localized' and second, since it would have to be in baby-steps lest we run out of tissues for the whining city scum' ...

What would be a legit and tolerable first step? Or should I just say 'rational' as we already know that 99.9% of the problems we have in this country are based on our all-consuming 'intolerance' of others....(?)
 
What would be the first step?


Sorry @Tazz


Into become "more localized?"


Not trying to be facetious, for one, I really don't know (in industry terms) what it means to become 'more localized' and second, since it would have to be in baby-steps lest we run out of tissues for the whining city scum' ...

What would be a legit and tolerable first step? Or should I just say 'rational' as we already know that 99.9% of the problems we have in this country are based on our all-consuming 'intolerance' of others....(?)
We are doing it now.

More intermodal and less trucks. Localized factories. All of a flour and baking company used to come out of Hopkinsville, It. They have in the past decade opened smaller mills around the country instead of expanding here. Easier to buy wheat, millet, sunflower and mill it close than pay to have it railed here, processed and shipped back.

Tyson, Pilgrims Pride are trying smaller local kill plants. I heard JBS is looking as well for smaller feed lots, and more local beef and pork.

Have to find the article but a guy patented a shirt machine that can literally be set up with raw materials in less room than our men's department and make any polo, dress, or t-shirt we sell in a matter of minutes. It can be programmed to do any size or gender.

People want to consolidate in these metro areas. Why I have no idea. But they are already using rooftop gardens and the like to fill shelves for grocers. I see that progressing.

Oh there will always be a mode of transport. I think trucks will morph into local runs from rails, and ports as the highway system erodes. With the millenials eschewing cars as a general rule the highway money will dry up as less and less cars are on the road.

In one maybe two decades I believe trucking as this country has known it will cease to exist. All that will remain is highly concentrated cities with specialized transport.

Oh and us redneck in the sticks. Who do enjoy modern conveniences, but can easily survive without them.
 
How is that done, being that each method is simply a way to record what you have done?

Simple, at least for me. It caused me to have more of a sense of urgency to get from one place to the next, rather than sand bagging and then rushing off at the last possible minute.

I didn't cheat to get more miles, I did it to run when I wanted to run
 
Simple, at least for me. It caused me to have more of a sense of urgency to get from one place to the next, rather than sand bagging and then rushing off at the last possible minute.

I didn't cheat to get more miles, I did it to run when I wanted to run
So you coulda done the same on paper.........?
 
@Tazz

Thanks man.

Seeing trucking (as we know it) ceasing to exist will be a hard pill to swallow... even though I'll be retired by then.

I guess another facet of localization, in a way then, is the implementation of all the regulations to "gently" push us in that direction.

I wonder if I could take it as far as the fact that it is very rare these days to see a classic bigrig running down the road compared to the days of old. Now all we see are pretty much your basic cookie-cutter "trucks" that supposedly use less fuel and are more aerodynamic.

Trucks like these, whether people want to admit it or not, do push out the "old school" truckers and bring in a younger generation, many of whom are not in it because they enjoy trucking. It's just a job, which, I know, is another story entirely. The way I look at it, if you are living in your truck.... it is a little more than a "job" compared to the 9 to 5 guy... that is most certainly NOT living in his or her office cubicle.

Push a little farther into Autonomous trucks, maybe even autonomous forklifts and special lanes for autonomous vehicles, I guess that too is also pushing away trucking "as we once knew it"

I appreciate the response. I didn't know that a lot of these industries were doing these things. It makes me wonder then why a "stipulation" is being made for bullhaulers on the ELD's and their HOS. It seems the answer should be then (unless they want to be fair and include all commodoties) to.... well, "localize" their situation.

Maybe also another facet of trucking, besides autonomy ..that we will see is team-driving. Maybe that will be one of the "phases"... either you are local, autonomous or teamed-up.

Not so sure I'm cool with these changes, but then again, I'm not cool with what's happening in the Gaza strip and the West Bank in Jordan... and there ain't a damn thing I can do about it.

It almost seems like people's minds then have already been made up and decisions are final. We're just being led to believe that things are a certain way when the fact of the matter is; this stuff was planned long ago. The only question was "how fast can we implement change without causing total anarchy?"

Hmmmmmm......


Food for thought. We really don't have a clue about what's going on behind the scenes, do we?
 
Did they grant that bullhauler exemption? I thought I saw it was shot down.
And I still know teams can be used to run cattle. Happens everyday.
 
The minute-by-minute logging of the elog actually saves more time that the 15-minute block logging of the paper logs.. IF the driver keeps 100% legal logs. I don't have to say I did something for 15 minutes when it only took me 8.

...and, by allowing the carrier to have a more accurate view of your drivable hours, it allows more efficient use of your equipment by matching you to the best available load near you. The result is 1) reclaiming time lost to the granularity of the paper logging system, and 2) optimizing load planning through more efficient utilization of available resources.
 
What everybody is admitting is that it is a management productivity tool.
 
What everybody is admitting is that it is a management productivity tool.
Where you been?

To LE, it's a way of enforcing compliance.

To management/ownership it offers advantages in fleet productivity.

Safety?? That's questionable, although some who push themselves to the ragged edge may be restrained somewhat.
 
...and, by allowing the carrier to have a more accurate view of your drivable hours, it allows more efficient use of your equipment by matching you to the best available load near you. The result is 1) reclaiming time lost to the granularity of the paper logging system, and 2) optimizing load planning through more efficient utilization of available resources.

I agree with this but this could have been accomplished without an ELD. This is a management issue as was mentioned above.
 
Most companies already had a system for drivers to set what time they would be empty, and how many hours were available.

Under paper logs the complete view of a drivers hours was usually unavailable - most had a macro for QC where you sent your drivable hours, or you needed to communicate that with your dispatcher when you went empty. It still took you the time to check the next load against your log book on the next dispatch. Frequently you either had to reject the load based on hours, or didn't have one that closely matched what you had available. Either way, there was less optimal use of you and your truck.

I agree with this but this could have been accomplished without an ELD. This is a management issue as was mentioned above.

Sure, but it comes as a management benefit with the overlying software system. That was a benefit of moving to Elogs a few years ago. ELDs are a consequence of the folks who have been running outlaw under paper, and the devastating accidents that can be traced to fatigue and noncompliance.

The public's perception that we are a bunch of undisciplined hooligans running wild on the public highways is something we brought on ourselves.
 
"Safety?"

Not in a million years. The kids stay up in their mini-condo playing X-box and jacking around for their "10" and when it comes time to drive... they run rummy, afraid to stop, miss their appt...lose their job...cut into their HOS

See it all the time. Guy is driving in the 3rd dimension while the Twilight Zone is messing with his head.. and reality is untouchable... 30 mph.... hitting the brakes....hoping somehow, someway, he's gonna pull through.

Any conscious logic was gone before he jumped in his "sleeper"
 
I would dare-say that the "devastating accidents" vs. truckers being brought up, early on in this industry by their fathers and grandfathers to run hard and get the load there on time is rather disproportionate.

I also understand that many times, it doesn't have to be just one or even a few fatalaties... whether it is due to negligence or a lack of monitoring a group that may need some type of discretion and help honing their capabilities

If it was my family that was killed by a trucker, I know that my whole perspective would change. Witnessing a fatal accident involving a trucker has changed my perspective over the years. When I was young, I acted like a child, now that I am older, one would hope that I am wiser.

I think that there are two sides to this argument, and the argument is a valid one.

Here's the question though: "Who is making these judgement calls, and are they qualified to do so?"

Also, as another member mentioned, there are many ways to 'skin a cat' ... instead of taking immediate drastic measures to a situation that more than likely does NOT demand one, why not do the research, create the proper debate and then deliberate accordingly?

This, IMHO... is NOT the direction we are going. Of course we all want to be safe. Of course we all want our families to be safe. Of course we need to make our truck payments, etc.,..and we aren't living on the West Bank here, so why not try to be a little more tactful during the decision making?

Overall, the debate has become far more heated than is necessary. As a matter of fact, it's not being "debated" like adults, it is being jammed down our throats and the message it is sending is creating an even more UN-SAFE environment.

Why?

Because some truckers are afraid. Whether their fear is justified or not is beside the point. If anyone thinks that the fear does not manifest itself out on the road, and IS manifesting itself more each day, they are sadly mistaken.

Hatefulness, negativity and fear will not fix anything.

So.....

What's the solution to keeping everyone calm and peaceful?
 

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