Trucking

I’m tired of this story and stories with this slant to it. Truckers win? Last time I checked Teamsters,  PATT, CRASH and Public Citizen do not represent truck drivers in America. Teamsters have a union that represent some drivers at a few companies. They don’t have the membership or the power they used to have.

Truckers win in federal court
The rules, imposed in December, were supported by the trucking industry but opposed by safety advocates and the truckers’ union. Eugenia Gratto, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was a victory for workers and especially for the drivers.

I know and have heard from a lot of drivers that like the new rules. I (and others) think that we are forced to get more rest and it is harder to get ‘creative’ with your logbook.
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This from engadget.com Anti-fatigue pod - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Japanese company Kawasaki Engineering Co. have created the Dream Plus, a fatigue-treatment device which will be marketed to gyms and beauty salons, and like a hyperbaric chamber uses a high-pressure pod to raise oxygen levels in the blood. Don’t try this if you’re claustrophobic. . . or tall. . . or hefty. Somehow the picture of the man’s hand pressed feverishly against the glass doesn’t reassure us, but hey, they say David Beckham uses it so we might as well.

No tall or hefty? That leaves most of us out. Wonder if PATT would buy me one? It probably wouldn’t fit in the sleeper anyway.

I was going through New Jersey a while back, as I was surfing radio stations I came across this talk show between candidates. I don’t remember if they were federal or state senators, but what I caught was that they both wanted to ban big trucks from New Jersey except on the turn pike. New Jersey already restricts through trucks to the federal highways. I guess they are trying to restrict that even more to just the turnpike. They say it’s a “safety issue”. The way NJ drivers are, trucks are not the problem. According to a report done by the FMCSA, car drivers are more at fault than truck drivers. Or see my earlier post about the same thing.
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Where off to a great start on this Mexican truck issue. Every Mexican truck driver that’s in a wreck is going to be in the paper.

Charleston.Net: Local News: Trucker in deadly crash didn’t have big rig license 07/16/04

The Mexican truck driver responsible for a deadly truck crash earlier this month on Edisto Island wasn’t licensed to drive tractor-trailers in the United States, leaving local authorities to wonder why he was behind the wheel at all.

He was behind the wheel, because the truck owner is crooked.
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Most of the articles about this have the same story from Reuters. This one has a different spin to it. It actually sounds like bad news in this article instead of what the court of appeals said, that FMCSA didn’t take into consideration drivers health and they were “arbitrary and capricious.” Months, if not years were spent in research, public and closed hearings and how much of our tax dollars? And the court thinks they just pulled these rules out of the FMCSA butt?
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Freight outlook looking real good
Freight demand remained very strong in this year’s second quarter, as motor carriers, ports, and even railroads continue to report record demand and - in some cases - rising profits.

Even with the rising demand there are still trucking companies going under because of higher registration fee, insurance, fuel prices and new toll roads to name only a few of the obstacles to making a profit in this business.
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