Gordon A
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Come Feb or March 2014 CA will realize what a problem they have created with this Particulate filter and other emissions controls that CARB has instituted that tens of thousands of trucks will no longer be moving freight, produce in or out of CA. Those that do and can will ask for and get much higher rates.
Ca is dependent on the truck farmers and when the chilling houses cannot move produce it will be plowed under in the field.
Can't wait to see them realize what a mistake they made and how they will try to wiggle out of it. Who will they blame now??
Unfortunately when big business gets hammered and raked over the coals and it goes public the first thing that happens is the unknowing bad mouth the CEO and the company.. The CEO many times does not have his /her hand on the pulse of the company. Just the profit margin. Few have any idea what some people in control places in the company are doing behind their backs. That is until something like this happens. If it was as bad as some seem to think, Pilot would go the way of Arrow Freight in Oklahoma City.. won't happen. I have spoke to NOT one driver that has been denied the rewards. Not one Owner Operator, so where is the problem? . The problem is The companies that did not get the rewards did nothing. They are as guilty at not reviewing their records and their billing depts need to be overhauled. This appears to be not a one sided problem.
In reality the accident was caused by Mr Flat bed that was not using due caution when driving on icy / snow covered roads. He there fore jackknifed due to excessive speed for conditions and in doing so blocked both lanes of the highway and in fact was the cause of the accident that Mr Doe had no control over. By Mr flatbeds lack of driving skills and poor visibility conditions caused by the crest of the hill Mr does is not responsible for the accident. Mr Flatbed is the one that should carry the blame. Mr Doe had already slowed and at the point near the top of the hill did see Mr flatbed blocking the road and was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting the flatbed that had blocked the road due to Mr Flatbeds lack of driving skills. Mr Doe had no reason to assume that there would be a road blockage on the road ahead of him other than due diligence, had shown due caution. No indication of speeding was noted. No violations were noted or found and no mechanical issues.. This was a combination of road conditions and in addition to the lack of driving skills on Mr Flatbeds part.
Freddy Flatbed should have had triangles or flares out in proper position. Mr Doe did slow down due to poor conditions due to snow or Mr flatbed would not have passed Doe at warp speed. His ability to see Mr Flat bed was limited by the crest of the hill. Evidently he did have some down hill speed but had to go slow up hill so too fast for conditions just doesn't fit. I don't agree with the decision based on the limited evidence presented.
Considering some of the industries poorly trained drivers we share the road with I imagine there will be more backing accidents. Parking spots for the most part are not set up for a 53 footer and a conventional tractor let alone adding nearly 5 more feet to the length of the trailer. I understand saving fuel is a major design and accomplishment for carriers . This tail fairing smacks of CARB influence. By the way Prime. Your not really setting an industry standard. Misilla Valley has had these for years.
Based on the diagram and the printed word Doe was in the right turn lane, then turned left. The bus driver hit doe's truck after doe checked to see if all was good to go. In my humble opinion he should have taken part of the left lane to avoid a vehicle invading the left lane taking his safety space away. Some left turn lanes require the button hook turn going left the same as going right.
David, it is written in the format and language that politicians and those at the FMCSA can grasp and understand it. The motive is GET THE TRUCKS mentality, So there is always going to be tilted information , graphs and studies against the trucks and truck drivers. If drivers would once again stand together and unite stuff like this would never happen.
All this tax will do is increase the cost of moving the goods across the country and it will eventually put many, far too many truckers out of business. Why.? Easy, the rates will not be able to off set the cost of the tax and the profit margin many owner operator have will disappear. One thing that the govt and these MIT people just don't have is common sense. Are they wanting to tax All diesel or just highway diesel for trucks?. CARB is an example of stupid at work. Look who came up with the figures and then lied about his credentials. Still CARB is using his figures and he is still working there at a high rate of pay. Revenue enhancement is the only reason for many of the regs now on the books . It is why skirting is on 53 foot trailers . low resistance tires .
When in the early to mid 70's many steel haulers from Michigan & Indiana used gas powered trucks to run doubles from Mich to Il . It saved them lot of money that stayed in their pocket. Then came a new tax levied on their gas due to being a commercial vehicle and the profit went down hill.
History is repeating it's self again. TAX is a tax no matter how it is implemented or arrived at. This does not sound like reduced spending to me.
An opinion was asked for based on the information presented. It seems that far too many here are assuming way too much and wanting to blame the driver with far fetched conditions, what if's and in the past and other non nonessential verbiage. . What happened to the dump truck is past tense. After the fact. Some of you need to reread the story again. Simply put. Read the story. Add nothing. Take nothing and base your decision on presented facts. Not hearsay, past experiences and what if's.
Randal ! I understand what you said but in reality it just doesn't happen like that. In this case the person that allowed the dump truck to become runaway is at fault more so than anyone else. Not the driver that tried to avoid the impact. We do not always get to see the oncoming vehicle in our lane for one or two miles. It usually is one or two seconds and that is the MAX time you have to make a decision. Some times the driver of the errant vehicle does something that puts you at a higher risk than you were earlier one second ago. The driver Doe did the right thing. He avoided a crash that could have resulted in a death. He minimized the damage. This is not a case with out snow or using drugs or being drunk. A scenario only.
As long as we are talking about insurance I have some info you may not like. If a person deliberately rams your car or runs you off the road and admits it to the cops and it goes into the report neither insurance company has to pay you for damages or replace you vehicle. This I found out when our niece was ran off the road and the woman that did it admitted to trying to kill her. I checked with the insurance company and was told neither one was going to pay. The insurance commission of OK told me that that is the way it is in EVERY insurance company. Can only be changed by legislation.
Ever notice the smoke from a train engine trying pull 100+ cars from a dead stop.? I have little use for Ca and try my hardest not to go there. I agree that CARB should be held accountable for any fire or accident due to their demands products they endorse be used with threat of large penalties if not used. The only way CA will get the message is for drivers to not go there. 80 % of the reefer business is O/O's but they are so close to loosing their trucks they won't shut down for 5 days. Trucking is no longer fun. The Knights of the road are a dying breed and soon a lost memory.
Witchdoctor, Until drivers stick together nothing will happen. Companies do not like to hire free thinkers because they wont stick around long. Drivers today are job scared and are afraid to say enough is enough. Companies have BS'd drivers into thinking that their company is the best and continue to allow themselves to be treated like under paid slaves. some dispatchers have down beaten some drivers into thinking that no none else will hire them and they believe it.
Come work for us and we will install a a Tri Pac and a inverter in the truck.
Unfortunately far too many drivers are not qualified to drive a truck and we have no choice but to share the road with them. Carriers talk about being family orientated but seldom ever demonstrate it in daily course of work. It is not all the carriers nor the drivers fault. We have this uncontrollable group called the FMCSA that is is doing every thing it can to destroy the free enterprise and trucking. CSA, FMCSA, and all this CARB crap with CA is not doing anything positive for trucking.
That would have been my decision too. He had a choice where to park and chose the lazy way out. .
Driver turnover.
You can reduce it but you can't eliminate it.
Some turnover is due to retirement or health issues and simply drivers that want to seek other avenues of employment..
The highest rate of turnover in my opinion is drivers leaving a due to not being happy . Low pay , no or little respect, no time home as promised. and poorly maintained equipment, What do carriers need to do to reduce turnover?
Not too difficult to do a few things.
One. Demand better qualified drivers from truck driving schools.
TWO . It is alright to have company uniforms. UPS does it, WAL-Mart does it and a few other carriers do it and they have low turnover.
Three. Treat your drivers like they are people not slaves. Treat them like they are family men and women. Many drivers are mothers and fathers that are trying to support their families.
If the carriers are not concerned about the life of their drivers they will have a very high turnover rate and wonder why. It cost thousands of dollars to replace a driver due to among other things , drug testing, transportation, personnel for orientation, motels, and training .
Trucking company managers, HR people and safety management. Require your drivers to be neat when at your customers and in your truck . They represent your company. It is not just the name on the door.They are your in person salesmen and women. Pants with the knees out, suggestive T shirts and just plain dirty is not the way to endear your customer to your company.. A dress code is not hard to implement. Drivers that refuse to go for the dress code you don't really need..
Maintain your equipment and cut corners elsewhere like your company car and credit cards for half of the office staff.
I see far too many company trucks with bald tires on the cab and trailer. Wouldn't pass an inspection anywhere. Is it cheaper to put your driver and your company at risk having the driver travel another 500 miles with your fingers crossed so your shop can install the tires to save a few dollars or spend the money on the road and be safe? The law suits resulting from an accident as a result of poor maintenance can put you out of business. Why do you risk it.? Is that driver driving your unsafe piece of equipment a good driver or just a means to an end for you.?
When a someone is looking for a company to drive for and sees your junk going down the road or in a Truck Stop you just lost a good safe driver..
It is not the drivers that are the reason for the turnover rate alone.
Quote (creating new processes to allow a driver to come home safely to his family and maybe save a life of an innocent when on the road.) Unquote
Again how is this going to happen. The EOBR will NOT stop speeding, it will NOT stop improper lane changes, it will NOT stop fatigue, It will NOT stop inattentiveness. It will NOT make drivers use turn signals properly. It will NOT make drivers pass safely. It will NOT slow them down in bad weather or fog. It will how ever take the thinking out of the drivers range of responsibilities. There will no longer be any reason for drivers to excel in their job. They will no longer take the time to help someone on the side of the road because they will not be able to make up the time . It will in fact cost lives that would otherwise be helped.They will be nothing less than a robot controlled by an electronic device called the EOBR. If the users of this EOBR were honest they would tell you it is for the benefit of business and not the driver. It is for control of the driver only. Few if any benefits for the driver..
NOW Rrumah or anyone else tell me again how it is going to make our highways safer.. Fact is it won't.
This device is for the uneducated, poorly trained driver that barely passed the driving school testing and is thrust upon us and we share the road with and the business that want it for control.
Unfortunately many of the reasons for being shut down the companies do not know about until something like an accident happens. For instance ,the Truck train accident in Nevada. Several killed including the driver. Check out the drivers history. 30 jobs in 10 years. License revoked twice and several accidents. The trailers he was pulling had many problems. Several Brakes not working . wires cut or missing on ABS and plastic ties hold some up. Did the company really know about this or did the drivers not fill out their PTI correctly or honestly and avoided telling the company of the problem? Unfortunately again when the Government gets an idea in it's collective heads NOTHING is going to sway them from their version of the truth no matter what.. They get school girl giddy when they shut down a business and put people out of work. Being safe or unsafe means nothing to them from a layman's point of view. Blame the driver when appropriate and then the company. The truth can be painful and the Govt doesn't like pain. Part of problem is that few of the so called experts and investigators are really qualified to do the job of investigating a serious accident. involving a commercial vehicle. Mr La Hood is the first on the list.
EOBRs are nothing more than a device to control the driver . An ankle bracelet to monitor the driver in his 6x7 ft cell going down the road. It does not make our highways safer by any stretch of the imagination. Trucking Companies are installing them because they are scared of the government and it's outlandish penalties and purported falsifications along with the CSA garbage laid on us by the unknowing beaurocrats. According to the government all mistakes are falsifications. BS. We are people not machines and the EOBRs are slowing, one step at a time turning drivers into robots.
If the EOBR's are such a great idea why is the Govt forcing it and why didn't the companies install them by choice long before now?
@Old Trucker Now Owner You make some very valid points. However they will never be considered by the talking heads in DC. It just does not fit their agenda to have any negative thoughts against their plan for control.
Giving the white house a chance to review it is like putting a bowl of ice cream in the sun and hoping it doesn't melt. A complete waste of energy and time. Tell me again how the EOBRs will make our highways safer. So far it is all gibberish and double talk. I see only two things beneficial to truckers. One is it will eliminate or greatly reduce the dispatchers from pushing the driver to run illegal or when unsafe.
Two. it will be a record of your driving time that is not doctored and is available to far too many to change to lessen the punishment if due.
No other benefits are there with the EOBRs.
Just an ankle bracelet to monitor you in your 6X7 cell driving down the road.