f e a t u r e s t o r y
OOIDA Leader on Border Controls, Size/Weight, Training, Hours of Service
Peter H. Rigney
Contributing EditorJim Johnston, outspoken president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA), is a former owner-operator who joined the crusade against high fuel prices in the 1970s. With prices skyrocketing, he and other truckers descended on Washington DC to demand change.While they got little action from Congress, Johnston returned to Kansas convinced of the need for an association that would speak for the small trucker. He helped found OOIDA in 1973, and today the organization claims nearly 40,000 members.
In those nearly 25 years OOIDA has fought for and won a truth-in-leasing regulation, partial rollback of the Highway Use Tax, prohibition of state income taxes on truckers who cross their borders and laws against drug sales at truckstops. Among its most significant victories: abolishment of the Tennessee public Service Commission, which OOIDA proved was abusing truckers; a $68 million settlement from Alabama for drivers and carriers for illegal fees, and a $7 million refund to truckers who had paid discriminatory Pennsylvania taxes and fees. Today, OOIDA’s issues involve the North American Free Trade Agreement, driver training needs, truck sizes and weights, and hours-of-service rules. Based in Grain Valley, MO, OOIDA offers truckers lobbying and legal services through a Washington DC law firm, along with other programs, including insurance and business practices. ‘Washington is out of touch with reality on this one,” said Jim Johnston of NAFTA. “Currently the law requires Mexican drivers to stay within 20 miles of the border cities in four states. Yet our members report Mexicans are driving all over the U.S.A., dropping off and picking up loads. Recently Officer Walker, of the Tucson Police Department Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, went on record saying, ‘We probably stop 30 to 40 of their trucks a month for safety violations.’
“A Mexican driver needs only a U.S. address to qualify for a base plate,” Johnston said. “The DOT is supposed to keep Mexican trucks in the commercial zones at the border cities, but claims they lack the manpower. The Arizona Department of Public Safety claims that only the federal government has the ability to enforce the commercial zone law.” Johnston says OOIDA’s concerns include jobs, safety and drugs. “This year the DEA, in two raids, seized 9 tons of cocaine, $18.3 million in cash and arrested 89 people,” he said. “The cocaine came through Mexico and was brought to New Jersey by truck. “DEA officers have been quoted saying they believe the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have made a deal to run drugs through Mexico into the U.S. “To answer this terrifying threat, our government offers rhetoric: ‘Texas just increased their border patrol by 22%.’ That means they added eight people to their staff of 38 to patrol a 1,000-mile border 24 hours a day. That’s ridiculous. “Once the Mexican driver can legally deliver in the U.S., the shipper and carrier will haul the freight north using a Mexican driver for the entire trip,” Johnston maintained. “He will also carry raw materials, such as steel, back to Mexico…for Mexican wages. Who will stop the Mexican driver from loading through brokers and running illegally throughout the U.S.? “In 1995 there were 151 motor carrier companies from Mexico that applied for authority to run across the border. In 1996, over 1,000 companies applied, and the safety inspection problem still hasn’t been resolved,” he said. DRIVER TRAINING
Johnston believes truck driver training should be required: “We spend a great deal of money on roadside enforcement and inspection of commercial vehicles. Yet we do nothing to make sure entry-level drivers are actually trained before they pull out on the road. We’ve been fighting to get a bill before Congress for mandatory training for entry-level drivers.” He said a DOT study of driver training programs, completed two years ago, found that the industry was not doing an adequate job with entry-level drivers. “The study,” he said, “sits at the DOT without recommendation to Congress for any action. “Motor carriers are opposed to mandatory training of entry-level drivers, believing it will increase costs. It is absurd that hairdressers are required by law to be trained before they can get licenses, yet truck drivers are not required to be trained before they can take 80,000 pounds of truck and cargo on the road.” SIZES & WEIGHTS
OOIDA is “categorically against” increasing size and weight limits, which, Johnston said, are being pushed by groups such as the Traffic Safety Alliance and Americans for Safe and Efficient Trucking. The former, he said, will not say who its members are, other than “members of the transportation industry.” The latter group, ASET, includes Schneider National, Dart Transit, CRST, Frito-Lay, the Beer Institute and Georgia Pacific, according to ASET spokesman Eric White. Johnston said ASET wants to add a sixth axle to tractor-trailer combinations and increase the load to 97,000 pounds gvw. He agrees that from the shipper’s standpoint, this would represent efficiency, “but from a driver’s viewpoint, ‘safe’ seems like a poor choice of words.” He discounts TSA arguments touting triple trailer safety: “TSA will claim Missouri, one of the 16 states represented on their charts, had only 10 triples accidents in 1995.” Johnston says what TSA omits from its argument is that Missouri only allows triples by permit, and then only within 20 miles of the Kansas border. He points to a report, Assessments of Triples Accident Rates, by R.D. Mingo and Assoc., which concludes: “The few states with adequate or marginally adequate travel data tend to show triples fatality rates well above the rates for passenger vehicles, or even above other heavy trucks.” Says Johnston: “We would like to see some flexibility on axle loading, to allow the driver to shift weight toward the tandem axle instead of carrying more weight on the steer axle. But 80,000 pounds should be the limit for an average nonpermit load. “I also believe permit loads should be nondivisible, not like the coil loads in Ohio that are running up to 109,000 pounds.” DRIVER FATIGUE
“We want to see flexibility built into the system to allow the driver to operate on his own body clock,” says Johnston. “With the 10-hour on duty, eight-hour off duty rule, the driver changes his or her sleeping pattern every day. That is not practical or safe. “OOIDA endorses hours-of-service regulations similar to those in Canada. On 15 total hours of duty, there would be 13 consecutive hours of driving time split by break time taken at the discretion of the driver. Also, at the discretion of the driver, the off-duty time should be allowed to be split, but with two hours minimum off-duty time, in order to count toward the mandatory rest period. “Where a cumulative on-duty time limitation is required, OOIDA would support a restart provision after any 24-hour off-duty period. “OOIDA hopes to gain the flexibility necessary for the driver to proceed home, or to service pickup points or delivery locations, when out of actual driving hours — provided these points are only a short distance from destinations, and as long as the 15 hours total on-duty time is not exceeded. “OOIDA also believes a toll-free, 24-hour hotline should be made available to drivers to report any pressure they receive from motor carrier, shipper or receiver personnel to violate their legal hours-of-service regulations, or to drive when they are fatigued or otherwise not in condition to safely operate their vehicle. Follow-up investigations should be conducted on all complaints, and guilty parties should be subjected to substantial penalties.” SPEED LIMITS
“My biggest concern is with the split speed limits,” said Johnston. “Anybody who has ever driven a truck knows ‘going with the flow’ is safe. On a two-lane highway, if the truck is limited to 55 and the passenger vehicle can travel at 65 or 70, the passenger vehicle will constantly try to pass the truck. Rear-end collisions will increase. “That’s exactly what happened in Texas, [which] had the highest traffic fatality increases of all. It is interesting to note their rear-end collisions in 1996 represented 21% of all their accidents, and most of their fatality accidents happened on two-lane highways.” He added that after California increased the car speed limit, its car-truck rear-end fatalities increased more than 35% in 1996. “Legislators do not drive trucks,” Johnston said. “Truck drivers are the people who get hit in the rear end while driving 55, [by] passenger vehicles doing 65 or 70. “We have taken a strong stand against split speed limits. We have taken a stand on increasing speed limits in states and parts of states where it is practical. As our membership increases, so does our voice in Washington DC, and in every state assembly. There is strength in numbers. And you need big numbers when you are taking on some of the giant organizations in and outside of this industry who don’t give a damn about any driver.” WHO IS OOIDA?
“We have members who own their own truck and drive for themselves as well as owner-operators leased to commercial carriers,” Johnston said. “Some members own small fleets. Some are company drivers. Anybody with a CDL can join OOIDA. “There are millions of drivers out there without any vote or contact in Washington. They watch their purchasing power decrease and get fleeced on permits, phony tickets, road taxes and hundreds of other ways to take money out of their wallets. “How many of them know the boys in Washington DC are getting ready to put trial tollbooths on three interstate highways? Pennsylvania is one of them, and they are targeting I-80. Bud Shuster, R-PA, is the one to watch in the Keystone state. His approach to get his bill passed will most likely come through the reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. “He wants to conduct a tollroad test for three years. We believe we already know the results of that test before they run it. Our members know whom to contact. We supply them with addresses and phone numbers of the people involved with this kind of legislation.