Big, Bad Truckers
Thank you for the article in HDT, (Ollie Patton's Washington Report) April 2002, regarding automobile drivers and the real numbers regarding accidents.
It's high time someone focused on something besides the Big Bad Truckers.
Yet, it is information not new to those of us involved in daily trucking, or even any sane person who travels any highway regularly.
The number of cars operating erratically drastically outnumbers the unsafe truckers.
And, just imagine how much more congested the roads would be if we didn't have those rat chasers, the railroads, transporting all those containers.
The automobile public does not have a clue what really goes on 24-7 on the big roads, nor how it would impact their lives if for only one day, all truck traffic stopped
This certainly is not to say there is no room for improvement amongst truckers, but a more immediate and national need is a refresher course for automobile drivers of all ages, concentrating on the real world of driving, once you leave your driveway!
Sam Highers
Sanders Truck Transportation,
Augusta, Ga.
Couldn't agree with you more — especially about teaching car drivers how to drive! The AAA Foundation, which conducted that study, tells me it is getting close to putting the info to work in education programs. Every little bit helps. Thanks for your note.
—Oliver B. Patton,
Washington Editor
Backward Business
Your "Clean Air: Who Pays?" (Deborah Whistler Editorial, June HDT, page 10) column was very good and reaches far beyond simple EGR engines; the backward nature of trucking as a business (where the customer dictates the terms) is further eroding a weak industry. (Imagine going to a local retailer, loading up your grocery basket, and at the check-out stand telling the cashier what you're going to pay for it all!)
"Significant increases in freight rates" is right! Typical increases of five cents per mile is a drop in the bucket compared with what we NEED as an industry to make what can only be called a "reasonable profit."
Trucking can be as regimented and safe as any industry, with proper funding. In many ways, the public and shipping community are getting what they are paying for; razor thin margins yield razor thin on-time results and marginal performance in other areas. The wheels must roll continuously or expenses aren't covered. This sad fact cuts down on time available for training, and eliminates "arriving early" in many cases.
If you can get this message out to those who will make a difference and get some results you will have done a great deal toward healing a troubled industry.
Danny R. Schnautz
Clark Freight Lines Inc.
Pasadena, Texas
P.S.: The EGR engine guide in this issue was great, and the Hotline is always good.
Fuzzy Logic
I just read your June editorial in (Deborah Whistler, page 10). You're wrong in saying that the cost of new EPA engine mandates isn't being passed on to the public.
"The public" includes not only consumers, wholesalers and retailers, but also trucking company owners, stockholders, managers, drivers and other employees.
"The public" is paying, all right, but the marketplace is ensuring that the initial impact isn't very equitably spread across the economy. Eventually, these costs trickle down to all of us who use trucked products.
Using a Corvette as a benchmark for inflation isn't very convincing. How do truck price increases compare to CPI over the same period? The cost of an office desktop computer? Steel? Fuel? Housing? Trailers?
You have a good point to make, but I think you've obscured it with some fuzzy logic.
Don Thomson
Enough Already
This is the first I've ever replied to an editorial about anything... But .... enough already. Regarding Deborah Whistler's Editorial in the May issue of HDT:
• All Hazmat drivers pass a strict background check. Why?
• Fingerprinted to prove their identity. Why?
• Have their records checked by the FBI and possibly the INS. Why?
• ATA and NTTC actively supporting universal background checks. Why?
• Drivers will have to go to the local police station to be fingerprinted. Why?
• Drivers can expect the clearance process to take up to two months. Why?
• The expense, as much as $75. Why?
If I recall correctly in both the first World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing, the vehicle of choice for delivering the explosive devices was a U-Haul, Hertz, etc., small rental truck-van. Which can be rented at almost any gas station or rental agency in the country, without even having to produce a CDL, let alone go through "extensive" background checks, fingerprinting, or wait up to two months for this "extensive" process to be completed.
Regarding getting stopped by any number of federal, state, or local constabulary because you are carrying a hazmat load... properly identified we presume, or why would the truck be stopped in the first place? Are we to assume that some terrorist delivering an explosive device is going to properly placard that vehicle?
I see no way any of the above mentioned steps will in any way even slightly deter someone bent on destruction. But I'll bet they are right about the projected $75 out of my pocket expense for this latest attempt at securing peace of mind for Joe Average without really doing anything to address the real problem... insane immigration laws.
Thanks for your time, and for HDT.
Bill Ott
Harrisburg, Pa.
