Interesting read...
An open letter to the federal DOT.
You try and try to make truck drivers safer. Yet every single one of your efforts have the opposite effect. Since you're too brain dead collectively to figure the problem out, let me tell you what's really happening. The truck driving industry has been in a horrible deficit for decades. Drivers are parking their trucks by the hundreds to get away from it. The days are gone of the career truck driver. Why? Because of YOU! You regulate the industry to death. You make unrealistic expectations of owner operators. The small businessman has no hope in staying afloat in your sea of regulations and taxes. All of the experienced drivers are either retiring early, or just quitting altogether. Young, green drivers get rushed through truck driving school and in 4 weeks, are turned loose on the roads. In just 6 weeks, THEY'RE the instructors, teaching brand new drivers! Really? I can't imagine why commercial vehicle accidents continue to rise every year. Now these new drivers see what it's like out here with the B.S. from dispatchers, and the State Troopers trying to fleece them for every infraction they can possibly get. So THEY leave the industry. The federal government has turned truck driving in to a profession with the same turn over rate as the fry chef at McDonald's. Now, to fill the void of drivers, you're toying with the idea of letting 16 year olds behind the wheel of a tractor trailer. DON'T BOTHER! I can already tell you how that's going to end. You want the industry to fill back up? Lighten the hell up on drivers and companies. We know when we're tired. Your 14 hour rule is the worst possible thing you could've implemented. My 4 hour nap counts as ON DUTY time? Are you on drugs, or just stupid? When was the last time you got paid for sleeping on the job? Find a way to lighten the B.S. regulations and let the experienced drivers stick around. The more you tighten the screws, the worse it will get. Remember that when the store you love to shop at has empty shelves. You'll only have yourselves to blame.
Feel free to share with your favorite congressman or DOT representative.