Letters to the Editor

I continue to be perplexed by May 10’s “Opinion” writer, David Dwinell. Call me old school, but I prefer my statements to be supported by facts.

About the two May 17 “rate setting” letters: It’s important for trucking companies to understand that we are the ones who set the rates.

I’m writing in response to the May 31 article “New U.S. Plan Leads to Surge in Hiring of Safety Specialists,” which discusses the push to hire safety professionals as carriers prepare for Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010.

Reading the May 24 “Opinion” column on how hard it would be for the smaller freight brokers to exist with a higher bond, my heart goes out to them, but my sympathies run with the trucking companies that use these brokers, small or large.

I agree with “Opinion” writer Paul Landry: There’s no question that safety is more important than money. As consumers, we need to do the same when it comes to setting priorities.

By now, everyone involved in trucking has experienced in some way a shortage of truck availability — and we’re only in the beginning of the second quarter. Transport Topics’ April 26 issue had a front-page story on fleet failures that quoted some interesting statistics: More than 7,100 carriers have been lost since the middle of 2008, with 730 failing during the first quarter of 2010.    

I noticed a letter in the April 26 issue where the writer was protesting the move to raise the property broker bond from the laughable $10,000 to a more responsible amount of at least $100,000.

This is not a question, just a comment: Transport Topics, I want to thank you for always keeping us in the trucking industry informed. However, I don’t know if I’m jealous or just sick of hearing just how good or bad one company or another is doing financially; if I want a financial report, I’ll call my broker.

Review of the 2007 generation of diesel engines has been a very hot topic this year. At the annual American Trucking Associations Technology & Maintenance Council meeting, I was one of the panelists asked to score the performance of the 2007 engines based on TransAm’s experiences.

Regarding electronic logs and Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, if they want to regulate this industry, they should just do it and make sure we get paid — and get us hourly and overtime pay.