Letters to the Editor: Longer Trucks, Databases, Training

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b>LONGER TRUCKS

While reading your article on longer and heavier truck limits, I was struck by the reference to the capacity shortage now facing the industry and, as result, the country. (Click here for previous article.)

I think everyone might want to look at this problem in a slightly different light.

Our industry is the single most important component of the U.S. economy. In fact, truck transportation is the most important single segment of any economy. In the aftermath of 9/11, when every aircraft in the country was grounded and we all dealt with the shock of what had happened, the trucks kept rolling and kept this country supplied.

What bothers me is that our industry is so denigrated, so vilified. Any accident involving a truck immediately brings calls for more restrictions. Even the combination of an expanding economy, rocketing fuel prices and capacity shortages has not served to push rates very much higher. Truck drivers are often portrayed as less than human, or as ill-mannered and uneducated.

If transportation rates would reflect the real cost of operating a truck, there inevitably would be more trucks on the road. If rates were higher, drivers could be paid more and we would not have the current shortage of drivers.

Bigger, heavier trucks will not solve the problem. Most carriers will rationalize some way to reduce rates to their customers, arguing that the economies realized should be passed on.

Instead, carriers should concentrate on raising their rates to improve their rates of return and to try to improve the lives of their drivers.

There is a reason that Wall Street values stocks in the trucking industry so poorly. Heck, maybe it’s time to re-institute the rate bureaus and get some sanity back into this industry.

George Imperatore

i>Vice President

ld River Services LLC

iver Vale, N.J.

When I was an over-the-road driver, 53-foot trailers were more than long enough to get around in small towns and so forth. Unloading a floor load by hand is bad enough, but to add 4 feet more to the trailer length is totally stupid.

It’s just like when they went to 53 feet — they used the same story.

ore weight and longer trailers are bad for the roads and the drivers. Please fight this for the safety of drivers. Trying to get a 57-foot trailer around the East Coast streets will be a nightmare.

If they go to that trailer length, then they will want 62 feet. The freight will still be cheap and a problem for drivers.

Trucking companies need to think of drivers first, or the shippers will be sitting there wondering how to deliver it without drivers.

Jerry Schulze

i>Former Over-the-Road Driver

vansville, Ind.

TEST RESULTS

In reference to the TTNews.com article about the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association’s push for a statewide database that would compile employer records on drivers’ drug test results: This is an idea whose time has come.

Motor carriers can and do check past employment, and actually the response from transportation groups is generally quite good. What we cannot report, nor can they, are the positives on pre-employment drug screens. This is the area where the states can be most proactive.

Positive drug tests recorded for (a) pre-employment, (b) random screening, (c) post-accident and (d) other reasons, such as reasonable suspicion, in my opinion, should be reported to a higher authority.

In numerous discussions with our medical review officer, not only are positives as a percentile gaining, the drugs of choice are showing an increase from marijuana to the harder substances.

The states can be a proactive force in getting these drivers off the streets. Pre-employment drug screens are a hidden opportunity, and this can be addressed only at the state or federal level for total compliance.

H. John Ferenczi

i>Director, Safety and Risk

anagement

id-States Express Inc.

ichigan City, Ind.

We need to have positive drug and alcohol test results noted on a driver’s commercial driver license record, regardless of the state.

An applicant for a job with a motor carrier who tests positive on a pre-employment test does not have to disclose the results to anyone. The applicant can go to another motor carrier and does not have to disclose the name of the motor carrier he tested positive for, since he was not employed by the motor carrier.

By requiring that all positive drug tests be noted on the driver’s CDL, each motor carrier that wants to hire the driver would have the information to make an informed hiring decision.

Richard Yandle

i>Risk Manager

ce Transportation Inc.

afayette, La.

TRAINING 4-WHEELERS

More information and training needs to be given to private-

assenger drivers during the testing phase of their licensing to better educate them about driving on highways with trucks.

We see a lot of training in our business for the many truckers we insure and always hear about their extensive training on a continuous basis. However, on the private-passenger side, no further training or testing is required for drivers once they have their licenses.

In summary, maybe mandatory retesting/training of driving skills should be made a condition for maintaining a regular driver license in one’s respective state.

Geoffrey S. Bliss

i>Producer

reat Lakes Insurance

rie, Pa.

These letters appear in the April 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.