Letters to the Editor

I have been reading a lot about CSA 2010 and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s attempt to eliminate bad carriers. There also is talk about preventing carriers that have had their operating authority revoked from returning as new carriers.

I recently had the opportunity to make an informal survey on in-cab distractions. I have been restoring an old Willys Utility Wagon, and I wanted to see if I could find a couple of leather bucket seats for it. I went to a local junkyard, and they told me to walk around and look in the vehicles and see if I could find a pair that I liked.

I am writing in response to the letter with the opinion about telemarketers, which was published in the March 8 edition. As national sales manager for a third-party logistics provider, I would like the opportunity to counter some of the points the letter writer made and give a sales perspective to this issue.

I recently started receiving Transport Topics and was especially interested in what you had to say the Feb. 22 p. 1 story, “Transportation Firms Must Improve Recruiting to Satisfy Customers’ Desires, Leaders Say.”

Numerous national health and safety organizations have come together to petition and support the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s regulation to ban cell-phone use in commercial vehicles.

Who is paying the legal costs for the Port of Los Angeles to pursue the “employee only” model? How much taxpayer money is being wasted on a lost cause that has been reviewed and re-reviewed in the courts?

Iowa’s trucking industry lost a dear friend and valued leader this past week. John Ruan was one of the three founders of the Iowa Motor Truck Association.

The letter from [an official] of Road Safe America that appeared in the Feb. 1 edition contained a number of misstatements and misunderstandings.

Regarding the letter with the headline “EOBRs Revisited,” there was a very interesting guest commentary about electronic onboard recorders recently in another publication, in which the author claimed only 2% of crashes occur after more than 10 hours of driving time.

In questions of safety, heavier trucks are not the answer.