Who's To Blame?

Today's Thoughts 5/25/11 Who's To Blame?

It always amazes me how people look at things. I guess if truth be known I probably amaze the heck out of a few people with the way I look at things sometimes myself. But thats just the nature of being human like we are I guess. There are as you know two sides at least to every subject and the subject for today is of a recent letter sent in to the powers that be about bringing shippers and receivers under the control of the FMCSA. If I understand the argument for this, it's supposed to force them to be more concerned about such things as driver detention and forced free labor for unloading and I guess a whole host of other things as well.

I get this. I really do. What I don't get is why we would want the government to step in and fix things that we can fix ourselves. When that company orders a truck and we agree to go in and pick up that load. We as an owner/operator or a driver agree to do it for a certain amount of pay. If that pay does not cover your cost then the next time raise your rates or demand higher pay before you go back to that dock. OK. OK. I can see a whole bunch of jumping and screaming going on and I'm real sorry if I got your heart rate up. It's just the way I see it. It's simple. If I as a business owner have an unending supply of people willing to make me rich at their expense, then I would like to offer you my gratitude. Thanks for the free service.

And thats the way it's been done for as long as I can remember in this business. Companies doing as they please and if you do not like it, next driver please. There is an unending supply of drivers and trucks willing to do what it takes to keep their freight rolling. Right into bankruptcy or a fatal wreck some times, but the fact is that these companies know it. So go ahead and make your stand. Learn to love cat food.

So being that I have already brought up the subjects of cats, there is in my opinion more than one way to skin them. Government has way to much control over our lives now and the last thing I want is for them to get involved in even more of our lives especially when it pertains to trucking. So I fall on the side of this issue like this.

It's a fact that the decisions they make on those docks directly dictate how it is we operate our trucks. From the dispatchers at our own company to anyone along the line that has anything to do with how and when we finally move. That they be made just as legally responsible for what happens out on that highway trying to deliver a load that we, as drivers, were forced to run in an unsafe fashion to make that delivery. Let's face it, if we wont do it, the next driver will and they know it. Why should we be the only ones held responsible when we had the least to do with the decision making part of it.

Look at it this way. They set the pickup times. They set the delivery times. They take into consideration nothing about weather or traffic conditions. No concern for parking issues. If we are able to eat, get a shower, or proper rest. They have complete control over our lives but none of the responsibilities for what happen out on that highway because they screwed around and left us in a bind. They use the cheapest truck possible making it imposable to haul freight that pays what it needs to pay so we can keep our trucks in safe repair. They in my opinion have more control over what happens to my truck then I do. Yet they shoulder none of the responsibility when something happens along the way because we cannot take the time to be safe.

I've often said that what we have now is the government forcing us the privates of the trucking industry, through laws and regulations to tell the generals of our industry, or the shippers and receivers, how it is that they are going to do business. I'd like to see some driver walk in and explain to old Donald Trump just how it is he is going to run his show. It just is not going to happen.

Now, you make that guy on the dock just as liable as you are for that death out on the highway. They were the ones that put you to where you were forced to run in an unsafe and illegal fashion. My guess would be that those trucks would move just a little bit faster. I think it would surprise you just how nifty they would become when their butts are one the line just like yours. And just how much all of the sudden that they really do know about the rules and regulations that we as truck drivers have to follow. And if I understand this right, there are already a few countries out there that go by this policy. So it's nothing new.

Well, that's it for me today. I've been sitting in this truck for way to long and the rain has finally stopped.  Thinking it will be a good time to take a long walk before it gets hot again. Everyone be safe out there.

Jeff Head.
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