Big Trucks And Cell Phones

Today's Thoughts 9/16/11 Big Trucks And Cell Phones

Let's see here now. The directions say "Step One, draw circle on the wall about the height of your forehead". Ok, easy enough. "Step Two, Draw a "X" in the middle of the circle". That's done, now what's next? "Step Three, repeat banging forehead on the "X" until government thinking actually makes sense". WOW. I'll be back in about a week folks. Why so long? Because if they think taking away one of the greatest safety tools a trucker has like the cell phone is going to make the highway safer, then it's going to take a week of me banging that "X" before I can understand why.

Once again they are back to pushing this issue. Ban cell phones from big trucks so we can save everyone from the killer truck drivers once again. Well, let's talk about that just a little bit today. Let's see if in reality the banning of cell phones will actually make a trucker safer on the highway. I think first we have to know what a trucker uses his phone for. I like to write from my personal experiences so let's go with a couple of things I have used my cell phone for while driving my truck. A couple of years back when the drunk driver of a car was running everyone off the road, I used it to call 911 and talked to the police dispatcher until a patrol car arrived and did his thing. Thinking I might have saved one life there.

A few months ago when the driver of an eighteen wheeler was all over the road I made another call. Another police officer arrived and once again a cell phone call from an eighteen wheeler may have saved another life. A call to the fire department while following a burning truck that was driving down the road was a cool thing. Let me see, I drove my first truck back in nineteen eighty. Do you really want me to go on with a list of how many times I've used that cell phone out on the open highway to save a life? Just a few short years ago congress was giving out grants to Highway Watch because they knew the value of the trucking industry traveling millions of miles across this country every year. That these truck drivers with phones actually were not only defending our nation along side of Homeland security but were saving lives every day as we picked up the phone and reported things that needed reporting ASAP. Not miles and minutes down the road. People die in seconds. Millions of truck drivers with cell phones save more lives than they will ever cause in deaths. The only problem with that last statement is the fact that it is not politically correct. Politicians cannot buy votes with the truth. It's up to you to look past them and learn the truth for yourself.

So let's swap gears here and see what else will happen if they ban cell phones from big trucks. The first thing for me being that I'm a big believer in running safe and legal is the fact that I will go broke. I'll be forced to choose between answering that phone and taking that load or letting it ring and the agent calling the next driver and giving it to them because they answered the phone. Face the facts here. I'm a small business owner. Ask yourself, what small business can stay in business if they do not answer the phone when customers call? The plain fact is that if they pass this into law, no truck driver that demands to run as safe and legal as they can will be able to compete against truck drivers that will simply ignore the law and answer the phone. Again, instead of supporting the good guys, they just force more regulations on us that bankrupt us if we try to follow the law. What they will in fact do here is support the renegades of the trucking industry. Ok, so let's move on.

Ok, let's say the law has passed. I need a load. Normal business hours are from eight in the morning to around five at night. In today's economy I can spend up to a week looking for a load. That means that while I'm traveling west to California, I have about four business days that I need to be moving that truck to make the delivery. With the new cell phone ban, I cannot move that truck during normal business hours while I look for a load. So to keep myself within the law, I will be parked where it's nice and safe and wait until business hours are over so I do not miss a two minute call. Missing that call could cost me a week's worth of sitting while looking for another load.

Now that I have sat all day instead of driving, I still have a delivery appointment to be made out in California. Let's talk reality. After being up all day sitting on the side, I now have to drive all night if I want to stay in business. Reality is that if I do not make my delivery appointment, next load goes to a driver that will. That’s reality. If you take away my ability to make enough money in a reasonable amount of time so I can keep myself operating in a safe mode, then what will happen is a renegade that cares nothing for the law or safety will replace me. Freight is going to be moved by those truckers that can get the job done, period. You can pass rules and regulations out the ying yang and not a one of them will make a difference when it comes time for a shipper to decide which truck to use. The truck that gets the job done despite whatever gets in the way is the truck that will be called the next time a load needs to be moved. Banning cell phones from safe and legal drivers means nothing to the renegade. It's just another law that they will not allow to get in their way. So let's look at it another way.

Let's do a little experiment. A truck driver drives somewhere around one hundred and twenty thousand miles a year over the road. We are allowed to work a seventy hour work week so up to about sixty hours a week is spent behind the wheel. We do this for about fifty weeks out of the year. Sit down in front of your TV and tune it to a station with just white fuzz. Sit on a stool in front of it for ten hours a day for six days straight. Every now and then take a glance at the door to your left and then the window to your right. Basically though, just sit on that stool with absolutely nothing to distract you and watch that TV. Now do this over a thirty year career. Just like a prisoner confined for an extended length of time, you will soon fond yourself going completely bonkers. Try it again but this time with a phone to keep you alert and awake. See the difference?

Now just like the part of the studies that have been done on this subject say but the government will not tell you, truck drivers that use the cell phone in a safe and proper way are safer then truck drivers that do not follow safe phone practices. To fix the problem government has decided to punish safe and legal drivers while they allow the renegades to flourish and take over the industry. Once again the government refuses to listen to our calls for not only a better standard of training for drivers but a better standard for who can become a driver. They choose to pander for your votes by making you think they are promoting safer highways and saving you from killer trucks rather than fix the problem. In short, your vote matters, your death will be used to buy more votes. grrrrr.   I really do not like having to write that last line. The truth sucks sometimes. Be smarter than your government. Tell them to leave the greatest safety tool since sliced bread alone where it should be. That’s being used as a safety tool behind the wheel of a big truck.

Be safe peeps …

Jeff Head.
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