Rules Of The Road

Today's Thoughts 9/5/11 Rules Of The Road

Rules Of The Road

I like the title that I picked for this one because as I think about what it is saying, what it actually means, I get a good laugh. I was watching some congressman on TV a few months back. He was standing there on his stump spouting off about one thing or another when he said something that really hit close to home for me. To know me is to understand why. I have been preaching for truck drivers to run safe and legal and about highway safety for a very long time now. So when this congressman said "There are so many laws in today's world that a person without their knowledge commits an average of three felonies a day".

Wow! What a statement to be made by the people that are supposed to be making the laws for our country. I wish I could remember just who it was but I'm getting to old and feeble to remember much past dinner time. But I do remember the essence of what he was saying, "so many laws".

But of course, that quote reminded me of another quote I heard years back on a radio show. I really should start writing these things down so I can remember who said them and give proper credit. I'll add that to my things to do list, if I can find it. But the quote for that day was this. "On the shelf up there on capitol hill, the rules and regulations regarding the driving of commercial motor vehicles, (trucks) take up almost nineteen feet of shelf space" So I'll throw in another "WOW" right about here. Can you imagine trying to follow all those rules and not breaking a one of them? That’s not all; no we are not finished just yet. That’s just at the federal level. Each state, each county, and city has a slew of their own individual rules and regulations that a truck driver has to follow.

I'm not done yet. The EPA loves to get their kicks in as do a multiple of other agencies with things like IFTA and other permits needed to be able to stay legal. And for the icing on the cake, every group, Tom, Dick, and Harry out there that is suing the government trying to force their version of how a truck should operate out on our nation's highways.

Have you ever looked back at a decision you made years ago and wonder "what the heck was I thinking"? Well, that's me. I thought I would be able to crawl into the cab of that truck and just live a nice quite life supporting my family and leave the office politics to those that like to deal with them. Boy was I wrong. The cab of that truck is so full of people telling me how and when to do everything including when I can stop and pee and if I do, I have to log it properly so Uncles Sam knows not only where I did it, but how long it took me to do it.

Now I have to ask you this. Remember that congressman that made that quote at the beginning of this chapter about so many laws and everyone being an unknowing felon. Was he right? I think so at least as far as the trucking industry is concerned. And my guess is it is also very true about driving a car.

In doing previous research for my earlier work, I had numerous opportunities to talk to different Law Enforcement Officers from all over the country. I was told more than once that there was no need to set up such things a speed traps as far as they were concerned. People in cars broke so many different laws in their everyday driving that they could wear out a ticket book a day and still have people to write up.

And I think that is true. So in today's world, as a truck driver, I have to remember and follow so many laws concerning how it is I'm supposed to drive between all the different entities that regulate me. And that’s just for my truck. I also have to know and understand the differences on how it is that the car will drive from state to state. What is legal and expected in Big City, New Jersey is not something I would expect a car to do in Little Town, Wyoming.

For those of you that have not figured this out yet, here's a little hint about this situation, "NOT" going to happen. All any of us can do is the best we can. That’s one of the biggest reasons for team work between total strangers out on the road. God himself would get a migraine headache trying to follow all those laws without missing a one of them. So we have to fall back to our own basic common sense, follow as many of the laws as we can, and help each other through team work to make sure we survive another trip out on the road.

Be safe peeps …

Jeff Head.
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