Luckiest Idiot In The World

I don't normally put You Tube movies on here but this one was pretty special. In the video a driver actually threads a needle by running a red light and makes it thru the intersection unscathed.

What is CSA 2010? More Intrusion by the Federal Government

Rumors abound regarding the DOT's CSA 2010 program. The "Comprehensive Safety Analysis" is only in a test phase in six states and may be implemented nationwide near the end of the summer in 2010.

SafeStat, short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System, is the present automated data-driven system that calculates the safety fitness on motor carriers.
CSA 2010 will replace SafeStat with a new Safety Measurement System (SMS), that will attempt to measure the previous two years of roadside violations and crash data. Both the driver and carrier safety performances are set to be monitored under this program.

The following is an excerpt from the DOT website that defines their mission statement.
"Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative designed to provide motor carriers and drivers with attention from FMCSA and state partners about their potential safety problems with an ultimate goal of achieving a greater reduction in large truck and bus crashes, injuries, and fatalities."

It has been reported that approximately one hundred fatalities occur each day in America's Interstate and Highway system. How more or new and improved bureaucracy and regulations will reduce this number is simply ludicrous. The transportation industry is over regulated and in dire straights with the sagging economic conditions that exsist.

The present laws are not being enforced by law enforcement nor being followed by several transportation companies. Increased rule making is nothing more than a repeated attempt at trying to control the masses in an industry that cannot be controlled with the present enforcement manpower made available today.

CSA 2010 is a far reaching application to attempt to connect the dots and then magically the roads and by-ways will be accident free. The only good thing I have seen about CSA 2010 is the professional driver is not having to pay any increased fees.

This is another example of our Federal government expanding rather than contracting and being more invasive in private industries and private lives.

Report Source(s):
http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SafeStat/safestatmain.asp
http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/

Ego or Preparation?

This photo was provided with a bit of humor. The contents dictate that Obama is already the 44th President of the United States. Sometimes I get a bit behind. Did I forget to vote? Did McCain concede? I guess I need to stay more current with political events. Oh yea... The picture was taken November 2nd, 2008 at 2025 HRS-CST

Road Drivers Hold Harmless Agreement

From the RD News Desk
A Road Driver's Hold Harmless? A wonderful tool to have in your briefcase when a dispatcher directs you to run an illegal load.

Any Road Driver that has been on the job for a decent length of time has been dispatched an illegal load or two. Some Road Drivers do it on a weekly basis without concern of their own welfare. Some Driver's refuse to run an illegal load. If the worst scenario were to occur and the Road Driver were jailed for a criminal offense, it's the Driver that is prosecuted, not his employer. It's happened before and it will happen again.

Jim Larsen, a Yellow Transportation Safety Supervisor recently reported the "MCMIS Carrier Profile for YRCW Operating Companies" The purpose of the report was to list out by company under the YRCW umbrella the top five violations of each company. Yellow Transportations top violation was overweight loads. This accounted for 19.96% of Yellow's violations during the period of 11/21/2006 and 11/20/2007.

The 19.96% may be a drop in the bucket, however during the holiday travel and winter weather, more accidents occur. If an incident occurred while going down the road with an over weight load, resulting in harm to a family off to see Grandma, the Road Driver is subject to being jailed. One of the first things law enforcement will do when investigating a fatality is check for FMCSA violations.

So with that in mind, when confronted with a testy dispatcher that refuses to scale a load, have them sign this document. Here at Road Drivers Weekly News, we assure you management won't sign the document. Perhaps however, the dispatcher might think twice and have the load corrected of it's violation(s).

Report Source(s):
http://www.roaddrivers.org/indemnity_agreement.htm

Paul Raises Millions in 24-Hour Effort

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul's supporters were hoping Sunday for another fundraising bonanza to boost the 10-term Texas congressman's campaign for the White House.
Called a "Money Bomb," the goal is to raise as much money as possible on the Internet in one day. The campaign's previous fundraiser brought in $4.2 million.

As of 5:30 p.m. EST, donations were approaching $4 million, according to the campaign Web site. Those donations are processed credit card receipts, said Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton. Benton said the median donation is about $50 in the fundraiser, which was the idea of Paul supporters who are not officially connected to the campaign.

Trevor Lyman, a Paul supporter who is traveling the country following the Ron Paul blimp, said the date of the fundraiser coincides with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
The Ron Paul blimp is an aerial billboard emblazoned on one side with "Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul." The other side reads "Ron Paul Revolution." The blimp, another grass-roots effort, was in Chester, S.C., on Sunday, and organizers hope to get it to New Hampshire before the Jan. 8 primary there.

Pension Tension Article Creating Concern

John Gallager of Traffic World magazine reported the growing interest of LTL CEO's to opting out of the Teamster pension fund. PIonline.Com reported that United Parcel Service of America Inc., Atlanta, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, would create a joint UPS-Teamster pension plan “to cover full-time UPS employees who currently obtain their pension benefits from” the $20.7 billion Teamsters Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, based in Rosemont, Ill. Read the report

Oklahoma House Bill 1804

Illegal immigration; creating the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 by Randy Terrell, OK. House of Representatives.

The State of Oklahoma finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged by public agencies within this state that provide public benefits without verifying immigration status. The State of Oklahoma further finds that illegal immigrants have been harbored and sheltered in this state and encouraged to reside in this state through the issuance of identification cards that are issued without verifying immigration status, and that these practices impede and obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law, undermine the security of our borders, and impermissibly restrict the privileges and immunities of the citizens of Oklahoma.

Therefore, the people of the State of Oklahoma declare that it is a compelling public interest of this state to discourage illegal immigration by requiring all agencies within this state to fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The State of Oklahoma also finds that other measures are necessary to ensure the integrity of various governmental programs and services.

Yellow Transportation January 2007 MRCOO

On November 21st, A Labor Relations Vice President with Yellow Transportation issued a request for a Multi Region Change of Operations (MRCOO) be docketed for hearing at the Eastern Region Joint Area meetings the week of January 22, 2007 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The introduction letter indicates the proposed Change of Operations will not alter any method of road dispatch currently in effect or as a result of any other approved Change of Operations or agreements, unless referenced in the proposed Change of Operations filing. View the COO