Posted on 07/22/2008 5:38:39 PM PDT by hole_n_one
MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Truck drivers maneuver several tons of cargo down Michigan highways every minute.
A new study shows that hundreds of thousands of them shouldn't even be behind the wheel.
Right now about 600,000 commercial drivers suffer from conditions like diabetes and narcolepsy. They are conditions that qualify them for full disability benefits, because they can lead to serious issues like heart attacks, seizures and unconscious spells.
Some truck drivers say the reason so many of their peers slip through the cracks is that they find doctors who overlook those medical conditions so they can stay on the road.
"There's a place in Kalamazoo Michigan you go to and they're real thorough. Then there's a place across town and they get you in and out real quick," said one trucker.
Some people say the government needs to bump up their regulations to crack down on these dangerous drivers. Folks in the industry say that would just increase already outrageous trucking costs.
Congress plans to take some kind of action soon. The House Transportation Committee will hold oversight hearings this Thursday.
yeah, but it is alright to let in millions of Mexican truck drivers who can’t even pass an American exam. Wow, I guess we should get all these American truckers off the road and let mexican truckers on. They don’t have health problems!
No foolin’. I lived in Kalamazoo for a short time and I must’ve been to the industrial med doc thats the tough one. Some trucker—I guess he was close to 6’8” and 500 lbs.—came in and raised a hell of a ruckus about having to be there. Things were only aggravated by the landlady telling him he couldn’t park his tractor (apparently the only vehicle he owned) next to the building. Long story short, they had to call the cops to deal with this guy as he was menacing the receptionist, the doctor and the nurse carrying on about how he couldn’t do this or that and how truckers run America and other distractionary garbage..
Doc got me back to an examining room and apologized (He didn’t need to) and told me personally he felt that the gentleman was there for the “physical” and probably had some recreational substances in his system—the “difficult customer” routine was his way of getting out of it. or at least delaying it.
JM2B
Full disability benefits for diabetes?
There are millions more people who shouldn’t be behind the wheel of any car. A large portion of them suffer from rectal cranial inversion.
Am I mistaken (at least ours have to) or is
this the call of the wild spotted chicken little liberal
media?
Apparently.......
Disabled diabetes victims may collect full Social Security disability insurance benefits.
"Disabled" being the operative word.
It's being alleged, with a cooperative physician, that one can pass regardless of their physical condition.
You bring up an interesting point. If the Mexican drivers are healthier (and they might be, if the statistics in the AP article are correct), then it might be safer to have them on our roads despite the fact they don’t speak English.
well.who knows? mexican truck drivers are not checked by USA doctors,there trucks don,t get scrutinized like USA trucks,600,000 truckers is BS,,geeshh! the accidents with trucks are usually caused because of cars,it’s funny(not) how people get brainwashed into thinking a certain way. Lets just keep heading in the global,communistic way we are,don’t think!lets just stay in the living room,watching the tube(tube may mean monitor now adays)and don’t concern ourselves with the very real struggle for the American way of life,the battle to stop all core industries in America. Its scary to watch,and it’s sad.
There is a new drug for narcolepsy called “Provigal”, it is wonderful. Why can’t truckers use that?
Next?
Don’t forget that those Mexican trucks have been running across the border for months (well, if you include the buffer zone, for years), and the carnage has been in the millions.
I doubt very seriously if the Mexican drivers are healthier than American drives, it stands to reason they are not. So what is your point?
Why should it stand to reason? They probably eat healthier food, at minimum.
Several tons? This is another idiot that does not know what he is talking about..that is unless he considers over 50 tons several.
The maximum gross load for Michigan is 164,000 pounds.
I know, I hauled many a load of around 164 grand. And have had many a idiot take one look at me and pull out in front of me and then go about two city blocks and turn left. Of course, if the trrucker spills his load trying to avoid such a bastard, its the truckers fault.
Really? You actually think that. A country where cleanliness is almost unheard of and you think they would be healthier. For your information the current tomato scare was caused by Mexican fruit, not American, even though the FDA was hesitant to admit it. The Pepper scare going on right now is do to ONE Mexican pepper. So, how do you figure they are healthier than American truckers? What an a**hat.
Exactly right. DOT requires truck drivers to be examined at a minimum every 2 years now. If problems are found (such as high blood pressure), the examinations are more frequent. The number of crashes caused by physically unqualified drivers is statistically a very small percentage of the overall number of crashes. This is simply more liberal fear tactics. The safety benefit of a large new regulatory scheme does not outweigh the loss of productivity and freedom.
You got that right.
One of my sons is a long hauler...a truck driver can see down into a car and sees some amazing things - talking on a cell phone is bad enough - and prevalent. Then there's the putting on the makeup, sorting through and reading mail, text messaging, using a lap-top, feet up on the dashboard, etc.
And most haven't a clue about safe driving around a truck...If they're coming onto the freeway and see a truck, they want to get ahead of the truck, even if there's really not room - and expect the truck can quickly change lanes like a car, they tailgate without realizing that if they can't see the trucks mirrors, the truck can't see them. More than one driver has 'lost his head' but driving under a truck when the truck had to slow down for some condition ahead. That's just a couple of the mild stupid things drivers do around trucks.
Also, if someone in a car, expecting a truck can slow down like a car, jumps in too close in front of a big rig in traffic, that truck driver CANNOT, BY LAW, swerve to avoid running over their dumb as*...The reason being: to swerve a big rig can easily send it into other - innocent - drivers or jackknife and take a bunch of innocent drivers. He will then be faulted, and hauled off, right then and there. If you cause him/her to run over you, then they are not faulted.
There should be a section in driving school/driver license exam that cover driving safely around trucks.
BTW, if you bought it, a truck brought it. Since the gas crunch, 1,000 truck companies have folded. If the trucks don't run, your supermarkets are out of food in less that 2 days. That's just for starters.
The government will bail out the crooked banks and mortgages of people who bought way over their heads - but do nothing to help the trucking industry or the truckers, who are dropping like flies with the price of diesel, which is higher even that our gas - without which we would come to a screeching halt - didn't mean that as a pun.
Worth repeating!
That's all I'm saying . . . you're afraid of a trucker who can't speak English (and I think they all should, by the way), but you are willing to overlook the obese, diabetic, drug-abusing, narcoleptic in your rear-view mirror.
And the last I hear about the Mexican peppers (note plural), the FDA has tracked it down to either the source or the distribution point (in Texas, by the way).
But go ahead, think that the problem with truckers (and peppers) is in Mexico, if it makes you feel safer.
Do you have the .gif of the smiley drinking coffee and reading the paper? I could use that one.
Rude is on every open border thread continually, expressing no borders philosophy. He hasn’t complained. 60 posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 9:31:34 PM by itsahoot (We will have world government. The only question is whether by conquest or consent.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
American truckers loose their jobs to Mexicans no problem with 1rude(I love it when american workers loose their jobs so I can get my goods cheaper)boy
People have you pegged.
For the record, if anyone else actually cares, I know quite a few American truck drivers, and they are stand-up guys (and one stand-up gal). If anyone is looking for some 48' (independent) flatbed haulers in the Midwest, contact me privately and I can recommend some. Be prepared to hand over some personal information, because they are worth their weight in gold and I will not give names to some pussy looking for a fight on an internet bulletin board.
I also know some Teamster truck drivers. If, by chance, you find this thread kiss my ass.
Thanks, am452, I guess I am not alone after all.
Classic misdirection, to support your open border philosophy. The issue is not the health of Citizen truckers, but illegals working at slave wages.
Anyone that does not understand your position simply doesn't read your posts.
LOL!
Right now about 600,000 commercial drivers suffer from conditions like diabetes and narcolepsy.
I see that, including the headline, you couldn’t make it past the third sentence of this thread. You should check to see if your public library has one of those machines that read for the blind.
Before one person (only one!) could make that observation, the thread was misdirected (can I say that?) to a conversation about Mexico.
Then Mexico became the topic of conversation. Then it became the subject of this thread. The last part is the funniest.
You and Rude go to the same misdirection class?
I knew that quoting from the article might confuse you. LOL!
Take diabetic truckers on the road and put them on disability? Can’t they control their diabetes like the rest of the normal people do?
The angle of this story is nauseating—make more hard working people dependent!
Thank God for truckers!
Say, my picture might be in the Tribune in the next couple days. Some photog snapped it . . . I'll keep you posted.
Perfect.
In short, most of these people are gaming the system - cheating to collect disability. And yeah, some really are disabled - and those people have my support - but most of these "drivers" are cheaters, sucking Social Security dry.
Please don't waste the band width, you have no convincing arguments.
Refuting your confusion with a direct quote from the article is a non-answer? LOL!
You are the expert. <>
You’re the confused one. LOL!
This is an insult and a kick in the butt to all of us...
Get mad and pass it on - I don’t know how, but maybe some good will come of this travesty.
If the immigrant is over 65, they can apply for SSI and Medicaid and getmore than a woman on Social Security, who worked from 1944 until 2004.
She is only getting $791 per month because she was born in 1924 and there’s a ‘catch 22’.
It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890. Each can also obtain an additional $580 in social assistance, for a total of $2,470 a month.
This compares to a single pensioner, who after contributing to the growth and devel opment of America for 40 to 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.
Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!
Consider sending this to all your American friends, so we can all be ticked off and maybe get the refugees cut back to $1,012 and the pensioner s up to $2,470. Then we can enjoy some of the money we were forced to submit to the Government over the last 40 or 50 or 60 years.
Please forward to every American to expose what our elected politicianshave been doing over the past 11 years - to the over-taxed American.
I don’t think this should be allowed. I also think we need to seal the border and send the illegals back. But I still think you’re full of it. LOL!
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