Posted on 03/09/2005 7:44:05 AM PST by TXBSAFH
16 hour workday...ain't gonna happen
Driving in a CRX is not nearly as taxing as driving a semi. If you've never driven one or ridden in one then you couldn't possibly understand the difference.
Holding semi truck drivers to a certain number of hours a day is not needless, pointless or hurtful. It's smart.
If WalMart wants 16 hour days then they can buy sleepers and employ team drivers. There's no reason the rest of us should be endangered to further improve their bottom line.
I'm not saying they're perfect, just way better than average.
Interesting stats, but I'm not sure what those stats have to do with this matter. SUVs probably result in a higher percentages of deaths then other cars, just cuz they tend to crush the other car with a greater force generated by their greater mass F=MA. Big transport trucks like the ones we are discussing have a large mass, are difficult to control, and have trouble stopping - so we would expect the statistics you site to be the case. Trucks and jeeps are more likely to flip and cause death. Motorcycles, I would guess, have the highest rate of driver death around (and prob high crash rate too). Should we outlaw all of these? Should everyone be forced to drive a government regulated, government produced car. Should our roads be like our public school system?
Maybe as a whole, but I have seen some borderline kamakazi's on the Houston freeways. But in fairness, I rack up a lot of miles on the freeways.
I would not drive cross country in a CRX on a bet. You can't be serious.
By the way, the 14 hour window that is now in effect started when:
LAST YEAR
Before that, there was no window to complete the 10 hours
maximum driving allowable in a day.
Maybe that's because the DOT has reduced over the last few years the hours of service that a trucker can work. And lets not forget that advent of GPD's that can tell an employer whether its driver is working more hours than allowed by law or pushing the speed limit.
I can't be serious? Are you actually going to compare driving a car to driving a semi and then say that I can't be serious?
"Before that, there was no window to complete the 10 hours
maximum driving allowable in a day."
Right, and they weren't ever required to be off for a straight 8 hours or anything like that were they?
That is an interesting take on it, but consider this: Should companies be permitted to offer contracts which stipulate that the driver drive drunk? Sure, if that happened you could pin it all on the drivers, they weren't forced to take the contract... but highway deaths would skyrocket, and I, for one, wouldn't do any driving.
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lol - This is probably a question for a lawyer. Obviously, its just a theoretical, hypothetical cuz any company that did this would no doubt go out of business quite quickly, first from the added expense, second from their loss of business if it became known, and third I bet their insurance companies would have a cow. I bet most drivers would take the extra money and just falsify their books like their currently do anyway! Perhaps swilling and spitting a little gin before picking up their checks :)
but, I think the law is that if you pay someone to break a law then you are liable - ex hired murder. If the law is changed so that no law is broken - if a trucker is paid to drive 18 hours - then any negligence on the part of the trucker, I would think, would only lie with the trucker.
I'd be interested to hear from a lawyer if this analysis is correct...
I was thinking the same thing. I get up before 6 a.m. everyday and rarely get to bed before 10 p.m. and except when I'm really fortunate and can read or rent a movie, it's constant work - commute - job - dinner - chores - carting the kid around or whatever. 16 hours is nothing. However, I certainly don't want truckers that are tired.
Cheap offshore merch has no conscience. Sadly judging by a few posts in this thread, neither do the people who crave them.
You could work 10 hours then you needed to take at least 8 consecutive hours
off. Basic stuff. Now a driver must take 10 consecutive hours
off. There is still the maximum set allowance of 70 hours driving
in an 8 day period. The 16 hour workday only opens the window (by 2 hours)
for the completion of the 11 hour maximum driving day.
Trucks of today are not what the were years ago. They are more drivable and comfortable
than most cars. They have to be.
They may be more driveable and comfortable but they still don't compare to the ride in a car and they never will even air shocks can only do so much.
"There is still the maximum set allowance of 70 hours driving
in an 8 day period. The 16 hour workday only opens the window (by 2 hours)
for the completion of the 11 hour maximum driving day."
And that will stop them from running double sets of log books how? It won't, if anything it will encourage further abuse of the current system. When you get paid by the mile every minute the truck isn't eating miles costs you.
No thanks, WalMart can suck it up and deal with it.
Yeah, the DOT safety rules. Thanks for jogging my memory. Years ago, I knew a neighbor whose husband drove big rigs. You have to keep logs proving that you only drive for so many hours at a stretch. He was trying to figure out how to fudge the figures to make his boss happy, but not get caught.
This is just going to be great :(
I beg to differ..
And that will stop them from running double sets of log books how?
Fuel receipts are used to confirm log book entries.
Now scale crossings are computerized and therefor DOT can see
if a truck went from Kansas City to Seattle in 24 hours.
The fine for this is very large. Granted, some trucking companies push drivers.
But the majority find it uneconomical for a myriad of reasons not
to run compliant. It simply is not worth it.
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