(05-23-2016 04:54 PM)john01992 Wrote: the money is there ONLY in the context of the dems removing a spending program they want and republicans don't want. it's a typical republican tactic of saying "fair is that I get what I want at your expense in exchange for us agreeing to a common sense piece of legislation."
certainly an unusual definition of "fair." plus I love how you ignore the trucking regulations fiasco.
the republicans are playing party politics with freaking zika. nothing more nothing less. same group who did this with hurricane sandy relief, and the 9/11 first responders. and yet yall keep defending this crap
I'll jump in on the trucking 'fiasco' as you call it since I ran a trucking company for 15 years that specialized in oversize and supersize loads.
Roughly 10% of accidents involve a tractor trailer.
Driver related factors (fatigue) was only a factor in 55% of fatal accidents, compared to 72% of fatal accidents involving only passenger vehicles.
Passenger vehicles are at fault in nearly 70% of all fatal accidents involving a tractor trailer.
Figures for fault in non-fatal accidents are too hard to establish since most insurance companies will settle out of court for anywhere from 10-50k without even requiring proof of fault.
(I had a truck on the Cross Bronx in stop and go traffic being followed by a ny state trooper that was deliberately run into by a minivan at a low rate of speed. The driver of the minivan lay in the middle of the road and feigned neck injuries, The trooper's report clearly stated that individual was not injured and was 100% at fault. My insurance company paid out $25000 the day after the driver of the minivan filed a lawsuit. Another accident in NC where a driver ran a stop sign and T-boned a truck of mine was settled out of court for $10000 despite the driver not having any insurance or license. I received nothing for the damage to the truck in either case.) In 1998 when I started, insurance ran $8000 per year per truck for liability only. When I go out in 2013 it ran over $14000 per year per truck for liability only. In all in 2013 I was paying nearly $18000 per year per truck for liability, physical damage, and cargo insurance.
All stats (except my insurance costs) available from federal motor carrier websites.
The biggest issue with hours is that many truck drivers run routes that cannot be driven efficiently in the time allotted under current regulations. The 80 hour per week figure in the article is not driving time, but on-duty time that includes required daily prechecks of equipment, fueling, and any time not spent in the sleeper (sleeper time must be at least 2 consecutive hours) and the driver cannot drive past the 14th hour each day coming on duty.
I had a particularly difficult time being based in NC and running out to Long Island with oversize loads. Travel restrictions mandated that I driver during daylight hours only from NC to NYC, and 10pm to 2 am only through NYC, then daylight hours only on Long Island unless I had a front and rear escort.
Leaving NC in the morning, it is a 9-10 hour drive to the Outerbridge Crossing onto Staten Island. A driver that left at 6 am on Monday would arrive at 4 pm and have to wait until 10 pm to be escorted through the city. The problem is that at 8 pm the 14 hour rule says he is done until he gets 8 consecutive hours in a sleeper. (waiting time on the side of the road isnt allowable sleeper time) Legally speaking the driver is stuck until 10 pm Tuesday. From there he will be escorted to the Nassau County line (2 hours) and have to stop unless I paid an escort to take him the other 1-2 hours out to Hampton Bays or Southhold. (That escort costs roughly $450) Lets say I buy the escort. The driver arrives at Hampton Bays pre-dawn on Wednesday where he unloads and struggles to get off of Long Island before afternoon traffic. Coming on duty to unload at 8 am on Wed, his 14 hour clock ends at 10 pm Wed where he is probably somewhere around D.C. He can start driving again at 8 am Thursday and would arrive back to my location around noon. Too late in the week to do anything else. Thats a 1100 mile trip that pays less than $2600. The driver gets about $1000 of that. I spent $450 on the escort, other permits cost $350, fuel cost $550. That's $2450 before overhead. Those numbers don't work. In 1998 that driver could leave at 6 am Monday, unload Tuesday morning, and be home by lunch on Wednesday to leave again and make a second trip.
My example is a little extreme because of it being oversize loads and a troublesome distance from my terminal to NYC, but it's an example of why the regulations didn't work.
truck driver-caused accidents are a small percentage of the accidents involving trucks.
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Republicans hold Zika funding hostage to their special interests
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