Eastern Railroad Discussion > Rail + Truck execs - reduce government interference in our busine

The Wall Street Journal has an article today about the full court press put on the political process by leaders of the rail companies and trucking companies. The leaders argue, in an unusual joint effort, that rules on hours of service, number of people in the rail cab, etc are unproven, have no likely benefit, and exceed the powers in the laws that spawned them.

The truck operators are upset about rules which require truck drivers to rest a certain number of nightime hours, regardless of the hours of service. This rule was put in place to combat the possibility of late night drowsiness. But, it may put drivers on the road during rush hours and times of high congestion. Although Congress reversed this law the truck operators want the prohibition to be made final, and the executive power to issue a future order revoked.

The rail operators see a potential for one man crews, but want to resist an executive order or regulatory directive requiring two man crews on most train operations.

The transportation leaders see President-elect Trump as more receptive to their needs, and a Republican legislature as sympathetic to taking back powers (illegally?) seized by the President.


(Ssubscription site, should be available on the internet on Wednesday)

Yup, just what we want is truck drivers running 100,000 lb trucks on no sleep.

wirelessenabled Wrote:
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> Yup, just what we want is truck drivers running
> 100,000 lb trucks on no sleep.

Fred Frailey's commentary in the latest hard copy Trains Magazine suggests that driverless trucks may be on the horizon with truck platooning starting within the next 5 years (attributed to Matt Rose of BNSF). So perhaps the truck drivers (if present) will be sleeeping as the truck makes its way to its destination. Haven't read much about driverless buses...yet.

Just what we need........80,000lbs moving by "themselves" down the highway??!!  I'm all for new technology to make our lives easier, but REALLY?????!!!!!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/17 05:25 by ns1000.

Been a computer programmer for 40 years.. Don't trust technology.....Just one wrong down load and the truck could go flying off the road....I think there could be driverless trains before trucks....

All these changes demanded by executives who most often HAVE NOT done these jobs and experienced the fatigue and fear personally.  But they "think" they know better.  Meanwhile, they have time to play golf, while the rest of us have to work longer hours...

Coach (LTL driver)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/17 10:45 by coach.

Corporate greed over safety.

Trump's platform has been about increasing the job pool of this country, and if he sticks to this (cough), I highly doubt he will be willing to allow the trucking or rail companies to lay off more people just for the sake of higher profit margins, which is all this boils down to.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/17 16:47 by nhiwwrr.