Small Business Segment “Takes It In The Shorts” Once Again
The aforementioned small business segment is a nearly voiceless~yet the majority~portion of the American trucking industry.  I’m talking about the owner/operator and the many, many small trucking companies traversing the American highway landscape.  Not the Swifts, the J.B. Hunts, the Schneiders of the trucking world but the little guys and gals chasing their figurative asses all over the map just trying to make a living.
My pedigree is not nearly as ‘long and wide’ as some of the “ol’ soldiers” in the trucking industry.  I wasn’t bright enough to get into trucking right after my [first] four-years in the Air Force.  No… I had to suffer through some divorces and several ill-chosen jobs and a career path or two before I settled into the trucking industry at the age of fifty, which was in 1996.  I went to CDL drivers’ school and after graduation became a company driver for Transport America [TCAM].  After a perceived ‘screwing’ by the powers-that-be involving a tuition payback plan, I left Transport and became a company driver for Crete Carrier Corp.  After a couple of years I bought a tractor and leased in on with MS Carriers.  Just before Mike Starnes sold out to Swift Transportation I put my truck on with Crete Carrier Corp and was very glad indeed to be “back home” with ‘Mr Duane’ and family.  In the early ’00s, I became a needle-dependent diabetic and was forced out of the industry by US DOT regulations in 2006 [which is another story for another rant].
While I was still an active driver, the only thing I ever heard pertaining to electronic logging devices [ELDs] was when Werner Enterprises started testing “e-logs.”

HOS Rules ‘At Work!’

I never thought very much of them and was quite sure I’d never be able to operate under that level of control.  Now we’ve arrived at the point where the FMCSA is soon to mandate the use of ELDs in almost all trucks, with few and very limited exclusions.  While this mandate is detrimental to the majority of the trucking industry, the primary productivity ‘killer’ is the hours-of-service [HOS] requirements.

More HOS Rules ‘At Work!’

I never really had a problem with the HOS rules that were in effect from 1962 to 2003.  I pretty much understood the parameters and elected to do what was known as ‘split-logging.’  I would drive 5 hours, sleep 5 hours, which for me worked out just fine.  At least one of my sleep periods would fall during the daylight hours, giving me a chance to find truck stop parking for ‘no hassle’ parking/time in the sleeper.  Given the 12+ years I spent as an Air Force Air Policeman/Security Policeman, I was well versed on falling asleep ‘at the drop of a hat’ and waking up a few hours later quite refreshed.  Good training for my truck driving years!

STILL MORE HOS Rules ‘At Work!’

I was still trucking when the “14-Hour Rule” was rammed down our throats.  The only thing about that that I really understood was I could NO LONGER ‘split-log.’  THE ONE THING beneficial to me~at least~was the ’34-Hour Re-start.’  This gives the driver a new 70 hour work-week after sitting for 34 continuous hours.  Aside from that, the 14-Hour Rule really put the kibosh to my above-average productivity rate.  Don’t get me wrong, I still made money~good money~but not the kinda money I had made prior to the 14-Hour Rule.  With the on-going and seemingly ubiquitous changes to the HOS rules, the average driver spends a lot of time studying the changes as well as the paperwork/data required to verify compliance.
The ELD mandate is little more than an ever tightening stranglehold on the majority of the trucking industry.  As is the norm, legislators at every level continue to ‘follow-the-money’ and protect/promote their donors’ wants, needs and positions… and ‘To Hell with everyone else!!‘  That being said, the American Trucking Association [ATA] fits the bill, hence they are the primary voice in “all things trucking” with the federal government even though THEY DO NOT REPRESENT THE MAJORITY!!  While OOIDA~with it’s smaller membership~attempts to represent the majority… THEY CAN’T EVEN “GET A SEAT AT THE TABLE” in the ELD-related/rule-making discussions.

I’ve been a member of the #TrumpTrain almost since it’s inception and MR TRUMP IS MY PRESIDENT.  I get the feeling though, that~while a perceived ‘outsider’~he’s continuing with the federal mindset; the squeeky wheel get the grease!
Where was OOIDA in the ELD discussions?
Where was OOIDA in consultation of USDOT/FMCSA nominee selections?
Why weren’t KNOWLEDGEABLE individuals nominated for USDOT Sec’y, for FMCSA Administrator… i.e., a REAL truck driver, preferably an owner/operator?
Why were MORE legal jugheads nominated for these positions?
Just a few questions that demand answers.

In conclusion:
I whole-heartedly support President Trump’s promise to “Make America Great Again” [#MAGA] but he needs help to succeed.  The president needs to hear/consult with trucking’s~largely silent~majority and invite the Mom-and-Pop trucking companies and owner/operators to the table in trucking-related discussions/plans/programs.  Nominating another round of pinhead lawyers to important positions doesn’t nothing more than continue the status quo… which is
SCREW THE LITTLE GUY/GAL THAT HAS LITTLE OR NO VOICE!!
That’s all I got.
Til Nex’Time….
Justin Case
Reference “Lie-Barry:”
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/electronic-logging-devices
[Federal Register pdf] https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-12-16/pdf/2015-31336.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hours_of_service
https://cdllife.com/2017/trump-nominates-new-administer-of-fmcsa/
https://www.enotrans.org/article/transportation-nominees-move-senate/
https://www.enotrans.org/article/pace-trump-usdot-nominations-vs-previous-five-presidents/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3282
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3282/cosponsors?r=788&overview=closed#tabs
http://www.landlinemag.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Trucking_Associations#Subsidiaries.2C_conferences_and_councils
*I was saddened to find that my representative  Chris Collins [r, NY-27] IS NOT a co-sponsor of H.R. 3282.
**That “Lie-Barry” thingie, above:  In another blog I spoke primarily about “Clown Prince” barack obama.  He being one of the most prolific LIARS on the planet, it seemed normal to use that phrase.