RE: vision2020-digest Digest V99 #192

[Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>]

Thanks, Jerry, for your sharp perceptions. The"blaming" is not of my 
making but emerges from some of the conclusions drawn from a lengthy 
investigation sponsored by the US DOT and executed by a U of Michigan 
research group. I'll try to access that soon, but have only a summary at 
hand. Granted that truck drivers get a lot more training than the average 
motorist, and thank goodness this is the case in view of their much 
greater responsibiliies in hauling typically huge loads and traveling 
long hours. The latter factor is contentious, since a top allowable 66 
hours on the road during any one assignment is excessive, and now the 
industry wants it raised to 72! I'm talking about what is reasonable, not 
what is the most profitable use of truck and driver. I feel sorry for 
those drivers who are obliged to be crouched over the wheel for l0-l2-l4 
hours a  day/night. 
    As for annual driving distances, yes, the average for trucks exceeds 
probably 3-4 times that of 4-wheelers, but the majority of trucks travel 
the 4-lane and interstate routes, not the highly congested urban race 
tracks that the going-to=and=from workers plough. As for courtesy, most 
truckers I encounter are courteous, until they encounter impediments to 
their speed set or in some way get delayed -- then things seem to unwind. 
I don't know how many miles you log out of town, but in the last 10-15 
years I've averaged over 15,000 per year. And my observations on bad 
behaviors, discourtesy, aggressive driving and the like are too many to 
ignore. If it's occasional, O.K. But it's a lot worse than that.  Every 
day motorists aren't much better, but the incidence of terrible 
accidents, like a recent one up in Canada involving scores of vehicles 
due to truck errors, has to be dealt with. It's not regulatory 
requirements I'm talking about, but rather protecting truckers from 
having to exceed normal body and mind tolerances. That seems to be the 
crux of the issue. What other data do you have?  Ken

------------------------
William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com