CSA 2010 - Large Carriers vs. Small Carriers

The trucking industry has recently been plagued by a new set of government regulations called CSA 2010.  (Compliance, Safety, and Accountability)

The purpose of CSA 2010 is to give large carriers an advantage over small carriers, to act as a classic "barrier to entry" for any start-ups that might consider getting into trucking, and to create jobs in the Democrat Party. 
The paperwork requirements are astounding. 
Go here to get an idea of what is involved.  Any time they use the word "stakeholder", what they generally mean is "victim". 

The chart below was put out by Commercial Carrier Journal.  Good stuff, good stuff. 

The scores you see are achieved by maintaining perfect paperwork, perfect (new) vehicles and trailers, and perfect driver logs.  It's going to force any older rigs off the road.  I've not had time to research who all lobbied for this mess, but I suspect my friends at Peterbilt, Mack, and International are in there. 

Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd think that large carriers make huge contributions to politicians and that small carriers don't. 

Reinventing the already invented

Go here to learn about The Department Of Energy's exciting contest for app developers!!!  The D of E wants  you to start developing a phone app to monitor energy usage !!!! !! ! !!!!

YOU COULD WIN....ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ! 

Go here to see Facebook's and OPower's already existing app that already accomplishes the same goal, and that was developed without taxpayer money.  Unfortunately, it does nothing to keep D of E lifers busy. 

The government uses force and the threat of violence to take money away from you to pay for this redundant crap.  (Unless you are part of the .0001% who voluntarily contribute more than the enforcers demand.)  Unbelievable. 

Coming soon:  A Department of Transportation contest to develop solid circular objects that can be fitted onto axles to expedite movement.  They want to call it "The Wheel". 

Pic of wheel came from here. 
A fresh coat of Whitening to Paul Conner for the links. 

Now They're Wanting To Ban Car Radios !!

Well, they wanted to. 

Go here for the entire sordid story of Ray LaHood's predecessor, a Nanny-Stater named George Parker.  He thought that you would never be able to operate a car radio without being a danger to yourself and others. 

My favorite paragraph:

Two state senators were more than happy to empower Parker, according to an Associated Press report from the hearing. Senator James C. Moran offered legislation that would enlist “neighbors of an applicant” to “sign affidavits as to the driver’s moral fitness”; Senator William E. Weeks sponsored a bill that would “require a physician’s certificate for an applicant for a driver’s license.”


And that, ladies and gentlemen is why right-thinking people must always watch out for the busybodies amongst us.  Vote them out. 

Vote Libertarian. 

A brief rant about CSA 2010. Or 2011.

One of my drivers came to me a few days ago and asked to be considered for a warehouse or desk job.  When I asked him why, he said "I'm tired of government son of a bitches telling me how much damn money I can make."  (Somewhat edited to delete 90% of the profanity.) 

Here's what is at stake.  The Department of Transportation is rolling out a new program called CSA 2010.  It claims to be a safety program with a system that tracks each driver's and each company's safety record.  Every driver and every company gets a score based on roadside inspections, accidents, driver fitness, and lots and lots of paperwork. 

The purpose of the program?  To create jobs for goverment parasites. 

The purpose of the program? To make it easier for top-heavy union employers to compete against lean and mean upstart companies. 

The purpose of the program?  Safety.

Despite being named CSA 2010, the program hasn't been implemented yet.  I think they've pushed it back twice.  The government keeps having computer issues and nobody's score is accurate.  The trucking industry has been fairly patient with these delays, and I wonder if our Lords and Masters in the Department of Transportation will be as patient with companies that take as long to comply? 

Anyway, you can go here to read about the program. 

If that picture reminds you of the scary old Hillarycare flowchart, well, it should.  They both sprang forth from the same mindset.  My email system is plagued by entrepreneurial ex-DOT employees who have started companies and programs designed to help get me into compliance with this mess.  (For the low, low price of $999.00 !!!!) 

Now you would think that an organization that couldn't roll out something named "2010" until late "2011" would be modest about rolling out additional regulatory crap. 

Well, you're wrong.  Here's what else they're cooking up.  Imagine the paperwork, the mind-numbing regulations, documents, time stamps and civil service leeches necessary to guarantee compliance with this next set of hoops to jump through.  There are going to be extensive roadside Talmudic discussions between truckers and highway patrolmen that last for days:

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today issued a regulatory proposal that would revise hours-of-service (HOS) requirements for commercial truck drivers.



This new HOS (hours of service) proposal would retain the "34-hour restart" provision allowing drivers to restart the clock on their weekly 60 or 70 hours by taking at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. However, the restart period would have to include two consecutive off-duty periods from midnight to 6:00 a.m. Drivers would be allowed to use this restart only once during a seven-day period.



Additionally the proposal would require commercial truck drivers to complete all driving within a 14-hour workday, and to complete all on-duty work-related activities within 13 hours to allow for at least a one hour break. It also leaves open for comment whether drivers should be limited to 10 or 11 hours of daily driving time, although FMCSA currently favors a 10-hour limit.


Other key provisions include the option of extending a driver's daily shift to 16 hours twice a week to accommodate for issues such as loading and unloading at terminals or ports, and allowing drivers to count some time spent parked in their trucks toward off-duty hours.

God help us all. 

People don't understand what this kind of uncertainty does to a business.  Freight companies build their terminals a certain number of hours apart, based on the government regulations in place at the time.  They set up local driver routes to comply with Hours Of Service regulations. 

And then it all changes.  Because of.....????  Have the number of accidents been increasing?  An increased percentage of fatatlities?  Has there been a public outcry for more paperwork?  Nope. 

Your employees (the government ones) just need something to do. 

Be sure to check out the chart shown here.  Big Oil, of course, gets some exemptions.  Not because they're safer, or different, or better.  They just get them.