OOU President, Dan Little, said he had asked for an official government investigation of several SafeStat inspection records for Mexican Trucking Companies in order to verify the accuracy and reliability of the data and information which was entered.

Mr. Little was notified last week by a member of the OOU that certain inspection reports on the FMCSA’s SafeStat website appeared to be incorrect, including an unusually high numbers of inspections conducted on Mexican trucks. An example of this was one company in particular, had an astounding 2096 inspections between the period of 11-22-07 and 5-11-2010, while only having a total of 11 trucks, 4 drivers, and only a total of 28,000 mile run in 2009.

The 2096 inspections showed very few violations, leading to the conclusion that, “something is just not adding up,” according to Dan Little. He concludes that “inspections numbers that are that high, many of these inspections conducted just minutes apart from one another, and have received very few ticketed violations, suggests that someone is filing false inspection reports, making the Mexican carriers appear safer than they actually are.”

Dan Little notes that these “non ticketed inspections” showed details of:

Brakes out of adjustment, non English speaking drivers, failure to maintain drivers record of duty status (log book), improper license (no commercial drivers license), no hazmat placard, and hauling hazmat without a proper license.

Washington could be reinstating the NAFTA Cross Border Trucking based on possible falsified safety inspections of Mexican Trucks.

Another concern for Dan Little and the OOU, is the accuracy of the SafeStat data and information which will be the basis for the new government regulations, CSA 2010, which is ready to take effect in November of 2010.

OOU suggest that the government take a detailed look at the SafeStat data in order to detect any possible patterns or inaccuracies.

“Safety is our main concern at Owner-Operators United. Inc.” – Dan Little / President OOU

Hope Rivenburg, the widow of slain trucker Jason Rivenburg, along with Congressman Paul Tonko, AskTheTrucker, and everyone who has worked so diligently  to get HR 2156 passed into law, has designated June 28th 2010, the official day for Jason’s Law – Bill HR 2156.

Jason’s Law, otherwise known as Bill H.R. 2156, was introduced on April 28th, 2009 and has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The Bill, named after truck driver, Jason Rivenburg of Fultonham, NY, who was found shot to death in his truck, would implement a pilot program to establish safe truck parking facilities.

What this day of recognition means is that on, June 28th, 2010, we are calling forEVERYONE to call their Representatives and Senators, telling them that it is imperative for them to support HR 2156 in order that truck drivers can have the promise of safe and adequate parking. We need to flood the phone lines and “Get Er Done”

This is a Bill that has the Support of everyone. With all the many differences that exist among one another within the trucking industry, we are all in unanimous agreement that H.R. 2156 must be passed and  become law.

Organizations in Support of H.R. 2156- “Jason’s Law”

• OOIDA Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
• ATA American Trucking Association
• OOU Owner Operators United
• Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters

It’s time to for us all to be determined and not depend on the next guy.  Here is an article written by Todd Dills of OverDrive Magazine which explains why we must not be passive,  but instead, the  absolute vital importance of why we must all be  proactive in this cause.   We must all create a frame of mind within ourselves that says,

” If I make this call today, Jasons Law Will be passed”

Valuable Links

• Your   US Senator Contact info
• Your  US Representative Contact Info
• The Petition to Sign for Jason’s Law
• The Official Jason Rivenburg Website

Hope Rivenburg has made numerous trips to Washington in support of HR 2156, attempting to gather support and co-sponsors for the bill.
She does this for 2 reasons:

1. So that her husbands death will not be in vain
2. So that no other truck driver or their family will have to endure  similar pain and loss

Hope will be a guest on a Blog Talk Radio Show on June 10th, 2010 at Noon  EST “Jason’s Last Ride- The Truth About Trucking”

“We are very pleased that these two ladies have agreed to work for the betterment of both the association and the trucking industry.” – Dan Little – President OOU

Donna Smith and Desiree Wood have both taken staff writer jobs with the OOU. Members and non-members alike will enjoy reading topics they post.

Here is a bio on each of the Ladies,

Donna is a native New Yorker now living in Dunnellon, Florida. She has a
degree in Medical Technology and has worked many years in Industrial
Research: Biotechnology Division in Tarrytown, NY, where she received a
patent for one of her various projects…
Donna became concerned with the many problems of the trucking industry in
2001 when she and Allen started their moving company in Dunnellon, Fl
She now devotes her research to the problems and issues within the
industry with her husband Allen Smith of “Ask the Trucker“and “Truth About Trucking”

Allen and Donna host the well know Blog Talk Radio Show, Truth About
Trucking “Live” where they discuss the most important and controversial
issues existing within the trucking industry today. They’re known for the
phrase, ” Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry”

Desiree ,
Most of you know her from “Ask the Trucker” where she wrote what she refers to as her “student trucker horror story” called: “A Day in the Life of a Lady Trucker”  The popularity of her story led to the introduction on Twitter as @TruckerDesiree. She later began to blog as a way to consolidate her ideas from other projects on her personal site “Trucker Desiree” and “REAL Women In Trucking” , she also maintains a facebook fan page with current trucking news for both men and women called “REAL Women Truckers “.

Her story has become the basis of 4 Dan Rather Investigative Reports into the trucking industry. The episodes can be downloaded from iTunes for $1.99.

The titles are as follows: “Queen of the Road“, “Truck Talk“, “Mind Your Loan Business” & “Haul or High Water”

She will also appear in upcoming documentaries such as a workplace bullying piece called “There Ought to be a Law” (link takes you to sneak peak of raw sound bytes at a trucking convention)

The following are quotes from Desiree Wood,

“I’m new to trucking but not new to life’s struggles. My Mission is to help others by sharing information. My initial concern was student truckers, primarily women who have had violence acted upon them during their student phase and simply quit because they are made to feel ashamed or responsible.

Over the course of my writing,  many people have contacted me on multiple topics that spurred my interest to become more involved. Trucking Safety, Truckers Rights, Green Trucking, Animal Welfare, Homelessness, Human Trafficking are just some of the serious topics I intend to discuss

I am a lover of history, travel, animals and learning, learning, learning.

Due to my driving schedule I am not always able to write. Much of my original student trucker horror story was written on my PDA, one letter at a time. Generally I do not have my laptop accessible so I have learned to accept the imperfections writing in this manner and I embrace my typos and my new no-frills lifestyle as an “Over the Road” Truck Driver.

Trucker Desiree with Donna Smith at Willie's Place for filming of Dan Rather Series Part II "Truck Talk"

by Donna Smith

On May 18th we wrote a blog post to explain the data and results conducted by the FMCSA regarding a study on Sleep Apnea;
“Sleep Apnea- A Smoke Screen for Many Truck Driver Fatigue Issues”

In that article we discussed how Truck Driver Fatigue was being used almost synonymously with the condition called sleep apnea. We showed how the data of the study was not truly representative of the results that were being spread around the various media sites.
We also discussed in that article and a follow up article what the real major reasons for truck driver fatigue were caused by.

On May 19th we had a Blog Talk Radio Show, “Truck Driver Fatigue and the Sleep Apnea Deception,” discussing these finding and results, and discussed the many reasons and major causes of truck driver fatigue…and it was not sleep apnea as so many would have you believe. We did however on the show demonstrate that sleep apnea is a real and serious condition which should be treated, just not the major cause of driver fatigue which seems to be the latest and greatest “ alarm for a new mandate driver screening.”

During the show that evening, less than halfway through the show, a caller called in, defending the statistics and study conducted by the FMCSA. The call was from Bob Stanton, a speaker from the recent Sleep Apnea and Trucking Conference 2010 which was held just a few days prior to our Blog Talk Radio Show. Mr Stanton said that there were newer studies performed by the FMCSA, including ones still in process, that indeed did correlate with the FMCSA’s figure of 30% of truck drivers have sleep apnea. He also stated that the study and data we used was a different study. Basically, the call was to rattle or intimidate us, not to mention an attempt to discredit our research and information. Fortunately, we had done extensive research and felt confident to discuss the topic, and rightly so.

After the show I wrote Mr Stanton and requested that he email me links to the information regarding the new studies on sleep apnea which would support the 30% of drivers have sleep apnea figure which is being so loosely stated as concrete fact.

I did receive an email back. The first paragraph was an apology for the way he spoke on the radio show, commending our research on the topic. He went on to state that it’s not the % that matters, but rather the correlation between untreated sleep apnea and the increased risk of crashes by CMV drivers. Well, if it’s not the % that matters, why is everyone who is supporting mandatory screening using % to have law passed….give me a break!!

“To me the real issue is not what % of drivers

may have sleep apnea.

The real issue is … Is there a clear coorelation beteween

untreated sleep apnea and an increased risk of crash in

CMV operators in studies done in the US.”

Mr Stanton also sent me a few attachments and an article ,which included a bibliography which may support further findings and possibly add to our research. He also sent the pdf which was utilized to support the “30% of drivers have sleep apnea rage”, FMCSA driver 28% more likely to have OSA.pdf ( Again, notice who’s making a big deal over the %?)

After carefully reviewing everything, I could not find data which correlated CMV crashes and drivers with sleep apnea.
Also, the PDF of the new study FMCSA driver 28% more likely to have OSA.pdf, which was suppose to support that high % driver with sleep apnea figure, was actually based on the original pool of 1391 drivers study within a 50 mile radius, and did not equal the exaggerated 28% figure of both the FMCSA and ATA ( according to my math anyway) but rather indicated the following:
9.8% drivers had mild sleep apnea ( not 17.6%), 3.2% had moderate sleep apnea ( not 5.8%). and 2.7% had severe sleep apnea ( not4.7%)

So rather than 28% having sleep apnea as suggested ,the number is reduced to 15.7%, with the majority of those figures displaying mild sleep apnea.

You may wonder why these %’s are so different?
Simple. It appears that when the calculation were made, the total # of drivers was not included in the calculations when deriving the %’s, but rather just the drivers which had been screened through the questionnaire. This is apparent by reading the part that says,” based on the results of several tests”
Remember, only the drivers that were screened to possibly have sleep apnea were tested in the study ( not the entire 1391 drivers), therefore the % concluded are not a true representation of the entire pool of random drivers. ( You really can make numbers say anything you want!)

These kinds of calculations were explained in detail on our Blog Talk Radio Show and also in the first article
FMCSA Finding from ” A study of Prevalence of Sleep Apnea Among Commercial Truck Drivers”

“A major goal of the study was to determine the prevalence of sleep apnea in
commercial truck drivers, based on the results of several tests conducted on
a random sample of commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders living within
a 50-mile radius of the University of Pennsylvania.
The results of the study revealed that 17.6 percent of CDL holders had
mild sleep apnea, 5.8 percent had moderate sleep apnea,
and 4.7 percent had severe sleep apnea.”

I believe by modifying the questionnaire which was given to the 1391 drivers who responded for the study, a higher number of positively screened applicants through the questionnaire were tested this time ( 406 screened positive the first time and 778 the second. ) This appears to be the major modification in repeating the study , not an entire new random pool of drivers which the caller suggested : ( unless by a huge coincidence, the same exact number of 1391 drivers responded to the study? I doubt that seriously)

I will say this, I do agree that it would be important to see a correlation between sleep apnea and truck crashes. So far I have not seen data to support this. If anyone has a study to prove otherwise, please reply to this post with the link to the study.

Finally, let’s not lose sight of the purpose of these posts. We are NOT saying that sleep apnea isn’t a serious condition that one should not be treated for. We are saying that truck driver fatigue is a serious problem that can not be solely blamed just on sleep apnea. As long as we’re all on the same page with safety and truck driver fatigue, let’s investigate everything involved in driver fatigue that can be attributed and possibly cause danger to all of our safety.

Driver lifestyle, sleep patterns, hours of continuous driving, lack of quality sleep, interruptions of sleep from qualcomm, shippers and receivers not keeping appointment time, drivers forced to drive when tired or out of hours ( gotta get that hot load delivered), and the nature of the profession all play major roles.
If a mandate is to be made to screen drivers for sleep apnea, then each driver should also be required to fill out a truck driver fatigue questionnaire asking :

· Have you ever been forced to drive by your company when you were either out of hours or too tired? If so, how often, which company?

· Have you been forced to stay awake and missed your sleep because your appointment time was late by shipper or receiver? If so, how often, which company?

· Were you ever woken from sleep by the qualcomm to ask a question that could have waited? If so, how often? Which company?

· Are you satisfied with the way the present HOS are set up? If not, why?

Perhaps a study and investigation to the above questions should be conducted in order to correlate fatal crashes by CMV drivers as a result of sleep deprivation caused by trucking companies, shippers, receivers and HOS rules that are not in the best interest for the lifestyle or circumstances that exist for the professional truck driver. These causes of truck driver fatigue are equally as serious as sleep apnea. They all force drivers to drive with inadequate or lack of quality sleep and should all be addressed in equal proportion to one another.

http://www.kmbc.com/video/23675579/index.html

Over the past several months, the office here has been working day and night to try and understand the Cross Border Trucking Issue with Mexico. Generally the trucking industry is against the cross border plan to reopen as stated in NAFTA. While hundreds of American manufacturing companies are in full support of reopening the border to mexican trucks. So with that being said lets take a closer look at how this will affect us all.

Lets take a look at statements made by U.S.Senator Patty Murray [D-WA]. Senator Murray strongly urged Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to solve the trade dispute with Mexico when the United States and Mexico meet for an official state visit later this month. Senator Murray uses the closing of ConAgra potato processing plant in Prosser, Washington shutting down—eliminating hundreds of good paying jobs as an example. {Hold on just a minute, Hundreds of good paying jobs ?}, the actual number of jobs lost was put at 250, and as with the closing of any Conagra plants, many of those employee’s were offered jobs at other Conagra plants thru out the country.

Side note; For Conagra to close a plant or consolidate is nothing new, back in the early 80’s Conagra closed it’s plant here in Carrollton, Missouri. and moved everything to a nearby plant in Marshall,Missouri. Reason given for the closure, “Carrollton,Missouri. would not give Conagra a tax break”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, but if we are going to plead to the Federal Goverment lets present all the facts.

This issue has been ongoing for quite some time now. In August of 2009 In WASHINGTON – The Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs endorsed a letter sent to President Obama by a bipartisan group of former U.S. Cabinet members and U.S. Ambassadors to Mexico that urged him to resolve the cross-border trucking dispute.

Alliance Executive Director Steve Mulder said: “Every day this issue goes unresolved, more and more good paying American jobs are put in jeopardy.”

To address Mr Mulders statement, In my opinion, it appears Mr Mulder and the ALLIANCE to keep U.S. Jobs are overlooking one U.S. industry completely, The American Trucking Industry which currently has over 9 million direct and indirect employees.

U.S. companies, farmers and workers will continue to be hit by Mexico’s $2.4 billion of retaliatory tariffs on manufactured and agriculture goods – the last thing the United States needs as our unemployment rate approaches 10%.” – Steve Mulder

Lets take a closer look at that statement, $2.4 billion in tariffs and 10% unemployment. The last time I looked the trucking industry was a $385 billion dollar a year industry in the U.S., and if you reduce the industry by the same amount of mexican trucks that will be entering the U.S., I think you will find the unemployment rate will jump to the 18% range.{this figure was based on lost shipping contracts with U.S. based carriers due to an influx of cheaper mexican carriers} And we have not even talked about the bankruptcy cases that will be filed. On a quick search of the western district in Missouri bankruptcy filings today I found over 10,000 active chapter 13 cases alone. That does not count the chapter 7 cases.

The tarriffs have imposed some hardship on compamies in the U.S. but to open our borders to allow mexican trucking carriers free rein is not the answer.

NAFTA was wrong then and is still wrong today. I urge President Obama, to not open the borders for cross border trucking.

If your still not convinced that cross border trucking is wrong for the U.S. then please show me where I’m wrong. Mexico has stated that with cross border trucking, “U.S. trucking companies will be allowed to enter into and operate in Mexico.” My reply to that is “have you ever been to Mexico ?” most highways are dangerous at best and what about the Mexican drug wars going on. Is this program worth the loss of American lives ?

I urge everyone to contact your U.S. Senator or Congressman and tell them you do not want Mexican trucks running our highways.

Thank You
Dan Little
President Owner Operators United Inc.

My name is Dan Little and I serve as President of Owner Operators United Inc., a nationwide drivers association with members in all 50 states. I am contacting you today to voice concern with the anticipated plans to implement Mexican Cross Border Trucking.

I understand that you have been requested by companies across the country to open the Mexican border. These companies want to use Mexican trucks in order to reduce their shipping costs and these same companies have stated plans to close or move south of the border, thereby taking thousands of American jobs with them. I am fully aware of the Mexican government law suit filed on behalf of the Mexican truckers, however, I do not believe that the loss of American jobs should be the remedy.

I understand the federal government plans to implement CSA 2010, and while I do not agree with all of the new rules, I do understand the need for safer trucks on our highways. Insurance companies and underwriters are in full support of CSA 2010 as they will gain millions of dollars in the long run.

What I don’t understand, is how the Dept of Transportation is willing to put in jeopardy 5 million jobs nationwide. That is an estimated number of Class A CDL holders in the USA and does not take into account secondary staff such as: dispatchers, mechanics, secretary’s etc… Many will lose their local jobs due to an influx of unsafe, unproven trucking companies and drivers from south of the border. As evidence, I refer you to Safer Web, which will show page after page of Mexican trucks that have violated our laws and failed to pay the fine for said violations.

Mr. Lahood, if even 1 American life is lost due to these trucks coming across the border, then I feel the price is too high. American Trucking companies are among the safest and most regulated companies in the world. Mexico does not keep accurate DOT type records on their Carriers based in Mexico.

Also as evidence, I point out the pilot program, which failed due to the fact that the Mexican trucking companies either could not or would not meet our safety and insurance requirements.

Should the cross border program go into effect, thousands of American drivers and trucking companies will be forced out, many ending in bankruptcy. The fall out will be felt throughout the entire country.

I urge you to reconsider your stand on the Mexican Cross Border Program.

I can be reached anytime at the phone or address listed.

Sincerely,

Dan Little
President Owner-Operators United Inc

Heres how I see it.

Our forefathers set our Const. up to protect us from laws or bills such as this being forced upon the citizens of the USA. and yet our new Pres and the entire Dem party has taken it upon themselfs to bypass the const.

In a economy that is reeling from the past 2 years, our leaders feel the need to kick us when we are down. Within the trucking Industry i think we will see mass layoffs, and lower resale values on used trucks do to the fact that Co’s that would normally hire or run 20 or more trucks will be unable to fund the health care package even with the tax credits. The freight rates and tonnage just is not there to support this at this time.

Cat. said today, the health care bill will cost them 100 million dollars. Let me repeat that 100 million dollars.
How many jobs will they cut or how much will they increase parts and labor to cover this ?
Washinton has now cleared the way for EOBR’s and with the new CSA 2010 rules coming in July, and now the Health care bill, My question is this, “what’s next ?”

On Facebook today, Bob McCarty posted “Bob McCarty Writes Repeating history? Seventy-seven years ago today, Hitler obtain dictatorial powers via “The Enabling Act.” Today, Obama initiates takeover of the nation’s health care system. How ironic.”

Think about that for a minute, Is this what we really want for our great nation ? Is this why our Military is fighting overseas at this very moment ? Did you agree to surrender all your Const Rights so this Pres could have his way.

Every Dem. in washington is patting themselfs on the back today at our expense.

I will not promote one party over the other, but I will stand up against anyone that goes against our Const that our forefathers laid out for us.

Is this action by our goverment not grounds to impeach ?
Rasmussen Poll: 49 Percent Back Lawsuits Against Health Care Mandate Today almost every state in the country is looking at some form of lawsuit against this healthcare ordeal.
At last count 14 states had already filed.

We need to stand up and be heard on this.

Thank You
Dan Little
Pres. Owner-Operators United Inc

My name is Dan Little

I currently run & operate a 3rd generation trucking co. Little & Little Trucking LLC.
I also serve as Pres of a nationwide drivers association, Owner Operators United Inc.

We currently have members in all 50 states.

I feel the need to split sleeper time has been heard over and over here today, so I won’t go into that.

I do feel a subject that does need covering is safe parking, and offer as evidence a law in congress right now HR 2156 AKA Jason’s Law

I would hope that the fmcsa would support this law fully.

Also I question the FMCSA using the Volpe center to develop the CSA 2010 rule changes based on No real life experence.

I feel if the FMCSA is truly interested in safety they The FMCSA will work closely with associations such as OOU & OOIDA

On the subject of EOBR, I feel they will not work fully as Mr Spencer pointed out eariler.

Nor due I feel items such as speed limiters will work towards safer highways [ever been behind two trucks that didn't or couldn't pass each other due to speed limiters or power restrictions?].

Also there needs to be and exemption allowing drivers out of hours for the day to drive to the nearest place with secure facility’s include’n showers, see FMCSA 2010 rules on fatigue and if a driver has showered or not.

Not to lay blame on any one group, but if the Federal Government and the FMCSA is truly concerned about safety then Education starting in high schools will go father towards safety than going after an industry that is realing from current economy.

Thank You for your Time,
Dan Little / Pres Owner-Operators United Inc.