im not even going to think of becomming a O/o again unless the prives of fule come down or the price of freight jumps drasticaly.

yeah i miss that truck it was reall a nice ride i will see if i cna dig upa photo of it. and me with hair and actually in shape LOL the one im thinking of is one that was taken out in newvada and i was standing nest to it.

 

[align=center][/align][align=center]Mod `Mickey, `Duane, and Member's,[/align][align=center]Thanks for your posts/information.[/align][align=center]One of my classes is World Economic's, & I'm[/align][align=center]learning how important trucking is to our World/Country.[/align][align=center]Below is just one article I've found & read.[/align][align=center]I hope that our future provides us with a leader that[/align][align=center]can lead us away from a depression or worse : ([/align][align=center]Let us pray[/align][align=center][:-][/align][align=center]America's truckers grind to a halt
Rocketing diesel costs are forcing US hauliers out of work and into taking action - to bring their plight to the notice of politicians, writes James Doran
James Doran
The Observer,
Sunday April 2008
Article history
About this articleClose [/align][align=center][/align][align=center]This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday April 2008 on p6 of the Business news & features section. It was last updated at 00:04 on April 06 2008. [/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]Clayton Towner drives an 18-wheeler Peterbilt truck from one end of America to another, hauling furniture, food and other essential goods for The Covered Wagon Train trucking company in Hornell, New York. But, this week, Towner's truck is idle and he sits at home in chilly Hornell with his wife, Linda. 'I'm just watching TV and going on the computer,' he says. 'There is less and less work these days.'[/align][align=center]As the credit squeeze tightens its grip on the American economy, the oil price continues to soar and the price of diesel in America has hit record highs at above $4+ a gallon. This means truckers such as Towner and the small company he works for have been forced to shut down when they cannot pass the inflated cost of fuel onto their customers. 'If I can't pass it on to the shippers, then we have to park the trucks,' says Dick Forbes, the general manager at Covered Wagon.[/align][align=center]The steep increase in the price of fuel has pushed many small trucking companies and independents, or 'owner operators', to the brink of bankruptcy as the pressure of overheads that have more than doubled in just a couple of years becomes too much for many to bear.[/align][align=center]Now thousands of drivers across the US are banding together in an effort to call a national truckers' strike. On local news bulletins, gangs of burly men (and women) brandish placards at truck stops, demanding government intervention to bring down the price of diesel.[/align][align=center]They hope that by shutting down the essential asphalt supply lines, they may force politicians in Washington to take notice and perhaps intervene to ease their financial burden. The drivers argue that other industries - such as farming - get subsidies, so why not them?[/align][align=center][b

 

we paid 3.30 a ga. to day to fill minnies tank on her car still cost us 40.00 that includes the wash we kind of had to do to get the birds crap off the car.

it is CRAZY!!

 

Gas prices ARE crazy. I was at the gas station and the only pump available was a gas/diesel pump and next to me was a lady driving a 3/4 Chevy w/ the Duramax, and we got talking and she's like I just got this thing out of the shop so the tank was empy, and the pump just shut off at $100 and it's only between 1/2 and 3/4's full...I was like oh that's terrible. Now, talking about commercial vehicles, O/O's and freight companies are slowing down on the highways, not that a big rig has the right to be going 70 mph. (this isn't to cause a disput, just my opinion.) It was funny because when our local TV station was interviewing an O/O she said she is slowing down and I expected to hear her say to 55 mph (which is the minimum speed limit in MI, trucks can go 60) and she's like, I slowed down to 65 mph from 75-80. I was like WHAT?!?!? The news reporter asked her if she realized the max. speed limit for trucks in MI was 60 and the lady was like "so what?" I'm hopefully going to become a MSP motor carrier soon....and then lateral into a full trooper position later and I'm thinking...don't let me catch you speeding like that when I become an MCO. LOL.

 

yeah go figure she will nail us to the wall for speeding but it is ok for her,

as for the opion . not trying to make a rgument but form a truckers point of veiw.

Oh. is a state that has a split speed limit has for years trucks are or at leas tthe last tiem i was there were only allow 55 MPH. on the turn pike.

either way the speed limit is not the real issue here.

But they have more accedents with big trucks on the turn pike due to the drivers doing the speed limit and the cars comming up on them so fast they dont get aroudn the truck in enough time or they get blocked in and become part of a accedent due to the driver only allowed to do 55MPH. Now if the driver was allowed to do the speed limit this would still happen but that would mean the 4 wheeler is still traveling way to fast, and that they had to basically chase the truck down to hit it instead of commign on to it to fast.

i hear this argument all the time tha thte big trucks shoudl not be allowed more then 55 MPH.
in germany they have a simular law also and run in to a isses with the trucks having to have a huge bumper on the rear of the trailer to keep cars from running under them and killing the passengers.

So i ask is it really a great i dea to say that a truck is not capabel of doing more then the 55 MPH in those states?

NOW, before ya answer remeber this.
we are under a full book regs saying our rucks have to be in basically perfect shape to be on the road. Now i agree there are some out there that are not but for the most part any truck out there has to be inspected yearly and also under the chance of being inspected at any time even if we are sitting in a truck stop a D.O.T. cop can inspect the truck for no reason other then they just think it would be fun to do.

normally the 4 wheelers are the reason a big truck is involved in a accedent .
there are plenty of the drivers that screw this up for us also becuse they screw up but most of the tiem it is proven that the driver of the cars have caused the wreck in the first place do to thier neglagence.

So like i said not to start a argument but i do not personally think that any truck on the road that is worthy of driving on it is not abel to do the posted speed limit within any state. saftly.

But now there is a dubbel standard where the trucks comming in from Mexico are . this is due to the rules they run under are completly diffrent then they are here and they are suposed to make sure they can follow ours but it is not always the case and most of them are unregulated speed wise and are showing it was not a great idea to allow them in to the states with out some kind of inspection for them

 

look up the stats.... states with the different speed limits have more accidnets involving trucks.

speed doesn't kill... difference in speed does (think about it.. applies to car hitting tree too, car had speed, tree didn't)

 

I agree with you. I mean if a peanut bulb is out on a big rig it won't DOT...What I HATE more than anything is truckers that don't understand their rig and drive like a MANIAC and make the GOOD truckers look bad...I can handle speeding, I know a trucker's job is dependent on time and time is money in the trucking business. You make great points, it is the 4-wheelers that do cause accidents, when I'm on the e-way and there is a line of cars passing a big rig, I won't pass until the car in front of me has cleared the rig because what happens if the semi driver needs to avoid an accident or if he blows a front tire and veers off? I'm not getting caught in that mess with my Malibu, wife and 8 month old or by myself in my Monte. I have a respect for GOOD and BADdrivers and semi trucks. I want to become a Motor Carrier (Now called a traffic safety officer) because A LOT of drugs are trafficked in semis and I want in onslowing that down. I think there would be less accidents if EVERYONE understood a big rig and their own vehicles. I am not a CDL driver, but I do have an emergency vehicle operations endorsement (actually classes, no official endorsement on my license). Fireengines are Class B Vehicles and some weigh more than Class A's...lol. I alsohave a farm endorsement which in MI allows me to drive any class B vehicle up to 150 miles away fromthe farm so Iunderstand big trucks, and hopefully will be learning a lot more about them. But a vehicle loaded that weighs 58,000 lbs (I'm just throwing a weight out there) will do more damage than a vehicle that weighs 4,000 lbs. So I like the lower speed limit, but I do see your point. I enjoy discussion like this---sorry for hijacking the thread 'Space and Mickey... So back to gas mileage......

 

80,000 is hte legal limit in most US states....

i notice in most states that have split limits... nobody abides by them anyway, the cops never pull anyone for it. you just have to keep in mind if, for example, its 55 and 65, you can get the 15 over nad lose your license for going 71....

 

i beg to differ that they dont enforce the split speed limits.
buckeye is real good at it belive me they take pride in it i think some days.

But as mentioned above as a driver our jobs depend on the miles we can dive in a day legally.
And if this means we can only do 55 MPH they will be lower in that state then oen that we can do 70 MPH.

as for the speed kills theroy .
think of it this way guns don't kill pepole due. but yet that is a can of worms everyone thinks diffrently on.

I have lived in a house that has had guns in it since day one . and mine now dose but i still take precuations on it to make sure they are safe. that is my responsability as a gun owner to do. my kids knwo where they are. they know that i have them and they also know if htey want to see them all they have to do is ask and i will gladly help them till thier hearts content with them. I will not however look a tthem and say go ahead just be careful and oh yeah if ya need the ammo it is in the chamber from when your sister was plying with it.
GET REAL!!!!

driving in the states is a privlage not a nessesity.
and pepole for get that it takes a person with some common sens to drive. even tho alot of drivers tend to think this dont have to be displayed near enough.

but as a drive ryou are responsabel for atleast a 3500 pound missel that you are drivien capabel of killing you and several others depending on how you decid to do it.

just like a gun it is a loaded wepon when you put your self in it. or a bullet in it either way they are wepons but pepole dont think of a car this way and they give them to young kids that are never really trained on how to drive in most cases. then wonder why they kill them or others or destroy a car or take a steer tire out on a big truck nd now you have a 80,000 pound missel going out of controll along wiht the car that caused it.

if you sit and think of it logically it is very scary what we had noproblem giving to our kids to go to the store or out wiht frends.

I would almost rather that they forced kids to watch the coed red films and drivers training for awhile
if you dont know what im talking about with the code red films googel them they are seriously hard to watch. when you kno that they are of real pepole and not a hollywood effect.

anyway off to bed. and gas prices STILL SUCK!!!

 

What I can't get over is the price difference as soon as you cross the border.

I live in Ontario (near Hamilton), and gas is kissin the 1.23/litre range. I go to Niagara Falls often enough where I dont mind taking an hour or less out of my life and cross and fuel up. Prices in Niagar Falls, NY range in the $3.70 area, and I save aboot $15-$20 per fill-up!! Thank God for fair american gas prices!! You guys rock!! lol