I am a staunch supporter of Jason’s Law’ HR 2156 / S. 971 . In my opinion, DOT, FMCSA and all other departments dealing with transportation have been slacking off in the area of driver parking.
You make laws, rules, regulations, for everything that will put a dime in the pocket of someone higher up than the trucker yet when it comes to the trucker having a safe place to rest, oddly enough, you’re silent.
While you are sitting in a nice warm office in your cushy leather chair thinking up another regulation to complicate the life of a trucker the trucker is out there driving and driving and driving, trying to find a place to park the truck for the night. Someplace SAFE. Not an easy task when you’re at the top of your game, doing it at the end of your daily driving hours it just gets harder.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a driver say they were pulling off to park for the night only to find that there were no spaces left. This means that they have to continue driving to the next area, 50 miles? 70 miles? they must drive until they find a space to park. If they try to park in an empty lot they are run off, if they park on the side of the road, they are ticketed. However, all that driving to find a safe place to park is dangerous. It puts the trucker in harms way because he/she has been driving all day and is tired. It puts the driving public in danger because that’s a sleepy truck driver on our highways.
Jason’s Law should be a TOP priority. There’s just no way for you to convince me otherwise.
I will paraphrase an article I previously wrote about truckers…………
Let’s look at what the trucker does for us on a daily basis.
Take a look around you, what do you see that wasn’t made available to you because a trucker brought it in? Food in the kitchen, Trucker. Toiletries, clothes, furniture. If you’re eyes can see it a trucker had it on a truck at some point.
Look at the lovely vase you have sitting there. Oh, I see, you say that came in on a boat from China. Well, how did it get to the boat? How did it get from the boat to you? A Trucker!
All I’m saying is America runs on Truckers. We need to acknowledge that and give them the respect they deserve. Now, you will never hear a trucker say he wants you to respect him/her. They’re not like that. They just quietly go about their business. Meanwhile, their bodies are in great pain from spending so much time bouncing around in that truck. When I see a trucker I know that he/she is in pain, they don’t have to say a word but I know the pain is awful. That wont stop them from climbing back into that seat and getting the diapers delivered on time so you can buy them when you wake up from your nice comfy bed.
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Our American truckers NEED and DESERVE safe parking.They should be able to park their truck and get a good nights sleep knowing that they are in a safe location. This is so elementary that it boggles my mind to think that it’s now the year 2010 and our truckers are still not given what they need to do their job safely.
I leave you with this thought…
Tonight when you crawl into your warm, safe bed spend just 10 minutes thinking about a trucker. Imagine how tired that trucker is, how badly that trucker needs some sleep. Now, imagine him/her driving another hour or two to find a place to park the truck. Finally, our trucker has parked for the night. Now the worry begins, is there someone that’s going to cause problems while he’s sleeping? Is somebody going to break into his truck while he’s asleep, shoot him? Steal everything he owns? It’s a real possibility. It HAS happened, it WILL happen again. Now our trucker has to try to sleep with all of this on his mind, while he’s shivering from the cold thanks to the “No Idle” regulations that are in effect.
After you spend the 10 minutes thinking about this, go to sleep. Dream happy dreams. Wake up well rested. If you can sleep knowing what’s happening to these truckers every night of the year, you’re a better sleeper than I am.
I applaud and say THANK YOU to all of our American Truck Drivers. Our Government may not show you the respect that you have earned, but I certainly appreciate all of you!
