Trucking News: CVSA Urges Congress to Lift Ban on Enroute Bus Inspections, Look at Bus Driver HOS Regs

[BMT Forum Bot]

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance urged Congress to lift the current restriction in the law that prohibits enroute bus inspections and pledged to immediately encourage all state members to take aggressive enforcement action when warranted.

View the full article

[RowdyRebel]

That ban is likely in place because that bus probably has 50 or so voters aboard....and if you make them late to wherever it is they are going because you are on a wild goose chase....or you place the bus OOS over some random BS that isn't REALLY a problem (but it makes you, the officer, look good because you wrote another citation this month), they won't be very happy and the politicians WILL get an ear full.

Politicians do not like angry constituents.

Truck drivers in general aren't a very large voting block. You get a few who go out of their way to make sure they vote each and every time there is an election, but for the most part, they are either on the road and fail to get the absentee ballot sent in or they just don't make the effort to even try. That's why WE have to put up with the BS. Not only that, but a wild goose chase only affects 1 of us at a time...so the phones won't be ringing off the hook at any one politician's office.

Hell, look at it this way, too...if the old HOS regs (8 hour break, 10 hours driving, 15 hours on duty) were dangerous enough so that FREIGHT haulers could no longer run under them and had to use the new HOS regs (10 hour break, 11 hours driving, 14 hour window)....why do PEOPLE haulers get to still run under the old HOS rules? Last time I checked, FREIGHT was insured....just stuff, which can be replaced. PEOPLE, however, cannot be replaced.

IMHO, people-haulers ought to have the strictest scrutiny placed upon them...however, that gets politician's phones ringing with angry constituents, so that just ain't going to happen.

[mowerman]

That ban is likely in place because that bus probably has 50 or so voters aboard....and if you make them late to wherever it is they are going because you are on a wild goose chase....or you place the bus OOS over some random BS that isn't REALLY a problem (but it makes you, the officer, look good because you wrote another citation this month), they won't be very happy and the politicians WILL get an ear full.

Politicians do not like angry constituents.

Truck drivers in general aren't a very large voting block. You get a few who go out of their way to make sure they vote each and every time there is an election, but for the most part, they are either on the road and fail to get the absentee ballot sent in or they just don't make the effort to even try. That's why WE have to put up with the BS. Not only that, but a wild goose chase only affects 1 of us at a time...so the phones won't be ringing off the hook at any one politician's office.

Hell, look at it this way, too...if the old HOS regs (8 hour break, 10 hours driving, 15 hours on duty) were dangerous enough so that FREIGHT haulers could no longer run under them and had to use the new HOS regs (10 hour break, 11 hours driving, 14 hour window)....why do PEOPLE haulers get to still run under the old HOS rules? Last time I checked, FREIGHT was insured....just stuff, which can be replaced. PEOPLE, however, cannot be replaced.

IMHO, people-haulers ought to have the strictest scrutiny placed upon them...however, that gets politician's phones ringing with angry constituents, so that just ain't going to happen.

ya,,man,,have to fully agree,when dealing with human lives,,im supprized at all the dirt thier pulling up,,we dont seem to be able to get away with anything,in these trucks,you know a full inspection doesnt take that long,,why cant they pull into truck scales,like we do,,doesnt seem like that big of a deal,just add it to thier eta...bob

[RowdyRebel]

ya,,man,,have to fully agree,when dealing with human lives,,im supprized at all the dirt thier pulling up,,we dont seem to be able to get away with anything,in these trucks,you know a full inspection doesnt take that long,,why cant they pull into truck scales,like we do,,doesnt seem like that big of a deal,just add it to thier eta...bob

Most of the drivers of these buses don't seem to think the speed limit applies to them, either. Even in the old Illinois split-speed days, the split speed didn't apply to commercial buses....only trucks over 4 tons, vehicles pulling trailers, motor homes, and NON-commercial buses.

Like I said, these buses are carrying PEOPLE....their cargo cannot be replaced. If the rules and regulations apply to ANYONE, it ought to be the bus lines.

...but then again we've known for a long time that the rules and regulations are about collecting revenue...NOT about promoting safety. The few dollars in revenue that would be collected during a commercial vehicle harassment session involving a bus is not worth the angry phone calls from constituents who happened to be ON that bus and were late to the casino, ball game, concert, etc....