Tractor Shortages

[ddbackhoe]

When are drivers subject to the DOT Drug and Alcohol testing requirements? | FMCSA

www.fmcsa.dot.gov

Also bi yearly or yearly CDL driver physicals are required

All drivers, as in everyone using any type of public road.

 

[Hay Dude]

When are drivers subject to the DOT Drug and Alcohol testing requirements? | FMCSA

www.fmcsa.dot.gov

Also bi yearly or yearly CDL driver physicals are required

Yep, and they are another couple hundred bucks.
No objection to them, but let the ones demanding them pay for them.

 

[DK35vince]

Yep, and they are another couple hundred bucks.
No objection to them, but let the ones demanding them pay for them.

Every job I have had all CDL drivers are subject to random drug and alcohol testing.
Also required to pass bi yearly CDL driver physicals.
A couple years ago my blood pressure was a little high on a CDL driver physical, ( blood pressure meds have it under control) but I'm now required to get a yearly CDL physical.

 

[finn1]

What do you have to pay $500 a year to test?

I paid a lot more than that to get n Engineering degree, and I pay for my own CTL expenses.

$500/ year is chump change, plus, if you’re running your own business, it’s deductible on your income taxes, so the government is subsidizing you anyway.

 

[Hay Dude]

I paid a lot more than that to get n Engineering degree, and I pay for my own CTL expenses.

$500/ year is chump change, plus, if you’re running your own business, it’s deductible on your income taxes, so the government is subsidizing you anyway.

A first year business owner knows deductible from your taxes isn’t the same as paid for by the state.
$500 might be chump change to you.…..but opinions are like, well, you probably know…

 

[4570Man]

I paid a lot more than that to get n Engineering degree, and I pay for my own CTL expenses.

$500/ year is chump change, plus, if you’re running your own business, it’s deductible on your income taxes, so the government is subsidizing you anyway.

How does getting to keep a little bit of your own money that you earned change into getting subsidized by the government? I’m all for taking every tax deduction I can but other than the bs stimulus check they mailed out I’ve never taken a dime of government subsidies. And I’d gladly give that back if inflation was set back to 2020 levels.

 

[Torvy]

Some people think it is all their money and we should be thankful that they deign to bestow a portion of 'their' largess upon us.

More importantly, the government didn't require the Engineering degree or the tuition required to earn it. My son is a ChemE. He didn't pay for it. Turns out that if you are smart enough and/or work hard enough, people will give you money to study.

How about we compromise between your two positions? You pay up front for the testing, but if it comes back negative, you get reimbursed. If it is positive, you pay a fine equal to 100x what it costs to do the testing. Or maybe, rather than testing everyone, you just prosecute those caught using while driving? That way, we will no longer have tractor shortages, which, of course, is the whole point of this thread.

Sarcasm is a gift and a curse.

 

[DieselBound]

If only all drivers had to undergo UA or even medical review. There’s nothing to prevent Joe/Sally citizen from popping pills, smoking weed, doing w/e and getting behind the wheel.

I'd be happy if we could fix folks' out-of-alignment and or badly modified headlights!

Bad drivers don't need to be under the influence of anything to be BAD DRIVERS. There's a TON of shitty BC (British Columbia) truckers running the roads around me (tailgating arseholes); I'm pretty sure it's got nothing to do with being under the influence of drugs.

Insurance*, pardon the pun, drives everything. Insurance companies along with big trucking companies help shape laws. I understood where everything was headed long ago as a child playing Monopoly...

* Insurance subsidizes bad drivers: that is, GOOD drivers subsidize bad ones (distribution via "insurance").

 

[Hay Dude]

Some people think it is all their money and we should be thankful that they deign to bestow a portion of 'their' largess upon us.

More importantly, the government didn't require the Engineering degree or the tuition required to earn it. My son is a ChemE. He didn't pay for it. Turns out that if you are smart enough and/or work hard enough, people will give you money to study.

How about we compromise between your two positions? You pay up front for the testing, but if it comes back negative, you get reimbursed. If it is positive, you pay a fine equal to 100x what it costs to do the testing. Or maybe, rather than testing everyone, you just prosecute those caught using while driving? That way, we will no longer have tractor shortages, which, of course, is the whole point of this thread.

Sarcasm is a gift and a curse.

I’m not a full time trucker, but do a lot of hay and equipment trucking. I see first hand what these folks go through, the sacrifices they make to keep stuff rolling down the highway and me too to a lesser degree. They sacrifice so we don’t have shortages and empty shelves and put up with the aggravation from regulations and laws.
The final nail in the coffin of the independent trucker will come when electric trucks are mandated.
As it is right now truckers in states with emissions laws must drive newer than 2008 models to pass inspections. Trucks tend to get held onto longer so that knocks a lot of trucks off the road right there. Those 2008 and up trucks are inherently less reliable and more costly to maintain.
Now that freight railroads are greatly reduced, trucks have to fill the void. My thinking is theres enough rules and regulations now. We don’t need anymore expenses or regulation.
Its only going to make the cost of goods and services go up along with the year of record inflation we already have.

 

[SwingOak]

Been here long?

Yeah, I have, and this is the main reason I don't participate more.