Patriot Act

[Broompilot]

This is what our elected official decided to call this PATIOT ACT as if I wish to be Patriotic when we as US born citizens have to go through this endurement and costs. We all know the answer to this question and so do our Politians, but I will ask anyway just for the record. How many Terrorists were born here? The ones who flew the planes into our buildings.
As for a US citizen born here I take great offense to the restrictions at airports and on my drivers lisence to be called Patriotic or Patriotic Act. This goes way to far as to be called common sense, when in fact how many illegals come into this country a day and there is how much effort to stop them?
The test to recieve a Hazmat is a joke, how many of us really learned what to do in case of spill besides run like hell? I know I did not feel and do not feel knowledgeable in hauling dangerous goods or HM, but the officials said you know what we require so you get our special seal of approval. I thought this is it. Should I ever see a spill on the road I am not going near it scares the living hell out of me to think that maybee that person with the Placard might know less than I do which is very little. And as for the HM training I sat in, in my first orientation the so called class thats even as big of joke as the Patriot Act itself.

I feel for all of you that know as much or less than I do to be carrying these items for no extra pay, your liability is huge. Very greatfull I do not have to carry HM. You should be commended and congradulated if you are knowledgeable in this field, and more importantly you should be compensated and begin demanding it upon every load offer you recieve if you are going to carry anything HM.

My two cents and I thank you for reading this.

 

[Weave]

I have hauled Hazmat with past carriers for a number of years. Passing the tests and having the endorcement or doing the loads didn't bother me though, but I am now glad to be back with my carrier who doesn't bother with it. Expedite carriers who have established themselves as Hazmat haulers and their drivers are going to have to cope with the rule changes, no way around it if they want to continue doing it. For some places such as FedEx CC's White Glove division, the efforts to continue hauling hazmat loads are well worth it.

The reason my current small carrier does not deal with it is that shippers don't want to pay any more for the hazmat loads. Yet to be licensed to do it costs the carrier, and will now cost the driver. I am going to let my endorcement lapse unless I need it again in this situation.

One reason the empahasis on the changes needed in hazmat laws was in a big part due to a serious accident in Chicago and an illegal CDL licensing scam there involving a truck driver training school. It was estimated that hundreds of drivers obtained illegal hazmat endorced CDL's through this scam. The driver who caused this accident (I don't recall the details but it was nasty) was one of these illegal CDL holders.

To many these new strict rules seem silly, but they are based on something. I was astonished to find out the number of people, I think the figure is over 23,000 to date, who have been caught at the US/Canadian border for either having warrants or smuggling illegal items into the USA since the efforts to step up security at those borders took place after 9/11. When we witnessed how easy it was for terrorists to hijack three planes and use them as bombs, how easy would it have been for them to get illegal CDL's and transport a truck bomb? Probably a lot easier and cheaper than going to flight school!

Things will never be perfectly safe in the transportation industry. But these new efforts have to be incorporated and it is already proven they at least make things a little safer.

-Weave-

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Weave, you hit it on the head. Part of me has to quote Ben Franklin when he says, "If you give up freedom for security you get neither." I do see our freedoms dwindling in certain areas. But as far as going to the airport or getting a hazmat endorsement, there's no question... they did the right thing. Nothing would hurt the trucking industry (and the reputation of truckers) worse than some dipstick with a cdl setting off his class 1 truck in front of Hostess cupcake warehouse.
I totally hafta agree with Broom's observation of us being underpaid for hauling this stuff. I recommend, for those who haul hazmat, to negotiate for a higher price or decline the load when offered one. We all know the companies charge higher rates for hazmat loads... why shouldn't we get more pay?

T-hawk
4 years as President of the United States of America
2 years at Bellvue Mental Institution

 

[ATeam]

I would not assume for a moment that threats to national security and our personal security come only from or even mostly from outside the borders of the U.S. The Oklahoma bombing was done by two died-in-the-wool U.S. citizens. In the 60's, a host of bombings and acts now referred to terrorist acts were launched by some of America's best and brightest. Remember the SDS? The Unabomber was a U.S. Citizen and an educated white male.

Every presidential assassination in U.S. history was done by a U.S. citizen.
The nation is sprinkled with self-proclaimed militia groups of U.S. citizens that stockpile weapons and make plans to defend themselves against what consider to be an oppressive government.

Our nation's history includes stories of corporate executives that hired thugs and paid off law enforcement officials to break up union initiatives. It's also includes stories of union officials that were or used thugs to intimidate honest, hard-working citizens that did not want to join the union.

I could go on but it's not necessary. The point is, threats to national security and to our freedom and rights as individual citizens come from many sources.

When working as a computer consultant, one of my gigs was a five-month engagement with the Minnesota Department of Corrections. In that work, I entered a high-security prison every day and worked "inside" and elbow-to-elbow with some of the state's most violent offenders and active gang members. When undergoing the training in preparation for that work - some of the same training the corrections officers receive - I was shocked to learn that one Minnesotan in fifty four were - in one way or another - under the supervision of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. 1 in 54! Minnesota being the relatively clean-cut state it is, that number is lower than most other states.

That number included people in prison, on probation or parole, DUI offenders, people who beat their spouses or abused their children, white collar criminals, murderers, rapists, and all sorts of thieves including shoplifters, tax cheats. It also includes drunks that disturb the peace, crooked politicians and judges, prostitutes and their patrons, drug dealers and drug users, police officers convicted of rape, pastors convicted of smuggling drugs into prison to the inmates they visited, and gang members convicted of crimes they committed AFTER they grew up clean, got jobs as corrections officers, and where then caught aiding their gang-member inmates behind bars.

I learned in that work that if you want to know what people look like in prison, go to church and take a good look around.

Relating that experience to today's hazmat developments, it occurs to me that a HAZMAT endorsement may soon become an industry shorthand way of letting folks know you are one of the good guys. Whether you haul HAZMAT or not, having the endorsement on your CDL indicates you've passed a background check of sorts.

Say you are looking for work with a new carrier, for whatever reason; or maybe even applying for a new truck loan. Presenting a CDL with HAZMAT endorsement immediately communicates to the carrier or lender information about you that is not immediately evident about drivers that are not so endorsed. The carrier or lender can proceed with your application with greater confidence in a good result.

In today's homeland security environment, the lack of a HAZMAT endorsement may not hurt you, but having one may help move your paperwork to the top of the stack. It might help move you through border crossings a bit faster too. Not because you are hauling HAZMAT at the time, but because your CDL says you are one of the good guys.

 

[redytrk]

Just what are we accomplishing here?
Thimothy McVay didnt bother with Haz Mat endorsements,or plackards on his vechile.I doubt he bothered with shipper certification etc. Now those of us law abideing hard working stiffs have to endure more and more control to fix something that I dont think is broke.
I have not heard of any attempts to prevent a Timmy copy cat from renting a truck under 26K with no CDL and doing the same thing all over again.
You also could say we failed to see the handwriting on the wall when skyjacking started back in the sixtys.We did nothing to harden the cockpit doors,and in effect told the hijackers welcome aboard.
GO FIGURE!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Americans aren't the problem here, Ateam. McVeigh went after the government... the terrorists are going after us. Nearly every other country has armed guards or soldiers at the airports. We've only just caught up to what's "normal" as far as flying.
Now that they are changing the rules for hazmat, fewer ppl are going to get into it, meaning, there'll be more for us who do carry it. I agree we should be on top of the game when it comes to what to do. And, I also agree that the government should have an idea of who is hauling stuff around like this. It's one thing to be mixing up fertilizer and blowing up a building, but it's totally another to take a tanker of poison and dump it into a water supply. I'll take the new rules and run with them.

T-hawk
"You're a smart little imbesile." - Moe