Everyone knows that just a little bit of snow and ice in the south can make for a really bad day. Add a few thousand people trying to get home at the same time with a little dash of BIG TRUCKS BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE and it gets really bad really quick. As a truck driver, I know the frustration of regulations that govern trucks can be a pain. Each state adding on to federal regulations, lane restrictions, weight and size restrictions, the never ending battle between four wheeler and big truck and now the long hard look at big trucks inside the Atlanta beltway. Let’s see what a local politician has to say about it.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
GDOT Deputy Commissioner Todd Long surveyed a bank of video screens at the Traffic Management Center and pointed to example after example of tractor-trailer tie-ups.
“What’s in common in very single accident we have today?” Long said. “Tractor-Trailers.”
Long said that trucking companies appeared to have sent deliveries into the state even after the storm started, and he questioned whether there was legitimate need for them to be traveling inside the Perimeter. State law mandates that trucks stay outside the Perimeter unless they have in town deliveries or pickups to make, or unless they are going to a repair station or terminal physically located inside of I-285. Otherwise, all trucks traveling on I-75, I-85, or I-20 must take I-285 around the city.
“They could be making deliveries, but it’s hard to believe they would be when most of the businesses are closed,” Long said.
Hard to believe? What is so hard to believe? Truck drivers have been asking for more scrutiny for a long time. The lack of professionalism in the trucking industry is epidemic. I see it very night. I truck between Bowling Green Ky and Indianapolis In five days a week and it amazes me how many truck drivers can’t even read. Entering the construction zone in Cave City Ky, the signs are plain to see: “Trucks Use Left Lane”. Without exaggeration I see 50% of the trucks don’t care. Speeding, tailgating, and I don’t even use the C.B. any more.
All I’m saying is that we in the industry have to start making some professional changes or there WILL be some politicians and a fed up public who will add to the regulations and change it for us. LEARN HOW TO BE A PROFESSIONAL OR STOP CALLING YOURSELF ONE!
