Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/127433
VOICES Is FMCSA's boss street-legal? F Todd Dills MCSA Administrator Anne Ferro and I are best buds now. (I'm going to teach her how to French-braid next time we get together.) I got to meet her at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March, where my owner-operator husband, George, and I spent three days walking 10,000 miles around the Kentucky Expo Center, wishing we had rocket boots. And a hovercraft. I got to ask Ferro the solitary question I had for the only high-ranking government official I've ever met: "Do you have a driver's license?" Ferro joined drivers and the owner-operators of the Trucking Solutions Group for their annual MATS health walk. Prior to it I hung back and let other folks take pictures and stuff for a few minutes while I psyched myself up to speak to her. Wendy Parker wasn't the only Overdrive staffer to meet Ferro, pictured here with Fikes-leased owner-operator Scott Grenerth, at MATS. Scan the QR to read Channel 19 blogger Todd Dills' account of various owner-operator conversations with her during the TSG health walk, in which he also participated. Alternately, visit OverdriveOnline.com and search "Owner-operator walk-and-talk." I couldn't decide if I should curtsy or bow, and while I was trying to work this out, she turned around and looked at me like I was supposed to say something, so I just stuck my hand out and went with a business-like noncurtsy approach. I explained to her I don't drive professionally – I just kind of write about what I experience riding with George. She seemed genuinely interested in what I do. I told her I got the feeling a lot of professional drivers don't think she's very connected to what they're actually up against. I also told her there was a rumor that she didn't have a driver's license. She pretty much cracked up. TRUCK GPS UNITS AREN'T THE PROBLEM IN NYC I read your [December] story about Senator Chuck Schumer and his opinions on truck GPS systems. Driving a tractor-trailer in New York City is like navigating a mine field. And whether you use one GPS or several at once, it's still a nightmare. I have written Senator Schumer, suggesting improvements I believe would lessen the headache for NYC and for drivers making deliveries or pickups there. If he truly is concerned about trucks hitting low clearances and this isn't just some scheme to dip into the driver's pocket, he will want to listen to what I have to say, especially because fewer and fewer drivers are willing to go to NYC. If others stand with me, we can force city officials to make some kind of realistic change. — William Smith, Clementon, N.J. Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline. com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. "I don't have a CDL, but I've been driving since I was 13. Yes, I have a driver's license, and I do drive." I was tempted to mention driving at 13 is illegal, but then I remembered getting busted taking my momma's Delta 88 for a spin around the block and promptly into a garage door when I was 14, so I decided to be cool. Anne and I are outlaws – that's how we roll. I run NYC frequently. I use a car GPS. While it would be handy to have the bridges marked correctly, the reality is it probably won't happen. It's not that big a deal, really. Read the signs. Follow the truck routes. There will always be enough professional drivers who don't cower around with their tails between their legs who can get in and get out without hitting anything. — Myron Lind, commenting at OverdriveOnline.com SHARE WITH OVERDRIVE OVERDRIVE MAGAZINE TWITTER.COM/OVERDRIVEUPDATE 4 | Overdrive | May 2013 Voices_0513.indd 4 5/1/13 10:02 AM