Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/441527
VOICES 12 | Overdrive | January 2015 Editor's note: Small fl eet owner Mi- chael Goodman wrote in response to news that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration intended to survey drivers on options in crafting an Entry Level Driver Training Standards rule. During earlier days in trucking, there were no schools. New drivers learned on their own or from more experienced drivers. I would like to see the government stay out of the training business. However, I have mixed feelings, because there probably should be some minimum standards. But as long as the government is setting them, I am not sure there will be meaningful rules that make sense. I think surveying new drivers may not give an accurate picture of the quality of training and skills that these people have developed without pulling in more experienced drivers who may have taken a different path to gain their CDL. A broader cross-section of drivers should be polled. … The challenge is in fi nding people who can design a survey that will be unbiased and give a true pic- ture of the level of training and to offer meaningful recommendations. I have little confi dence that anything meaningful will come from the feds implementing this survey. — Michael Goodman, Chatta- nooga, Tenn., via the Overdrive's Trucking Pro LinkedIn group. Search the group on LinkedIn.com to become a member and join the discussion. Todd Dills With the takeover of the Senate by a Republican majority looming, Congress at- tempted in November to force the issue of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline to the fore by passing legislation to grant necessary approvals many feel President Obama has delayed unnecessarily. The legislation failed to pass the Democratically-controlled Senate by a single vote. It would have given the pipeline the federal go-ahead, a move for which three in four readers expressed support in a poll. "Any addition of oil to the global market is a bonus," putting down- ward pressure on prices, noted Jack Simon in support of the added pipe- line capacity. Said Dave Nichols, along similar lines: "Without pipelines, of which there are thousands, we would be unable to afford fuel for our trucks." Objections to the pipeline tend to center on environmental concerns as well as the temporary nature of most of the employment that will result directly from the pipeline's construc- tion. "There is no real benefi t to running it through the USA," said M. Rick Richards, commenting at Overdrive's Facebook page, but "to the oil com- panies. It goes to the Gulf of Mexico and onto a ship to China. There would be minimal long-term jobs." Republican lawmakers have vowed to make green-lighting the pipeline among their fi rst orders of business with the new Congress, though they likely would fall short of enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto. KEYSTONE XL KEYSTONE XL Readers say yes to pipeline as standoff looms Should the Keystone XL oil pipeline be built? No 20% Yes 76% I'm not sure 4% The XL pipeline and Gulf Coast Project and Cushing Extension south links are additions to the existing Keystone pipeline and would connect Canadian oilfields with ports on the Gulf but also would transport U.S.-produced crude in Northern states such as Montana and North Dakota. Hardisty Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Quebec Proposed Keystone XL pipeline Existing Keystone pipeline Patoka Cushing Atkinson Port Arthur Houston HOT BUTTONS Mixed feelings on training standards A small fleet owner doubts the government's ability to assess drivers' skills and training.