Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/611028
VOICES CHANNEL 19 6 | Overdrive | December 2015 Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19 Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com. As a reader wrote in October following coverage of trucking in the Wall Street Journal, "When the WSJ starts writing about your industry, you might want to take notice." A further October opinion piece from the WSJ editorial board then landed the most direct broadside against the California Air Resources Board's Statewide Truck & Bus Rule I've yet to see in the mainstream media. The editorial directly confronts CARB's rule, which requires all electronically calibrated diesel engine technology prior to the 2007 emis- sions-spec model year to be retrofitted with diesel particulate filters or oth- erwise sent to another state to run. It details issues the WSJ editorial board sees not only with the rule's cost but also the science upon which it is based. Claims from scientists around the world have been made for years about fine diesel particulates' health effects. Notably, the World Health Organi- zation declared them carcinogenic in 2012. However, the WSJ editorial board reported, the "study that CARB used to justify its truck rule in 2008 had to be corrected after it was revealed that the report's lead staff scientist had purchased his statistics doctorate for $1,000 from a diploma mill." CARB later cut its original prema- ture-death prevention estimates to 3,500 from 9,400. The editorial comes on the occasion of real-world "results" from the rule, if you can call it that – enforcement by CARB with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assistance. Rich- mond, Va.-based Estes Express Lines was fined $390,000, split between the agencies. CARB needed the feds because it "doesn't have authority to subpoena documents from out-of-state businesses," the editorial notes. Catch the Oct. 20 Channel 19 post for more. WSJ finds CARB just blowing smoke I noticed an interesting name on a bike parked out front of the coffeehouse I frequent. Note the fading type on the horizontal bar, and attach it to the make name on the downtube. No telling if that would describe the owner, but no doubt this rig is built for touring durability – and likewise the strength to carry weight that far outweighs the equipment. For a bit more unintended double entendre from around the trucking world, catch the Oct. 26 post on the blog. 'Surly Long-Haul Trucker' missing 16 wheels " In other words, the regulations under which EPA and CARB are prosecuting truckers are based on dubious science. But when the cause is green virtue, such details don't matter. " — Oct. 18 Wall Street Journal editorial pushing against CARB's recent enforcement actions. Read the Sept. 25 and Oct. 15 posts on the Channel 19 blog for the WSJ Editorial Board's take on small fleet concerns over ELDs and the recent growth in company driver pay at larger fleets around the industry. " Hard to believe my 22-year-old Trek 830 has seen the Eastern seaboard; Ontario, Canada; Washington; Texas; the Golden Gate bridge; the Black Hills; Alamogordo … and a fat dude still riding it at that. The best times were with Cindy the Wonderdog running happily beside with her 16-pound body and 5-inch legs for 10-15 miles. God bless you, Cindy. Bicycles and dogs aren't for everyone on the road, but they sure have been for me. The pedaling gets my blood and joints circulating and away from that truck stop food! " — James, via OverdriveOnline.com