Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634029
Voices 4 | Overdrive | February 2016 Jeff Schwartz of Metropolitan Com- munity College in Kansas City, Mo., hopes your answer to the question above is yes. Schwartz is the man behind the Missouri Truck Ferry initiative, which would make such a thing possible. The idea is one that's been "alive and well" in Europe for 20 years, he says. In the United States, Schwartz sees a lot of potential for it to be part of a solution to the interconnected trucking problems associated with parking, the hours of service and electronic logs, angst over inspections and carriers' difficulty recruiting and retaining drivers. The idea is for a driver up against the edge of his 14-hour clock or 11 hours of drive time – and, in this case, heading eastbound along I-70 at Kansas City or westbound at St. Louis – to drive his own truck onto a railroad flatcar. Then he would shut down and retire to a crew car for federally mandated rest for the trip across Missouri. Schwartz is in discussions with ex- isting railroads to provide the service along the I-70 corridor between the major cities at either end of Missouri. He's "probably nine months from a green light" from the state and rail authorities, Schwartz says, "secur- ing funding and having all the right people on board." "I've got the equipment designed," he says: a lightweight ramp for loading at the back of the train and bridge plates to connect a string of flatcars. Answering owner-operator Gordon Alkire's question in a comment at OverdriveOnline.com – "But at what financial cost and to whom?" – Schwartz noted he planned to build the fee structure to be roughly equiv- alent to operators' costs to make the roughly five-hour run across Missouri "so that the drivers keep their profit." Electronic logs mandate Hours of service Truck parking CSA The national economy Owner-operators' top five trucking issues Rank in ATRI's top 10 27% 18% 15% 8% 7% 6 8 1 5 2 Getting in bed with the railroad Would you take a 10-hour break – with your truck – on a moving train? Sharing trucking concerns Overdrive surveyed readers to get their take on the top 10 trucking issues from the American Transportation Research Institute's annual "Critical Issues" survey of fleets and drivers. Considerable common ground is seen, notably in hours of service. Not surprisingly, owner-operators gave more weight to the impending electronic logging mandate than ATRI's survey participants, many of whom represent large carriers. Not in ATRI's list was an issue C.W. Moore believes should be considered in the future – four-wheelers' "lack of knowledge" and accountability on the highways: "I don't care if I'm considered a 'professional' driver and they are not. They should still be held accountable for their actions, as we are held accountable for ours. There should be more education for noncommercial drivers." Under the plan, customers would drive their rigs onto railroad flatcars.