Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/748284
VOICES 10 | Overdrive | November 2016 Wiscon- sin-based driver Steven Brown wrote a letter to U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. It voices opposition to the U.S. Department of Transportation's notice of proposed rulemaking that, pending further details, is expected to require most commercial vehicles to use speed-limiting technology at an undetermined top speed setting. Brown, often making cross-country runs between Wisconsin and the West Coast for the Wisconsin-based Brake- bush company's private fl eet, makes an economic argument against it. The rulemaking's text analyzes 60, 65 and 68 mph as possible speed limitations, though drivers polled by Overdrive have sug- gested higher speeds – if they suggested any limit at all. In most recent polling, nearly half of readers declined to name a speed setting in lieu of opposi- tion to any new mandated speed setting. Referring to the Ameri- can Trucking Associations, Brown says, "If the ATA can protect all these big trucking companies, why isn't there an association for the driver?" He says he's establishing a "Professional Truck Drivers of America Association" to advocate for the average driver. Search "Steven Brown" at OverdriveOnline.com to read his full letter, which includes this prescient passage: We will agree that big government isn't the answer, but neither is big business. They are practically identical. If bankers were truck drivers, there would not be income-re- stricting regulations. Be a politician for the people. Take 15 minutes, and ask one truck driver anywhere what his/her thoughts are. I have. The sen- timents contained in this letter are agreed to by truck drivers all across this land. Driver to House speaker: Be 'for the people' Truckers stick with Trump DonaldTrump (R) 74% Undecided/ Other 4% Jill Stein (Green) 1% Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 3% Hillary Clinton (D) 18% HOT BUTTONS POLITICS 2016 POLITICS 2016 The picture above shows $2,600 worth of bumper and other damage to the 1999 Kenworth of Wis- consin-based independent Howard Salmon after his 30-plus-year accident-free driving record – more than 4 million miles – was put to bed in September. Salmon was eastbound on I-24 toward Chattanoo- ga, Tennessee, at the I-59 junction when a minivan that mistakenly had taken the I-59 exit stopped, then pulled across the median into the I-24 lanes ahead of his truck. "My instinct was 'watch the left lane, watch the left lane'," Salmon says, where a Toyota Prius driver was making a pass. When she cleared him, Salmon merged left, and the minivan driver rocketed out partially into the left lane himself, cutting off both Salmon and the Prius. Salmon did what little he could to avoid the accident. "My bumper was de- stroyed." The Prius showed little more than a scratch, and no one was hurt. The minivan left the scene with- out stopping. Fortunately, the captured video shows the scene clearly. With a November bench trial scheduled in the Georgia jurisdiction, it could exonerate him from a ticket, issued at the scene, for following too close. Catch Salmon's video of the incident and more views through readers' windshields, or upload your own, via OverdriveOnline. com/dashcamcentral. Dash video could exonerate trucker Based on polling mostly in the first half of October, Donald Trump's sup- port from Overdrive readers slipped only one point from a similar poll in June. Over that period, Democrat Hillary Clinton gained a more significant margin from pre- viously undecided voters and those who intended to vote third-party.