Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/893962
VOICES 12 | Overdrive | October 2017 Fraley & Schilling driver Don Cuddeback was headed toward his last stop before returning to his home in Dan- dridge, Tennessee. He was on a plant's narrow access road when "coming around a curve, here come some lights lined up square with my truck," he recalls. Cuddeback expected the oncoming motorist to "swing over into his lane" but "quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. As he came around the corner, I thought, 'I'm going to buy this one.' " He hit the brakes hard and "tried to get it slowed down. At the last minute, I made an evasive maneuver and was absolutely shocked" at the result. "In my head, I'd already had the accident." That's how close it was, as you can see from the video on Overdrive's Dashcam Central (OverdriveOnline.com/ dashcamcentral). Driving with dual road- and driver-fac- ing cameras, Cuddeback was able to catch in his passen- ger-side-view mirror just the slightest gap between the car and the van trailer he was pulling. "It defi nitely left me reeling." "When I saw the footage, I couldn't believe we didn't hurt somebody," says Mike Posz, Fraley & Schilling safety director. "It wouldn't have been our fault, but when it comes down to somebody getting hurt, none of that mat- ters. I immediately shared it with our top-level leadership. The thing that takes me aback is Don's reaction – if that would have been me, I'd have been cussing, screaming. Don remained completely calm." Cuddeback says that's the key safety feature guiding his years of safe driving. "Once I got myself calm and relaxed, I became a much better driver," he says. Avoiding a head-on wreck A majority of Overdrive readers are in favor of preserving some form of relief from threats of deportation for participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA put off deportation for U.S. resident aliens whose parents brought them to the United States illegally when they were children. In early September, President Trump's administration announced intentions to phase out the program by early next year. Trump himself, however, after his attorney general announced the move, expressed favor for the pro- gram despite arguments that it was instituted illegally. He urged Congress to act in bipartisan fashion to preserve the program's goal of relief from a life of fear for those often called "Dreamers" after past failed "Dream Act" legislation that would have had the same eff ect. Summing up the majority opinion, reader Andy Soucy noted on Over- drive's Facebook page the estimated 800,000 young people who are part of the program "have already been checked out" during their registration for it. "They are educated and have followed everything that was asked of them. I think they earned their citizenship and should be allowed to remain as long as they continue to work and continue felony-free." A solid third of readers took a harder line on DACA program par- ticipants, urging the program's sunset. Heather Kimball Keens: "If they're not following immigration policy, they're breaking our laws" regard- less of when and how they entered the country. "Hardworking illegal immigrants? Oxymoron. Follow proper procedures to become legal. If I went to another country expecting to become a citizen, I'd have to follow their rules no matter how law-abiding or hardworking I was." What should be the ultimate fate of the DACA program scheduled for sunset in September? Congress should expedite a path to citizenship for DACA program participants 27% Congress should pass law to preserve DACA, bringing along those already participating 16% Trump administration should reverse course and preserve DACA 8% 51% Other 17% Let it sunset for good 32% HOT BUTTONS IMMIGRATION IMMIGRATION Preserve DACA in some way, slight majority says