Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/468880
FromtheDeskofScott W hen I was a kid, my parents told me not to touch the hot stove, because it was hot and would burn me. Of course, being a kid, I had to test that rule. e result of that test burned me and I created a rule in my mind that "hot things burn me." is is part of the rule of "DUH!" that we all create in our lives. So when we read the story about a person that spills their hot coffee upon themselves while driving their car and they are shocked and surprised by this really weird twist of fate because they didn't know that hot coffee burns you when you spill it on yourself while driving your car. is upsets them to the point that they actually sue the coffee maker for providing them hot coffee. is suit then leads to a government agency that wants to step up and show that it is concerned for our well-being so it creates RULES and REGULATIONS that state, "if you sell or serve hot coffee you must warn people that if they spill it on themselves while driving their car, they will get burned." So now people are properly warned and can't get upset and sue you if they spill hot coffee on themselves while driving. I know most of you are saying "DUH" right now but that is how the process works. And that process is costing the transportation industry billions of dollars a year and it is only going to get worse. The Good ere is very little good coming out of the rules and regulations processes. ere is the need to modernize some of the rules to take into account changing landscapes. In the early 1800s, when horses were the fastest means of moving goods, the rules that were written didn't contemplate 80,000 pounds of machinery and goods moving at 70 mph across the country. As a result there has been the need to update the rules. Today, governments are starting to create rules for driverless vehicles which have come into mainstream existence only recently. The Bad We are creating rules to define rules and further refine rules. is is probably my biggest pet peeve because it is full of the rule of "DUH!" I served as mayor of my community several years ago. During that time a group came to our community asking me to approve rules to be added to our city charter to address pit bull dogs within the community. Our city charter has rules on the books about dangerous animals already so why did we need to add a rule specific to pit bulls? Why did the pit bull have to be specifically pointed out? Rottweiler and other less friendly dogs (like Chihuahuas) weren't specifically named? Transportation is no different. Every level of government, whether federal, state, city, or even home owners associations say, "No reckless, inattentive, or distracted driving allowed" in one form or another. So why do we need specific rules that say, "no texting while driving," "no talking on the phone while driving," "no shaving while driving," "no putting on make-up while driving" and the list of rules goes on and on and on and on. is is the BAD of rules and regulations. Somehow we act like first graders and say that if it isn't specifically mentioned then it isn't against the rules and completely ignore the rule of "DUH!" The Ugly We are using rules to create business advantages. A year aer I had started Internet Truckstop, I had the opportunity to go to Portland and have lunch with Al Jubitz, the founder of DAT. Al told me one of the great secrets of business is to know which way the government is going because, "with the stroke of a pen the government can put you into business and with another stroke of the pen the government can put you out of business." Right now the FMCSA is working on rules to determine how much insurance each truck should have, whether on-board devices will be required and what they will be required to do, even determining which doctors you can or can't see. Each of these decisions can determine if you stay in business or have an early retirement. We saw it recently with MAP-21 and the broker bond issue. More than 8,000 brokers didn't renew their licenses and the number of truckers retiring from driving and starting brokerage businesses has dropped sharply. What is the solution? is is the trillion dollar question but the answer is almost as simple as balancing the federal budget (don't spend more than you take in — this is another application of the rule of "DUH"). e answer to the trillion dollar question is, you need fewer rules. We have added so many rules that for a while we need to remove three old rules for each new one we create. Aer we get the number of rules refined enough that it is manageable, we then need a policy of rule replacement where an old rule is replaced by a new rule. But to do that we would need a rule or regulation to make that happen so maybe we should scrap all the rules and just start over with the rule of "DUH!" h I kid t t ld t t GOOD BAD UGLY DUH! THE THE THE AND THE 4 IT MAGAZINE Vo l . 9 , N o . 2 Scott Moscrip, CEO