Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
Voices 8 | Overdrive | January 2018 California-born, -raised and -based owner-operator RJ Taylor passed away in early December. Taylor's 1950s Kenworth was a fixture at trucking trade shows around the nation through the first decade of the 21st century. "Ol' Blue," as it was known, was part of the bedrock under Taylor's Ol' Blue, USA nonprofit, of which he was president. USA stood for United Safety Alliance, a self-styled effort to work with many partners to teach road safety to schoolchildren and the motoring public and bring together truckers and law enforcement. Truckers Justice Center attorney and former trucker Paul Taylor, no direct relation, said he met RJ around the time his own law practice began to focus on representing drivers. With the Kenworth, RJ and company did an annual safety tour, Paul Taylor said. "He'd be on the road for a couple of months and would do school visits and demonstrations at rest areas and the truck stops." Ol' Blue was a fixture at the Mid-America Trucking Show, the Great American Trucking Show and other shows. "He did it all and did it free of charge," supported by trucking industry donations, Paul Taylor said. Paul Taylor understood trucking from an operational standpoint, but "trying to get the mechanical aspect" of certain cases was difficult for the lawyer from time and time. RJ became his go-to resource as a mentor and, ultimately, friend. "I could call RJ, and he'd explain what happened when a brake was out of adjustment. Or if a driver's trying to explain something to me and I just didn't get it. I'd say, 'Hey, let me get a buddy on the line.' RJ and I and the driver would chat, and he … made it possible for me to understand what was going on." RJ was overly modest about his in-depth knowledge of all things trucking — "I think he said that he 'had an eighth-grade education with a kindergarten influence,' but boy, was he smart." Paul Taylor said. RJ is survived by his companion of more than 30 years, Pam Hagen, and a son. Remembering RJ Taylor, founder of Ol' Blue, USA RJ Taylor, pictured with his famous "Ol' Blue" 1950s-era Kenworth, died in December at age 75. I have been a female driver/ owner since 2011, in what many consider a man's in- dustry. I love to drive, and I love the truck. What I don't like about what I do falls within the realm of all these excessive regulations. In the last several years, we as small business own- er-operators have had them forced down our throats by the FMCSA and the polit- ical propagandists behind them. All of them are unedu- cated about the life we as drivers have out here on the road. Many of the regs continue to be forced in the name of safety, when in reality they have nothing to do with safety at all. The negative effect of ELDs is already being seen around the country from coast to coast. For instance, two recent nights in a row, I spent more than two hours just trying to find a place to park for 30 minutes. The first night, I passed multiple truck stops that were so packed, you could barely get into them to get fuel, plus rest areas where trucks were lined up on the shoulders for nearly a quarter mile on both ends. I could not even get into one to use the restroom. Second night, different area, same thing! This mandate is going to cost more lives and make more drivers unsafe. – Phylisia P. Compton, G and L Expedited Services, Ohio ELDs: No answer to safety Phylisia P. Compton, the author of this letter to the editor, runs with her partner, Gregory Easton, in this 2002 Kenworth. You can search her name at OverdriveOnline.com for her full thoughts on ELDs.