It is the most waited on, most attended, and biggest show in the trucking industry. MATS in Louisville.
I wanted to hear the whys and facts from the FMCSA so I attended their seminar. I was pleasantly surprised to see Anne Ferro in the room monitoring and listening to the flow of conversation back and forth between Steve and his listening audience.
It was typical MATS real experts from the agency giving real facts and listening to drivers and members of the industry react to those facts. These seminars make MATS the must place to go each spring for people who spend their lives traveling wanting the real answers.
I asked my own question when they took questions. I admit I was totally unsatisfied with the response I got, but then dealing with the government is like wrestling with a snake in the dark. You might get hurt, you never know what is coming next, and none of it seems to make sense until you look at the motives and agendas that led our government to think the way they do. Logic from the office suit seams twisted to those of us fighting in the trenches to achieve safety while dealing with the pressures those who think only of bottom line numbers put on people working in our industry.
In typical justification Steve diverted the flow of thought away from the issue I raised by providing a different form of that topic as coming from a colleague. Freshman debate class taught me to recognize the tactic, but my question hung out there unanswered, and still calls for an answer.
There is, and I presented, an alternative to the plan they are pursuing, possibly they missed the unintended consequences of their rule making, (They usually do). The big money has always depended on misdirection and sleight of hand to accomplish their goals.
Meanwhile unless they rethink their simplistic formulas and redirect their attention to actual analysis of drivers both seasoned and new entrant, the companies can continue to turn over drivers as fast as they realize they are being abused into unsafe driving. New entrants with “perfect scores” that work for lower and lower entrant wage scales will continue to feed bottom lines and safety can be relegated to “devices” for monitoring actions of the drivers who will not have the experience to demand companies that actually practice safety before they practice frugality. Hey considering the unemployment rate in this country we can look for retraining funds to subsidize not only the schools the carriers contract to for fodder, but the carriers themselves for “creating” jobs for them when they finish schools.
Think about it, (another questioner did mention it,) immigration visas can help bring in even more lower wage entrant drivers who due to lack of historical data from their home country will also have perfect safety scores. Has anyone ever wondered what the accident rate per million miles driven is in Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan, or India. Maybe we don’t need to ask for historical data?
It was mentioned in the seminar that part of the reasoning behind the basic scores for drivers was to pressure the drivers to stand up to their companies and demand that equipment be in road ready condition before it is moved. I just doubt that new entrants, even American born new entrants, will have the intestinal fortitude or logic and experience to overcome the “we need you to do this to help us save our jobs” or “I know I can count on you” tactics, much less the “if you cant get it done driver we will find someone who can” used to pressure drivers into actions they know are not compliant.
The Mid-America Trucking Show is the largest annual heavy-duty trucking industry event in the world. As the industry’s premier business venue, each year the show offers attendees the best opportunities for exploring new products and services, as well as insight into a variety of current industry issues via seminars and special events. The show attracts more than 900 exhibiting companies and 70,000+ attendees each year. The 2011 show will be held March 31-April 2, 2011 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
