A big thank you from Chance's mom

I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who is out there encouraging us and praying for us. We couldn’t get through these hard times without all of the truckers and others pulling for us. Thank you! We love you!

Jennifer Honeycutt
and the family of Chance Rodgers
Midland, OR

Body Mass Index

I am wondering if you have heard anything about the driver’s body mass index. (I’ve heard that) if it is over 35, then you have to have a sleep study done.

Keep up the great job on XM, thanks!

Mike Noble

Editor’s note: Mike, yes, we’ve had stories about that. But the news is actually worse – the cutoff is 30, not 35.

The good news – it’s only a proposal, in the very early stages. OOIDA has made it very, very clear they intend to fight this one.

Keep an ear on the show; we’ll have updates as soon as there are new developments.

Mark Reddig
Host, Land Line Now

Economic ups and downs

Dear Mark,

Land Line Magazine (June ’07 issue) quotes you as saying that our economy is in shambles. 

While things are seldom as we like them, I will say that when I look around, we are far from shambles. We have some huge problems, but people are still buying big screen TVs and custom wheels, and driving SUVs.

Danny R. Schnautz.
Pasadena, TX

Editor’s note: Danny, I certainly see those same people – many of them are people I know personally.

But I also see a growing number of people – a more significant portion of our population than we’ve seen in many, many years – out of work, losing their homes, not buying SUVs or big screens, unsure whether they can even buy food.

I know a woman who was gainfully employed at the same job for 21 years. She is now out of a job, her neighbor is out of a job, the lady three doors up is out of a job. All of them are wondering what’s next.

There’s a lot of cheap hot dogs and ramen noodles at those houses right now, and none of them, to my knowledge, have either an SUV or a big screen TV.

On my block alone, three houses are empty, all the result of sub-prime foreclosures.

My mother lives in a fairly nice neighborhood in a moderate- to high-income suburb. Her block has four houses for sale, some of which have been on the market for more than 6 months. In the past, none would have been on the market more than a month.

Let’s not even talk about the number of people in this business I’ve spoken with who are barely scraping by.

I hope it’s not as bad as I think. But I’m concerned it is.

Let’s hope I’m wrong – and, God willing, that you’re right.

Mark H. Reddig
Host, Land Line Now

Building a better mouse trap

I tripped across this article while looking for better fuel economy. Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep have a dozen diesel models available and over half of them get 35 MPG! They are all manufactured here in the USA and all but two are shipped overseas because of the EPA regulations. How much would this help us? Who doesn’t want 35 MPG?

O.J. Ammer Jr.
Mercer, PA

Editor’s note: O.J., I read that article, and it was fascinating. You have to wonder, with the new ULSD, how much would it really take to get these up to standards?

With that kind of increase in fuel mileage on SUVs, imagine what it would be on smaller cars. This could very well be a big part of lowering our dependence on foreign oil and lower the cost of fuel by cutting demand.

Thanks for letting us know about this.

Mark Reddig
Host, Land Line Now

More Fuel surcharge questions

I have been listening to the comments regarding the legislation for FSC. After hearing the actual draft read out on Friday, May 2, I noticed that there will be a missing point. I wonder, if the FSC legislation passes, what will prevent the shippers (likely at the load broker’s request) from not identifying a fuel surcharge, or fuel subsidy? By just paying a gross amount with none of the funds identified as FSC would the brokers be able to get around the new law?

Russ Gawluk
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Editor’s note: Russ, the bill does require disclosure of any other fees – but I’d add this – why would the shipper agree to avoid paying a fuel surcharge that actually goes toward paying for fuel? That’s against their own monetary interest. Most of these shippers believe the surcharge is being used only for extra fuel costs, and only agree to pay it because of extra fuel costs.

Also, if they pay a base shipping rate that’s higher, then they will still pay that rate if the fuel costs drop. If they pay a base rate and a surcharge, then if fuel costs drop, shipping costs drop. So it’s also in their interest to identify that as a surcharge.

Let me go a step further – your thought seems to be that the broker has been charging the shipper an extra cost for “higher cost of fuel.” Now, the theory is that the broker will go back to the same shipper and say, “I know I said that was a fuel surcharge, but in reality, I was putting it in my pocket. How would you feel about just paying it to me straight so I can avoid paying the trucker you thought it was going to in the first place?” I don’t think that would fly.

The key here is what the brokers themselves do. That is still a problem, but this bill would be a great step in the right direction.

Hope that helps answer your question.

Mark H. Reddig
“Land Line Now” host

Government: in or out?

I was a member of OOIDA. I joined right after purchasing my truck. I joined because I believed in the premise of your organization, but after a year, I saw that my beliefs in trucking were not the same as yours.

Now, on to the point of my e-mail: this Senate bill you are trying to push through (SB2910). I do not think that this was thought out. For example: let’s say you are hauling a load for a broker, shipper, whoever. The rate of the haul is $1.50 per mile plus fuel surcharge. Now, let’s say the broker-shipper is holding 10 cents of said fuel surcharge. The bill you are pushing will make sure that they are paying the full surcharge, but that doesn’t mean the truck driver will be making more money. The broker-shipper will just say “well, the fuel surcharge is now 10 cents higher, but the rate of the load drops 10 cents.” Do you see the error in your plan?

Kevin Rutherford has it right, let’s keep the government out of this industry as long as possible, rather than invite them in, and have them dictate to us what we get paid – driving the majority of owner-operators out of business, and making it that much more profitable for the big companies.

If an owner-operator thinks he needs a raise, he should know what his bottom line (cents per mile) is. That way he will know if the load that is on his truck will even pay for the fuel. Kevin teaches this through his program, and also has been preaching about slowing down, and doing things to save money on his show. Now I also don’t agree with him 100 percent, but his show is a lot more realistic in the fact that he is trying to teach truck drivers to not worry about the cost that they can’t change, and to concentrate on the things they have control of.

Now I still listen to your show, when you aren’t airing “truck shows” or “new music” or anything else that really has noting to do with the average truck driver. I have been driving for 18 years, and I really don’t care about who won the truck show, or how a truck driver saved a cat from jumping out of a tree.

I know this little rant won’t make your airways, and if it does, I hope that it will open some of the other truck drivers’ eyes. I am not saying the idea for this bill will hurt, but I really don’t see how it is going to help either.

Tony Pate
Auburn, CA

Editor’s note: Tony, I guess you may not have been listening to our program after all. OOIDA was pushing truckers – in phone calls, through Calls to Action, in pamphlets and in Land Line Magazine – to know their cost of operations and to not take a load that doesn’t cover that cost. And we’ve been pushing that message constantly for years before either our show or Mr. Rutherford’s were ever on the air.

We continued that message on our show – including more than 20 different programs – four of them in the past month. Many of those segments, again, ran on this show before Mr. Rutherford was ever on the air.

And I give credit to Mr. Rutherford for picking up our message and running with it. If he's telling truckers to do that, he's giving them good advice.

We have also stressed – on the air, in the magazine, in phone calls, etc. – not to get hung up on the fuel surcharge. If you have two loads – one is $2 per mile without a surcharge, one is $1.25 per mile plus a 50-cent surcharge – obviously you should take the $2 load. We’ve stressed over and over that the total amount you receive is what you should pay attention to.

I acknowledge that we do have a greater diversity of programming than Mr. Rutherford. He is strictly a business show, we cover all the news – business, legislation, regulation, and yes, other items of a lighter nature. We try to respond to all of our listeners, and some have said they like that content.

As for The TRUCC Act, it was something we had received literally thousands of phone calls about before it was introduced. The pass-through seems like simple honesty to me – the disclosure even more so. How can we object to every party to a contract actually seeing the contract? Current law calls for that, but brokers have often required truckers to travel to their home offices to see that paperwork. If the trucker’s picking up the load in Florida and the broker’s home office is in Arizona, that doesn't seem possible.

I am sorry if you are no longer part of our effort to fight for the rights of truckers. With 160,000 members, we can’t have every member agree perfectly on every position the association takes. But we are the only organization out there that is actively fighting for truckers’ rights. And we will continue to do the best we can to represent all truckers – yourself included – whether they are members or not.

We think that’s a fight worthy of supporting. I hope you do too – and I hope you’ll reconsider and join us.

Thanks for your comments,

Mark H. Reddig
“Land Line Now” host

Cost of Operations

I’m trying to find the cost of operations that was talked about on the show. On OOIS it says that I need to have the Excel program. Not everybody has that on their computer. Is there someplace else I can see the program?

Larry
Ashton, IA

Editor’s note: According to Kip Hough of OOIDA’s member services, you can also open the document using ZOHO, a free, online suite of programs similar to Microsoft Office. Just go to ZOHO.com and sign up for a free account. Then use the Zoho Sheet spreadsheet program to open the document. Hope this helps, Larry.

Terry Scruton
“Land Line Now” senior correspondent

Fuel Surcharge

Can you explain the fuel surcharge to drivers, and who is making all the money?

Russell
Athens, GA

Editor’s note: Russell, I wish there was an easy answer to that question. You can be the one who is making all the money if you know how to properly implement a fuel surcharge. Without it, brokers, shippers and pretty much everyone except you will be getting more than their fair share.

The fuel surcharge is a per mile fee and is based on the average price of diesel as determined by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. You can find more information on setting up a fuel surcharge here.

Terry Scruton
“Land Line Now” senior correspondent