Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Cynthia Davis: Truck drivers used to be considered gentlemen; now some of them can't even speak English

(Cynthia Davis is a former Republican state representative from O'Fallon and is the host of an internet radio talk show.)

It annoys me when I see a truck driving about 6 feet behind my rear bumper.

 The law of physics would dictate that we still will arrive at our destinations at about the same time! 

Truck drivers used to be considered the "gentlemen of the highways". Now there are some who can't even speak English!

Anyone who drives on the highway can share plenty of stories of what we've seen trucks do....but most of us have no idea what's going on inside the cab. 








The new laws and the new fellow-truck drivers have substantially changed the industry and the reputation of trucks on the roads.

My husband used to drive a truck, so this topic is near and dear to me. It was like having a permanently-installed lobbyist built into my house at all times. 

 It's amazing what a legislator can learn by being married to someone with a strong opinion!

***
Today on our show, we interview Tom Martz. 

 Tom is one of the founders of the Locke and Smith Foundation and comes to us today to discuss what’s happening to the truck driving industry. 

We’re going to answer many of the questions you may have been wondering about concerning the rules for trucks but never knew who to ask.

Click here to listen.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

So if a truck driver doesn't speak English......he's not a gentleman???

Anonymous said...

I don't see the relevance in being a gentleman, driving a truck, and the ability to speak English.
I this writer made herself appear ignorant with that comment.

Anonymous said...

The xenophobia is strong with Cynthia.

Anonymous said...

Of course the "bad" truck drivers are obviously the non-English speaking ones. Cynthia just knows this, ok?

Anonymous said...

I basically never talk to truck drivers while I'm driving down the highway, but according to Cynthia I should be concerned that I couldn't if I wanted to.

Anonymous said...

Cynthia, you don't speak for me.

Anonymous said...

Anybody else get the impression that Cynthia's not a super great person?

Anonymous said...

I believe this is worded awkwardly. I took her point to be proper English. As in they are uneducated.

Anonymous said...

Some of the best Medical Doctors in America speak broken English at best.

Anonymous said...

Bring back them good old days when the truck drivers were real men jamming the gears behind a Buzzin' Dozen! We were still a nation of gentlemen truckers when every truck rolled coal pulling every hill like the maker intended!


The eight tracks and radios in the cab played real music about real truckers to keep them going all night long so they could get to the next load!


"I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet And I'm still... willin' Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico Baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari Tehachapi to Tonapah I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine And you show me a sign I'll be willin' to be movin'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNqv85coyTw

Anonymous said...

Some of you good people need to understand that anyone who doesn't speak English shouldn't be driving a truck in the USA. I'm wondering how they passed the driver's test. They wouldn't be able to read road signs, and if you ever been to Mexico, you would know that they don't pay adhere to the law. It's pretty much a free for all.

Anonymous said...

7:51, not able to read the road signs.
That is why the signs have symbols instead of long verbose statements, because lettered signs are distracting and by the way, a lot of white American citizens cannot read or write, just good fodder for the military and followers of Trumpf and his goon squad. All but yours make excellent points about Davis and her kind.

Anonymous said...

Background info?

Who should Silly Cindy blame for all those truck drivers she doesn't like?

Bush Opens Our Border To Mexican Trucks

by Phyllis Schlafly March 14, 2007

Our federal and state highways and bridges are among America's great assets; they enable us to drive freely and safely all over our country, and they belong to all of us, paid for by our taxes. But they are expensive assets; they require maintenance, repair, and expansion due to rising population and traffic.

Anyone who does much driving on our highways in ordinary sedans knows how crowded with big trucks our highways already are. So we're not happy that President Bush's latest concession to Mexico is to allow Mexican trucks for the first time to have open access to all our highways, roads and bridges.

It is painful for me to note that the Bush Administration is less protective of U.S. interests than the late, unlamented Clinton Administration. To his credit, Clinton kept Mexican trucks off our highways except for a 25-mile commercial zone immediately north of the border.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters went to El Paso to make the announcement that for the first time, starting in April, 100 Mexican trucking companies will be allowed to make deliveries anywhere in the United States, and she put no limit on the number of trucks the 100 companies can operate. This is a major step toward Bush's vision of a North American community.

To find out why the Bush Administration ignores the comfort and safety of ordinary American drivers like me, just follow the money. Big corporations are eager to have their made-in-Mexico-by-cheap-labor products delivered in the United States by Mexican drivers, who are paid 33 to 40 percent less than U.S. truckers.

George W. Bush will never face the voters again, but other Republicans will pay the price for his coziness toward Mexico and his elitist disregard for American workers. Even the Wall Street Journal, an enthusiastic supporter of the movement of goods, services and people, legal or illegal, across our southern border, admits that rising public opinion against the importation of cheap labor "helped propel Democrats to take back Congress in November."

The jobs issue will be even bigger in 2008, and the cost to Republicans even more damaging.

The problem is not only the increased wear and tear on our highways that U.S. taxpayers will subsidize, and not even the crowding of the roads that will make driving less pleasant for us all, but it's our worry about safety. That concern is real, even if you don't buy Teamsters President Jim Hoffa's statement that "They are playing a game of Russian roulette on American's highways."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff assures us he is "committed to retaining a high level of security and safety standards under this program." But we are entitled to disbelieve his promise; Michael Chertoff is impudently repudiating Congress's Secure Fence Act and President Bush's much photographed pre-election signing of the Act.

Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez boasted on Feb. 22 that "Secretary Chertoff stated publicly after the meeting [with Texas border mayors] that Texas doesn't need a fence."

Maybe Secretary Chertoff will give us "virtual" safety standards like the "virtual fence" he sometimes talks about. At the present time, only about two percent of trucks coming across the border are inspected, so the drug dealers just consider it a cost of doing business that a few of their illegal loads will be caught.

U.S. truck drivers must meet strict requirements that include enforcement of hours, regular physicals, age limits, and drug and alcohol tests. We have no way of telling how many hours Mexican truck drivers have been on the road before they reach our border inspectors.


Source for the above quote and "The Rest of the story": https://eagleforum.org/column/2007/mar07/07-03-14.html

maite said...

Poster girl for ignorance and malcontent!

Anonymous said...

Any time a person sees the word Locke associated with political or socioeconomic commentary a person probably should be on the lookout for the stench of libertarian brain flatulence!

Worshiping Locke is another way to be a Rancid Ayn Randian!