How To Maintain CDL Misery?

The government sets the bar too high for CDL holders.

On January 1, 2014 CDL license holders will now have to provide an up-to-date copy of this card to the DMV when they obtain it. It seems to me having a CDL is a pain in the butt and expensive to maintain. Here are the rules: If you are caught speeding or running a light your fines triple even in personal vehicle. BAC over .04 and your done for while. You have to pay fees of $130 every 5 years just to maintain your CDL. TWIT cards are fingerprints that are needed, and needed again, and again. Thank you Department of Redundancy.

Even though a CDL can be a money-maker for some, it seems like a giant pain for others. How does the government make up these rules? Why are they becoming stricter? It seems like its harder and harder to make a living from trucking with all these rules and regulations and BS thrown at you.

I'm sure in the future you the new truck driver have to look like a model, have BP of 110/70, 31 inch waist, wear a suit, perfect hair, and expect to look like an office professional when being a truck driver.

Read these articles below.

http://cdllife.com/2012/resources/upcoming-changes-for-cdl-holders/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=sadie

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=303190

Actually its $50 every 5 years in my state. Arkansas. And the turning in a new medical card to DMV when you get a new one is a good thing. Hundreds of drivers get tickets every year cause they forgot to get a new card before it expired or trying to flying under the radar cause they can't pass a dot medical.

The speed thing is simple...don't speed. They have speed limits for a reason. And since you have a CDL therefore a bit more training than the average four wheeler driver you are expected to know better.

And about the drinking....there is simple no excuse to be drinking and driving. Ever. Sorry but I have ZERO tolerance when it comes to this. Frankly i think the drinking and driving laws are to lax. First DWI/DUI should be 1 year suspension. 2nd offense should be life time ban from driving and year in jail under a felony charge.

I have to disagree with you.

Sure, there are a lot of rules and regulations but they were made for our safety and the safety of the motoring public. Without new regulations being implemented, we would still be running paper logs and driving for 20 hours a day. Also, delivering your medical report every .5-2 years isn't much to ask for. Your state wants to know your medical condition, if anything happens to you and they can't contact family then its a great idea to have your medical form to see what your health.

Here's my questions. Why are you speeding in your personal vehicle? Why are you running red lights? Why are you driving with a BAC over .04?

We are the professionals. We are supposed to be better than the other drivers on the road. Half of my job is to get my load on time in a safe and timely manner. But the other half is to make sure that everyone around me is safe with me behind the wheel, that I'm not being a danger to anyone else. So as a professional driver, why are you speeding, running red lights, and why are you even driving after drinking? All of these factors are dangerous and as professionals we shouldn't be doing it.

130$ every 5 years. Is it even worth bringing that up? Lets say you average 35 grand a year for 5 years. That's 175,000$. Can you not spare a few hundred? I mean, come on, some people drive long distances just to get to work. They pay far more than 130$ every 5 years to simply get to their desk. Most people probably pay 130$ per week just on their commute. And you want to complain that we have to pay a few hundred every 1,825 days.

They are becoming more strict because its obvious that they need to. Look at some of the drivers out here on the road. And not just the 4 wheelers. I saw a driver at a TA yesterday almost hit the fuel island. Now how do you do that? I don't want these morons on the road with me, especially driving these dangerous 18 wheelers. The solution? Make it more strict to weed out the idiots like this driver who almost hit the fuel island. Its not secret the power we possess. If I wanted to, I could go berserk and just run into people off the road, next thing you know - I've just ended a dozen lives and I'm still going full speed. You need to limit and attempt to only hand out a CDL to those qualified for the job - both mentally and physically. BP is also a very big factor. You could go easy on it but because of your decision to do so, the end result may be a loss of life.

If anything the appearance of the day to day driver is getting worse. I don't foresee us wearing tuxedos anytime soon.

This job is just way to dangerous to let it idle and get out of hand. There needs to be a governing body to determine who is and isn't eligible to be a safe driver. You can't just let anyone be a driver, there's far too great of a risk. I have to disagree with you on the entire post. This just seems like a case of looking at things with a negative attitude.

It seems to me having a CDL is a pain in the butt and expensive to maintain

It seems to me like having your family get run over by a truck is an even bigger pain and even more expensive - and that's the point. The rules for the CDL are getting more strict and the hiring standards are getting a bit higher at a lot of places because there's so much at stake. Without regulating CDL's tightly you'd have a lot more people behind the wheel of these monsters that shouldn't be. And without DOT out there doing inspections we'd all be driving much older, much more dangerous vehicles.

There's no question that the scrutiny in trucking is very high. There are a lot of hoops for drivers to jump through. But maybe you'd feel differently about it if you understood the history of the trucking industry and what it used to be like out there. Read some stories from the 60's and 70's when prostitution and drugs filled truck stops from coast to coast. Drivers would have different licenses in different states because they'd rack up violations on one, get a new one in a different state, and drive on. Guys were doing coast to coast round trips in 5-6 days by themselves loaded up on speed. Guys were cruising down the highway with a 12-pack of beer to sip on. It was insane.

It would be nice if you could count on people to do the right things on some sort of an honor system. But obviously that's ridiculous. But I think as much of a pain as it is sometimes to have the level of scrutiny truckers endure, the alternative - the way it used to be - is far worse for everyone.

If you had a wife and five children cruising the interstates in a minivan, would you rather have unregulated truckers all around them or highly scrutinized truckers? Obviously answer of course.

But listen - stressing it is just going to pull you down. Keep your thoughts focused on the things you can control and the things that matter most. Being distracted out there by thoughts about an overbearing government is going to keep you from focusing on safety and conserving your energy for the long days and tight schedules. We want the system to keep drivers on the road safe, including ourselves. The drug tests, constant monitoring of truck computers, and DOT inspections are necessary. Trust me....the alternative is ugly.

I do honestly think some things are fairly dumb, Like this 30 minute break during the first 8 hours. But like every driver out there, I used the 30 minutes well and go play fetch with my dog. Sure some drivers it benefits due to the constant sitting for long periods, forces them to get up and get the blood flowing back to their legs. As a Flatbedder it doesn't do much for me, every 150 miles or 3 hours I have to stop and preform a load check tire check. but the strict enforcement of drug and alcohol test and strict overview on the ability to attain a CDL is great, it keeps the really bad drivers out of basically a Land bound missile that has the ability to cause untold destruction. And as for the enforcement chicken coops have on equipment being on the road is good. Have you seen some of the four wheelers on the road that are so ridiculously unsafe to be driving and it's only a matter of time before something gives way and causes that car to malfunction and cause an accident.

Or what about a unsafe driver pulling a tanker with a product that if crashed can cause an explosion and ball of fire? cause of his health being not up to standards and contributed to the accident?

I myself do wish the brotherhood was still here but I find myself more and more concerned of other motorist on the road and not just four wheelers some of the truck drivers scare the crap out of me on how aggressive they drive and the disregard of operating and using the sheer fact that their vehicle is bigger than the four wheeler and just forces his way into the lane cause the lane he is in is going to slow for his sake, I am thankful for the strict rules surrounding the CDL process and the background security checks Hamzat and TWIC endorsements requirements are. Pay $100 to get your hazmat endorsement and they will give you a discount on your TWIC card. sure it seems like a big penny but hey, if you have a hazmat and a TWIC card, who do you think will get more potential loads the TWIC/hazmat driver or the guy that can't enter ports or touch hazmat loads? They will pay for themselves within probably two weeks.