Driver health – for the industry, for the public, for yourself

I was talking last month with a trucker about the renewed focus on driver health. He described himself as an aging driver who sat on his worn-out butt most of his waking hours, legs numb from extension, blinking into the glaring asphalt, living “cheeseburger to cheeseburger.”
“The DOT wants to make sure you’re fit to drive a truck. Studies are telling us how bad our health is,” he told me. He

A cool, green way

I spent much of last week delving into the world of the California Air Resources Board and all its glory. Even drivers who make only the occasional trip into California have been hearing talk of the state’s new rules set to begin Jan. 1, 2008, including a five-minute limit on idling and a restriction for diesel-fired APUs on ’07 and newer trucks. After hours of research and writing, I got

Expanding and contracting arguments

I’m sure you’ve heard about the issue known as “hot fuel,” what with two recent congressional subcommittee hearings and a failed vote at the National Conference on Weights and Measures that could have given states some incentive to correct the problem. We’ve gotten some interesting comments by phone and e-mail relating to the issue in recent weeks. One person wrote to me to imply that “

Making common sense, well, more common

I am constantly amazed by the seeming lack of common sense I run into every day. Ignorance seems to run amuck everywhere from grocery store lines, to the interstates, to – unfortunately – even our government. I have pondered why this is openly in many conversations. Generally, I throw my hands up in the air in disgust because there doesn’t seem to be an easy answer. That was, until the other

Produce and poetry – what a combination

What do produce and poetry have in common? Me. I am kind of the “whatever” gal at Land Line – besides covering the produce industry and the complicated issues affecting the truck drivers who haul it, I also am the point-person for this year’s poetry contest, which, to say the least, has been quite entertaining. Oh, what you must see while out on the road. For those of you who have already

Paying the piper

For the past three decades, our living colonies have continued to spread out to form suburbs. And, with that shift has come increased numbers of commuters and bottlenecked rush hours, a price we may or may not have agreed to pay when we moved into our suburban homes. One significant price to pay for living in the ’burbs is fuel cost. It’s time to pay the piper. Even in Missouri, a