Arnold Safety Endorses Ron Paul

I have decided to make an official endorsement in the run for the Presidency. All the other elected officials get to do it, so why shouldn’t I? Yes, I am an elected official. I wrote myself in on the ballot for a position no one else wanted, and I won my election: 1 vote to 0.

At any rate, I am endorsing Ron Paul for President. Why? I am concerned with the wild, unrestrained growth of government, and the resulting collapse of the capitalist system. That’s all. Government has spent so-o-o-o much money, the private sector can’t pay for it all anymore. At some point, probably soon, the whole house of cards is going to come down.

Ron Paul is the only candidate who is seriously addressing this. None of the others are going to do anything except hasten the collapse. No, I am not worried about Iran blowing me up with a nuclear weapon. I am worried about the Federal government seizing my assets, or having to work until I die to pay off the previous generation’s massive debts, though.

There is a good Stephen King movie from the 80’s called the Dead Zone. Christopher Walken is main character, and can see into the future. In one scene, he is trying to warn people of an impending drowning on a frozen pond, and no one will listen to him. Finally, he gets frustrated, takes his cane, smashes a vase, and yells, “THE ICE IS GONNA BREAK!!!”

That’s what I’d like to see Ron Paul do at one of these debates, kick is lecturn over, and yell “the ice is gonna break!” Because what does it matter that one Syrian is killing some other Syrian, when a case of beer is going to cost $100 and the Feds are going to seize my 401(k)? Do you want change, real change? Then vote old school. Vote Ron Paul!

General Update

Well, I swore I would keep the blog site current, and it seems I keep having trouble doing it. One of the things I am really struggling with is not posting for all the world to see every last thing I think or believe. Some of that is controversial, and probably will not ultimately help my business.

The ATA filed suit against the agency a few weeks ago over the new hours of service rules. I was getting worried, it was starting to look like they might just let the agency get away with the new rules. Let’s give credit to ATA. Filing suit is not easy, it takes a lot of time and resources, so ATA is stepping up and fighting on behalf of the entire industry. There is simply no evidence the new rules will reduce crashes. It could be argued the new rules will actually increase crashes. So, not only do the new rules make the industry less efficient and profitable, it does so for no corresponding safety benefit.

Of course, last week, the “safety” advocacy groups also filed suits, insisting that the FMCSA adopt a 10 hour rule, in addition to all the other restrictions they are trying to implement.

The fate of the new hours of service rules will most likely be determined on the first Tuesday in November. If Obama wins re-election, you will almost certainly get the new rules, followed closely by a change to 10 hours driving, instead of 11. If Obama loses, the new rules may be erased.

The agency has announced it will not have its Electronic On-Board Recorder mandate ready this year. Thank God. I said when the court bounced their previous rulemaking that they would not give up. The court ruling, however, forces the agency to do a ton of work in order to make their rulemaking pass judicial muster. Apparently, they will be unable to get all of this work done this year. Again, this is a rulemaking whose fate could be tied to the elections. A re-election of Obama ensures the EOBRs will be mandated. The only thing which could stop them at that point is action in the courts, which is still possible. Even if Obama loses, I think it is still a distinct possibility the EOBRs will be mandated, as ATA wants to force everyone to have them for economic reasons.

Statements

I want to say a few words about statements. Specifically, written statements the FMCSA makes you sign during an audit. For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of going through an audit, if you are audited, the FMCSA may fine you if you have violations. In order to do that, they must prove, at some rudimentary level, you have violated the regulations. They generally do this by photocopying your records.

For example, let’s say you have neglected to renew one of your driver’s medical exams, and he is driving without a current medical. The auditor will establish the fact he has been driving a commercial vehicle by copying the truck registration, and then a few of his logs to show he has been driving that truck. He will photocopy a bill of lading or two, to show the driver has been working for you in the furtherance of your business. He may even copy payroll records to show the driver has been paid by you, and that he works for you. He will copy the expired medical, to show when it was expired. At this point he will write down what he thinks are the facts of the situation, and tell you to sign it. For example, “on 2/16/12, driver Joe Smith operated truck 6, which is over 10,001 lbs. GVWR in interstate commerce from Dallas, TX to Oklahoma City, OK. On this date, the driver did not have a current medical exam.”

98% of motor carriers given these statements sign them. Don’t! You don’t have to. The FMCSA has no power to force you to sign their statements. All you are doing is helping them fine you money. Politely decline, and tell them that any sort of signed admissions must be reviewed by your attorney. Don’t be a jerk about it, do it nicely, but don’t sign their statement.

But why? I know my files are somewhat wrong, so what’s wrong with just admitting it? There is simply nothing to be gained by signing that statement. What you have done is help them fine you, and make it stick. For one thing, those statements are not always correct. The auditor is putting down what he thinks the facts are. The auditors make mistakes. They make mistakes more times than you think. He may be putting down violations which actually are not violations, and then making you admit to them. Once you admit to them, it makes it more difficult to convince his bosses you’re not guilty.

Back in the day, when I worked for the Dark Side as an auditor, I used the statements. All of the auditors do it. I would write up a statement, in which I would spell out certain points of fact which I wanted to nail down as part of my proof. Then I would put in there some BS about how sorry you were, and how you were going to immediately fix the violations, etc., etc. I didn’t care about that, the whole purpose of getting the motor carrier to sign the statement was to get the admission on those key facts. It helped make my charges stick, so they would not be thrown out by the DOT attorneys.

The other reason to make it more difficult for FMCSA to fine you is, the fines are outrageous. In many cases, the penalty is not going to be a simple slap on the wrist. It’s going to be thousands upon thousands of dollars, and very likely it will far exceed the seriousness of whatever violation you have committed. This is merely my opinion. After doing this for over 20 years, both with the FMCSA and outside of the FMCSA, I have come to the opinion that willfully helping them fine you is just not good strategy.

PA Carrier Charged Criminally With False Logs

This comes to us from the Allentown Morning Call. A motor carrier from Lancaster, PA, DA Landis Trucking, Inc. has been charged criminally with fraud, based on false records of duty status. It’s owner, Dean A. Landis, has also been charged criminally, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail, if convicted according to the article. The indictment was handed down around February 6, 2012. The alleged violations took place between 2007 and 2009.

99.99% of the time when DOT finds logs which do not match supporting documentation such as toll, fuel, or scale receipts, they issue a monetary fine to the motor carrier. Sometimes they will issue a fine to the driver as well. On motor carriers, the fines vary depending on the size of the carrier, and how many previous fines they have. They can range from a few thousand dollars to upwards of $100,000. On drivers, they generally range from $500 – 1,500.

However, once in a great while, FMCSA will initiate criminal action against a motor carrier for safety violations. In my experience, these actions seem to be primarily geared towards log falsification. FMCSA itself has no ability to levy a criminal action. It must enlist the cooperation of the Justice Department in order to start a criminal action. This is probably why there are not more criminal actions. It is difficult to get the Justice Department to take these cases, as they are usually busy prosecuting real criminals.

Nevertheless, if they can convince the DOJ to handle the case, the DOJ, with the assistance of FMCSA, will file criminal charges. As you can see in this case, if convicted, the penalties are much more severe than an FMCSA fine. In Mr. Landis’ case, he could be sentenced to 1-5 years in jail.

How does FMCSA determine who is going to be that lucky motor carrier? Who is going to be that one in a thousand who they try to put in jail? Generally, they need proof of some type of willful falsification. That is, if you are intentionally altering drivers’ logs, or helping them alter their logs, particularly to conceal drivers operating over hours, you could be at risk from one of these criminal actions. Also, if you operate in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. What does that have to do with anything? The FMCSA in this region has made friends with the local DOJ District Attorney, and he is ready, willing and able to put motor carrier officials in jail. That doesn’t mean they won’t go after you somewhere else, it just means if they catch you willfully falsifying records in eastern Pennsylvania, you are especially at risk from criminal prosecution.