FMCSA’s Bus War is Unjustified
This fellow Jim Epstein who writes for Reason.com is my new hero. He has a number of articles he published on FMCSA’s sad war on small bus companies posted at Reason.com I am going to summarize the one which details the study they used to justify the war. His original article is here. It is dated May 7, 2013. Yes, I know, that was 17 months ago, but I just found it, plus I think it is a significant article.
According to Epstein, the war has been justified by an NTSB report, which was issued on October 12, 2011.
Frankly, I did not even know there was a report. In all reality, the FMCSA can do pretty much whatever it wants, and doesn’t need an NTSB study or report to justify or support its actions. To my recollection, there were at least 2 fatal Chinese bus crashes 3-4 years ago, which prompted the FMCSA war.
Nevertheless, apparently, NTSB issued a report about how curbside buses (ie, Chinese buses) were far more dangerous than your average bus. Epstein reconstructed the NTSB study, and concluded it was “bogus”, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the accidents the NTSB claimed were Chinatown buses, were mostly, according to Epstein, Greyhound buses. He sought out the opinions of other experts as well regarding the study, and they too concluded it had no validity. A Wall Street qualitative analyst called it “statistical malpractice”, while a professor of statistics at the University of Pennsylvania called it “just terrible statistics.”
I’m not going to read Epstein’s article to you word for word, but he concluded the report misrepresented the data, and in no way, shape or form, proves Chinatown buses are any more dangerous than any other buses.
So, who is telling the truth? Epstein? Or NTSB and FMCSA? I believe Epstein, 100%. Why? For one thing, NTSB refused to provide a copy of their data. They refused Epstein, and then would not provide a copy through a Freedom of Information request. Furthermore, my own experience is the government plays fast and loose with their statistical studies. Back in the day, when I was a young apparatchik working for FMCSA in Washington, DC, a buddy and I read a proposed rule on radar detectors. According to the preamble of the rule, the implementation of such would make 72 injuries less severe. This seemed rather precise, so we asked the man who wrote the rule, who worked across the hall from us how he came up with 72. The answer was basically, “I guessed.” I’m sure it was an educated guess, but still, a guess.
Apparently this Chinatown bus report is so slipshod it sounds almost as if it’s fabricated out of whole cloth. Maybe that’s why they won’t disclose it. So why is any of this important? It’s important because it’s just another indication that your government is lying to you. As I said, the FMCSA really doesn’t need a justification to declare war on the Chinatown buses. They have wide latitude to conduct their audits virtually as they please. Still they find the need to foist a phony study on the public to justify their actions.
A free society relies on honesty from its elected officials. Well, at least some honesty. Face it, you are never going to get the full truth from your government. Nevertheless, a government which consistently and continually lies to you loses the trust and faith of its people.
A free country which loses trust in its government isn’t going to be free for very long. Trust is needed for the common defense. Without it, you have episodes like Vietnam. Trust is needed to keep the economy going. U.S currency is backed by the “full faith and credit of the United States government”, and absolutely nothing else. No faith in the U.S. government means no faith in the dollar, which rapidly means economic collapse. What about a public health crisis? I’ll let you use your imagination on how that could play out in a free country with an untrustworthy government.
I expect my politicians to lie to me. I even expect their police agencies, like the Department of Justice, the NSA, and the IRS to lie to me. But when non-political, ‘safety’ agencies start telling half-truths, obfuscations, and possibly outright lies, then I start getting nervous. I don’t trust the government as far as I can throw it. This NTSB report is just another reason why.
Tip Jar
This week, I went to one of my favorite sandwich shops, V & S Sandwiches, for a nice cheesesteak, with extra hot peppers. They have a tip jar sitting on the counter. After I get my sandwich, sometimes I toss my coin change into the jar, sometimes I don’t. It depends on my mood that day, or if I thought they waited on me courteously and promptly.
The V & S tip jar has given me an idea. For the past seven years, I have been answering DOT questions on the site, for free. I do it just to do it and to be helpful. I know these DOT rules are extensive and complex, plus I know you will spend at least 15 minutes on the phone trying to find a police officer or government person to answer your question. If you manage to get one to answer the phone at all, that is.
Nevertheless, I would be much more enthusiastic about it if I made some beer money out of the deal. Therefore, I am going to try something new. I am going to place my own tip jar on my virtual counter. When I answer a question, I am going to post the following instructions on how to send me money.
1) Go to PayPal.
2) Log into PayPal. You need a PayPal account. See, this is how you can get out of tipping.
3) Find the Send Money link. It should be on the first page after you log in.
4) Enter my email: [email protected]
5) Enter the amount!
6) Choose whether you want the money to come out of your PayPal balance or your banking account.
7) Hit button “Send Money”
8) Thank you very much!
Just like the V & S tip jar, it’s voluntary. I am still going to answer your question, whether you tip or not. If you don’t have a PayPal account, no worries, I don’t expect you to set up a PayPal account just to tip me. However, if I cleared up something that’s been bothering you, if I answered your question in a prompt and thorough fashion, if I answered a question on which you’ve gotten 3 different previous answers, and you have a PayPal account, feel free to buy me a beer, using the above PayPal instructions. Thanks!
Comments, questions, email
Believe it or not, I think I fixed the email problem on the website. What should happen is when you make a comment, or ask a question, I am supposed to get an email with the text of your comment/question. That worked great until about a year ago, when one of WordPress’ upgrades downgraded the performance of the website, and it stopped happening. I installed a plug-in fix, which for the moment seems to be working. At any rate, questions should be answered in a much more timely fashion now, since I will be notified again when they are asked.
100 air mile radius, logbook exemption
I was going to put up another post in my ongoing series detailing FMCSA’s illicit war on small bus companies, but someone asked a good question regarding logbooks, which I think deserves a separate post. Here is the question from “Jason”:
“I typically drive within the hundred mile radius daily but once every two weeks I have to make a trip across state lines and over the hundred mile radius usually about 175 miles air miles from my home terminal. I fill out a daily driver sheet with my hours and miles each day and a log sheet whenever I go past the hundred mile radius. Is this legal or do I need to everyday fill out a log sheet since once every two weeks I go past the hundred mile radius? Thank you for your help.”
Basically, he’s asking does he need to fill out a log every day, because once every two weeks he needs a logbook, even though all the other days he is local and does not need one?
The answer is NO, he does not need a logbook, except for the days he does not meet the exemption. He does not need to have 7 previous days worth of logs with him on that day when he drives outside his 100 air mile circle. Here is the chapter and verse, just so you don’t think I’m making this up:
Question 21 (of the 395.1 interpretations): When a driver fails to meet the provisions of the 100 air-mile radius exemption (section 395.1(e)), is the driver required to have copies of his/her records of duty status for the previous seven days? Must the driver prepare daily records of duty status for the next seven days?
Guidance: The driver must only have in his/her possession a record of duty status for the day he/she does not qualify for the exemption. A driver must begin to prepare the record of duty status for the day immediately after he/she becomes aware that the terms of the exemption cannot be met The record of duty status must cover the entire day, even if the driver has to record retroactively changes in status that occurred between the time that the driver reported for duty and the time in which he/she no longer qualified for the 100 air-mile radius exemption. This is the only way to ensure that a driver does not claim the right to drive 10 hours after leaving his/her exempt status, in addition to the hours already driven under the 100 air-mile exemption.
The reason I am posting the chapter and verse is because this is a question which drivers and cops commonly get wrong. Especially cops, which is very frustrating, as the police should know their own laws. Nevertheless, it has happened where a local driver leaves the 100 air miles, gets stopped at the scalehouse, and the police demand the driver’s previous 7 days worth of logs. THE DRIVER DOES NOT NEED THEM. See the above interpretation. All the driver needs is a log for that day he is beyond the 100 air miles.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Manager with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at [email protected].
Learn more about Arnold Safety compliance consulting services at ArnoldSafety.Com.
FMCSA vs. Small Bus Companies, the Southeastern Tours Case
I wrote about FMCSA’s “Quick Strike” campaign against small bus companies back in February, 2014. This is DOT’s (remember DOT=FMCSA) war against anybody that transports passengers. They are aggressively auditing all of these carriers, and putting as many as possible out of business for any and all violations. I call it their “Death Strike” campaign.
It has been brought to my attention that a libertarian website called Reason.com has also posted two articles about FMCSA’s bus war. This is why we libertarians complain the media is entirely controlled by Democrats and statists. I am a libertarian, and I had never heard of Reason.com. Well, I have it bookmarked now.
Their first article was written back in March, 2014 about Southeastern Tours, formerly of North Carolina. They were audited in August, 2013 as part of the “Death Strike”. DOT uncovered a variety of paperwork violations, as well as two buses with Out of Service mechanical defects. As a result, in October, 2013, DOT pulled Southeastern Tours’ authority, placing them out of business.
Southeastern then entered “Bus Company Hell”, which is a place reserved for less-than-perfect small bus companies. DOT pretends these companies will have a chance to resume operations if they achieve spotless 100% compliance with the rules, but the reality is they will not. DOT will almost always find an excuse to deny these carriers permission to operate.
I reviewed the publicly available information in DOT’s Dockets on Southeastern Tours. This company was mugged by DOT. What happened to them is disgusting, and anyone associated with the mugging should hang their head in shame. According to DOT records, Southeastern has been in business since 1994. They have been audited 6 times during that time, the most recent in August, 2010. They achieved a Satisfactory rating in 2010. The worst that ever happened to Southeastern in all that time, and all those audits, was they paid a $3410 fine in 2003.
It’s possible that Southeastern’s operation went completely to hell between 2010 and 2013. I bet that’s not what happened. My 24 years of experience is guessing here, but I would bet $100,000 Southeastern was in the exact same condition in 2013 as it was in 2010 when it was audited. In 2010, it earned them a Satisfactory rating, with no fines. In 2013, their livelihood was taken from them.
How could this happen? Easy. Under “Death Strike”, DOT auditors dig and dig and dig, citing the most minute violations until they’ve piled up a mountain of minor violations. Voila! “You’re a hazard, Mr. Bus Company! You’re going to kill people! Look at all these violations!” They are simply applying a much different standard than had been applied previously. Again, Southeastern undergoes normal audit in 2010, everything is fine. Death Strike in 2013 = Death. The fact is, many of these Death Strike violations have absolutely no link to safety whatsoever, but that sure as hell doesn’t stop the government. It is absolutely disgusting.
This is what happens when a society has so many rules that no one knows what they all are, or how to possibly comply with them all. At any point in time, citizens are unknowingly breaking some rule. It’s just a matter of time before some government bureaucrat decides to enforce some previously unenforced rule, and boom, a new criminal is arrested.
There is a good quote in the Reason article from former Massachusetts State Police lieutenant, Paul Sullivan, who has extensive experience in the safety-compliance arena. Mr. Sullivan says, “The FMCSA has become much more interested in the publicity that goes with enforcement than with trying to improve the situation. The agency is stretching the intent of the regulation to make critical examples.” Lieutenant, you are 100% correct.
Just as villain Dr. Ferris said, in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”:
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean it… There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
