Rules, DOT, Safety
I see it’s been more than a month since I updated the blog. Sometimes I have so much to say that I can’t write it all down, and other times, I can’t think of anything to say. Then still other times, I self-censor myself, as I don’t want to appear more of a paranoid, doom and gloomer than I am. Somewhere in my hard-drive, I have a 3/4 written post about the failure of the Obama DOT to reduce truck accidents. Some day I will complete that.
The thing which has me exercised this morning is I saw an article which states the FMCSA has issued fireworks transporters an exemption from the 14 hour rule.
Exemptions are a legal process in the regulations, through which a motor carrier, or a group of motor carriers, can petition the FMCSA, and ask that they not be subject to certain regulations. For example, I saw the other day that transporters of bees have been granted an exemption from the 30 minute rule, because the bees need a continuous stream of cool, fresh air, and stopping for any length of time will allow heat to build up, which will harm, and maybe kill the bees.
I have never paid that much attention to the exemptions. They are generally very limited in their application, and almost without exception, do not apply to me, or my customers. I have always thought these exemptions basically expose the safety regulations as not really being about safety at all. Take this fireworks exemption. The government is allowing truckers hauling fireworks, purportedly a ‘hazardous material’, to operate significantly more hours, than a trucker hauling diapers, meat, or widgets. As we all know, if our local 4th of July fireworks display down at the fire company does not come off, or we’re unable to fire bottle rockets in the backyard on Saturday, all is lost.
Really, this exemption is a simple admission by FMCSA (although you will never hear them saying it), that the 14 hour rule is meaningless, and does nothing to prevent accidents. Otherwise, they would never grant this kind of exemption.
The other thing that has me upset is the recent King v. Burwell decision by the Supreme Court. While not surprising me in the least, it has me very disappointed and upset. Basically, the Court ruled that it does not matter what the law actually says, it only matters what the government WANTS it to say. The FMCSA does this repeatedly. If a scenario crops up where they want to enforce the rule in a manner inconsistent with the actual language of the regulation, (a regulation which they wrote), they simply do it anyway, and say, ‘well, that’s what the rule was meant to say all along’. The SCOTUS’ King v. Burwell decision essentially says the executive agencies like FMCSA are perfectly within their rights to make the rules however they choose, without any interference from the Courts.
They can interpret their own rules, Congressional laws, even the Constitution, however they see fit. King v. Burwell essentially confirms that the Courts will stand aside and allow executive agencies to do whatever the hell they want. I find this profoundly disturbing.
At any rate, happy Independence Day! Although I am not sure we are very independent at all these days….
