Marc Perkel Rantz

Walmart wants truckers to work 16 hours a day

The law restricts truckers to 14 hour work days for traffic safety. Walmart wants to get it up to 16 hours a day. As if 14 hours behind the wheel isn't enough.

I remember back in the early 1980s I used to fix CB radios. I worked at the local truck stop in Strafford Missouri that was located next to the state truck scales. I worked the loot looking for CB radios to fix, or hop up, or add channels to. I had a bag of tools I carried and worked the lot to make a living.

Business was especially good when the "chicken coops were open. Many of these truckers were running overloaded and had to wait till the scales closed so they wouldn't get caught running too heavy.

You see - truckers are pressured into cheating. They are barely making it and are squeezed by high taxes, price of fuel, repairs, regulations, and hungry jurisdictions trying to increase the tax base by robbing the truckers coming through their area. In otder to survive and get home to see their families they will try to get away with driving more than they are allowed to. And if they can work 16 hours a day - the system will force them to do just that.

I remember being out there with the hitchhikers, whores, and drug dealers who would sell truckers "white cross" and methamphedimines so that they can stay awake. I remember one guy who was barely able to stay awake long enough to actually buy the drugs. And he was going to drive non-stop all the way to California. How dangerous is that to the public?

Walmart doesn't give a shit about anyone and they are part of the fascist takove of America. They contributed big time to the Republicans so they will get their way and force truckers to work two more hours a day than they are now. We are all slaves to the man. But we must resist them and stop the deterioriation of honesty.

Posted by marc at March 8, 2005 08:58 PM | TrackBack