The OuterBelt's Podcast
The OuterBelt's Podcast
When New Mexico Dust Falls on Ohio Cars, We Have Questions
When dust from New Mexico creates mud rain in Ohio, the Outer Belt crew finds themselves discussing one of nature's strangest phenomena. The hosts share their experiences with mud-coated vehicles and the resulting car wash chaos across the region, providing a fascinating look at how weather patterns thousands of miles away can impact daily life.
The conversation takes a serious turn as they examine a controversial new Arkansas bill that would drastically change requirements for non-US commercial drivers. This proposed legislation would require US-issued CDLs, ban certain visa holders from operating commercial vehicles in Arkansas, and mandate English language proficiency tests during traffic stops. The hosts question the bill's legality, potential conflicts with interstate commerce regulations, and concerns about implementation fairness.
Drawing from their extensive industry experience, the crew delves into the effectiveness of current drug testing protocols after discussing a tragic case in Oregon where a truck driver under the influence killed seven farm workers. They thoughtfully examine whether the current 50% random testing requirement for carriers is sufficient, the challenges of catching impaired drivers, and how the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse has improved safety measures.
Throughout the episode, the hosts balance technical industry knowledge with accessible explanations, making complex regulations and safety concerns understandable for listeners from all backgrounds. Whether you're a trucking professional or simply curious about the forces shaping interstate commerce and highway safety, this episode offers valuable insights into the changing landscape of American transportation.
Email us: theouterbeltpodcast@gmail.com
Website: www.hyfieldtrucking.com
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Hey everybody, welcome to the Outer Belt. I'm Patrick, and you all know my friends Billy Buttermilk, eric and Jerry. Oh man, and we are here from a beautiful Ohio. It's a wonderful faux spring day, or is it real spring day? No, it's not real spring, it's not real.
Speaker 3:spring it's not real spring.
Speaker 1:It's the faux spring. It's teasing us.
Speaker 2:But it's doing a great job of teasing us. It said when I woke up this morning high of 68. And it got up to what? 74? Something like that today Something. It was crazy warm and beautiful, just not a cloud in the sky. I'm excited about Friday. I am too 77.
Speaker 4:That's too hot. I say we hit 80. I bet you we will.
Speaker 1:But you know, what's going to happen is we have storms rolling in, oh yeah. Big, huge. I've already seen severe weather. They've got their different colors coming up from the south, whatever's going to be, and we're kind of in this one color all the way to Cleveland, because it dips to 57 the following day. So that's lots of thunderstorms, possible tornado warnings. Your eyes and your ears, your phone, on all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:We're going to have another tornado session, a tornado therapy session like we did last year. Remember that we're all down in our basements texting back and forth. What?
Speaker 3:are you doing Sirens going off from three different cities?
Speaker 1:It does warm up to the 60s and then it dips right back to the 40s. So, like I agree with Vince, maybe not quite done with winter, but because that Thursday, the 20th, a low of 28. To me that's winter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very winter. I was going to say so, certainly no snow, but now that you said 28, that might be a possibility. Oof, we could see another dusting.
Speaker 1:We're in Mother Nature's needs-to-take-her-meds kind of moments, these next couple of weeks.
Speaker 5:We really are it rained, she hasn't taken her meds all stinking and it rained mud.
Speaker 1:And it rained mud. I mean, like You're still pretty amazed by that it rained mud From New Mexico.
Speaker 2:Isn't that a song? It's raining mud.
Speaker 1:New Mexico mud.
Speaker 2:I've seen some crazy stuff in my life, but I've never seen it rain, mud, and I'm from South Louisiana. One thing we know about is rain. It's never mud. Nope, I mean that just blew me away and then the whole city just looks so dusty. It was weird driving on the roads and seeing like the clear tire tracks on the roads, like if, as if it was snow Right, but it was actually just the dust that was left over and it was. It was crazy, absolutely crazy.
Speaker 3:We haven't had a regular rain since then. We haven't, we need one, so there's nothing to wash it away with no, it's oh the lines at the.
Speaker 1:What day were we out and about Saturday.
Speaker 4:Saturday, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oof the lines at the, Because this happened Friday night.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:And the lines at the Car wash. Car, the car washes were people. Well, that one over by. Joanne's was just honking, honking at each other. People were not being patient and polite.
Speaker 2:No, the lines are still terrible. I went to the one over on Sawmill today and I was like nope and kept on going.
Speaker 5:There was nowhere in line this morning at 730. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, people have jobs.
Speaker 4:Yeah, at my house they were backed out into the road, down the street to the next stoplight, blocking the traffic. At the stoplight they were all lined up so I was like, okay, I'm going to go to another one. So I drove out going towards I don't know where the hell I'm at.
Speaker 4:Pickerington. So I went out to another one and they actually cut the entrance off from the road and had everybody lined up down this like the sidewalk and it stretches into a mall parking lot and it was down the mall parking lot like over half the mall people just sitting and waiting. I was like yeah, forget that Car wash, ain't that serious.
Speaker 1:No, it ain't. I'll go home and get the bucket and the sponge and give it a what for.
Speaker 2:And it is dust, to be clear, it's not salt.
Speaker 1:It's not corroding your paint.
Speaker 2:It's just dust, so I'll be happy to get it off my vehicle. I'm hoping the next couple days that line will go down enough that I can swing it and grab it. But I do check pretty much every day now.
Speaker 3:I went this past weekend Monday maybe and I did the one on sawmill and I was able to get in and out in less than half an hour.
Speaker 2:Oh, I have not been able to. I haven't seen it like that yet.
Speaker 3:I must have caught it.
Speaker 2:You must have had the opportune time.
Speaker 3:Special time.
Speaker 4:I got lucky. My car was in the garage and I didn't get anything.
Speaker 1:Mine normally is in the garage.
Speaker 4:I got lucky.
Speaker 1:Ours was in the garage and it still had debris on it Like a dusting.
Speaker 5:It was weird. Maybe our garage isn't as sealed as Jerry's Apparently not.
Speaker 4:Well, they just put a new roof on ours too. Maybe that helped.
Speaker 2:Yes, maybe your roof is leaking dust. Could be that's what it was. I'm not a carpenter, it wasn't the dust from the rain that got into your car or to your car in the garage. It just shook the building enough the dust fell off the ceiling fan.
Speaker 3:That's directly above your garage, so that's aged dust.
Speaker 2:Yes, I always thought it was weird. They put a ceiling fan right over your car. I thought that was weird too, but maybe In an unfinished basement, in an unfinished basement where you keep your car.
Speaker 5:Yes, we keep our car in the basement.
Speaker 2:They've got yeah car in the basement. I have noticed.
Speaker 5:Just drive it down.
Speaker 2:But it's such a narrow ramp. It is and it only fits your car Like I can't fit my.
Speaker 1:Jeep in there. It's too tall. It really is so for the viewers, because I did see some what about the listeners?
Speaker 2:No, not them, just the viewers.
Speaker 1:The viewers, the listeners.
Speaker 2:You can see this picture here. No, the listeners the viewers, the viewers, the listeners, the viewers.
Speaker 1:You can see this picture here. No, the listeners, the viewers, um I in fact, I did see some uh drivers out there making comments on some social media platforms, including high fields, uh, that that they had got stuck in a severe sandstorm down in in like arizona or new mexico, that area like really bad. I did see that area like really bad.
Speaker 2:I did see that.
Speaker 1:Filled their truck with the dust, just you know, really atrocious. So that's kind of what happened and it's. I guess we all woke up up here in this area, ohio, or along the path of the rain that day, to this weird substance on all of our cars or this glow outside.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And I know that I follow Ohio News and Weather and they had posted that there was an atmospheric pressure or an inversion or something and basically the clouds sucked up the dust out of that storm. The wind just sucked it all up and then it was in the clouds. And so, as the clouds are traveling from New Mexico all the way you know along their line Kentucky, so on and so forth, all the way through Ohio, as they're dispensing moisture, it was also dispensing that dust which then created mud rain. As Patrick said, I thought it was a pretty cool phenomenon. I've never heard of really anything. The meteorologists, they were all kind of in awe of it, as if maybe they've never seen it before or maybe it's been 100 plus years since something like this has happened. I thought it was a very cool phenomenon that we had New Mexico dust on our cars.
Speaker 5:I don't know if you guys heard or not, but Jim Cantore is thinking about retiring from the Weather Channel, really. Yeah, melissa's been getting phone calls all week to be his replacement Because she's on top of the weather like that.
Speaker 1:I love weather, though you know that.
Speaker 2:You're talking about the dust storms out in California and Arizona and New Mexico, wherever it was out there.
Speaker 1:West, out west, out west.
Speaker 2:I remember seeing a lot of that on my news feed. I didn't put it together that that is what fed this storm until you just said that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I completely didn't put two and two together, but yeah, that was wild.
Speaker 1:I kind of picture it maybe almost being like an inverted tornado, but don't, I mean not quite maybe, but you know, like as a section where it's going up and then those clouds held.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They were so dense that they held the dust in them. I mean, just as a science perspective, I think that's just a pretty cool thing.
Speaker 2:I do too. I think that's just a pretty cool thing. I do too. But it also kind of tears all those holes in a smart water theory where they're talking about how it's distilled by the clouds. Because I wouldn't want to drink that water. No, you don't know. Smart water claims to be distilled by the clouds.
Speaker 1:No, have you ever melted snow? It's not as pretty as you think it is.
Speaker 2:It's all the salt.
Speaker 1:Ew.
Speaker 2:And the yellow color. Anyway, it was glorious today.
Speaker 1:Doors were open in the house. Took Annie for a little walk.
Speaker 2:I took a scenic drive.
Speaker 1:Was it nice.
Speaker 2:It was very lovely. I took the 270 scenic bypass route All the way around, all the way around, and I got in the truck around 345. Or left the yard about 345.
Speaker 1:And I'm like, well, this is perfect and I had to go get Right at rest shower yeah.
Speaker 2:And I had to go get some air in a tire that was a little low, and so I'm like that's really going to set me in the perfect spot and I mean I did great. I headed south and I went down, had no issue on 270. Started coming up north, going around the airport, everything's fine, 70 was. I saw 70 as I went over and I'm glad I went on 70, but I wasn't on 70, so who cares? So I just kept on going right and I get up around just north of.
Speaker 1:Easton Polaris, I believe it's, westerville, it is yeah, and Albany.
Speaker 2:Polaris? I believe that's Westerville.
Speaker 1:It is, yeah, and Albany, that area, oh, it's always congested up north, though.
Speaker 2:It really is. It really is, I don't know. Well, I guess what I saw was mostly people going north, so like going from the 71.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was a lot of traffic.
Speaker 5:It was right there, yeah they're coming out of the part of the city going north, going home.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought it was cool, though I did see, when I was on 270, headed towards 71 on the south side, I saw a truck going the opposite direction as me and it was a very unique truck. It was a much, much, much older Expediter. So it was kind of cool to see like, oh wow, that thing's still running, like it's got to have a million miles plus two million miles. It's old. And then when I got to North 270, I passed it again.
Speaker 1:Oh, they're doing a loop too.
Speaker 2:Well, I think they were doing the bypass from downtown, but they went left and I was going right or they went, they went west, I was going east, and so once I got up north, they obviously hit traffic somewhere and I had caught back up with them again that's funny, so it was kind of cool to see that.
Speaker 1:Why were you doing the?
Speaker 2:loop. Uh, we have a truck that was in a very bad wreck, uh, several months ago and, uh, it was not enough damage to total the truck out, but it was a substantial amount of damage, and so it's been in the process of getting rebuilt for quite some time. It's all new. And when I say it's all new, it's all new. The cab and the sleeper and the engine are original. The drive axles are new. The box is brand new. The toolboxes are new. The box is brand new. The toolboxes are new. We have a couple new frame rails on it. They were going to straighten them, but they actually replaced them, which is funny, because I have a buddy of mine. Back in the day we used to talk about how older trucks like, yeah, just rebuild everything, replace everything, and the thing we'd always joke about is new frame rails or whatever.
Speaker 2:And Rebuild everything replace everything, and the thing we'd always joke about is new frame rails or whatever, and it was like because that's usually the mark of a total vehicle is replacing a bit frame rail. But on, these trucks are so expensive that didn't deter it. And so it's a brand new truck and I want to go take it for a drive, just because it's about to go on the road and I wanted to make sure everything felt right before we got on the road and it drove like a dream. It drives like a brand-new truck. I mean mostly because it's a brand-new truck yeah over half.
Speaker 2:It's a brand-new truck yeah over half of it's brand-new, yeah, so it really drove great. It really was a nice ride. So, that's why I made that big loop. So the loop you made were you on the outer belt. Some refer to it as the outer belt. Okay, I was just curious. Yes, you're right, especially if you look at the map. Well, that's a weird coincidence. That is a weird coincidence.
Speaker 1:The outer belt on the outer belt.
Speaker 2:It's almost like we named it after that. Yeah, maybe they named the highway after us. I could see that, jerry, can you research that for us, sure will.
Speaker 1:Quick fact check and the answer is they named it after us.
Speaker 2:Excellent, there it is, there it is. Put that in Guinness.
Speaker 1:And it spits out the answer.
Speaker 5:Or better, yet you can do the triple P.
Speaker 1:Oh, the triple you can do the triple P. Oh, the triple P I love the triple P.
Speaker 5:What is that? He was a character on, let's say, new Orleans. Okay, he was their tech guy, and whenever he went to do something on his computer, he basically just did like this and it was just a clacky, clacky, clack, clack, as quick as it could be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you're listening, it's just like Just slapping the keyboard. Slapping the keyboard like it's a bomb. He was doing 100 characters a minute, gotcha.
Speaker 1:I don't know anybody really that could do. I mean, if you could do 100 characters, kudos to you. I'm at 60.
Speaker 2:Like a courtroom stenographer is basically what he's doing Basically, if it was an old school type, I'd be like he.
Speaker 1:He'd just be talking and just doing a lot of.
Speaker 5:Just slapping.
Speaker 1:And so we call it the Triple P because that was his nickname on the show. But anyways, you've seen those people.
Speaker 2:I have. Have you ever called a Kelly? Does she do the Triple P?
Speaker 1:The whole time Just to make it sound like she's doing work On the phone.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:She's got the loudest keyboard known to man and it is just the whole time it's keyboard known to man and it is just the whole time.
Speaker 1:It's. Vince has a loud keyboard. I used it for a hot moment here recently and I was like, wow, this thing sounds like Triple P.
Speaker 4:For some reason Don's wanting to get a mechanical keyboard. I'm like no.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah.
Speaker 4:They're loud. Is that what you have?
Speaker 2:It depends on the keys you get. It's the tall ones, right that?
Speaker 5:have, the more they have more tactile feel, but depending on which keys you get, there are quieter ones than some of the louder ones.
Speaker 2:So do you get a USB-C to serial port or parallel port?
Speaker 5:If it's a Mac, it's an ADB port.
Speaker 2:I just to a serial port or a parallel port If it's a.
Speaker 1:Mac. It's an ADB port, ADB yeah.
Speaker 2:I just need like little half-inch keys.
Speaker 1:But if they're using the IBM, not like two-inch keys that take forever to strike, which I think that's where you're getting your sound from, but I just need a little.
Speaker 5:Well, some people like the tactile feel of the response they get from the key Never thought about that yeah, they get from the key Never thought about that yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, interesting, I think last didn't.
Speaker 2:Last episode we talked about the plastic of the VHSs and how like unique that was. I think about the plastic of that keyboard, of the 1984 IBM keyboard that had that slight little like little groove to it, little dip. Little sway, little dip to it and then just the functioning and then the number button and it's just yeah. And then were you a fan of the enter. That was like a weird up square large thing, or did you like the slender? One.
Speaker 1:No, I like the bigger one, but I also like the enter next to the numbers pad. Because I can do numbers pad by touch.
Speaker 2:So you could do the triple P on the number pad, because I can do numbers pad by touch. So you could do the triple P on the number pad.
Speaker 1:I can do triple P on the number pad, but yes, I'm sure our listeners and viewers, our audience, will like it. I don't do as much data entry, so data entry. So I did have a job, though, where they pulled me out of sales and moved me into data entry Because I could do so many words per minute.
Speaker 1:Which meant you flipped a lot of their. It was a mail order kind of thing and I could do I don't know like 500 mail order postcards in a day because I could type so fast. Coffee or sunglasses they advertised in magazines.
Speaker 2:It sounds to me like the old school fundraisers we used to do in elementary school, middle school. It was like popcorn, wrapping paper, fudge and greeting cards and mascara, and it was like these don't.
Speaker 1:No, these were actual postcards, like in your GQ, your Vogue, your whatever. And it was for Veritas Coffee and I can't think of the other name of the sunglasses. But the sunglasses were very much the buy 15 for one penny and you get 15 CDs or cassettes, jerry. So the sunglasses were not of quality, the coffee was of quality.
Speaker 3:Can you imagine ladies with the inch and a half nails? Oh, yes, I remember those. I remember that I've seen it, I've seen it, I'm from South Louisiana, I've seen it. I wasn't going to go there, but yeah.
Speaker 1:They really sound flickety-flackety.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:There's no backspacing either.
Speaker 2:You have to type with your first knuckle, because if you type with the point of your finger, it's two keys at once. That's funny. Do they teach typing anymore? Oh, I don't know. I grew up where you didn't have a computer in every room or whatever I was typing, not computers.
Speaker 2:You could do typing. So my school I am young enough that when they taught typing it was on a computer. But not every room at the school had a computer in it and certainly there were no laptops for kids or iPads, iphones, anything like that was crazy.
Speaker 1:I don't think they're teaching typing they're teaching typing of some sort.
Speaker 5:They have to.
Speaker 2:I don't think they are.
Speaker 5:I think it's like keyboarding now or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I am a pretty proficient typer and I was not at high school. It's just become so much a part of what we do that I've just learned it and I'm reasonably fast at it.
Speaker 1:Do you keep your fingers on the little nubbies or do you know where the keys are?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I wonder now if kids are just learning how to type, because it is just a part of what you do, but I guess as a kid you're not really typing a lot, right?
Speaker 3:Definitely not texting, maybe that's it, or at least sending emails.
Speaker 2:That could be. The other thing, too, is if they're always on a device and they don't have a real keyboard.
Speaker 1:Boy, I don't know. Good question If you have a youngin' out there, what are they learning?
Speaker 2:I'll tell you one thing that's really messing with me right now. So, as many of you all know, I'm taking pilot's license lessons learning how to fly a plane Been doing it for a long time now Hope to be done soon and the airplane I was in flying at the school. They sold it and bought the new model and I'm now on the new model and part of what we do on the airplane. Because it's a newer airplane, more advanced. It has a keyboard. The old plane had the Q-W-E-R-T-Y QWERTY keyboard. The new one does not. And I'm telling you I feel like I'm 117 years old every time I have to type something and it's always just four letters, but it's always like why does this look? Like I'm reading the Matrix, like every time Is it just alphabetical?
Speaker 5:It's alphabetical. Oh, it's Nightmare.
Speaker 2:Wow, it's like why would you do this? Why would you change to this new keyboard? And it's been a struggle a real struggle to learn it. I am so used to that, courtney.
Speaker 1:Give it two weeks, I bet you'll be proficient.
Speaker 2:I'm getting better at it, but it's still like there are times where I do want two things I'm like where, there you are Interesting. It's just funny how your brain learns that muscle memory or whatever. So, melissa, yes, you were sharing with the group earlier, yeah, and I thought what you were sharing with us was very interesting and I asked you to talk about it.
Speaker 1:So I originally saw it off, you know, my morning deep dive into social media, kind of drink coffee kind of thing. A reel came past and this guy was mentioning this new arkansas bill and that dot officers are pulling people over for something. And I'm like, well gee, I wonder if he's just, you know, blowing smoke. It's a real come on.
Speaker 1:Not everything on social media is at face value, so I dig a little deeper, I know right, I dug a little deeper and cdl life has an article on it and it says arkansas bill bans non-citizens from operating a commercial vehicle without a us issued cdl and english language proficiency. So it says a bill recently introduced in Arkansas would crack down on non-citizens working as commercial truck drivers as well as the carriers that employ them, so not just the drivers. And it happened on February 25th. The Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025, or HB 1569, was introduced in the Arkansas state legislator. So they did have five provisions.
Speaker 1:The first one says it requires a domestic issue by the US District of Columbia or Puerto Rico CDL in order to operate a commercial vehicle in Arkansas. Truck drivers with a B-1, b-2, or B-1, b-2 combination visa would be banned from operating a commercial vehicle in Arkansas. I'd just say penalties for violation include impoundment of the commercial vehicle and a fine of $5,000 for the commercial vehicle operator. A Canadian commercial driver's license reciprocity would no longer be recognized under the provisions of the bill. Any comments on that one before I move on to two?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the B-1, B-2 are the combination. Those are work visas for people coming into the country. If you are driving a truck from Mexico into America to make a pickup or delivery, you operate your Mexican CDL under that visa and that allows you to come into the states. So what they're saying is, even though you can come in that way legally throughout the country, you cannot drive in Arkansas.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker 2:So they are saying we don't want those drivers here, you have to have a US CDL, a US-issued CDL. And then they say Canadians' driver's license won't work, and the reason they say that is because Canadians and Americans, we don't have to have visas to go to each other's countries. So, like we do a lot of time, highfield always has teams going in and out of Canada, no visas required. You just go to it. It's just part of our free trade agreement.
Speaker 3:I'm surprised Quebec's not included in that, because they're strictly French.
Speaker 2:They're so French People in Arkansas probably aren't thinking about that. I think Mexico's probably more of who they're really targeting.
Speaker 1:So number two requires commercial vehicle operators to demonstrate English language proficiency sufficient to read road signs and warning signs, understand traffic control devices and communicate effectively in an emergency with emergency services, law enforcement and other. Drivers Operating a CMV without proficiency in the English language could result in a fine of $5,000.
Speaker 2:Now this is already required, correct? Yes?
Speaker 5:To get a CDL, it is required federally.
Speaker 2:Yes, To get a CDL in America? Yes, Is it required? If you have a B1-2 or combination visa? I wonder if it's required for those drivers. I would imagine it is and you probably have to prove you can speak English to get that visa. I wonder if it's required for those drivers. I would imagine it is, and you probably have to prove you can speak English to get that visa. But what is prove you can speak English?
Speaker 3:But do they have commercial visas, Like under your visa? Is there something else listed on the?
Speaker 2:paperwork.
Speaker 5:I think in order to get that visa you have to be sponsored, and this is speculation on the paperwork. I think in order to get that visa, you have to be sponsored, and this is speculation on my part. If you're driving for a Mexican carrier, then there wouldn't be a sponsorship. To enter the United States, you'd probably have to apply for a visa still to use that license right Well, to get a work visa period Of any type. You have to be sponsored by a company in the United States. Yes, so like the.
Speaker 2:Mexican trekking companies are all partnered with an American trekking company. I do know that much. I remember when it first started happening, because there's only a handful that can do it, it's not widespread.
Speaker 5:Everybody can do it, everybody can go on in.
Speaker 2:It's just a few and and a lot like most are just limited to right at the border, but then there are a few that are experimenting with going further. Yeah, there's only a few that can like. If you had freight in Mexico that you had to deliver in Canada, there's only a couple of companies that have abilities to do that and it's still a pilot program, and even those companies can't deliver and can't pick up and deliver within the United States. Correct.
Speaker 5:You can pick up in Mexico and deliver into the United States, pick up in the United States and deliver in Mexico, but you can't make an intermediate trip to deliver freight. So if you pick up in the United States, deliver into Laredo, you can't then pick up in Laredo and go to. Detroit Correct, you have to pick up in Laredo and deliver back in Mexico. Same thing with Canada, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's interesting, so it's directional.
Speaker 2:Correct and you can't like. If you were a Mexican operator and you had freight in your truck, you couldn't swing. You know, I'm taking this load to Toronto from Nuevo Laredo, which is the Mexico side, and en route there I'm going through Kansas City and Kansas City has a load that I can pick up and then take that into Canada. You can't do that either.
Speaker 1:So no double booking on your truck.
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:Whatever you get in Mexico goes all the way to the destination. Now it can be delivered.
Speaker 2:So if you had, like, a truckload of stuff picked up in Canada I'm sorry in Mexico, and so if you had a truckload of stuff picked up in Mexico and you delivered, half that truckload in the US and then half that load in Canada that's allowed. You just can't then pick up and deliver again.
Speaker 1:So not multiple trips, correct and a lot of that trade is universal.
Speaker 2:It works the same for airplanes, works the same for trains, works the same for ships. If you ever wondered why on a cruise, if, like the cruises that go from Los Angeles or even San Francisco to Hawaii, they always go to either Victoria, british Columbia, which is in Canada or they go down to Ensenada in Mexico. It's because you have to touch a foreign port because of the way they do. Those ships are registered not in America, and you go from a one port in America to another port in America without touching, without touching somebody else.
Speaker 3:That's very sense. That's very common in Alaskan cruises, victoria oh yeah, just Columbia is yep.
Speaker 5:I think there's only one ship in the United States that doesn't.
Speaker 2:That's in Hawaii correct, that's because they circle.
Speaker 5:Right and there have to be so much percentage of American crews. It's extremely expensive. The ship was made in America.
Speaker 2:It's one of the oldest ships, the oldest cruise ships out there, because it had to be made in America and we ain't made an American cruise ship in a long time, a long time. Wow, all right.
Speaker 1:All right. So number three says establishes the offense of and this is in quotes criminal use of a commercial vehicle in quotes. If a non-citizen without a US-issued CDL quote causes the bodily harm of another person while operating a commercial motor vehicle in quotes, the offense is a Class D felony that comes with a minimum six-month prison term.
Speaker 2:So they're basically kind of like the last one with the English language where there's now a fine. They're basically saying, you know, we have these laws and now we're going to put a penalty to go with it, whereas, like FMCSA says, well, you can't have a CDL. They're saying, yeah, but if you're caught here driving it and you don't have a CDL, here's the law that's going to— and in this case you cause harm to someone. Here's this extra offense.
Speaker 1:We're just going to automatically give you a Class D felony with a minimum penalty.
Speaker 5:But I'm curious about the minimum six-month prison term, if they would really do that or if they would deport the person you would be subject to deportation if you are not a US citizen and you get yourself a felony, certainly, and it could also be that you do your six months and get deported. We've seen it happen for years where someone commits a felony, they do their time here in the United States and then immediately are deported after that.
Speaker 1:If a non-US citizen without a US-issued CDL this is number four is operating a CMV and causes a fatal crash, they can be convicted of a Class B felony with a minimum of 10 years prison sentence. So number three is if you do bodial harm.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Number four is if you cause a fatal crash.
Speaker 2:You know what, now that I think about it, with the minimum sentence thing, these are already illegal in the United States. I think they're adding the minimum sentence thing so they can imprison these people Right, so they don't just automatically have to deport you.
Speaker 5:I'm not following. What you're saying is illegal in the United States.
Speaker 2:If you get in a wreck or you cause a wreck that causes bodily harm or that causes a fatal crash and you're convicted of manslaughter, well then you already go to jail, but if you're a non-citizen, they would just automatically deport you. I think this is establishing a base saying we don't automatically deport you.
Speaker 5:But I think there's a difference between this is appears from what is written by a CDL life to be cut and dry in a commercial vehicle that causes and you cause a fatal crash. Plain and simple class B felony. You're on your way to jail. Minimum 10 years Now. There are times when you can have a fatal crash that is your fault and not be charged with manslaughter.
Speaker 2:Okay, so they're just filling in these minimums.
Speaker 5:That's what it appears to me just reading what we're reading. They're filling in. Look, if you were in a commercial vehicle and you did not have a US driver's license commercial driver's license and you were a non-citizen, then it's an automatic Class B felony as opposed to. Let's look at the causation.
Speaker 1:Let's take it to trial. Let's do whatever You're going to get a minimum of 10 years.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no questions, you're going to get a minimum of 10 years no questions Right off the top.
Speaker 1:We're still going to take it to trial, but your minimum sentence is going to be 10 years.
Speaker 2:The trial is going to dictate whether or not you are guilty of causing the issue. Sure, I don't think, because a police officer says you're at fault, they're going to say automatic 10 years. They're going to verify that.
Speaker 5:I think that's where a trial comes in. If I'm driving down the road in my car and I make a lane change and I didn't see the car coming next to me and I make a lane change into them and it causes, unfortunately, that person to die, I don't know that I'm going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter or vehicular manslaughter because of what happened there, if I were under the influence, if I were distracted it changes things right.
Speaker 5:Yes, so I think what they're saying here is that little swerve you did on purpose, by accident. You didn't see the car there. You did a little swerve. Well, if they find that you cause an accident, this is the minute you start off at 10 years or six months for the. And I may be being too granular there.
Speaker 2:No, I think you're being great, I think you're right, and when I say it makes sense, I'm understanding what you're saying. I'm not necessarily saying I agree or disagree.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying I follow what you're saying. Okay, so number five it penalizes trucking companies that provide commercial vehicles to ineligible operators with a fine of $10,000.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:So the reel I saw that led me down this rabbit hole of educating myself was the man was saying that DOT officers were pulling people over to do English proficiency testing. Now I thought that was kind of odd, because don't you need cause to pull a CMV over?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:But maybe not. I've always thought, maybe you're just— Random roadsides.
Speaker 3:Random roadsides, random roadsides. Sure, I just think of a way station too.
Speaker 1:No, we've had our fair share of random roadsides. One of my very first ones was a random and I'm like 2 in the morning, what am I doing? I was in the right lane traveling speed limit. My lights are not on bright, like what are we doing here, but he was just checking his quota for the night or doing a random.
Speaker 2:I bought a brand-new truck, or we bought a brand-new truck. I drove it down to Texas and pulled through a not even a weigh station, a toll plaza, and there was a cop who had just gotten done. He pulled one truck over, he'd just gotten done with that. Guy Walked over to the toll plaza as I was paying my toll, pointed at me and pointed over to the side and I was like, okay, all he saw was the front of my truck. He had no clue if I was a straight truck tractor. Nothing, it was just your turn it was just my turn.
Speaker 2:I pulled over and we did a roadside inspection on a brand new truck.
Speaker 5:It was a day old, wow, and he puts you out of service. For what issue? No, he couldn't find anything wrong.
Speaker 2:He actually loved the truck and gave me a lot of praise about it.
Speaker 1:They usually do, don't they they?
Speaker 2:do A lot of times. When they see it, it's a nice truck to do.
Speaker 3:On the flip side, we'd have a team disqualified for falsifying logs and that's how they were found out. That's how they were found out, found out. Random inspections.
Speaker 2:Random inspections, we'll catch that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:That's an interesting thing, because Is that the only way you're going to catch them, unless they cause an accident?
Speaker 5:We just read one through five, your trucks out of Mexico are going to have on the front of the tractor and also on the back of the trailer a United States license plate, from whatever state they're the trailer a United States license plate from whatever state they're registered in in the United States and a Mexican driver's license.
Speaker 1:Are they really driving up to Arkansas? Oh sure.
Speaker 5:And I only ask this because we drove from here. We see them here in Ohio sometimes.
Speaker 1:And I'm only familiar with the Laredo Sure, yep, what's the other one, del Rio?
Speaker 5:We see them here in Ohio all the time. Del Rio, we see them here in Ohio all the time.
Speaker 1:Really, oh yeah, oh yeah. Thank you for educating me.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of, especially with the car freight, especially with car freight and I don't mean hauling cars, I mean hauling parts and pieces A lot of that stuff is they make the parts in Mexico and they drive them up to Canada and a lot of times they cross, dock and put them on the trucks and send them up here. That's why the pilot programs even exist to try to make that easier so Mexican trucking companies can get freight up here or up to Canada. But yeah, absolutely, it's super, super common.
Speaker 1:Jerry, you have any input on all of this? One through five Arkansas. I heard a little ditty that Wyoming was already doing it. Now, I did not dig deeper. I do not know if Wyoming's doing it. I'm telling you, I'm fact-checking myself right now, but I did see something that Wyoming was already doing this, so I'm not sure.
Speaker 4:It makes me wonder like we already have the FMCSA rule that says you have to be English-speaking and so forth to hold a CDL, how many accidents, how many rules have been broken have they actually caught? That's on the books to make this law seem worth it? In my eyes, I think it's just a waste of taxpayers' money.
Speaker 5:I think what I've experienced myself is I know that I've experienced myself drivers that do not speak English in a truck that has got a US DOT number on the side, doesn't have a Mexican license plate, so it's a United States carrier, and they don't speak English. I was trying to help a lady back into a spot one time that did not speak a lick of English and since I hadn't driven a Class A truck in quite some time, there was another driver walking by and I asked him if he spoke Spanish. And he did. I said can you please help her? Because I don't speak Spanish and I haven't backed a Class A truck in so long, I can't help her. And she did not speak a lick of English. We have the example of the driver in Colorado coming down into Denver on the hill that lost his brakes and couldn't read the signs.
Speaker 5:A lot of that was lack of training, because they did say he didn't have the proper training and he didn't know what that runaway truck ramp was because he didn't read English Spoke and he didn't know what that runaway truck ramp was because he didn't read English, spoke it but couldn't read it. So we have there are tons of examples out there, I think of people who are getting CDLs and don't speak English and can't read the signs, because I think there are certain states that aren't testing for that thing, because I think there are certain states that aren't testing for that thing.
Speaker 1:That was going to be my question. And are they this $10,000 fine to the carrier that Arkansas is doing? Who is liable for that in the end? Because people, somebody is passing them, whether that be the school, the trainers. How about the DMV? The DMV had to let them get a CDL somehow. I did not mean to cut you off, but who's? Because I'd like to hear your opinion on that who's passing them.
Speaker 2:But I do think if you are at a DMV in Florida or New Mexico, arizona, texas, southern California, if you speak Spanish and you have someone there that's coming to test for their CDL right, like they went through schooling, and now they're here to test for it right and get their license, if you already speak Spanish and they speak Spanish and it's easier to communicate in that vernacular, then you're probably doing that, not thinking about the fact that this person has to know how to speak English.
Speaker 4:Why?
Speaker 1:isn't the government violating? The FMCSA rule so why isn't the government though, at some level, the FMCSA? Federal holding your state agencies, your local agencies, all the way down accountable. Can they read 12 signs in English Hold on.
Speaker 2:This is for non-US holders. Yes, yes so if you're in mexico, you're probably not getting a person who can say you can speak english at your dmv right correct. So this is definitely not not that, but but we see it ourselves like I've had conversations with our recruiters.
Speaker 2:Hey, you know, these two people are wanting to come drive with us. Husband speaks English, wife doesn't. Wife speaks English, husband doesn't. I got their sister on the phone because they don't speak English and they wanted to work with us, or whatever Like. There are ways of corruption, corruption of falsifying records, all around to make it happen.
Speaker 2:We see it within ourselves. Now we tell people no, neither one of our carriers will allow it, fmc. So whether or not you have a license or not, neither carrier will allow it. So we don't, can't, can't do anything about it, but um it it. They're obviously, it's obviously happening and I I think that the seats are going like well, arkansas is going all right. If this person has authority to drive here through Texas, is Arkansas going to sue Texas over that?
Speaker 1:Ooh. Probably not right, Probably not no, no, but you know who we can.
Speaker 2:I can sue Warner, sure Not saying that they're the ones. I'm not trying to put them under the bus.
Speaker 1:But the $10,000 fine.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Once that happens, then you can actually do things like that. I think that's where it comes from.
Speaker 5:So I was just looking on California's DMV website. The First Motor Vehicle Handbook which you would use to study for the test is available in two languages Spanish and English.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 5:And that's a state that is following FMCSA rules. So maybe you understand English enough to have a conversation, but not quite read it well enough, or you comprehend it better in Spanish versus English, I don't know where that line is.
Speaker 2:apprehend it better in Spanish versus English? I don't know where that line is. If I go into Ontario, where I'm required to know French enough to drive, I know enough French that I can actually read their signs and I can get through the province fine. But if I get an officer that wants to sit there and have a conversation with me in French, I'm screwed, I can't do it so there is that point of do you know enough to legally be able to operate Versus proficiently operate?
Speaker 5:Texas offers the same option for Spanish or English.
Speaker 1:Oh, I bet.
Speaker 5:Ohio might even.
Speaker 2:What a great conversation. Here's my issue. Do you think?
Speaker 1:other states are going to follow this.
Speaker 2:I don't know, but here's my issue Of Checking for Spanish, checking for English proficiency and pulling people over and randomly checking that. Now it's up to the discretion of the officer to determine whether or not you're proficient or not, which means if you get a racist cop who doesn't like Mexicans, driving to their state you're screwed.
Speaker 2:You get a cop with a thick accent you can't understand to begin with, absolutely, even if you are English and that's happened to me in South Louisiana with people I would consider my own Like I just can't understand what you're saying.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Like speak slower. Think about Ed Origen Edgeron, edgeron, coach.
Speaker 3:O, how many times did we watch him on the news going like what did you say? Now, like, imagine him being a patrol officer pulling somebody over while you're have a conversation while you're already nervous.
Speaker 1:So if, if a dot officer is pulling someone over hypothetically for this new law and they're giving, let's say, english proficiency test of some sort that they've now got, do you still have to meet the other criteria to be put out of service and fined? Or are they just putting you out of service because you don't have English as a proficiency?
Speaker 2:Do you see where I'm going? Yeah, it sounds like if you don't have English as a proficiency, that's it, you're stopped.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't matter about visas or anything else, it's just English proficiency, because that's included in their loan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and in this situation if you don't have a US. So the English proficiency I have an issue with. The second thing I have an issue with is your visa from Mexico no longer being valid. Your visa from Mexico no longer being valid Because if the federal government, the federal FNCSA, has said, as a country, we are going to allow this program to happen, you can come here with your Mexican CDL, under this visa, do everything right and you can run the United States Interstate Highway System. Then one particular state saying you can't do it while still collecting federal money to maintain their interstates and highways, that's a problem.
Speaker 1:I see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now you are screwing with interstate commerce, which is something you cannot do. Now they give California a lot of leeway. They give California a lot of leeway with that. Give California a lot of leeway with that, but they do stop a lot of that stuff based on interstate commerce.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. Jerry, you've got thoughts I see them.
Speaker 4:I was just thinking I don't want to get political. It's kind of along that line. It's hard not to in this whole realm because this whole realm because but I was just curious if this has recently came out because of the recent actions that trump just did place in english as the official language.
Speaker 2:Well, this came out in february, so I don't think that that had happened yet. I'd have to go double check my time frame, but I don't think so I'm on a website called bill chart bill track.
Speaker 5:Uh, that is actually talking about this bill specifically. The draft was released on February 24th 2025. The last action on this was February 25th 2025, and it's in committee still, so it hasn't. There's been no update. But if you go to BillTracker50.com look up AR-50. Hb 1569, you can read the entire text of the bill there to get a little bit of an explanation of what's going on, and some of the things that we talked about that we're speculating on could certainly be in that full text of what they have to do.
Speaker 5:If they have certain criteria, are they asking certain questions, looking for particular answers? As opposed to just, um, not randomly, but okay, we'll go with randomly can't think of the word randomly having trying to have a conversation with somebody and they can't understand that conversation. It's kind of like a, a field sobriety test, right where you have to. You have to be trained to do it first of all, and then you are looking for certain responses to your your test and that type of thing versus just oh, this guy can't speak English because I asked him who's the best football team in the land and he answered Alabama and not the Razorbacks. Well, he doesn't understand what I'm asking him. You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Makes sense. I'm excited to kind of not excited. I'm interested to see where it goes, how it dials in, if it helps anything.
Speaker 2:If it goes. I mean, like you said, it's in committee. A lot of bills die in committee. A lot of bills never make it out of committee, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's possible. A lot of times when I see things like this, I can't help but wonder what happened. I think you were mentioning, like how much of a hassle is this? Did someone from a congressman's territory our district rather get killed or hurt by someone working under?
Speaker 4:a visa and that's why this got done I, I don't, I don't know I think it also stems off of something you touched on a minute ago. Is, I don't know, just in my opinion, racism sure there's. There's arkansas is the racist state there is. It's a fact. You can look it up. They have the racist, most racist county in all of the entire US. Me and Don drove through there once and I swear to God there was a billboard sign that said where white families thrive.
Speaker 2:I have seen that. Actually, I didn't know what you were talking about it's coming from a state.
Speaker 4:That's the reason why that's in my head. It's coming from a state that already has these pretenses and it's just like they're taking it further.
Speaker 3:In cases like that, I don't think it should be a trooper or the person who pulls them over at their discretion, whether they're guilty or not yeah there needs to be some. There needs to be some framework. Did you do this? Yes, no. Can you do this? Yes, no. Can you do this? Yes, no. There's going to be an English test. Can you answer these questions? Do you understand what these signs?
Speaker 1:mean Very black and white, not based on somebody's opinion or feeling. Yeah, I like that Well again, it interested me. Actually, I saw more than one reel. There's a YouTube channel out there or a handle or whatever. He's pretty big in the trucking community and has a podcast and he talked about it today.
Speaker 5:Oh, I hate that guy.
Speaker 1:But again.
Speaker 5:I know who you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Yes, again I just was trying to educate myself. So can we switch gears just for a second, because I have another question. Sure, so I'm from Oregon, as everyone knows, and in a year last year, I believe it was. It might have been a year before, and I'm going to preface this with. I know that the Outer Belt doesn't like to talk about death, but we're going to talk about it because I do have a question.
Speaker 1:There was a truck driver that unfortunately killed seven farm workers in Oregon. On the side of the road they were kind of at a rest area and this truck driver just blew through and unfortunately killed seven of them. He was recently sentenced this week to 48 years, and that's not my question. He admitted to being—here. This is what I want to know. He testified at his trial that he had the effects of drugs he took the night before the crash had worn off and he had knotted off at the wheel. Traces of methamphetamines, fentanyl and morphine were found in his blood after the crash. My question is how often are companies doing randoms and how are these types of drugs? Because, from what I understand, these may be lasting your blood system a little longer than normal. How are these slipping through the cracks. My other question would be is if they are getting reporting to the clearinghouse, are there still companies that hire people who have been negatively targeted on the clearinghouse?
Speaker 5:Maybe I didn't say that I can't answer your second question of how long these things stay in your system. I don't know. We talked a few months back about the requirements of motor carriers to test their fleet, and a motor carrier is required to test 50% of their fleet every year. Now it doesn't mean if I have 100 drivers, I have to test 50 of them every year. It means that I have to do 50 random tests every year and there could be drivers that are getting two and three tests in that course of a year that make up that 50 because it truly is random, right? Does that make sense? Sure, so they're required to test at least 50 percent of their drivers every year. So that's how 50 percent don't get tested and slip through, and it could be 55 percent because of those people. They got tested, tested multiple times because they came up randomly. Um, as far as the, the, the clearinghouse, is concerned, when you have a failed test, a fail to test or a failure to test, or a.
Speaker 5:DUI. Then your name goes in the clearinghouse and a company, a carrier, is not permitted to hire you unless you've gone through a SAP program through a SAP program. So they have to. The carrier is required to query the clearinghouse during a pre-employment screen, so they're querying the clearinghouse. They're pulling your driving record and the other things that they're doing your criminal background if they do that. So, all those things are being done and if you come up negative or not eligible on the clearinghouse, they cannot hire you until you go through those steps.
Speaker 1:So I have a couple questions. Do any of you, just looking for feedback, feel that the random should be randomly across your fleet as opposed to multiple people? And I realize that's not so random if it's random?
Speaker 5:no, because it makes it easier for someone for them to target someone because they don't like particular person and say, oh, this is a random, we're going to take you again it also makes it easier to protect people so exactly you know.
Speaker 2:I know that eric takes uh drugs that he won't pass.
Speaker 1:So I just make sure that he's not part of it For his health.
Speaker 5:No, he's just talking in general.
Speaker 3:I was talking in general, he's not being specific.
Speaker 2:Yeah, correct.
Speaker 1:But what if you just did a drug test last week and now it's this week's random and you come up again? Shouldn't there be some kind of a something in place that says they've had one in the last 60 days?
Speaker 5:Because they may have, so you can maybe test those other people who could be using. That person may have passed that drug screen yesterday Sure and gone out today and got high as a kite.
Speaker 1:Which is fine.
Speaker 5:No, it's not fine, that's bad. I mean not fine, that's not what I meant.
Speaker 1:What if the random your guy that's using methamphetamines on all the time but he's never got a random and he's worked for your company for years.
Speaker 2:So everybody gets a pre-employment drug screen too. So you got to remember that Everybody has to have a drug screen to come in.
Speaker 1:I just thought it was and this is I'm not trying to be controversial I just thought it was odd that he admitted to being under these and I'm like there are so many checks and balances out there that I know I'm aware of. How did one slip through? And we're not just talking like had some beers the night before at the truck stop or you know whatever. But I mean this guy was under quite a bit and I'm like how do we in the trucking industry, how do you not have that?
Speaker 2:Well, I think if you've ever spent time around people who use and abuse drugs, you know they're very, very good at hiding it.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:So if they're very, very good at hiding it, how do we know he wasn't randomly drug tested just a month ago and had a fake sample?
Speaker 4:That's true, just a month ago and had a fake sample, or you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's so many things that people do to hide their tracks and there's so many ways they get around. My thing is if he killed seven people with all that in his system, why do you only get 48 years?
Speaker 5:That's the real injustice.
Speaker 2:That's the real injustice.
Speaker 2:I mean if a driver is working as normal and something catastrophic happened and they lost control of the vehicle but it was completely out of their hands Blown tire, tire, a blown tire or something like that Then I see either no sentence or, if it's something that's like he was talking about you just merged or something and barely did something that caused an accident like that Then that's where those smaller offenses come in. If you're under the influence of drugs and you kill those people, I get that. It's not murder, right, because murder is intentional, but it is manslaughter, and seven people's manslaughter. That's funny, that should be, I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just thought it was Quite a bit higher.
Speaker 1:My takeaway because again I've been following it was how he admitted to so much and I'm like but there is, there seems to be.
Speaker 2:Well, him admitting it makes sense, because he's already busted right.
Speaker 1:So many checks and balances, but yet we're missing some Is there.
Speaker 5:But we're always going to miss some in a system where we're only testing 50% of the carrier's fleet In a random, but they are being tested ahead of time.
Speaker 2:And we used to be only 25%. Yeah, I mean they doubled it.
Speaker 5:Do you think it should be?
Speaker 2:more.
Speaker 5:Well, it gets to be a cost-benefit calculation, right when what's it cost to test 100% of your fleet and how often do you test them?
Speaker 1:Once a year Deceased people Twice a year.
Speaker 2:Well, not only that, but you've got well.
Speaker 5:we can't Do you test everyone before they get in their truck. They pee in a cup and you test it before they can go on the road. I mean, that's really the only way you're going to stop it. But then once they stop an hour down the road and shoot up or you know whatever, yeah, you know. So what's that program? Look like that you use to stop them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there is risk, I think, analysis that we all do on a daily basis. Sure and we decide we're going to jump in our car and go to Kroger, or we're going to take a long road trip or whatever. Like we all accept a certain level of risk because we have to work.
Speaker 2:We have to make money, we have to get groceries, we have to do those things right and chances are we're going to be fine. But there's still some risk associated with that. I'm not saying it's okay that this happened. It's not. And again, I don't think the punishment necessarily makes sense for the crime. That happened happened, um, but at what point? How you know, how do you control, how do you handle?
Speaker 2:all that kind of stuff so I mean you've got two, two big implements and you've seen, every year we've seen drug related offenses come down to get lower and lower. So it is working. But you do have the, the doubling of the drug and alcohol testing, and you do have our drug testing, rather not alcohol drug testing, and you do have the um, the clearinghouse sure so now, repeat offenders can't repeat offend yeah we can't slip through yeah, which I appreciate that there are huge, huge improvements, but I mean you still, there is always going to be someone that's going to slip through the folds.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's no way to wrap everything we do in bubble wrap and say it'll always be protected. You know we do what we can. But just like you remember the movie Worth, I know you and I talked about it. If you haven't seen it, it's a great movie.
Speaker 2:We have talked about it, yes, they talk about how they value the insurance companies value the life of an individual and it was based around 9-11. That same calculation is happening on everything we do. Sure Got something like this. Like Vince said, there is a certain point where, if we make things so expensive, no one can afford them, but we're guaranteeing that no truck driver ever is going to have drugs in their system. What's the point? Because now all of a sudden we can't buy things because you can't get milk, because milk is a hundred dollars a gallon.
Speaker 5:Well, think about this too. We don't drug and alcohol test people when they get their driver's license to drive a car oh so we're talking about testing CDL holders, which I recognize that as a CDL holder, I'm responsible for a really big, heavy piece of equipment that can do a lot of damage. As a car driver, I'm responsible for a lot smaller piece of equipment that can't do as much damage. But how many people that are out there driving cars every day are subject to random drug screens? Yeah, probably not a lot Not very many.
Speaker 2:No, but how many?
Speaker 5:people are out there driving cars every day are killing people because they're out under the influence of whatever it might be that's causing them to be altered. Yeah.
Speaker 1:When it first happened I was really hoping. You know like there's all this speculation of course that's what people do but I was really hoping it was. I reached for something. I nodded off.
Speaker 5:Well, he did nod off.
Speaker 1:he said More, though, from lack of sleep. My foot slipped off the brake as I was trying to come into the rest area. I just thought it would be. Sun was in my eyes, there was a glare, just something different, but sadly it wasn't the case.
Speaker 2:I feel it's our nature as humans is to try to make sense of a terrible situation.
Speaker 2:The airplane in Toronto that flew from Minneapolis that rolled over, I mean, for a week. It was just tons of speculation from all the pilots and the poor training and all this stuff all the way to the other side, which is, oh, it's perfectly safe. And that almost almost to the point where they're like, well, that really didn't happen. You know what I mean? Like it's really to the point of like everything was perfect. This is a fluke, freak accident. It's like, well, planes don't break their wings off and roll over, based on everything was perfect. This was a fluke, freak accident. It's like, well, planes don't break their wings off and roll over. Based on everything being perfect Something happened.
Speaker 2:So we try to rationalize and make things better. Unfortunately, in this case, sometimes evil prevails. It's unfortunate, but it does happen.
Speaker 1:So drug screenings and clearinghouse are a good thing in the current CDL world. Yes, ma'am Good.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you. I know that wasn't on the agenda, but it piqued my interest this week because I saw the follow-through and just didn't know if there could have been a way to catch that.
Speaker 2:You know, I saw the follow up with that too, but I didn't take the time to read it. So I saw he got sentenced, but I didn't know what, for I thought it was a simple vehicular manslaughter. I didn't realize.
Speaker 1:Which is what it was yeah Times 48 or times seven people, which ended up being 48 years. But he did admit to. Is that a 48-year minimum. Wow, now that you mention that, I still have the article open here.
Speaker 2:So I had a family member. I won't say who it was, but I had a family member who did have 48 years and three months. Okay, can you share that article? So, I had a family member that was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and it was a similar case, with drugs in their system and they were in a car, not a commercial vehicle, and they were convicted of like 20 years but like a minimum of four or five.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so that's why I was wondering is this a minimum of four or five per person, and then?
Speaker 1:but the maximum could be 110 years or what, but it sounds like if you're saying it's that exact number, it was seven counts of second degree manslaughter and three counts of assault, as well as reckless driving manslaughter and three counts of assault, as well as reckless driving.
Speaker 5:The jurors acquitted him of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
Speaker 2:So they thought it was low enough dosage out of his system it says they found traces of meth, fentanyl and morphine.
Speaker 5:But they say traces, they don't say how much. Obviously, yeah, Gotcha.
Speaker 1:They say the crash was one of the state's deadliest, which happened in May of 2023, when he ran into the van carrying the 11 farm workers that was parked on the I-5, on the side of I-5, in an agriculture area of the Willamette Valley. So they must not have been. I thought for some reason they were in a rest area hysteria.
Speaker 2:Well, that does you know that, especially being traced, as it does raise the question of if you're a drug user and you cause an accident, but you are not under the influence at that time. Where does that play in?
Speaker 1:Oh, I think it definitely plays in. How about? All the well, this is my opinion. Uh, we're Boy, we're being very opinionated tonight, but what about all the people maybe you didn't kill on your way up there that you could have potentially killed? I don't think.
Speaker 2:But I'm saying, if you're not under the influence, not under the influence, oh not under the influence.
Speaker 1:Well, like Vince said, he was acquitted on that, so it didn't play a factor into it.
Speaker 5:So digging a little deeper into the original story from the Oregon Public Broadcasting. The article you sent me was from the AP so it was summarized a little bit. The jury unanimously found the driver guilty on seven counts of second-degree manslaughter. Each count carries a mandatory sentence of six years and three months in prison. He's also found guilty of three counts of third-degree assault and one count of reckless driving. They don't say what sentence those requires. So if we do six times seven is 42.
Speaker 1:They're not doing them concurrently, they're doing them consecutively, I would assume, since the reason you get 48 years, so 42.
Speaker 5:three months times seven is 21. Two more years so yeah, just two more years, plus whatever he got for the other two charges.
Speaker 2:So that is, it does sound like it's a minimum, it does. And you know what? Has he been sentenced or has he just been found guilty? No, he's been sentenced.
Speaker 5:Okay, I swear they didn't say it, okay, so there were a total of 11 people, 11 farm workers, in the truck or in the van that he hit. So the seven are the fire charges. The other three are the third degree assault.
Speaker 2:Oof, what a mess yeah. What a mess yeah.
Speaker 3:Oof.
Speaker 1:This doesn't pay.
Speaker 2:It really doesn't To do drugs or alcohol. Or sleep. Go out of service or sleep.
Speaker 1:Or sleep deprived.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Any of that.
Speaker 2:Sleepy.
Speaker 1:It's not worth the freight delivery.
Speaker 2:Tired and sleepy at the steering wheel is just as dangerous as being intoxicated Sure.
Speaker 3:Yep, Yep. Even our carriers that we work with. They make exceptions for people who call in exhausted.
Speaker 1:When Vince and I were out there, that was definitely our number one motto was safety, and the number one safety was being asleep or rested. You know, next would be like weather if you're not feeling safe, Because if you're not feeling safe you're going to have all that anxiousness. That's weather typically, but those were our number ones. Definitely sleep. Sleep was if you're not rested, it's just like being drunk or intoxicated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sleep's a big one. I mean, it just takes one little doze off, and you're done, you're done, that's it.
Speaker 1:Seven people on the side of the road.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate that. Again, I know we don't like to talk about morbid things. But it also involves the clearinghouse and random drug screenings and all that.
Speaker 2:It's a reminder of what could happen right Again. Everything is a risk analysis that goes along with it. As truck drivers, we've accepted a certain amount.
Speaker 1:But even as four-wheelers we do Agreed Well, great conversation, you guys, tonight.
Speaker 2:I agree I enjoyed it. It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to watch how Arkansas plays out.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was thinking to myself like are they going to? Beat the Razorbacks.
Speaker 1:What are you talking about? We're not quite there yet.
Speaker 2:No, not quite there. It's way too soon. Well, it has been a lot of fun. I appreciate our time, our group therapy session, together. I hope we were entertaining for you all out there on the road. Thank you for listening and watching. If you like us, hit that subscribe button. Give us a thumb up. Y'all out there on the road. Thank you for listening and watching. If you like us, hit that subscribe button. Give us a thumb up. Share us on your social media. If you don't like us, hit that thumbs down sign twice. Leave us a comment in our review and if there's anything you want us to talk about, please let us know. We said we were going to be talking more about Highfield Last episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how's that research coming?
Speaker 2:It's good, but this episode's already gone pretty long, so we'll save it for next week. Got it, but we thank all of y'all for being out there and supporting us. Jerry, what about forgetting?
Speaker 4:If you would like to send us an email, you can do that at theouterbeltpodcast at gmailcom. If you're interested in learning more about high field or joining high field, you can go to high field truckingcom. You can also reach out to us on there through our chat function, monday through Friday from 8 am to 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. You can also give us a call at 833-493-4353, option one 1, or 833-HIGHFIELD.
Speaker 1:I'm ready to take your call.
Speaker 2:And if it's not, you.
Speaker 1:It'll be Delina.
Speaker 2:And if it's not, her.
Speaker 1:It'll be one of us to call you back.
Speaker 2:I'll answer no, you won't. I won't, you're right.
Speaker 1:Actually it's going to be Delina, then me, and then, if neither one of us answer, one of us will call you back. That's the order.
Speaker 2:Love automation. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Can't wait until we can replace that with bots. Anyways, ai, they don't call bots anymore, do they? It's AI now. Ai. Anyways, alright, in the meantime, stay safe, make good decisions. Oh, I should have hit the record button.
Speaker 5:Yeah you, good decisions. Oh, I should have hit the record button. Yeah, you should have. Don't leave money on the table.
Speaker 4:And keep those wheels of Tarnum. Thank you.