We live in a CYA (cover your a**) world. Frequently decisions to do or not do something have more to do with the questions, “Will I get in trouble for this?,” or, “Will this make me look good?,” than they do with whether or not something is truly a good idea or legitimately beneficial.
Consider the following:
Political aid: Sir, there this the bill on the floor you need to decide if you support it or if you are opposed to it.
Politician: What is my party’s stance on the bill? Is the general public in favor of the bill? Will the media trash me if I take a stand on the bill?
Now obviously my scenario is hypothetical and in many cases my scenario would be slandering good politicians who take a concerted effort to weigh the plusses and minuses of each bill, but there is no question that my scenario is also regrettably true for other politicians.
Having prefaced today’s post as I have, I am pleased to see that:
The [$1.1 trillion omnibus funding package] states that before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reinstates the restart rule, it would need to report to Congress on how the rule delivers improvements “in all outcomes related to safety, operator fatigue, driver health” and work schedules.
As it is proposed, the 34 hour restart rule requires drivers to be off work for 34 consecutive hours including two consecutive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods.
I hope that congress holds the FMCSA to this. Will they make the FMCSA truly do their homework as to whether the 34 hour restart rule will legitimately make our roads safer or merely drive up shipping costs? Time will tell…