As a truck driver, highway safety is of top importance. For those with truck driving jobs, an unsafe highway is hazardous to the driver, his truck, and his cargo. Through time you become aware of which roads are safe and which are not. You know there are some highways that you simply can’t drive on because of their conditions. In a job where seconds matter, having to drive slowly on a highway filled with pot holes means money lost.
In an effort to alleviate the problems truck drivers face on highways, Congress has passed an extension to the Surface Transportation Extension Act. The original extension act was generated from an expired law called SAFETEA-LU, which was created to provide government funding for highways, highway safety, and public transportation. The new extension will last through September, at which time it is hoped President Obama will sign a long-term bill making the Highway Authorization program more permanent.
Bill Graves, President and executive officer of the American Trucking Association, commended Congress on their continuation of the act and said, “Nothing is more critical to our members than highway safety. This legislation will ensure that funding for important safety and enforcement programs will continue unabated through the end of the current fiscal year.”
The extension will not only provide truck drivers with the surety of safer roads, but will also provide employment opportunities to build a dwindling economy. However, according to AED President Toby Mack, the security of the extension will be short lived if Congress does not press the signing of a more permanent program.
“Congress must use this new extension period as a ‘must do’ window to enact a robust, long-term surface transportation bill,” Mack said. “Lawmakers must recognize that surface transportation investment is the ‘bricks and mortar’ that creates and maintains the physical structure upon which our economy operates and grows, and is an urgent national priority.”
While the extension lasts, states will be able to begin making improvements to their roadways as the new construction season begins. However, long term planning must be delayed until a more enduring proposition is made. To learn more about the authorization act, visit http://www.fhwa.dot.gov .
http://www.aednet.org/aednews/index_full_story.cfm?id=10926881
Celadon was founded in May 1986, and is currently publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CGI. Celadon Group Inc, is one of America’s largest truckload carriers being ranked in the top 50 in terms of revenues per year, taking in roughly $560 million a year.
Bob Peterson is the President of Melton Truck Lines. They have build a strong reputation to only hiring terrific drivers. At Melton they realize that hard work and a great job do not happen without having a solid foundation of drivers first. Drivers are the people that get the freight from point A to point B. They are able to do this because when they get a driver that works as hard and smart as Melton works. They always come through on great compensation.