Can congested city streets and tolls cripple the trucking industry, or is there more to the story? Join me, Walter Gatlin, on the Rollin' 18 Podcast as we break down New York Governor Kathy Hochul's surprising decision to indefinitely halt the NYC congestion pricing plan. We'll uncover the factors at play, from the pressures exerted by the Trucking Association of New York to the economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discover the financial impact these tolls could have had on truckers and motorists alike and delve into the legal battles questioning the constitutionality of such measures. This episode is a must-listen for truckers navigating the economic realities of operating in high-tax states like New York and California.
Moving on to logistics, let's discuss a less glamorous but equally vital topic: load securing. The episode underscores the shared responsibility between manufacturers and truck drivers to ensure that loads are tightly packed and stable. Improperly secured cargo isn’t just a nuisance; it’s a safety hazard. I've got tips on how to manage these challenges effectively, and as a bonus, advice on maintaining professionalism online. Avoiding unproductive arguments is key to staying focused on the road. This episode is packed with insights that are crucial for a successful and safe trucking career. Tune in for practical tips and industry updates that every trucker needs to hear.
Can congested city streets and tolls cripple the trucking industry, or is there more to the story? Join me, Walter Gatlin, on the Rollin' 18 Podcast as we break down New York Governor Kathy Hochul's surprising decision to indefinitely halt the NYC congestion pricing plan. We'll uncover the factors at play, from the pressures exerted by the Trucking Association of New York to the economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discover the financial impact these tolls could have had on truckers and motorists alike and delve into the legal battles questioning the constitutionality of such measures. This episode is a must-listen for truckers navigating the economic realities of operating in high-tax states like New York and California.
Moving on to logistics, let's discuss a less glamorous but equally vital topic: load securing. The episode underscores the shared responsibility between manufacturers and truck drivers to ensure that loads are tightly packed and stable. Improperly secured cargo isn’t just a nuisance; it’s a safety hazard. I've got tips on how to manage these challenges effectively, and as a bonus, advice on maintaining professionalism online. Avoiding unproductive arguments is key to staying focused on the road. This episode is packed with insights that are crucial for a successful and safe trucking career. Tune in for practical tips and industry updates that every trucker needs to hear.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Rollin' 18 Podcast. This 40-year veteran is here for anyone wanting to stay up to date with the trucking world. Grab your coffee, hop on board and let's get on down the road with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2:
Hello everybody and welcome to Rollin' 18 Podcast. Hard to believe we're up to episode 23 already. That is awesome. I appreciate all you folks downloading and or listening to my podcast. Remember you can download it anytime you want, listen to it anytime you want. That would be great for you and for me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:
The news story that I'm going to get on today is about the governor of New York Slammed the brake on the New York City congestion pricing plan indefinitely. Yes, you have heard me correctly. New York Governor Kathy Holzer announced Wednesday she was calling a halt to the congestion pricing plan that would have daily charged truckers and other motorists to drive in the busiest section of lower Manhattan. The plan was set to go into effect at the end of the month. After careful consideration, she said, I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences. I have directed the MTA, metropolitan Transportation Authority, to indefinitely pause the program. Now, do you think she got hammered by people? I don't know, but according to Trucker News, it says Hochul said her decision took into account the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on working families. Now she could have come up with a better idea. Like it wasn't fair or it wasn't constitutional, but they always have to seem to bring up some sort of political, ideological thing that's going to try to convince people that they're right, even though they know they're right if they would just use the right explanation. She said the tolling plan would create another obstacle to our economic recovery.
Speaker 2:
The governor had previously supported the plan. Now, the Trucking Association of New York, which recently filed a lawsuit against the plan. There's the real reason, governor Cathy. Yeah, take your little protein pills and your lobotomy, whatever, and go back into your apartment, because the Trucking Association would have sued you and they probably wouldn't have voted for you the next time either, so you would have lost the election. And that's probably what most of this is all about. Usually, when it comes to money and when you mess with the trucking industry and you mess with people and their bucks personally, when they have to stop and pay all these tolls, when you have millions of people in New York jumping the turn tile on the subways anyway, it really doesn't matter. Now, in response to the governor's action In response to the governor's action, a statement from the association said that at this time, the Trucking Association of New York has no intention of dropping its lawsuit against MTA over its congestion pricing framework, despite the governor's reported decision to indefinitely pause the program.
Speaker 2:
The current plan is unconstitutional and any future iteration or implementation must include reform to protect the supply chain and prevent increased economic hardship for all New Yorkers. Now we are awaiting word from the Southern District of New York regarding the next steps. Now, knowing the judges out there, they'll probably go ahead and dismiss the lawsuit because she has promised to indefinitely suspend this. But we know where that goes. We know how politics works. That's why I discussed in my last podcast I don't do politics, I'm not that stupid. Okay, I know where politics takes us. It divides us, it brings in a situation to where we can't recover. They have made politics something that you have to keep near and dear to your own heart and to your own lifestyle. And if people would do that and quit discussing it near and dear to your own heart and to your own lifestyle, and if people would do that and quit discussing it and quit trying to argue in order to be right, they would probably think a lot more logically anyway.
Speaker 2:
Now the Trucking Association of New York last week filed the lawsuit challenging the New York City plan to charge motorists, including truckers, fees for driving into the city's major business district. The Trucking Association suit questions the constitutionality of the congestion pricing plan, which was set to begin on June 30th. Several other lawsuits have challenged the environmentally review process employed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in creating what will be a one-of-a-kind fee in the United States. Now, like I mentioned last week, the congestion pricing plan calls for trucks to pay between $36 and $24 every time they enter the so-called congestion relief zone, which is defined as that, a portion of Manhattan below 60th Street. That compares to $15 a day. Drivers of passenger cars will be charged. It's totally out of whack.
Speaker 2:
You might as well start taxing us to cross into other states. How about we show our ID? Maybe we show our birth certificate? Oh, that ain't going to work. We better stick with ID cards. You don't even need a driver's, just come across the border.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, new York, california, they're all a bunch of wackos. Don't live there if you don't have to, and if you're a trucker from new york, dude, move. That's all you gotta do is just move. I'm not telling you to live in the highest tax state on the planet. They don't. They tax more than the king does in england. You guys out of your mind. For even living there, I don't deliver there no more. I will never. Even if I go back on the road, I will never deliver there again. I'm glad for my little five 600 miles a day at my little farm in Iowa and I'm glad that I stay in Iowa when I deliver. That's all there is to it. You guys are going to get screwed every move you make because they're trying to come up with more money and more ideas to rape you of your money and that's why, being the largest industry in the world, we need to start acting like it, because otherwise we're going to continually get attacked by people like this governor of New York California's doing the same thing with electricity and all this other stuff. We got to stay away from that stuff and I know there's going to be people who continually deliver to California. But let them deal with the headaches. You guys don't need that. You really don't. Good, logical, hardworking, good thinkingthinking truck drivers do not need the extra headache just to make a living, to go home to your families once in a while and say, hi, it's crazy and we shouldn't do it, and I hope most of you won't.
Speaker 2:
Now I wanted to bring up something else that Trucker News had brought up about a guy by the name of Caleb Hammett H-A-M-M-E-T-T. If you want to Google it, he has a 2019 Peterbilt 389 named Best of Show at Super Rigs. Now, I don't think it falls in the category of antique I'm almost sure it doesn't, because antique is 30 years or more but they have all kinds of different awards they give out at these truck shows. His was named Best of Show at Super Rigs. If you want to check out his truck, go to truckernewscom. It says here Caleb Hammett of Dodge City, texas, captured the best show honors with his 2019 Peterbilt 389, nicknamed Haas, at the 42nd annual Shell Rotella Super Rigs competition held May 30th through June 1st at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Speaker 2:
He was awarded $10,000 from Shell Rotella. In addition, the truck won the Best Lights category. And for all of you that say you know you don't need chrome yeah, you do. You don't need lights oh, yeah, you do. Maybe you want to be a big truck going down the road. You got to have all that stuff, but if you don't, you can dream about it and one day you might get lucky enough.
Speaker 2:
Jr Shugler from Britt, iowa won Best of Show, first Runner-Up and $4,000 from Shell for his 1984 Kenworth W900B. I looked at both of them and I like the 1984 Kenworth W900B. Nothing against Caleb and Caleb's 2019. Nothing against it all. I'm just real fancy on them. Older trucks and I you know, I know they have a classic division, so we'll leave it at that. Additional first place winners include Tarek Al-Amin II I guess he's the second from Crete, illinois, in the tractor-trailer division with his 2023 Kenworth W900L. That's kind of weird. 2023, should that even qualify Must be a new category. Gary Jones from Lawson, missouri, in his tractor division in 2018, peterbilt 389. Alex Shugler from Britt, iowa, won the classic division with his 2005 Kenworth W900L.
Speaker 2:
Brandon McClinnis from Montalba, texas, won the Steve Sturgis Best Theme Award with the 1985 Mack Superliner RW613. You can find all of those online. You just look up those names, go to truckernewscom, read the story, look up the names. I bet you it'll show their trucks. You might even have a place online to follow these guys. I would definitely follow the 1985 Mack and I would definitely follow the 1984 Kenworth W900B, because that's just that's what's in my heart the classic trucks, the ones that were made completely from scratch and definitely have the style and the stability to last for years and years and years.
Speaker 2:
Jeff Hawker from Dixon, iowa, won the People's Choice Award. The winner was selected with voting taking place online. For every People's Choice Vote cast this year, shell donated $1 to the St Christopher Truckers Relief Fund. Hucker also won the Non-Working Show Truck Award. Best of Show Caleb Hammett. Best of Show first runner-up Junior Shugler of Britt Iowa. Best of Show second runner-up Ernie Adams of New Florence, pennsylvania, with his 1982 Kenworth W900. Non-working show truck, of course, was Jeff Hawker. And then first place classic division, alex Shugler with the 2005 Kenworth W900L. He won $1,500 from Shell Rotella.
Speaker 2:
But the list goes on and on, and if you read the story you'll be amazed, because that kind of stuff is really interesting. I don't know if you guys hit any truck shows this spring into summer or not, but you really need to because there's plenty of them out there. Now, most of you probably know that whenever you get a response on a situation on social media, let's say Facebook, and somebody responds to you about something you know to be emphatically correct and they tell you you're incorrect. Just remember, there are plenty of stupid people in the world. That's all you need to know. It doesn't matter whether they're wrong or right, they just want to open up their face and they want to upset you.
Speaker 2:
I commented about some boards that came out of a flatbedder and the guy had to reposition his load and they filmed it. The boards came out at the center of squared up long boards on a flatbed. Now they came out of the center, which means it was banded tightly when it was loaded onto the truck and it was also strapped down correctly by the truck driver. The only problem is the center of the boards started pooching out and coming out and hitting the ground because, well, when you hit the brakes they come out pretty fast. But here's what I'm trying to get at.
Speaker 2:
Whenever those boards are squared off like that even long boards, and they're real skinny boards and they're squared off with banding, before they're even loaded on the truck, they have to be positioned within themselves, the center of that, very tightly, otherwise the ones in the middle will be loose and then minute you hit the brakes it'll shoot off the truck. It's a known fact. By any flat better out there they'll tell you that squared off long board pallet sized thing that they put on the truck. Once it's put on the truck and those boards are loose, they're going to come out out no matter what. Even on a slow break they're going to start pooching out.
Speaker 2:
And now a good tarp would have kept them from sliding out, because it wasn't a bunch of them, it was just a few of them that came out of the center because the square bail was not done correctly when they did it at the factory, when they put them together and then loaded it on the truck. And I told the guys, I said, look, it's not a trucker tie down issue, it is a factory issue. When they put those together they should have made sure the center of those boards were in their rock solid, and if they weren't, they should have unbanded them and restacked them. But no, they had to go off and say, oh, I'm right, I'm right, you know. You don't know what you're talking about and all these other stuff. Comment I get about no. Comment after comment after comment. My ultimate goal on social media is to make a comment and then leave it alone. I don't even look at the response 90% of the time, simply because of the fact that I know that there's going to be some jack off out there. It's going to open their face and they're going to be right, no matter what you do. They're probably the ones that go home, get in their underwear, watch TV and beat up on their old lady while he's screaming at her to make him a sandwich. And there is some foolish woman out there that'll do it. But that's the whole point I'm trying to get at.
Speaker 2:
Ladies and gentlemen, most of you guys out there are level-headed. You understand the logistics of loading a trailer, whether it be a box trailer, a reefer trailer or a flatbed trailer. And the point is if you do not load that load correctly, okay, which is another reason why you're supposed to check your load. Yes, the driver is responsible to make sure that the center board's in that square. They're locked in there really tight with those bands. Now, had he put a tarp on there, they would have pooched out a little bit, but they would have stopped at the tarp because there wasn't enough boards to move forward. To rip through the tarp is what I was telling them. They just kept going on and on and wanted to hammer down. See, this is what I talk about when I talk about angry truck drivers. These people number one do not belong on the road and number two, they do not understand the logistics of loading a trailer and the logistics of actually getting a load ready to be put on a trailer.
Speaker 2:
If you put a thousand boxes on pallet and every single one of these boxes that you load on that pallet go into the truck but they're by themselves in that box with no cushion whatsoever, nothing to keep them from moving in that box. That load is considered unstable, even though they're in a box. And you know darn well, all you can see is the box. You're not Superman, you don't have x-ray vision. So you load the thing up, you get on the road, you get to where you're going. The entire load is shifted all over the place because the stuff inside the box was not secured inside the box. Therefore it moved around every time you hit the brakes, made a turn and all that other good stuff. That's what I'm getting at. The manufacturer has to make sure that the load they're loading on your truck is secure, and you can prove in court, believe me, I've seen it a hundred times. You can prove in court. The shipper are the ones that did not secure the load while they put it in the box. That's all I'm trying to get at.
Speaker 2:
But my main purpose of telling you guys this is when you comment on something, walk away. If somebody comments back to you and it's ignorant, let it go, because no matter what you throw at them, it doesn't matter how much logic you throw at them, they're going to think they're right and they're going to call you all kinds of names, and that's the one thing when you really know you've won. The argument is when they start calling names, just like in politics. I'm Walter Gatlin with Roland 18 Podcast. You guys have a great time out there, god bless, be safe and, as always, keep it between the lines.
Speaker 1:
Driver always keep it between the lines, driver. Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast. Please visit my website at mediaiowacom or the podcast page at roland18podcastcom.