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Minnesota issues two license plates for commercial vehicles. It is permissible to place both of them on the front, if you drive backwards most of the time.

Thank you, Turtle for your thoughtful reply and well-articulated points. You answer well the question, why should drivers of big trucks log? But are you also suggesting that van drivers do not push safety limits and drive tired? You stated well the sins of big-rig drivers, but what of those vanners?

Pardon my ignorance. I have paid little attention to vans over the years and know little about them. I skip over most posts having to do with vans so if this has been discussed before, I missed it. As I said above, your post about your being tired after a long run and taunting a deputy got me...

You can turn that around and ask, why should big truck drivers be required to log at all? If cargo vans haul freight and are not required to log, why should big trucks that haul freight be required to log? Logging has been in place so long and is such a part of a CMV driver's daily routine...

Laws and regulations are passed all the time in the absence of supporting statistics and good science. Indeed, laws are sometimes passed in spite of supporting statistics and good science.

It varies from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It depends on the state and what cops are given what authority.

Team driving a straight truck, I never before had occasion to think about how regulating vans might benefit us. Until today; a van was a van, van drivers did not have to log unless carrying HAZMAT, many van drivers chose vans for that reason, and many van drivers were vacation expediters or low...

You did yourself, your carrier, your agent, your customer and all expediters proud with your actions. Diane and I have done rescue loads before and have never hesitated to do so, regardless of pay, but for different reasons. We have been rescued twice; once when I had to go the the ER for...

Along the same lines.... Old Fart Expediter's Glossary Load Board: Something you drive nails into to keep freight from shifting. Google: Something you say back to an infant when he or she is learning to talk. GPS: Girls Prep School, located in Chattanooga. Internet: Opposite of Outernet...

Diane and I entered the expediting business in 2003, ran eight years with a large carrier that had centralized dispatch, and then moved to a smaller one where dispatch is not centralized. That move has broadened our view of the expediting industry. Before, there was our carrier and everyone...

The rate of seasonal hiring by FedEx, UPS and other companies that add temporary workers for the holiday rush is one of many economic indicators. To know if this FedEx number is good news or not, we must know how the number compares to previous seasons and other numbers by other companies...

Not wanting to run into that problem, we had a trailer shop install a glad hand connection on our truck and bought one of those tire hoses with a glad hand connector that you see sold at truck stops. I prefer using it to irritating the guys in line behind me at fuel islands while I use the truck...

Our tire gauge was bought off the rack at a truck stop years ago using loyalty card points. Speedco provides free tire gauge accuracy checks which we have had done a couple of times. The gauge tested good each time.

It is quite something how simple, little acts of appreciation are offered by shippers and consignees are remembered for a lifetime by the truckers who receive them. Business is business, but drivers who feel appreciated and believe the appreciation to be sincere will go many extra miles for...

In other words, you prefer to have wheels under you instead of a foundation, because, you gotta go.

If that is the case, and I believe it is, why would dispatch call him and say he has to go out of service?

That seems like a stretch to me. The lot did not become unsafe because the driver's clock ran out. Setting yourself up to have an "emergency" when all factors are already known hours before would not fly if the matter was looked at by an objective enforcement officer or company safety official...

An informative thread on that topic can be read here.

Solutions to screw-ups like this ought not come from drivers who, meaning well and trying to help, might produce creative work-arounds that put the burden on them and may strain legal limits. Screw-ups like this should be prevented by untangling the dysfunctional web of corporate priorities...

Our three-axle truck has a manufacturer's GVWR of 54,600 lbs. and 48,600 lbs. under the FWHA bridge formula. It is registered for 47,000 lbs. The curb weight (all equipment on board, fuel and water tanks full, no freight) is about 34,000 lbs., leaving a theoretical payload of 13,000 lbs. The...