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the throats of their own constituents.

And if the driver of the truck is losing money, the company he drives for is losing money. They will recoup that money one way or another. The easiest and most obvious way to recoup that loss is to raise the cost of hauling goods, freight rates. If freight rates go up so does the cost to the consumer. Believe it or not, the stuff we buy at Wal-Mart was not manufactured right there in the back of the store. It was brought there by truck. And if it costs more to get it there, it will cost us more to buy it.

Now for the environmental issues. It has not been proven that trucks running at 55 mph will reduce air pollution in Tennessee. Any reduction will be offset by the fact that a truck travelling through the state will spend 10 hours of driving time just getting partially through the state and then, at one end or the other will spend the night in Tennessee, idling the truck for ten hours. Also, at 55 mph, in the highest gear, my truck will not pull the hills on the highways. I will have to go to a lower gear to increase my engine rpm to give my engine more power to pull hills. 1300 rpm at 55 mph will produce the same emissions as 1300 rpm at 65 mph. How does that reduce air pollution? Perhaps our time and energy would be better spent looking at coal, oil, and wood burning as causes of air pollution.

One more word to the lawyers who have the commercial that says, "Truck drivers think they own the roads, but they don't own the courtrooms". No, truck drivers don't think they own the roads. But after paying $1600.00 a year for registration, $550.00 per year for Heavy Highway Use Tax, $350.00 a year for permits, and Lord knows what else, we do think we have the right to drive on them. And we believe we should have the same rights as those driving automobiles. Don't even act like you're fighting for the rights of victims. You're just trying to line your own pockets with money. You know that if there is an accident, even if the truck driver is not at fault (70% of the time), there will be a lawsuit and it will be settled out of court because the trucking companies know it's cheaper to settle than to go to trial.

Learn more about this author, Billie Thomas.
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