🌟 Editor's Note
There’s no getting away from it, the Florida U-Turn is leading the headlines this week, we’ll look at some of the response, and try to find some other interesting news too.
💥 That Florida U-Turn
If you have somehow been under a rock this week, we’re talking about the August 12 crash when a CDL driver pulled a u-turn in his semi-truck on the Florida Turnpike, causing a family in a minivan to end up under his trailer, killing 3 people in the minivan.
The driver reportedly failed an English test administered roadside pretty spectacularly, is an immigrant, and is a very visible minority, all of which set off a perfect storm of reactions in the American trucking scene.
Was the driver in the USA Illegally?
The driver has been referred to as an “illegal alien,” but is he?
Truckers News reports that while he initially entered the country illegally, he was arrested in 2019 and has been working his way through the immigration system ever since:
He is said to have been seeking asylum because he feared for his safety in his home country of India, and has been in the immigration system since.
And according to California “The federal government confirmed Mr. Singh's legal presence in the United States.” (via Overdrive). If these are true, should the driver be considered an “illegal” alien? If so when does someone stop being illegal?
Questions on CDL Issuing
The driver had a CDL from California, and apparently one from Washington too. I have thoughts, let’s lay them out as bullet points:
If he was in the country illegally, as many media outlets are reporting how did he get a CDL?
The OOIDA is pushing the DOT to stop the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, (essentially, CDLs for visa-holders). It’s unclear to me if this would have stopped the driver in question from obtaining a CDL.
No New Truck Driver Visas
The USA has stopped issuing truck driver visas after the Florida crash. This seems like a knee-jerk reaction that would not have stopped the driver in the crash from obtaining a CDL. After all, he doesn’t appear to have been on a truck driver visa!
Also, what does this mean for cross-border trucking?
📰 Other Stories This Week
I found these two stories interesting, or at least worth a mention this week:
Brake Week!
It’s brake week, so make sure your brakes are working right. Actually, do that all the time please, not just during brake week.
New Mack Truck
Mack’s Pioneer highway truck has entered production! I have a soft spot for Mack because they put a bulldog sticker on my hard hat at a forestry demo back in ‘92, so when I see them doing something cool, like trying to break into a new market, it makes me happy.
That’s all I’m writing about for this week. The Florida U-Turn makes me sad, and pretty much dominated everything else.
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John
