Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
Meet my new travel companion, Leilanni. Notice please that she is ensconced right of center on my CB radio. She has a nice tan, eschewing the orange look that troubled our own Claire Berlinski. She can dance the boogaloo like nobody's business. She's very low maintenance, requiring only an occasional dusting. And most importantly, she's not prone to verbal gaffes (There's a lot to be said for silence. - Leilanni). This last characteristic is what sets her, head, shoulders and hip spring, above Ray LaHood, our Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary.
There has always been a certain degree of tension between those who drive 18 wheelers and the DOT. As drivers, our mission is simple: Bring the merchandise you need and desire to your store's shelves on time and without hurting anyone. Often times, it seems that the DOT mission is to make our job as difficult as humanly possible. Of course, that isn't their mission, but between the inspections at weigh stations, hours of service requirements that slow the freight, random roadside inspections, paperwork requirements that almost require an administrative assistant in the truck (Leilanni refuses to do filing), actually driving the truck almost gets lost in the mix.
So imagine the glee with which professional drivers read Secretary LaHood's remark that more government spending on moving freight by rail will get those, "...gas guzzling trucks off the road," thereby relieving congestion. Well now, unless Mr. LaHood plans on running fresh train tracks to every business, there is going to be a problem. The largest trucking companies already invest heavily in intermodal freight solutions for their customers. In fact, I spent a good portion of the day last Wednesday at Savannah's Georgia Port Authority (Leilanni and I got lost there), where freight is moved from ships to rail, from rail to ships, and from both to trucks for delivery to a store near you.
American Trucking Association President Bill Graves wrote a letter to LaHood pointing out that even if the amount of freight moved by rail doubles between now and 2020, intermodal rail will still only account for 1.8 percent of total freight movement. By contrast, movement by truck would still make up 71 percent. "Taking 'trucks off the road,' as you suggest, would bring our nations's supply chain to a screeching halt," wrote Graves.
So disparaging those "gas guzzling trucks," really doesn't help the situation. Fuel consumption is an issue, but moving 80,000 pounds to and from warehouses, rail yards, and stores is not something that can be done on the cheap.
LaHood's solution? You see he fancies the idea that public use of motorized transportation followed government expenditures on public roads, instead of it being the other way around. LaHood says that,
Our commitment has been to roads, and part of our commitment now at DOT is to create opportunities for alternatives to congestion, to automobiles, knowing full well that it takes time to change habits.
Can a cash for locomotives program be far behind?
Pending the realization of this hopey changey world where we will presumably walk or peddle freight from the Chattanooga Choo Choo, those of us up in the 18 wheelers will keep bringing your products to the store. Just substitute "Yes we can," with "I think I can, I think I can..."
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
"Just substitute 'Yes we can,' with 'I think I can, I think I can...'"
Absolute genius ending. I busted up laughing.....
Jul '10
Re: Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
You know, I'm almost positive that somewhere in the Secretary of Transportation job description, somewhere between "promote diversity" and "fall on sword for Administration", there appears the phrase "know something about transportation." Could have sworn.
Leilanni for SecTrans!
Re: Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
Wylee Coyote: You know, I'm almost positive that somewhere in the Secretary of Transportation job description, somewhere between "promote diversity" and "fall on sword for Administration", there appears the phrase "know something about transportation." Could have sworn.
Leilanni for SecTrans! · Jul 23 at 8:30pm
Wylee, I think Leilanni would be a vast improvement, though she was of no help at all when we got lost in old Savannah. The stately old moss-draped oaks with low hanging limbs were magnificent, and in need of trimming. Fortunately, Leilanni and I don't charge for these additional services.
May '10
Re: Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
It'd be fair to say the $8,000,000,000 President Obama is handing to states for light rail projects qualifies as Cash for Locomotives! If other states are like Ohio, the whole thing is a lefty pipe dream that well under 10% of the population has an interest in using (according to its proponents' own research).
Decades ago the left decided that cars are bad, and having settled that in a logical manner it was a small step to decide Americans should learn to ride trains everywhere. Only problem is all the lousy Americans disinclined to get with the program! Oh, and those teensy supply chain issues, which would occur to the bureaucrats if any of them had ever run a business.
May '10
Re: Lovely Leilanni and Ray LaHood
...which leads to one of George Will's best lines ever: The Democrats can envision a world without the internal combustion engine but not one without the Chrysler Corporation.