Heartfelt listen-ups to FMCSA.
roadside attractions
Hey, FMCSA:
‘Stop coming
after us!’
Owner-operators had some strong words
for federal regulators at a March MidAmerica Trucking Show listening session
devoted to electronic onboard recorders
and their potential use to harass drivers. Scan the QR to pull up a video excerpt
Operators urged the Federal Motor Carrier of owner-operator Greg Petit’s testimony to FMCSA on EOBRs
and harassment. For more from the listening session, visit youtube.com/overdrivemag.
Safety Administration panel to address the
real problems, such as long detention time
at docks and piecemeal pay by the mile. Regarding EOBRs and other federal initiatives, owner-operator
Greg Petit (pictured) said, “Stop coming after us with all of this!”
AIR FORCE VET FINDS
THIRD LIFE IN TRUCKING
Since becoming
an instructor for
Prime in 2010,
Peig has helped
17 students pass
their CDL test.
8
OVERDRIVE MAY 2012
A
mid-life career shift brought 52-year-old Hoffman Estates,
Ill., native Edwin Peig to his current gig. The on-highway
driver and trainer for Prime Inc. began investigating
trucking after job cuts forced him out of work as an
information technology analyst.
Now in his fourth year with the carrier, Peig loves nothing more
than “to see the reaction of a student the first time we roll out,”
he says. The trainees include “some laid off, some just out of the
military, some just trying to find themselves. I teach them to look
at it as an adventure, to have faith and to be responsible.”
His instruction works. Peig hasn’t had a student fail yet.
Peig brings authenticity to his work, particularly with former
military personnel. He traveled the world while in the Air Force,
living in Asia and Europe. When considering the driving profession,
he knew trucking could be similarly adventurous. It helped that
Peig’s son and wife had previously mentioned trucking as a
lucrative career option.
Peig found Prime at a veterans’ job fair and signed on for the
carrier’s CDL program. He ran 50,000 miles as a trainee in 2009
before hauling alone as a company driver. After a year, Peig’s
trainer persuaded him to become an on-highway instructor
himself.
“The future of trucking is bright,” he says. “We haul America.
You can’t outsource truckers, no matter how much you outsource
the products we haul.”
— Elizabeth Manning