Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, told OOIDA Land Line Magazine on Friday, Jan. 30, she has the solution for truckers facing these Catch-22 predicaments: Get a room. They (truckers) need to make alternative arrangements like finding a hotel room,” Geller said. “It’s not our responsibility to make sure they are in compliance with the hours of service. … So that responsibility sits on the driver to know his or her route and know where there is a place to park.”
This pinhead Geller works for Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, the Superintendant of the Virginia State Police. Both Flagerty and Geller need to spend some time in the real world of trucking. What they (VA cops) are saying is clearly irresponsible, unrealistic, uneconomical and unsafe. They should know better. Shame on them.
I have to wonder what the FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – has to say about this. Virginia is among the many states that fall far short of providing adequate support for safe and reasonable commercial trucking operations. Parking is clearly a problem there. Virginia needs a minimum of 3X the number of safe parking areas for trucks. And the State Police there needs to stop their ongoing campaign of harassment against truckers.
OOIDA, the ATA (American Trucking Association) and the FMCSA need to make the ignorance of the Virginia State Police a priority.
