The running narrative in Washington, DC thanks to the start of silly season (elections) has been that America has plenty of oil, plenty of gas, and an endless supply of diesel so all of the negative Nellies were just pushing this “fake news” because they hate the President.
Unfortunately for the administration and its Nixonian pronouncements, President Trump’s own Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy blew up the entire story-telling session with the announcement today. From The Hill:
Trump administration allows truck drivers hauling gas, diesel to work longer hours
While this sounds like no big deal to the average American, in the transportation industry this is truly an eye-opening event. Especially after an entire summer of illegal alien truck drivers killing and maiming American citizens as Sean Durry begins a nationwide crackdown on unsafe practices and illegal operators in the trucking industry.
This excerpt from the article linked above spells out the severity of the crisis:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday the Trump administration will temporarily increase how long gas and diesel truck drivers can drive, as fuel costs remain elevated amid the Iran war.
Under the 90-day waiver from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), truck drivers hauling gasoline and diesel can drive for up to 16 hours within a 24-hour window — an increase from the 14-hour limit under normal conditions. The waiver took effect Wednesday and expires on Dec. 16.
Why is this such a big deal?
In the modern era since regulations were revised to allow this suspension it has only happened three other times to such a degree:
1. November 2016 – Colonial Pipeline crisis when a major spill caused a partial shutdown of the system and thee states, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, suspended hours of service rules until the normal flow was restored.
2. September 2017 – A 26 state waiver due to the impacts of Hurricane Harvey.
3. March 2020 – The Covid 19 pandemic waiver which continued for 31 months.
The only times in my transportation career such waivers were issued were during supply runs for the impacts of Hurricane Andrew inside of the state of Florida and for our company’s trucks dedicated to war time supplies during the first Iraq War. It is this author’s purpose to point out that this is not an everyday occurrence and to remind my readers that this is not hyperbole when I say that we are moving into an extraordinary historical period for which the next 90 days may well define the United States immediate future much like other drastic periods of turbulence throughout history.
If anyone thinks that this is not a severe crisis, watch the price of groceries, gasoline, and of course retail goods as there is only so much margin pain the retail industry can absorb before passing the price on to consumers. And for the record, it is only going to get worse in the next 45 to 60 days so prepare for all time high prices in diesel and gasoline before this is over.
