021521_TT_AllPages

Perspective February
15-28, 2021 • 12
R
Letters
Open letter penned to Rhode Island
officials regarding truck-only tolls
Sirs,
You are currently reading the words of a
disgruntled patron of the I-95 TOT (trucks
only tolls) in Rhode Island. New York
pulled this “trucks only” business 10 years
ago and, if it makes you feel any better,
their culpability runs deeper because the
NYS Thruway was built with bond money,
not tax money. Furthermore, the NY tolls
were scheduled to be removed from that
thoroughfare in the ’80s, as the bonds were
paid off. I know; I worked there at the time.
But that’s another episode of “Trucker’s
Lament.”
Please allow me to inform anyone within
eyeshot about the motivations on the part of
RI officialdom and RIDOT. The reason this
TOT became reality in RI can be summed
up in one word: bullying. No matter what
you or your minions proffer as the reason
you started this unfair toll, there is no doubt
of the salient reason: You did it because you
knew you could get away with it; that’s as
clear as Loretta Lynn’s sister.
Consider: Most commercial vehicle
traffic in RI is transient, not residents of the
Ocean State. I’ve been traversing this state
for 30 years, and I know. Not being residents,
our influence with your legislature,
governing bodies and your DOT is less than
nil. Ergo, our complaints are swept aside
with nary a glance (but possibly a snicker).
When I was in the U.S. Air Force, I attended
electronics school. The first thing I
learned was the origin of the salute (in medieval
times a junior soldier approaching a
senior soldier had to lift his hinged helmet
visor with his hand to be recognized).
The second thing I learned was that both
water and electricity take the path of least
resistance. Well, I can add bullying to that
short list. If you people had applied this additional
cost (i.e., additional, inasmuch as
we pay state fuel taxes up the ying-yang
already) to local RI motorists there would
have been muy, muy, mucho resistance! The
resounding hue and cry would’ve squelched
your scheme in ictu oculi (in the blink of
an eye), and another dream of bloodsucking
would’ve remained just that.
The spineless jellyfish who engineered
this outrage personify the definition of
BULLY: person or persons who intimidate
ones they perceive as vulnerable.
I ask you: Who is more vulnerable to
your machinations than a trucker with a
wife and kid at home who is briefly traversing
your state? What’s he going to do? Find
a place to park his semi near the Capitol and
lodge his out-of-state grievance?
And, as if this were not enough, the federal
government pays the lion’s share of the
maintenance and repair of your precious 44
miles of Interstate!
The parasites should hang their heads in
shame.
Thanks,
G. Ganssle
Editor’s note: Due to space constraints,
Wendy Miller (Mad Dog’s Daughter) has
opted to forego her column for this edition
in order to run a letter from a reader regarding
an important trucking issue. Don’t
worry, she’ll be back next time! 8
‘Dieselbilly’: Could it be another
term for ‘sounds so sweet’?
Kris Rutherford
krisr@thetruckermedia.com
Rhythm of
the Road
Anyone who has followed this column for the
past year or so is aware that when it comes to music,
my tastes are a bit intolerant. If it’s not country
— and if it’s not classic country — chances
are I’m not listening. Still, I prefer to consider my
musical tastes as “refined” rather than intolerant.
That being noted, recently I temporarily
broadened my horizons. Don’t get me wrong. I
didn’t desert my beloved classic country for some
sinister new genre; after all, I refer to all music
other than classic country as “snake-dancin’ music.”
Instead, I set out on an undercover mission
to find a better term for “truck-driving music,” or
rather the type of music that typically appeals to
truck drivers and the themes related to their lives.
Link by link, the worldwide web carried me to
places I’d never been, and — perish the thought
— to music I’d never heard.
As a sub-genre of what is primarily country
music, the phrase “truck-driving music” is a bit
awkward when you’re writing it repeatedly. It
also takes up three words, where surely one or
two should suffice. Even if it does require three
words, 17 letters are far too many (I mean, “rock
’n’ roll” only takes nine letters).
But finding a shorter phrase wasn’t the only
reason for my venture into music unknown. Even
within classic country, “truck-driving music” is
one of several phrases used to describe the subgenre.
Others, while referring to the same music
and the same songs, may label truck-driving music
as “truck-driver music,” “trucking music,” “trucker
music,” “music for the road” or some other phrase.
My journey was a bit arduous. Even in music
other than classic country, the words to describe
truck driving music seldom varied. Then I came
across one of those performers who isn’t so much
known by his name but rather the bands with
which he has played.
Bill Kirchen is one of those musicians who
doesn’t seem to fit into any specific musical
genre. He performs music he likes and lets others
decide how it should be categorized. But as a performer
of truck-driving music, Kirchen coined a
word to describe trucking songs no matter which
type of category they might otherwise fall. In Bill
Kirchen’s world, “Dieselbilly” says it all.
Bill Kirchen is a native of Connecticut but
spent most of his youth in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He is likely best known for his days of playing
lead guitar for the band Commander Cody and His
Lost Planet Airmen. But before he set out on a professional
music career, he learned the art at home,
where his parents listened to classical music.
See Rhythm on p16 m
WORTH REPEATING
In this section, The Trucker news staff selects quotes from stories throughout this issue that are just too good to only publish once.
In case you missed it, you should check out the stories that include these perspectives.
If you have an opinion you would like to share, email editor@thetruckermedia.com.
“I think there’s no question that climate change is going to be a big
focus of the Biden administration, and I think there are a lot of unknowns there
in terms of equipment. For our particular business, as electrification takes place
and diesel engines are slowly phased out and electric motors and electrified
vehicles are developed, the whole training program has to be reassessed.”
— Chris Thropp, president of Pennsylvania-based Sage Corp.,
which operates Sage Truck Driving Schools, on the number
of trucking jobs directly related to fracking
Full story on Pages 1 and 6.
“Because of the pandemic, 2020 was obviously a
very challenging year for the economy overall, and that is
reflecting in the tonnage index’s dip from the previous year.
Despite that, truck tonnage clearly outperformed the broader
economy as freight continued to move in the face of a myriad
of COVID-related challenges faced by the country.”
— Bob Costello, chief economist for American Trucking
Associations on freight tonnage in 2020
Full story on Pages 17 and 18.