Posted On: Monday - September 1st 2025 7:28PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Music Peak Stupidity Roadshow President DeSantis
I'd rather not even have the sound here, but, besides the use of "migrant", the Sky News Aussies are OK:
I don't use the word in the modern sense, when "sick" can mean daring and amazing. We've probably all seen video and that stupid sick driving move - making a u-turn with a big rig right across a highway! - and the look on that sick Sikh's face after he likely beheaded 3 people in a mini-van.*
Yes, he was yet another illegal alien killing Americans when he shouldn't have ever been here. Sometimes it's violent Latin Americans killing people on purpose, and other times it's drunk Latin Americans killing people by accident, and other times it's just stupid people who know nothing doing stupid things like this, things we'd have better off heard of them doing somewhere not in America, because they shouldn't be here.
Just to recap, this turban-headed (Sikh) Harbinder Singh came into this country across the Southern border in '18 and claimed asylum. The stupidity of a system that lets someone claim this on the other side of the world, let alone start some "pending hearing" process that lets the guy in, is our Immigration system in a nutshell. Then, Washington State officials gave this guy a Commercial Driver's License - "gave" because he couldn't have earned it, as his English was and has been nil. Then, this CDL prompted California to issue him one.
America has had nice things among the various States like drivers license reciprocity. I think if the stupid and traitorous States like those mentioned keep this up, perhaps this will have to end. We can't have nice things... As I looked through some videos, I see that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis explained this whole story in 6 minutes, and it included CDL non-reciprocity (for illegals). I gotta say this again: Ron DeSantis would have been a more capable and much more focused and just plain better President than Donald Trump. However, as one can see here, he comes of very matter-of-factly, with the right details, he's clear and all... but the outrage that Americans feel just doesn't come through. Everything he says here makes good sense. That he doesn't speak to the heart does matter, unfortunately. Anyway...
After that long intro, let me, or rather, American Renaissance's Greg Hood (aka VDare's James Kirkpatrick, aka actually Kevin DeAnna) make the first point about this story. That is, that millions of Indians around the world are supporting this guy based on tribalism. Here is the beginning of his post Defending the Indefensible:
Imagine you are a foreign tractor-trailer driver — let’s say you are German — working in the United States. You make a flagrantly illegal U-turn on a path meant for official use only. You have to crawl across four lanes of traffic to do it, and not surprisingly, a car with members of another race slams into your truck. All passengers die. You offer no assistance. You cannot speak English but are allowed to leave the scene without being charged. You immediately flee to another state 2,000 miles away. Unfortunately for you, you are arrested and returned to the state where the collision took place. Incidentally, you are an illegal immigrant.Nope, they're not.
What would the reaction be from white truck drivers, or whites generally? Can you imagine whites mobilizing in your defense? Would a large organization of Germans demand lenient treatment for you? Would millions of whites around the world sign a petition supporting you? Would thousands mock your victims, because they were not white and therefore, somehow, had it coming? Finally, would you expect the German government to work for you and a German politician to speak up for you?
Most whites would be ashamed to appeal to racial loyalty to defend such a person. Even white advocates believe that racial solidarity should not excuse him.
We must understand that others are not like us.
My next point is that with all the talk of California's and Washington's role in these deaths, along with the immigration system, I don't want to hear about "more vetting", "harder CDL tests", and "reading English"**. Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t care if Sikhs were the best damn drivers in the world. I wouldn’t care if they spoke and read English better than all Americans other than William Safire. I don’t care if they will now be vetted down to the number of times they were put in the RTC (Responsible Thinking Center, aka detention) in elementary school back in the Punjab.
They shouldn’t be here to begin with!
Now, after writing that, I have another thought, something I've written before in these PS posts, that combines these 2 points. Let's take the German example. Imagine if 20 million German immigrants have come into America instead of the last 20 million from 3 dozen mystery countries. (Let's also be clear that these were to be actual Germans, not Syrians come by way of Germany.)
A comment under Mr. Hood's post argued about the skills of foreign drivers, immigrant or not, illegal or not. Who says they're worse on the whole?, he asked. Well, first of all, I guess I shouldn't have picked Germans as the example (just rolling with Mr. Hood's thoughts) because we think of them, at least, as the best drivers. They know how to stay the heck to the right*** from their time on the autobahn (on the 2 lanes/direction you'd better!), they will take their tuned-port-injection, finely tuned machines into the shop first exit after a check-engine light ... all that, we imagine.
Anyway, they might be the best drivers in the world, the incoming Germans, so per the commenter, that's good. Wrecks and fatalities would be down. No, they wouldn't be down, not in absolute numbers. "Well, sure, but we're talking per capita here", you're bound to get in retort. Sorry, I don't care about per capita. I don't want more capita. More capita means higher numbers for all problems, crowded roads of course, more damage to the environment, higher housing costs, higher unemployment rates, you name it, and you could name a whole lot more were they not Germans but Haitians, Venezuelans, and Somalians. Mo people, mo problems.
OK, SURE, I'd much rather see 20 million German immigrants than a continuation of what we've had. They, all Europeans, tend to be more Socialist, but most of the problems we see from highly-strange foreigners, such as some idiot killing 3 people with this Sikh move wouldn't exist.
This has been a big story. I'm glad for that. It's a shame that it seems to take, over and over, Americans getting killed in various ways by illegal aliens in order to keep bringing the PRP issue to the forefront. We shouldn't have to argue this issue based on these horrible events. That the planned invasion is happening at all, were it even of the best and the brightest, and the best drivers in the world, still ought to be a big political issue.
In all the writing about this crash, the common sense that asks "Why don't Americans just drive the big rigs like they used to?" was severely lacking. It used to be a pretty good career. This was that golden time for truckers in the mid-late 1970s in which CB (Citizen's Band) radio was a big fad and truckers and long-haul trucking were looked up to, by the kids at least.
Peak Stupidity has featured both of these videos before, but you gotta love that Skynyrd song (Ronnie Van Zant's Dad was a trucker) and then, Smokey and the Bandit absolutely must appear in this nostalgic look at old White America when American guys, not sick Sikhs, could make a good living and have songs written about them. (We'll find that CW McCall song too.)
Now, let's be clear: This is Westbound and Down ("Eighteen wheels a-rollin'"), played as the Snowman and the Bandit made their way westbound to Texarkana, Arkansas. Eastbound and Down ("Loaded up and truckin'") was played as they made their way back to Atlanta, Georgia with their cases of delicious Coors beer. (Made from natural spring water, or piss, or somethin'...)
PS: Final thoughts: There are pretty good comments under a number of these videos on youtube. Yes, sue the California officials who gave this guy a CDL, Sue the trucking company for hiring an illegal alien. Sue everyone.
* Even had they slowed down to 30 or 40 mph, which doesn't seem to have been the case from the video, airbags don't save you in this type of crash. Most of the cabin just scoots under the truck until metal and human beings hit big pieces of steel. It had to have been horrific.
** When it comes down to it, that this guy's English was nil and he shouldn't have had a CDL due to that is one thing, but it's not the reason he killed these people in Florida. All the roads signs in the world, in Hindi or whatever couldn't fix this kind of stupid.
*** We experience that stupidity on our recent road trip, but I will say that everyone I flashed the lights to (3 times) pulled back to the right. Maybe Trump's deportation numbers have been bigger than I'd thought! (Nah, Americans mostly don't get this either.)
Comments:
Moderator
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 8:00PM MST
PS: "Nowhere in the mainstream press coverage have I seen anyone make the extension to other jobs."
Very good point, SafeNow. There are plenty of occupations for which uncaring 3rd-Worlders employed in them will get more people killed. Even if not that, they will make life more miserable. No NY Times articles on this can be read, I'm guessing.
Very good point, SafeNow. There are plenty of occupations for which uncaring 3rd-Worlders employed in them will get more people killed. Even if not that, they will make life more miserable. No NY Times articles on this can be read, I'm guessing.
Moderator
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 4:14PM MST
PS: There's lots in the comment to discuss, Adam. First, I did hear from Ron DeSantis (first) about these work permits. Yeah, the Trump CBP was closer to on the right track - he brought the numbers well down, but not WAY down like now - but the guy still got in.
I know you have a reason, but why that spelling for loicenses. California is so, so welcoming. Russian, Spanish, Serbian-Croatian, and even English. What a shame a guy like Harbinger Singh didn't speak at least one of those! haha.
I know you have truck driving experience. I think back to that time way long before you drove, well, ANYTHING (not even a riding mower?) when truckers could make a decent living. Perhaps one should find other things to make money with after years of that hard life and the time away from home (the latter for the OTR truckers, that is. Still, the pay would be commensurate, with the lifestyle taken into account, were it not for the constant importation of cheap labor.
(I suppose the Libertarians would tell you that's just Supply & Demand, but then I don't think we're gonna reach Global Libertarianism. It'd be great if just ONE country, say ours, could practice it.)
I know you have a reason, but why that spelling for loicenses. California is so, so welcoming. Russian, Spanish, Serbian-Croatian, and even English. What a shame a guy like Harbinger Singh didn't speak at least one of those! haha.
I know you have truck driving experience. I think back to that time way long before you drove, well, ANYTHING (not even a riding mower?) when truckers could make a decent living. Perhaps one should find other things to make money with after years of that hard life and the time away from home (the latter for the OTR truckers, that is. Still, the pay would be commensurate, with the lifestyle taken into account, were it not for the constant importation of cheap labor.
(I suppose the Libertarians would tell you that's just Supply & Demand, but then I don't think we're gonna reach Global Libertarianism. It'd be great if just ONE country, say ours, could practice it.)
SafeNow
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 4:08PM MST
PS
“We must understand that others are not like us.
Nope, they're not.”
Our teaching hospitals are filled with medical residents from India. They are, right now, engaged in the murderous medical version of this trucker’s cavalier, indifferent, arrogant approach to his occupation. And of course, the attending docs often have no choice but to support their resident. And, even worse, mirror it. Nowhere in the mainstream press coverage have I seen anyone make the extension to other jobs. Instead, their professed attitude is that, nah, the trucker’s sensibilities cannot be extrapolated to other occupations; no worries…it’s just a weird trucker thing.
“We must understand that others are not like us.
Nope, they're not.”
Our teaching hospitals are filled with medical residents from India. They are, right now, engaged in the murderous medical version of this trucker’s cavalier, indifferent, arrogant approach to his occupation. And of course, the attending docs often have no choice but to support their resident. And, even worse, mirror it. Nowhere in the mainstream press coverage have I seen anyone make the extension to other jobs. Instead, their professed attitude is that, nah, the trucker’s sensibilities cannot be extrapolated to other occupations; no worries…it’s just a weird trucker thing.
Adam Smith
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 11:31AM MST
PS: Good afternoon, Messrs. Alarmist & Moderator!
𝐵𝑇𝑊, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠.
You beat me to it, Mr. Alarmist.
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/victims-killed-by-illegal-u-turn-by-harjinder-singh-identified-as-haitians-glbs-2779758-2025-09-01
𝐷𝑢𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑡-𝑎𝑢-𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 2023 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑡𝑤𝑜-𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑒.
𝑁𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐽𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑝ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑜𝑟’𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆.
𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 2018, ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 2021 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 — 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 2023 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑖𝑛 2024 — 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑂𝑇. 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝐷𝐿 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑛-𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛.
Two, count 'em two Driver's loicenses!
𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝐷𝐿 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠...
Well, I actually think that could be a good idea. (If we lived in a high trust and functional society.) After I passed my CDL written and road tests I was free to hop in any sort of truck (doubles, triples, tankers, hazmat, specialty vehicles, whatever...) and go anywhere. But... Other than a couple weeks of training for the written (multiple choice questions for the different endorsements) and road (the hardest part of the road test is parallel parking a tractor trailer) tests, I wasn't really qualified (in my opinion) for some of the larger and more complicated vehicles and loads that I was loicensed for. Fortunately, I never crashed or wrecked or anything like that but I do feel like there should have been more training before being set loose on the world. Maybe a graduated loicensing scheme or something like that.(?)
However... (And this might seem a bit contradictory.) Loicensing is just a dangerous illusion. More difficult tests really wouldn't solve anything as long as we have low trust third world people and dysfunctional corrupt institutions. Passing a simple (or even more difficult) test is not the same as real world driving.
＜story time＞
When I was driving for the carnival I knew this trucker named Rob. Rob was a pretty good guy who liked to party but he was a very dangerous driver. (Mostly due to some obscene levels of amphetamine use while driving.) But Rob's family was quite wealthy. (His sister was married to a guy who owns one of the larger amusement ride midway providers in the country. These people were literally carney royalty.)
Because Rob was a dangerous driver he was always losing his loicense. But... Because his family was wealthy they just kept buy his loicense back for him. Seriously. He used to brag that his family had spent more than $70,000 in just a few years so he could keep his CDL. (This was just one of the many things along the way that made me realize that loicensing is mostly a scam that empowers "government" and helps it raise revenue while doing nothing towards its alleged purpose.)
＜/story time＞
𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜?
Obviously I can't speak for others but the reason I quit driving is because it is pretty terrible for your health. It is damn near impossible to eat healthy or get enough exercise when trucking. It's horrible for the ears. Sleeping in a truck isn't that fun. Public bathrooms and showers are, shall we say, less than ideal. And the pay isn't very good for the responsibility involved.
I make more money recovering hard drives or helping people move their photos and contacts to a new iphone after they crack their screen or recharging people's air conditioning or whatever. There are all sorts of things I can do that pay better than trucking.
𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟.
Lol... •Indians doing the work Americans are afraid to do.
Cheers! ☮️
𝐵𝑇𝑊, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠.
You beat me to it, Mr. Alarmist.
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/victims-killed-by-illegal-u-turn-by-harjinder-singh-identified-as-haitians-glbs-2779758-2025-09-01
𝐷𝑢𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑡-𝑎𝑢-𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 2023 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑡𝑤𝑜-𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑒.
𝑁𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐽𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑝ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑜𝑟’𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆.
𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 2018, ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 2021 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 — 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 2023 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑖𝑛 2024 — 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑂𝑇. 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝐷𝐿 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑛-𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛.
Two, count 'em two Driver's loicenses!
𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝐷𝐿 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠...
Well, I actually think that could be a good idea. (If we lived in a high trust and functional society.) After I passed my CDL written and road tests I was free to hop in any sort of truck (doubles, triples, tankers, hazmat, specialty vehicles, whatever...) and go anywhere. But... Other than a couple weeks of training for the written (multiple choice questions for the different endorsements) and road (the hardest part of the road test is parallel parking a tractor trailer) tests, I wasn't really qualified (in my opinion) for some of the larger and more complicated vehicles and loads that I was loicensed for. Fortunately, I never crashed or wrecked or anything like that but I do feel like there should have been more training before being set loose on the world. Maybe a graduated loicensing scheme or something like that.(?)
However... (And this might seem a bit contradictory.) Loicensing is just a dangerous illusion. More difficult tests really wouldn't solve anything as long as we have low trust third world people and dysfunctional corrupt institutions. Passing a simple (or even more difficult) test is not the same as real world driving.
＜story time＞
When I was driving for the carnival I knew this trucker named Rob. Rob was a pretty good guy who liked to party but he was a very dangerous driver. (Mostly due to some obscene levels of amphetamine use while driving.) But Rob's family was quite wealthy. (His sister was married to a guy who owns one of the larger amusement ride midway providers in the country. These people were literally carney royalty.)
Because Rob was a dangerous driver he was always losing his loicense. But... Because his family was wealthy they just kept buy his loicense back for him. Seriously. He used to brag that his family had spent more than $70,000 in just a few years so he could keep his CDL. (This was just one of the many things along the way that made me realize that loicensing is mostly a scam that empowers "government" and helps it raise revenue while doing nothing towards its alleged purpose.)
＜/story time＞
𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜?
Obviously I can't speak for others but the reason I quit driving is because it is pretty terrible for your health. It is damn near impossible to eat healthy or get enough exercise when trucking. It's horrible for the ears. Sleeping in a truck isn't that fun. Public bathrooms and showers are, shall we say, less than ideal. And the pay isn't very good for the responsibility involved.
I make more money recovering hard drives or helping people move their photos and contacts to a new iphone after they crack their screen or recharging people's air conditioning or whatever. There are all sorts of things I can do that pay better than trucking.
𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟.
Lol... •Indians doing the work Americans are afraid to do.
Cheers! ☮️
Moderator
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 9:31AM MST
PS: I really feel bad saying this, but honestly, that they are Haitians - I had not read anything about the victims - makes it somehow, I dunno, a little better.
Agreed on the last paragraph.
Agreed on the last paragraph.
The Alarmist
Tuesday - September 2nd 2025 9:20AM MST
PS
I’m not sure there are still any German truck drivers. Most truck drivers I have met in the EU are Polish, Ukranian, and a few Moroccans.
BTW, the people killed in that accident were Haitian migrants. No real reports of immi status other than one had been given two years permitted entry under some Biden program.
If Singh had pulled that move in India and killed three Indians, locals would probably have pulled him out of the truck and hanged and burned him on the spot. Same would happen in Haiti. Sometimes civilization sucks.
☯️
I’m not sure there are still any German truck drivers. Most truck drivers I have met in the EU are Polish, Ukranian, and a few Moroccans.
BTW, the people killed in that accident were Haitian migrants. No real reports of immi status other than one had been given two years permitted entry under some Biden program.
If Singh had pulled that move in India and killed three Indians, locals would probably have pulled him out of the truck and hanged and burned him on the spot. Same would happen in Haiti. Sometimes civilization sucks.
☯️
"In all the writing about this crash, the common sense that asks "Why don't Americans just drive the big rigs like they used to?" was severely lacking."
Being a truck driver, particularly an owner-operator, has become less and less a good job and more marginal.
The book I read about it blamed the dispatchers for basically becoming a cartel and squeezing the drivers.
This may be true, but what likely allowed the dispatchers to become a cartel was importing immigrant drivers who would do the job for less. The ones who didn't, didn't get the trucking jobs to dispatch.
It comes down to money as usual. A company that wants a shipment trucked across the country is going to choose the cheapest option that gets it there on time. Anything else and the manager who chose the more expensive option gets fired.