An obvious breakthrough moment in homeless policy for Seattle, and Urban North America. If I may immodestly so claim. Read the link - and please share your innermost thoughts. As you already know, I have a thick skin.
UPDATE: There are real-life examples. Ed Reed, a Vietnam vet who became homeless, a drug addict, and a criminal - cleaned up his act and became a truck driver, with the help of the California Transportation Training Institute. Melvin Stewart is another formerly homeless vet who earned a license and became a commercial truck driver. A homeless truck driver talks about his life in a comment on this blog post.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at February 28, 2006 08:57 PM | Email ThisMy father is a truck-driver, and has been for many years. He enjoys the open road, likes the flexibility of being an independent contractor, and most of all - he makes a good living.
On a related note, I think Alaska already provides vocational training, and many homeless go up there for the summer, make a few grand, come back, blow it on drugs, and then live on the streets until the next summer. One big cycle. Look for jackets and apparel on the streets that say "Bearing Strait 20XX" or "XYZ Village, AK". Those are the survivors.
Posted by: Patrick E. Bell on February 28, 2006 09:13 PMRegulation and the morons enforcing the regulations combined with high operating costs are strangling transportation. Training the homeless to drive trucks is not going to do much good. Insurance companies wont insure them. Most companies wont even talk to a driver until they've had five years experience. Experience they can't get.
Just wishful thinking on Mr. Rosenburgs part.
And, as someone who enjoys the highways of America, legions of vagrants in big rigs isn't encouraging.
On the other hand, I could make a fortune with a truckstop/liquor store on Route 80.
Posted by: Hindu on February 28, 2006 09:35 PMI did weights and measures on trucks for the State for a while back. The rules are unnecessarily complex for trucks. For example there are three ways to calculate the max weight on rig. Each method will give a different max gross weight. The enforcement officer can apply the most restrictive method to the rig. The driver may have honestly believe he was legal, but if he close to max a different calculation will result in the rig being over.
The whole log book (driving time) thing is cumbersome beyond belief.
Most independents get paid by the mile, so the more miles they put down the better off they are. The drivers gamble on not getting caught and push long and hard.
Simplify the rules, it can be done.
WA a long time ago banned paying dump truck drivers by the load, guys were rushing and wreaking and hurting people. It might be worth while looking at mandatory hourly pay for drivers.
Rigs cost over 100K, for $1000 bucks a GPS unit with transponder can keep track of time on the road, big companies already do it.. Much easier to keep track of that than the log books.
Driving is WORK and the homeless have an aversion to that 4 letter word.
Posted by: JCM on February 28, 2006 10:11 PMThis won't end until the hand outs stop. There needs to be a time limit on how long assistance is offered. If someone is truly whacko in the head, then they should be put in an institution for treatment (instead of prisons). Otherwise, it is time to send a clear message to either get off your duff or move to Berkley. It would be much cheaper for Washington to provide one way tickets than to keep coming up with tent cities and other kiss a$$ solutions.
And BV is correct--the truck driver "shortage" is about as real as the teacher "shortage". The real issue is either wages or working conditions. If you look at the ads for truck drivers, for example, it is always certain lines advertising for help. You usually don't see UPS or Snyder having to beat the bushes for drivers.
Posted by: Burdabee on February 28, 2006 10:58 PMI have no problem with the idea of a homeless non-drunk non-crazy pulling himself together and getting a job driving a truck. Thing is, if they're capable of doing it they will think of it themselves and take steps, so no recruitment should be attempted... the whole problem with the way we treat the homeless in this town is that too few expect them to do anything for themselves, to make an effort.
Posted by: Brian Crouch on February 28, 2006 11:57 PMPC people like to think mental illness and antisocial behavior are results of the stress of poverty and homelessness. It's the other way around: poverty and homelessness are consequences of antisocial behavior and mental illness.
These are not the kind of people you can rely on to drive your truck to Chicago instead of Las Vegas just because they're supposed to go to Chicago. And you can't count on them not to sell your cargo, or your truck, for a few hundred dollars in Las Vegas just because it isn't theirs. They have a completely different way of viewing concepts like honesty, reliability and ownership than you and I.
Though they look able-bodied, most of the homeless are truly disabled - mentally, morally, or both.
Posted by: ken on March 1, 2006 08:20 AMYes, many of the homeless come from backgrounds of broken homes and drug addiction. Does that mean they are to be sentenced for life because of it? What happened to forgiveness and redemption that Christians say is their beleif?
If a person can get their act together and become a functioning member of society as a truck driver then why not?
If anyone thinks the homeless youth are simply a bunch of snot nosed kids who didn't want to follow rules, then they need to learn about Covenant House.
chttp://www.covenanthouse.org/about.html
Posted by: pbj on March 1, 2006 09:53 AMThe Covenant House Mission
"We who recognize God's providence and fidelity to His people are dedicated to living out His covenant among ourselves and those children we serve, with absolute respect and unconditional love. That commitment calls us to serve suffering children of the street, and to protect and safeguard all children. Just as Christ in His humanity is the visible sign of God's presence among His people, so our efforts together in the covenant community are a visible sign that effects the presence of God, working through the Holy Spirit among ourselves and our kids."
Covenant House seems to recognize that the bigger issue is moral, not economic.
I wouldn't expect a truck driver training program being paid by the government to have much reason to reject prospective students based on any history of drug or alcohol abuse. I would expect that private trucking companies have good reason to be discriminating.
Posted by: ken on March 1, 2006 11:13 AM