US DOT to require CDL licenses for farm equipment? Surely this won't fly. I was driving a tractor with a bushhog years before I was old enough to get a regular drivers license.
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HELL NO. H.E.L.L. N.O. Do not comply with this Home - by BigFurHat - July 29, 2011 - 06:11 America/New_York - 15 Comments
Ann Barnhardt
Feds want to require Commercial Drivers Licenses for all farm equipment operators.
From the article:
The time-honored initiation into working the family farm could one day be a thing of the past, with discussions underway in Washington to require operators of farm equipment to have a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.
(snip)
The requirements would subject farmers to the same rules governing truck drivers, requiring them to keep logs and limit their hours.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we are now at the point of civil disobedience being a MORAL OBLIGATION. You CAN NOT, you MUST NOT comply with this under ANY circumstance whatsoever. This is a means of getting control of your land and production. They want to force you off the tractor and get their own “professional drivers” in, who will then have to power to control and/or sabotage your planting and harvest. Not to mention the fact that they want you paying their union thug $80 per hour while you are sitting in the house twiddling your thumbs. These professional drivers would most likely be unionized and illegal aliens. You know I’m right.
Hell no. Hell no. Hell no.
Send it viral.
iowntheworld.com
New rules could mean less help, higher costs for family farm
Posted: Jul 27, 2011 5:48 PM CDT
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 Outrage over proposed new federal rules for farmers2:47
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by Mark Wiggins
WACO - For many in rural Central Texas, it's one of their most enduring memories of childhood: Their first time behind the wheel of the family tractor.
The time-honored initiation into working the family farm could one day be a thing of the past, with discussions underway in Washington to require operators of farm equipment to have a commercial driver's license, or CDL.
Ned Meister's work in agriculture began similarly at the age of ten. Meeting with News Channel 25 Wednesday at the Texas Farm Bureau, Meister explained the critical role of family on the farm.
"The vast majority of our farms are family farms, operators of equipment are usually family members, and if [those changes] were to take place, that would eliminate some of the family participation in the farm operation."
On his farm just outside the town of McGregor, Rodney Schmalriede grew up helping his father. His son has grown up the same way, and with farmers facing tougher times than ever, Schmalriede is glad for the help.
"Right now I've got my young son, he's 11 years old -- can drive that tractor like a pro -- and my dad who will be 80 this year," explains Schmalriede, "And I've got to have their help."
Concerned with the amount of farm equipment making short hops between fields and down public roadways, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering whether or not to classify agricultural machines like tractors as "commercial vehicles," requiring a CDL to operate.
The requirements would subject farmers to the same rules governing truck drivers, requiring them to keep logs and limit their hours.
Farmers also fear the prospect of replacing family help with expensive professional drivers, something that could end up costing everyone -- if it doesn't break the bank.
"When you consider salaries and benefits and all the other things that go with hiring people that otherwise would have been doing by your family, well it's just a more expensive proposal," says Meister.
As public hearings on the issue are expected to continue, many like Schmalriede see it as more evidence of a meddling government interfering with the lives of rural America.
"I think they're idiots," says Schmalriede. "All we see in the news all the time is some idiot decision that they've made again. I think half the problem that this country's in right now is because of all the regulations they're trying to put on everything."
Many others shake their heads at what they see as a bureaucracy that seems out of touch.
"We have lost our understanding of rural life and agriculture," explains Meister. "I'm not saying that anything's malicious at all, but they just don't understand."
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