October 3, 2025 • 43 mins
Kevin talks about the Federal Government Shutdown; What the Department of Transportation's shutdown plan means for trucking; on Sept. 26th Secretary Sean Duffy, Department of Transportation, declared a "national emergency" over states handling of commercial driver licenses for noncitizens; oil and gas prices react to concerns about oversupply of crude oil; a potential OPEC+ crude oil production increase; rising crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories as refining activity and demand is softening; Kevin has the details, digs into the information, puts the data into historical perspective, offers his insights and a few opinions along the way.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:31):
This is America's Cooking Network with Kevin Gordon.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Lulab Bars. Thanks for tuning in. We are in the
Schumers shutdown. Apparently the folks on the other side of
the aisle, the Democrats, just can't seem to get rid
of this whole spending binge that they're in. That they
just have to spend our money. They have to confiscate
more of our wealth and then run government programs are
(00:59):
inefficient and fun things that aren't for US citizens.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
But I don't want to go off in a tangent
on that.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
But there's some things that are going on that may
affect the Department of Transportation and other things. I do
want to say that the thing that irritates me the
most about our government, among other things, is the fact
that year after year after year, there are different studies
that are done, whether it's the Office of Management and Budget,
(01:29):
whether it's the Government Accountability Office, whether there's Inspector General's reports,
whether it's a situation where Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky
comes up what he calls the Festivus Report right around
oh right after Thanksgiving before Christmas, and it goes line
(01:50):
item by line item certain waste fraud and abuse in
the federal government. We also had at the beginning of
the year the Doge Group, the Department of Government Efficiency,
which everybody on the left wanted to trash and everybody
wanted to say that this was so evil and cruel
and whatever. But when they dug in and saw some
of the waste fraud and abuse which everybody has claimed,
(02:12):
and you can go through that, You can go through
the different It doesn't take you long to look it up.
But what everybody has said, from Bill Clinton when he
was president, to Joe Biden when he was in the Senate,
to Barack Obama when he became president, all these people
are on record talking about the well, Bill Clinton, the
(02:33):
era of big government is over, talking about waste fraud
and abuse that needs to be cut out. All these
unnecessary programs, and yet not one of them has ever
done anything about it until Donald Trump came into office
in his second term, and you would have thought that
the entire economy was going to collapse, that the world
(02:54):
was going to come to an end, simply because trying
to do some government efficiency. And I have a little
more thoughts on this when we get into this next story.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
But the mere fact that they.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Have all of these agencies that say this is something
that weighs for aden abuse, this can be cut out,
this could be cut and they.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Never do it.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It infuriates me to the point where, you know, if
it was their own money, if it was coming out
of their pocket that they had and took away from
their salary, you better believe that they would eliminate it.
But because it's coming out of our pockets, because they
don't see it, because they're not affected by it, it's
going to continue. So anyway, here's what the Department of
(03:36):
Transportation shutdown plan means. Now, they came up with this
Department well, this shutdown plan, knowing that there was an
impasse as far as the budget was concerned. Now you know,
we're still talking about the finalizing the budget from the
Biden years. We aren't even talking about the first budget
because the fiscal year for the United States like September thirtieth,
(04:02):
and then the new year begins October first. So the
budget going into the first Trump budget, which begins well,
actually began on the first that hasn't even been voted on.
The budget from the prior year, from the October of
twenty twenty four that funds the government through September thirtieth
(04:23):
to twenty five.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Has never been voted on and approved.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
That is how weird our Congress is and how backed
up they are and inefficient as far as the as
far as the Congress is concerned, actually getting work done
on behalf of the American people unbelievable. The Department of
Transportation put together this plan in terms of knowing that
there was going to be a government shutdown, knowing that
(04:47):
there's certain funds that are cut off, certain appropriations that
aren't going to be used, and during this shutdown, and oh,
by the way, when you hear the whining and complaining
about these various government workers that are not going to
be receiving a paycheck and so on, know this little tidbit. Okay,
first of all, them knowing this, I'm sure day one,
(05:09):
they're out there filing for unemployment, which they are entitled to.
So they will be collecting unemployment when they come back,
and when the government is funded the pay they will
be paid retroactively back to that date that they were furloughed,
which means that basically this is a freebie. They're going
(05:30):
to get paid, it's just going to be delayed, but
they are going to be collecting unemployment all during that
period of time. So the unemployment is basically just icing
on the cake. And they know this, but that's not
going to stop them from whining and complaining about.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Well, I'm without a paycheck, I don't have money. You know,
what am I going to do to feed my family? Yet? Right?
I mean as if we're going to believe that. So anyway,
just so you.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Know that they are going to get back paid retroactively
to the day that the government ran out of money
and they were load. But in the meantime, they're going
to be collecting unemployment, so they're getting, you know, basically
a bonus for being furloughed. All right, So, anyway, what's
going on as far as the Department of Transportation trucking
operations are set to roll on even if Washington grinds
(06:15):
to a halt, or even when According to the Department
of Transportations shut Down Plan that protects safety functions and
Highway Trust Fund programs, the Department's plan really was released
on September thirtieth, shows that the highways and truck agencies
are among the least effected in a lapse of annual appropriations.
Federal law requires agencies to continue work necessary to protect
(06:40):
life and property, and many Department of Transportation programs are
insulated because they draw funding from the Highway Trust Fund
and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Now let me
go off on a tangent of one of my pet peeves.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Again. I've told you.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Before that I was involved with a group that we
were trying to that we're not trying to, but that
we successfully stopped tolling on a companion bridge here in
the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area. We have a bridge
here that carries not only one, not two, but three
major interstates through the Cincinnati area. I seventy four, I
(07:21):
seventy five, and I seventy one. One bridge, okay, covers
three separate interstate highways where there should actually be probably
three bridges, but anyway, they can congest this all over
one bridge. For the longest time, they tried to build
a companion bridge down there. They actually had funding years
(07:41):
and years ago, but the City of Cincinnati couldn't figure
out where that was going to go and figure out
their plans and so on, so.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
They put it off, put it off, put it off.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Then suddenly they decided back in twenty thirteen, hey, we
got a brilliant idea. We can go ahead and do this,
but we're going to toll the bridge. And we here
in northern Kentucky, a group of us said hell no,
hell no, hell no, And anyway we.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Got it stopped.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But in the process of me doing some of the
work and digging into the details, I found out some
of the stuff about the Highway Trust Fund, finding out
that all the money that we paid that you guys
pay that in the trucking industry, all the excise taxes
on the on the on the trucks, on the trailers,
on the tires, all the money that we're paying as
far as federal federal gas tax for gas and then
(08:28):
diesel taxes that you guys pay as far as the
trucks are concerned, all that money goes into a fund.
Thirty three percent of that money is spent on non
highway issues. Number One, we are we are we, You
and I are subsidizing that Northeast Corridor. The train, the
Amtrak train that Joe Biden used to when he was
(08:50):
in the Senate used to ride every night, paying like
you know, four bucks, and so we would normally cost
him fifteen bucks. But it's subsidized by us, so that
Northeast Corridor can run. Okay, we also are funding highway
or hight hiking trails and biking trails. Now again not
opposed to that, but if it's a if they're going
(09:11):
to toll a highway and say it's a user pays,
then where's the user paying the high hiking trails and
biking trails? And as I said before, can't they charge
like maybe a one percent tax on all the equipment,
the bikes, the boots, the stuff, everything having to do
with that and fund those and not take that out
of the Highway Trust Fund. So, knowing that thirty three
(09:33):
percent of our Highway Trust Fund is already wasted on
non highway issues, that infuriated me and was one of
my talking points and talking about why we shouldn't be
tolling the Brent Sprid's Bridge, so on and so forth.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
But anyway, that's off on a tangent. Pick this up.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I'm Kevin Gordon, America's truck and Network seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
This if the Racing Repard on America's Trucking Network on
seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Looking ahead to the racing weekend and the NASCAR Cup
Series Playoffs Round of twelve. It's a Bank of America
Rovo four hundred Sunday at three pm. Kyle Larson is
the defending champ. The Exfinity Series Playoffs Round of twelve
continues also at Charlotte Road Course with the Blue Cross
North Carolina two fifty on Saturday at five pm.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Green Flag.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
The NASCAR Crafts and Truck Series Playoffs Round of eight
also runs at Charlotte Roval on Friday afternoon at three
thirty pm, and Formula One holds the Singapore Grand Prix
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
This is the Raething Report on America's Trucking Network on
seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
Say Dennison a t N on America's Crime Lab the
podcast We're revealing the true story of the Idaho four.
Speaker 7 (10:45):
I was so frantic that morning and scared that the
person who did this would have.
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Speaker 10 (12:01):
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Speaker 4 (12:09):
Oh, don't let salmonilla get funky with your chicken any book.
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Speaker 2 (12:28):
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Speaker 3 (12:34):
I'm Kevin Gordon, America's Trucking Network seven hundred WLW. We
were talking about or I was talking about the Department
and Transportation shut down, their policy and what they're planning
on doing, and I went off on a tangent when
I got to the point where it said that that
many DOT programs are insulated because they draw funding from
the Highway Trust Fund. And again, the Highway Trust Fund
(12:58):
is the money that is collected through all of the
excise taxes that you pay on all the equipment trucks, trailers,
et cetera, tires, the gasoline tax, and the diesel tax
of federal diesel tax on every gallon of diesel that
you pump, every gallon of gas that we pump. All
the money goes into that pot. And as I mentioned,
(13:21):
a group of us fighting tolls on the Brent Spenz
Bridge or the bridge that was going to the Companion Bridge,
learning that thirty three percent of the money already in
that fund is being spent on non highway items. When
I read this, this is another another piece to that
puzzle of why when they say we don't have enough
(13:41):
money in the Highway Trust Fund in order to do
the infrastructure to repair the roads. You know, when they
throw these taxes on us, they always say, oh, well,
we're going to put this tax on gasoline to fund
the repairs. Now, going back to the beginning of the
interstate highway system, ninety percent of that money that came
(14:03):
up for that was paid for by the federal government
because they realized the importance of commerce going across the
country and being able to move goods and services. Not
only did that do that, But then that opened up
the ability for people to travel go on vacation, travel
down to Florida from Michigan or from wherever that normally
(14:26):
would take a couple of days or three days by
the old highway systems. Now you can do that almost
well a day if you want to drive fourteen hours
or something.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
But still it's a hell of a lot closer.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
The amount of freight that can be moved from one
end of the country to the other is very quick.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And the fact that.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
We are now able to get certain items that were
never available in terms of fresh food, either vegetables or
seafood into the center part of the country. So they
realized how important this was for the commerce. But let's
not forget that the original proposal of the Highway Trust
the highway system in the first place, was during the
(15:07):
Cold War to be able to move troops from one
end of the country to the other within a matter
of a day, as opposed to three weeks what it
talked took before the interstate highway system was put into place.
So part of this highway system should be funded out
of the defense budget, in my opinion, because this is
(15:28):
an important component of moving troops. So again they put
the Highway Trust Fund, put all this money in there,
and then now they're wasting thirty three percent of it.
But now we've got all of these government bureaucrats that
are taking money out of this for their paychecks. Shouldn't
that be part of the normal taxes that we pay?
Does the EPA where do they get their funding? They
(15:51):
get their funding from the taxpayers. There's not a separate
fund that people pay into in the term of a
lotion tax or an air tax or something like that.
Where's the Department of Defense that comes out of the
normal budget.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Why isn't the.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Department of Transportation come out of the normal budget? Because
they want to make sure they wanted to pretend that
they're being more efficient, and they say, oh, we got
this pile of money over here, why don't we build
these agencies here and pull that money out of there
and fund it through that. No wonder they don't have
enough money for interstate highway repairs and so on. So
(16:29):
that's one of my pet peeves, and I didn't realize
it until I was looking at this particular story. Anyway,
getting back to the story, trucking oversight remains intact Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry. All
one thousand and eighty four employees remain on the job.
And again, when I'm talking about the number of jobs here,
that's one thousand and eighty four people that are being
(16:51):
paid for out of the Highway Trust Fund. And now,
in the terms of government efficiency, are all of these
people necessary or all these people? Can somebody look at
that and say, all right, do they have enough people
to do this? And people that are dead weight or
jobs that are redundant or whatever, can we eliminate that?
Hell no, we've got this money coming from the taxpayers.
(17:11):
We don't care about efficiency. But again the plan says
FMCSA positions are primarily funded by authorized contract contract Authority
and paid out of the Highway Trust Fund. The agency
also collects fees under the licensing and insurance function, the
Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, so on and so forth. Also,
(17:32):
they've got a pot of money coming from the back
in the day. Let me see, during the funding from
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which basically was just
a green energy, green news steel program that they did,
but there were some things in there, for the highways
and construction and that, but a lot of it was
(17:53):
more of these Green New Deal programs. So anyway, part
of this is funded out of that. During the lapse
FMCSA's obligation limitations follow the IIJA, the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act highway programs fully protected.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
The Federal Highway.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Administration will continue normal operations with all twenty two hundred
and sixty eight employees. So again, are all those employees necessary?
Is anybody looking at that? Protecting the tax payer money,
protecting the money that we put in there through these
gasoline tax and diesel taxes to make sure that the
are spending our money efficiently. So anyway, no furloughs are expected.
(18:32):
The Department of Department of Transportation said the agency has
enough liquidating cash to support several months of reimbursement. Has
Mad inspections continue with some cuts. The oversight of hazardous
material shipments will continue despite staff reductions. Pipeline and has
met material safety Administration expects one hundred and ninety of
(18:55):
the five hundred and seventy nine employees to be furloughed,
with three employees. Now they are talking about that in
the federal government. Remember when dose came in and they said,
we want to eliminate certain employees, and they said, well, okay, overall,
in order to reduce the federal workforce, what we're going
to do is we're going to offer everybody, everybody across
(19:18):
the board, nine months worth of.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Pay if you agree to leave the job.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And so if you want to retire, if you want
to quit or whatever, you got nine months of paid
time off and you have to accept that. They had
to accept that contract by September thirtieth, and I think
I saw somewhere where one hundred and ten thousand federal
employees have taken advantage of that. So that workforce will
(19:48):
be reduced by one hundred and one hundred and ten
thousand workers. So again that's a way of you know,
people leaving the job and then basically not having the
replace And it'll be interesting to see if people don't
even miss those jobs in the first place. But a
lot of these positions that they're talking about in here,
some of the furloughs will actually be people that have
(20:10):
actually resigned. Vehicle safety standards work uninterrupted. Maritime operations continue
with reduced staff. Other transportation modes face deeper cuts, while
trucking in highway programs are largely shielded. Other parts of
the Department of Transportation faith further strained. Now this, I
don't understand the Federal Aviation Administration projects more than eleven
(20:32):
thousand furloughs. Though air traffic controllers remain on duty without pay,
Why aren't they protected of all of the different organizations,
all the other elements of the federal government that get paid,
and that there's a subsidy for them, that they are
essential workers. Air traffic controllers aren't considered essential paid people,
(20:57):
but they're still expected to show up even though they're
not going to get paid unblue And I wonder how
that's gonna work out in terms of do they get
to collect unemployment because they're not receiving a paycheck or
are they just going to get that retroactive money later on?
You know some of the stuff when we when I
dig into this stuff and see how inefficient our federal
government is, it just absolutely appalls me. I'm Kevin Gordon,
(21:20):
America's Trucking Network seven hundred WLW News Traffic and Weather
News Radio seven hundred WLW, Cincinnati.
Speaker 11 (21:32):
The FDA has just approved a generic version of the
abortion pill with your twelve thirty report, I'm Travis Laird
breaking now. The drug is mifepristone, the most commonly used
for medication abortions. It is the second generic version to
reach the market. The announcement comes just weeks after Health
(21:53):
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior said the drug safety would
be reviewed. A study from the Ethics and Public Public
Policy Center, a conservative think tank cited by the administration,
claimed eleven percent of women had serious adverse reactions, but
that research was not peer reviewed. The FDA's own data
shows the rate is just one half of one percent.
Speaker 8 (22:16):
A spokesperson for the department says, by law, the FDA
must approve a generic drug if it is similar to
the brand name drug.
Speaker 11 (22:23):
That's ABC's Michelle Franzen. The move prompted fierce backlash. Senator
Josh Hawley called it shocking. Anti abortion groups said it
was reckless and unconscionable.
Speaker 7 (22:36):
Another lovely night, partly cloudy conditions, temperatures dropping into the
upper fifties, and the tomorrol cloud's decrease a little bit.
We'll get back to a mostly sunny sky. And it's
also a warmer day with a high of eighty four.
We'll see the same forecast for Saturday and Sunday. It's
Monday night next week that rain will return and bring
back some cooler air. That's the forecast. I'm nine First
Warning Meteorologist Jennifer.
Speaker 11 (22:56):
Ketchbar sixty degrees in Cincinnati right now.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Now.
Speaker 11 (23:00):
The City of Cincinnati has announced how it will spend
the next round of Railway Trust money for twenty twenty seven.
Officials expect fifty eight million dollars, two million more than
last year. The biggest chair, twenty two million, is set
aside for street repaving. Other projects include the Fleet Garage
and the Dunham Recreation Center. Mayor Pirraval says it costs
(23:21):
a million dollars to pave a single mile of road,
but he says crews have patched more than forty three
thousand potholes so far this year. The city is also
looking at cameras on city vehicles to flag new potholes.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
And the Queen.
Speaker 11 (23:35):
City Book Bank has opened its two hundred and fiftieth
Little Free Library the New Boxes in Avondale. Hosted by
former libraryan Connie Harris, the initiative provides free books to
more than four thousand elementary students in twenty Cincinnati schools
giving each child ten new books every year. Organizers say
the little free libraries help students build reading habits and
(23:59):
help neighborhoods connect. Our next update is with Lee Mallin
at one o'clock Breaking News Anytime. I'm Travis Lair News
Radio seven hundred WLW HI.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I'm Stephanie Quell and I'm Tom Quell. You're co founders
of the Jack Quell Foundation.
Speaker 11 (24:13):
We lost our son Jack in twenty twenty one to
fentanyl poisoning, which.
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Speaker 12 (25:15):
Here's your trucking forecast for the tri State and for
the rest of the country. Through the overnight, mostly cloudy
with a low fifty nine, mostly sunny, Friday with a
high eighty four, Mostly clear Friday night with a low
sixty Saturday, sunshine, high eighty four. Sunday, sunny, and a
high again of eighty four degrees for the rest.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Of the country.
Speaker 12 (25:36):
Record high temps possible across the northern Plains, upper Mississippi
Valley and Great Lakes. Below average temperatures to stretch from
the West Coast into the Great Basin and Northern Rockies,
and heavy rains and isolated flooding along the east coast
of Florida and from the northern Sierra into the Northern Rockies.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Seven hundred WLW. I'm Kevin Gordon. This is America struck
a network.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Last week, the Department of Transportation Seawn Duffy had a
press conference and they were discussing has declared a national
emergency over states handling of commercial driver's license for non citizens,
ordering immediate changes that could affect thousands of drivers and
potentially reshape hiring practices across the trucking industry. You may
(26:29):
recall back on I think it was September twenty fourth,
we covered on the show fmcsa data show surge in
roadside inspections where we talked about the number of trucks
been pulled over and.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Put out a service.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
This is as a result of the enforcement action that
was required by the Department of Transportation back in let's see,
it was in May the twentieth that Sean Duffy put
out this new guidance. In the headline at the time
was US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signs order announcing new
guidelines to enforce that English only proficiency. And then that
(27:09):
was supposed to go into effect on what was it,
June the twenty fifth. Now you may recall too that
on August the twelfth that heart Hard Gender Singe, the
one that the guy down in illegal Alien Driver's License
CDL license from California made that illegal U turn down
(27:32):
in Texas Florida that killed three family members, and all
of a sudden, this focus went on these illegal aliens
and the driver's licenses. Now, this again is something that
was announced back in May. The enforcement action began June
twenty fifth. This hard gender singh was pulled over in
(27:58):
July in New Mexican Co. Pulled over for speeding, was
issued a ticket. They couldn't communicate with him. The bodycam
footage of that showed he couldn't speak English, which meant
that he probably couldn't understand roadside road signs, and the
officers just let him go. And then less than a
(28:19):
month later he kills three people in Florida. And so
this is something that when the problem comes about.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
When a problem is announced.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Wouldn't you think that people would immediately jump on it
and say we need to change it. It was announced
in May, the enforcement date became June, July August, and
we still have these states that are a non compliance.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
It amazes me, and.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Especially the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media, how
they tend to ignore these things. I watched the press conference,
and I watched it a couple of times. The press
conference last week when Sean Duffy was announcing this. They
took some questions afterwards, and the main focus was, what
do you suppose that with these people maybe losing their
(29:12):
licenses and put out of service, will this affect the
supply chain?
Speaker 4 (29:16):
What the hell difference does that make?
Speaker 3 (29:19):
What you're concerned about a little bit of inconvenience as
opposed to somebody driving an eighty thousand pound vehicle that
can't drive it, doesn't know the safety features, can't read
road signs, and could and has not passed the necessary
requirements to travel that truck. Do you not care about
your kids? Do you not care about your friends? Do
(29:40):
you not care about your families? You governors that continue
allow to have your DMVs go ahead and do this
are not concerned about making sure that your highways are safe.
This was a topic earlier or actually last night, Dan
Carroll on w Here on WLW a guest on his program,
(30:01):
and we were talking about this because one of the
topics that came up is and when we discussed it
on his show about how some of these driver's licenses
have the phrase no name given. Now, we talked about
this and one of the things that needs to be
looked at is that how is this being done, because
(30:22):
the stories were that these issues, these driver's license were
issued that had no name on us. He just said
under the you know, the normal name and said no
name given. But looking into it, some of these people
only have one name. And I don't understand that because
if you look at you know, whenever you look at
some of these shakes and these people in the Middle East,
(30:43):
they all have names. They all have a first name
and a last name. I can't believe that some of
these people would come over here and only have one name.
What do they share or adele or something like that.
I mean, there's got to be a name. I mean,
you know, even in the Arab countries you have like,
for instance, my name's Kevin Gordon, right, So if I
(31:05):
don't have a last name, and the city that I
live in is Wilder, Kentucky, so it would the normal
would be Kevin Ben Wilder, which means that I'm Kevin
from Wilder. So they always have some sort of a
name like that or it's bet something. So how this
is possible is incredible. But the focus of Sean Duffy's
(31:31):
press conference last week was the fact that well, let's
just get.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
Into the story.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Department of Transportation Secretary Shawan Duffy announced September the twenty
sixth that a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit uncovered
systematic failures in how multiple states issue non domiciled CDLs
and commercial Learners permits to foreign nationals living in the
United States.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
What the new rules require.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Now technically these and one of the things was that
these people were being issued driver's licenses even though their
work permits had expired. And in one instance that he
pointed out, this person's work authorization ended four years ago.
(32:18):
So how is this person even still in the country
if they're not even supposed to be here.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It's just absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
As of September twenty sixth, an FMCSA interim final rule
imposes strict requirements. States issuing these licenses must now verify
the applicant documents through the Department of Homeland Securities Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlement system. Keep non domiciled application documents
(32:45):
for at least two years match non domiciled CDL CLP
expiration dates with US Immigration Form I ninety four ninety.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Four A expiration dates.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
In other words, make sure that they can cross references
with their papers as to whether or not they are
supposed to actually be in here and.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Have a work permit.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Downgrade non domiciled CDLs and colps if drivers become ineligible now,
he pointed out during his press conference the fact that
if you are a Mexican citizen or a Canadian citizen,
you can get a CDL license in Mexico and in Canada,
(33:28):
which allows you to drive in the United States. But
if you're non domiciled, you cannot be issued a permit.
You cannot be issued a driver's license only if you
are here legally, only if you are a citizen, and
can you be actually enrolled and get a CDL license. Now,
(33:49):
this whole deal of this English language proficiency, we talked
about this, and we talked about this a couple of times.
We talked about this when we were at the truck
show down in Louisville in March. We talked about this
with Louis Pugh a couple of weeks later on, and
we've talked about this off and on that the fact
that some of the I mean, it's the FMCSA requirements.
(34:12):
In twenty sixteen, during the latter part or the final
days of the Obama administration, they stopped enforcing those.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Now I don't know why the.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Next Department of Transportation secretary didn't pick up on that
and start enforcing it. But this had been going on
and then on through the Biden administration where they you know,
they just started issuing these driver's license without And we
had the case last a couple of weeks ago too,
where six people had been indicted for falsifying all the documents,
(34:42):
the training records, whether they had actually taken a course,
whether they passed the safety or whether they could actually
pass the road test. So they falsified these documents and
allowed these people to have these CDLs. I mean, how
any hell do you sleep at night knowing that you
have permitted somebody who's not qu Qui for driving such
a vehicle going down the highway and possibly killing people.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
So anyway, I will post this on Facebook because the
requirements and what was going on as far as this concern.
We'll cover a little bit more of this, but some
of the details I'll put this on Facebook. We'll cover
the rest of this coming up. I'm Kevin Gordon, America's
truck in Network seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know what your customers are saying.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
You know, we were talking about this story DOTS emergency
CDL ruling what that means for the trucking industry, and
as I mentioned during the press conference, these people were asking,
is this going to affect the trucking industry? Is it
going to affect the supply chain? And this goes into
a topic that we've had on this program before and
(35:49):
a topic that was discussed at the Mid America Trucking
Show down in Louisville, where you hear in the press
all the time that there is a driver shortage. I
think I think the number being floated around a couple
of years ago was that there were something I forget
what the number was, eighteen thousand or maybe sixty thousand.
(36:10):
I don't know what the number was off the top
of my head, but we were short that many drivers.
And then when I made that comment to somebody at
the truck show, they said, that's crazy. There are plenty
of drivers there. As a matter of fact, we have
too many drivers out there. And this has been a narrative.
I don't know where it began, but we talked. When
you listen to some of the stuff being discussed by
(36:32):
Chris Spear, president of American Trucking Associations. He talks about
that there's not a driver shortage. He talks about that
there's a problem with qualified drivers. He talks about the
fact that you know, we need to because the age
of some of the drivers, that there needs to be
other drivers coming up through the pipeline. That there should
be more trade show or trade schools that are started,
(36:54):
and the trucking schools began, you know, to train more
people and try to attract more people to the business.
But as far as a driver shortage, no, there is not,
and so there is not a need to try to
gin the system or to screw the system up by
throwing people in there unqualified. This is, in my opinion,
(37:18):
a criminal offense. The fact that you know, what is it,
I don't know. There's got to be some sort of
involuntary manslaughter on the person that issued the driver's license
if this person is involved in an accident, because you know,
if you falsified their data, if you've falsified whether or
not they passed the course, you're just as liable as
(37:41):
the person driving that car. In my opinion. So anyway,
when he put this out there. He's talking about the
states that face the most scrutiny. California faces the harshest
consequence because, you know, anything that the Trump administration says,
all of a sudden it's bad. You know, people can
talk about a particular topic for years, and then all
(38:03):
of a sudden, once Trump talks about it, all of
a sudden, everything that they've said, they ignore and go in.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
The opposite direction.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
California ignores everything coming from the White House, everything coming
from the administration, including this mandate about clamping down on
illegal and English language proficiency, experience or proficiency before you
get a driver's license. California faces the harshest consequence. FMCSA
(38:33):
auditors found twenty five percent of California's non domiciled CDLs
in violation of federal rules, Duffy called the most egregious
licensing situations.
Speaker 4 (38:45):
Of any states.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
California has over sixty thousand non domiciled CDLs in total.
That means that there are fifteen thousand people that have
driver's license that are unqualified and should not be behind
the wheel of a class eight a semi truck eighty
(39:11):
thousand pound truck going down the highway fifteen thousand people.
Those are potential, Those are accidents waiting to happen and
are preventable. Secretary gave California thirty days to comply or
face a loss of one hundred and sixty million in
federal highway funds. California must immediately pause issuance of non
(39:35):
domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non domiciled CDLs that failed
to comply with FMCSA regulations, revoke all non compliant non
domiciled CDLs, and reissue those that comply with the new
federal requirements. Duffy also pointed out that Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,
(39:58):
Texas unbelievable, and Washington for also for licensing failures. I
just it boggles my mind that I have to repeat this.
The fact that somebody would even allow some I mean,
there are This is like handing a gun to somebody
(40:18):
that doesn't even know what end of the barrel the
bullet comes out of a loaded gun, and to say,
I'll go ahead, you know, go out.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
And play with it. It's there.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
It's an accident waiting to happen. And how the like
I said, how these people sleep at night? I have
no clue. Let's take a quick look at oil and
gas prices, because you know, with the interruptions and the
preemptions of this preempt in the show, gas prices.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Have really been coming down.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
In oil prices, West Texas Intermedia crude currently is a
sixty and sixty dollars and sixty eight cents a barrel,
That is down a dollar nineteen from yesterday, or one
point nine percent. Brent crude currently is sixty four dollars
and fifteen cents a barrel, that is down a dollar
eighteen or one point eighth percent, almost two percent there
(41:09):
just since January of the twentieth when Donald Trump came
into office. West Texas Intermediate crewed is down sixteen dollars
and twenty one cents. Brent crude is down fifteen dollars
and seventy five cents. That means that West Texas Intermediate
cru is down twenty one percent. Brent crude is down
twenty percent. And for the life of me, I keep
(41:32):
asking the question and I keep getting the answer back
that well, there are different grades. We're in the summer months,
that the summer blend of gasoline is different and it
costs a little bit higher in order to refine that.
But I go back to in twenty twenty, when we
are energy independent for the first time since nineteen forty nine,
(41:55):
oil prices were down in the fifty dollars range.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
We're very close to that now.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Gas back in this back in twenty twenty, was it
two to twenty six a gallon?
Speaker 4 (42:06):
Diesel was a two thirty nine a gallon. Right now, as.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Of today, gas prices across the board national average three
dollars and sixteen cents. We are ninety cents higher than that.
I don't understand why gasoline isn't about ten percent or
at least maybe fifteen. If oil prices are down twenty
one percent and twenty percent, respectively, I don't understand why
(42:31):
gasoline prices aren't down a little bit lower. Imagine if
gasoline prices again match the and you know when you
see oil prices go up all of a sudden, gasoline
prices go up or around a holiday, and they call
it supply and demand. Yeah, I understand that. You know,
when you have a big demand and you have lower supplies,
the price is going to go up. But oil now
(42:54):
is down at a four month low. If oil prices,
if gasoline prices were to follow that and be about
fifteen percent less gasoline right now, I'd be about two
sixty a gallon. Diesel would be abround three fourteen as
opposed to three sixteen and three seventy, respectively. And the
reason that these gasoline prices are down OPEC is pumping
(43:17):
out more oil that their production numbers are up. The
International and the Energy Information Agency is talking about the
possibility of an oil glut, even though that's being argued
by some that it's not happening, but the fact that
the oil supply is going and going well, gasoline prices
should be following that.
Speaker 4 (43:39):
Well, folks, we're up against clock here.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Time for us to step out the door, have a
great weekend, stay home, stay tuned for Red Eye Radio
at the top of the hour. I'm Kevin Gordon, America's
struck A Network seven hundred WLW
On college football. The NHL and NBA preseason moves are underway.
From scores and reactions to interviews and hot takes, It's
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Sports on iHeartRadio where fans live it.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
This is America's Cooking Network with Kevin Gordon.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Lulab Bars. Thanks for tuning in. We are in the
Schumers shutdown. Apparently the folks on the other side of
the aisle, the Democrats, just can't seem to get rid
of this whole spending binge that they're in. That they
just have to spend our money. They have to confiscate
more of our wealth and then run government programs are
(00:59):
inefficient and fun things that aren't for US citizens.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
But I don't want to go off in a tangent
on that.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
But there's some things that are going on that may
affect the Department of Transportation and other things. I do
want to say that the thing that irritates me the
most about our government, among other things, is the fact
that year after year after year, there are different studies
that are done, whether it's the Office of Management and Budget,
(01:29):
whether it's the Government Accountability Office, whether there's Inspector General's reports,
whether it's a situation where Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky
comes up what he calls the Festivus Report right around
oh right after Thanksgiving before Christmas, and it goes line
(01:50):
item by line item certain waste fraud and abuse in
the federal government. We also had at the beginning of
the year the Doge Group, the Department of Government Efficiency,
which everybody on the left wanted to trash and everybody
wanted to say that this was so evil and cruel
and whatever. But when they dug in and saw some
of the waste fraud and abuse which everybody has claimed,
(02:12):
and you can go through that, You can go through
the different It doesn't take you long to look it up.
But what everybody has said, from Bill Clinton when he
was president, to Joe Biden when he was in the Senate,
to Barack Obama when he became president, all these people
are on record talking about the well, Bill Clinton, the
(02:33):
era of big government is over, talking about waste fraud
and abuse that needs to be cut out. All these
unnecessary programs, and yet not one of them has ever
done anything about it until Donald Trump came into office
in his second term, and you would have thought that
the entire economy was going to collapse, that the world
(02:54):
was going to come to an end, simply because trying
to do some government efficiency. And I have a little
more thoughts on this when we get into this next story.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
But the mere fact that they.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Have all of these agencies that say this is something
that weighs for aden abuse, this can be cut out,
this could be cut and they.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Never do it.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
It infuriates me to the point where, you know, if
it was their own money, if it was coming out
of their pocket that they had and took away from
their salary, you better believe that they would eliminate it.
But because it's coming out of our pockets, because they
don't see it, because they're not affected by it, it's
going to continue. So anyway, here's what the Department of
(03:36):
Transportation shutdown plan means. Now, they came up with this
Department well, this shutdown plan, knowing that there was an
impasse as far as the budget was concerned. Now you know,
we're still talking about the finalizing the budget from the
Biden years. We aren't even talking about the first budget
because the fiscal year for the United States like September thirtieth,
(04:02):
and then the new year begins October first. So the
budget going into the first Trump budget, which begins well,
actually began on the first that hasn't even been voted on.
The budget from the prior year, from the October of
twenty twenty four that funds the government through September thirtieth
(04:23):
to twenty five.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Has never been voted on and approved.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
That is how weird our Congress is and how backed
up they are and inefficient as far as the as
far as the Congress is concerned, actually getting work done
on behalf of the American people unbelievable. The Department of
Transportation put together this plan in terms of knowing that
there was going to be a government shutdown, knowing that
(04:47):
there's certain funds that are cut off, certain appropriations that
aren't going to be used, and during this shutdown, and oh,
by the way, when you hear the whining and complaining
about these various government workers that are not going to
be receiving a paycheck and so on, know this little tidbit. Okay,
first of all, them knowing this, I'm sure day one,
(05:09):
they're out there filing for unemployment, which they are entitled to.
So they will be collecting unemployment when they come back,
and when the government is funded the pay they will
be paid retroactively back to that date that they were furloughed,
which means that basically this is a freebie. They're going
(05:30):
to get paid, it's just going to be delayed, but
they are going to be collecting unemployment all during that
period of time. So the unemployment is basically just icing
on the cake. And they know this, but that's not
going to stop them from whining and complaining about.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Well, I'm without a paycheck, I don't have money. You know,
what am I going to do to feed my family? Yet? Right?
I mean as if we're going to believe that. So anyway,
just so you.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Know that they are going to get back paid retroactively
to the day that the government ran out of money
and they were load. But in the meantime, they're going
to be collecting unemployment, so they're getting, you know, basically
a bonus for being furloughed. All right, So, anyway, what's
going on as far as the Department of Transportation trucking
operations are set to roll on even if Washington grinds
(06:15):
to a halt, or even when According to the Department
of Transportations shut Down Plan that protects safety functions and
Highway Trust Fund programs, the Department's plan really was released
on September thirtieth, shows that the highways and truck agencies
are among the least effected in a lapse of annual appropriations.
Federal law requires agencies to continue work necessary to protect
(06:40):
life and property, and many Department of Transportation programs are
insulated because they draw funding from the Highway Trust Fund
and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Now let me
go off on a tangent of one of my pet peeves.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Again. I've told you.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Before that I was involved with a group that we
were trying to that we're not trying to, but that
we successfully stopped tolling on a companion bridge here in
the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area. We have a bridge
here that carries not only one, not two, but three
major interstates through the Cincinnati area. I seventy four, I
(07:21):
seventy five, and I seventy one. One bridge, okay, covers
three separate interstate highways where there should actually be probably
three bridges, but anyway, they can congest this all over
one bridge. For the longest time, they tried to build
a companion bridge down there. They actually had funding years
(07:41):
and years ago, but the City of Cincinnati couldn't figure
out where that was going to go and figure out
their plans and so on, so.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
They put it off, put it off, put it off.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Then suddenly they decided back in twenty thirteen, hey, we
got a brilliant idea. We can go ahead and do this,
but we're going to toll the bridge. And we here
in northern Kentucky, a group of us said hell no,
hell no, hell no, And anyway we.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Got it stopped.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But in the process of me doing some of the
work and digging into the details, I found out some
of the stuff about the Highway Trust Fund, finding out
that all the money that we paid that you guys
pay that in the trucking industry, all the excise taxes
on the on the on the trucks, on the trailers,
on the tires, all the money that we're paying as
far as federal federal gas tax for gas and then
(08:28):
diesel taxes that you guys pay as far as the
trucks are concerned, all that money goes into a fund.
Thirty three percent of that money is spent on non
highway issues. Number One, we are we are we, You
and I are subsidizing that Northeast Corridor. The train, the
Amtrak train that Joe Biden used to when he was
(08:50):
in the Senate used to ride every night, paying like
you know, four bucks, and so we would normally cost
him fifteen bucks. But it's subsidized by us, so that
Northeast Corridor can run. Okay, we also are funding highway
or hight hiking trails and biking trails. Now again not
opposed to that, but if it's a if they're going
(09:11):
to toll a highway and say it's a user pays,
then where's the user paying the high hiking trails and
biking trails? And as I said before, can't they charge
like maybe a one percent tax on all the equipment,
the bikes, the boots, the stuff, everything having to do
with that and fund those and not take that out
of the Highway Trust Fund. So, knowing that thirty three
(09:33):
percent of our Highway Trust Fund is already wasted on
non highway issues, that infuriated me and was one of
my talking points and talking about why we shouldn't be
tolling the Brent Sprid's Bridge, so on and so forth.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
But anyway, that's off on a tangent. Pick this up.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I'm Kevin Gordon, America's truck and Network seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
This if the Racing Repard on America's Trucking Network on
seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Looking ahead to the racing weekend and the NASCAR Cup
Series Playoffs Round of twelve. It's a Bank of America
Rovo four hundred Sunday at three pm. Kyle Larson is
the defending champ. The Exfinity Series Playoffs Round of twelve
continues also at Charlotte Road Course with the Blue Cross
North Carolina two fifty on Saturday at five pm.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Green Flag.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
The NASCAR Crafts and Truck Series Playoffs Round of eight
also runs at Charlotte Roval on Friday afternoon at three
thirty pm, and Formula One holds the Singapore Grand Prix
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
This is the Raething Report on America's Trucking Network on
seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
Say Dennison a t N on America's Crime Lab the
podcast We're revealing the true story of the Idaho four.
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Speaker 10 (12:01):
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Oh, don't let salmonilla get funky with your chicken any book.
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Speaker 3 (12:34):
I'm Kevin Gordon, America's Trucking Network seven hundred WLW. We
were talking about or I was talking about the Department
and Transportation shut down, their policy and what they're planning
on doing, and I went off on a tangent when
I got to the point where it said that that
many DOT programs are insulated because they draw funding from
the Highway Trust Fund. And again, the Highway Trust Fund
(12:58):
is the money that is collected through all of the
excise taxes that you pay on all the equipment trucks, trailers,
et cetera, tires, the gasoline tax, and the diesel tax
of federal diesel tax on every gallon of diesel that
you pump, every gallon of gas that we pump. All
the money goes into that pot. And as I mentioned,
(13:21):
a group of us fighting tolls on the Brent Spenz
Bridge or the bridge that was going to the Companion Bridge,
learning that thirty three percent of the money already in
that fund is being spent on non highway items. When
I read this, this is another another piece to that
puzzle of why when they say we don't have enough
(13:41):
money in the Highway Trust Fund in order to do
the infrastructure to repair the roads. You know, when they
throw these taxes on us, they always say, oh, well,
we're going to put this tax on gasoline to fund
the repairs. Now, going back to the beginning of the
interstate highway system, ninety percent of that money that came
(14:03):
up for that was paid for by the federal government
because they realized the importance of commerce going across the
country and being able to move goods and services. Not
only did that do that, But then that opened up
the ability for people to travel go on vacation, travel
down to Florida from Michigan or from wherever that normally
(14:26):
would take a couple of days or three days by
the old highway systems. Now you can do that almost
well a day if you want to drive fourteen hours
or something.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
But still it's a hell of a lot closer.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
The amount of freight that can be moved from one
end of the country to the other is very quick.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And the fact that.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
We are now able to get certain items that were
never available in terms of fresh food, either vegetables or
seafood into the center part of the country. So they
realized how important this was for the commerce. But let's
not forget that the original proposal of the Highway Trust
the highway system in the first place, was during the
(15:07):
Cold War to be able to move troops from one
end of the country to the other within a matter
of a day, as opposed to three weeks what it
talked took before the interstate highway system was put into place.
So part of this highway system should be funded out
of the defense budget, in my opinion, because this is
(15:28):
an important component of moving troops. So again they put
the Highway Trust Fund, put all this money in there,
and then now they're wasting thirty three percent of it.
But now we've got all of these government bureaucrats that
are taking money out of this for their paychecks. Shouldn't
that be part of the normal taxes that we pay?
Does the EPA where do they get their funding? They
(15:51):
get their funding from the taxpayers. There's not a separate
fund that people pay into in the term of a
lotion tax or an air tax or something like that.
Where's the Department of Defense that comes out of the
normal budget.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Why isn't the.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Department of Transportation come out of the normal budget? Because
they want to make sure they wanted to pretend that
they're being more efficient, and they say, oh, we got
this pile of money over here, why don't we build
these agencies here and pull that money out of there
and fund it through that. No wonder they don't have
enough money for interstate highway repairs and so on. So
(16:29):
that's one of my pet peeves, and I didn't realize
it until I was looking at this particular story. Anyway,
getting back to the story, trucking oversight remains intact Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry. All
one thousand and eighty four employees remain on the job.
And again, when I'm talking about the number of jobs here,
that's one thousand and eighty four people that are being
(16:51):
paid for out of the Highway Trust Fund. And now,
in the terms of government efficiency, are all of these
people necessary or all these people? Can somebody look at
that and say, all right, do they have enough people
to do this? And people that are dead weight or
jobs that are redundant or whatever, can we eliminate that?
Hell no, we've got this money coming from the taxpayers.
(17:11):
We don't care about efficiency. But again the plan says
FMCSA positions are primarily funded by authorized contract contract Authority
and paid out of the Highway Trust Fund. The agency
also collects fees under the licensing and insurance function, the
Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, so on and so forth. Also,
(17:32):
they've got a pot of money coming from the back
in the day. Let me see, during the funding from
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which basically was just
a green energy, green news steel program that they did,
but there were some things in there, for the highways
and construction and that, but a lot of it was
(17:53):
more of these Green New Deal programs. So anyway, part
of this is funded out of that. During the lapse
FMCSA's obligation limitations follow the IIJA, the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act highway programs fully protected.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
The Federal Highway.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Administration will continue normal operations with all twenty two hundred
and sixty eight employees. So again, are all those employees necessary?
Is anybody looking at that? Protecting the tax payer money,
protecting the money that we put in there through these
gasoline tax and diesel taxes to make sure that the
are spending our money efficiently. So anyway, no furloughs are expected.
(18:32):
The Department of Department of Transportation said the agency has
enough liquidating cash to support several months of reimbursement. Has
Mad inspections continue with some cuts. The oversight of hazardous
material shipments will continue despite staff reductions. Pipeline and has
met material safety Administration expects one hundred and ninety of
(18:55):
the five hundred and seventy nine employees to be furloughed,
with three employees. Now they are talking about that in
the federal government. Remember when dose came in and they said,
we want to eliminate certain employees, and they said, well, okay, overall,
in order to reduce the federal workforce, what we're going
to do is we're going to offer everybody, everybody across
(19:18):
the board, nine months worth of.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Pay if you agree to leave the job.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And so if you want to retire, if you want
to quit or whatever, you got nine months of paid
time off and you have to accept that. They had
to accept that contract by September thirtieth, and I think
I saw somewhere where one hundred and ten thousand federal
employees have taken advantage of that. So that workforce will
(19:48):
be reduced by one hundred and one hundred and ten
thousand workers. So again that's a way of you know,
people leaving the job and then basically not having the
replace And it'll be interesting to see if people don't
even miss those jobs in the first place. But a
lot of these positions that they're talking about in here,
some of the furloughs will actually be people that have
(20:10):
actually resigned. Vehicle safety standards work uninterrupted. Maritime operations continue
with reduced staff. Other transportation modes face deeper cuts, while
trucking in highway programs are largely shielded. Other parts of
the Department of Transportation faith further strained. Now this, I
don't understand the Federal Aviation Administration projects more than eleven
(20:32):
thousand furloughs. Though air traffic controllers remain on duty without pay,
Why aren't they protected of all of the different organizations,
all the other elements of the federal government that get paid,
and that there's a subsidy for them, that they are
essential workers. Air traffic controllers aren't considered essential paid people,
(20:57):
but they're still expected to show up even though they're
not going to get paid unblue And I wonder how
that's gonna work out in terms of do they get
to collect unemployment because they're not receiving a paycheck or
are they just going to get that retroactive money later on?
You know some of the stuff when we when I
dig into this stuff and see how inefficient our federal
government is, it just absolutely appalls me. I'm Kevin Gordon,
(21:20):
America's Trucking Network seven hundred WLW News Traffic and Weather
News Radio seven hundred WLW, Cincinnati.
Speaker 11 (21:32):
The FDA has just approved a generic version of the
abortion pill with your twelve thirty report, I'm Travis Laird
breaking now. The drug is mifepristone, the most commonly used
for medication abortions. It is the second generic version to
reach the market. The announcement comes just weeks after Health
(21:53):
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior said the drug safety would
be reviewed. A study from the Ethics and Public Public
Policy Center, a conservative think tank cited by the administration,
claimed eleven percent of women had serious adverse reactions, but
that research was not peer reviewed. The FDA's own data
shows the rate is just one half of one percent.
Speaker 8 (22:16):
A spokesperson for the department says, by law, the FDA
must approve a generic drug if it is similar to
the brand name drug.
Speaker 11 (22:23):
That's ABC's Michelle Franzen. The move prompted fierce backlash. Senator
Josh Hawley called it shocking. Anti abortion groups said it
was reckless and unconscionable.
Speaker 7 (22:36):
Another lovely night, partly cloudy conditions, temperatures dropping into the
upper fifties, and the tomorrol cloud's decrease a little bit.
We'll get back to a mostly sunny sky. And it's
also a warmer day with a high of eighty four.
We'll see the same forecast for Saturday and Sunday. It's
Monday night next week that rain will return and bring
back some cooler air. That's the forecast. I'm nine First
Warning Meteorologist Jennifer.
Speaker 11 (22:56):
Ketchbar sixty degrees in Cincinnati right now.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Now.
Speaker 11 (23:00):
The City of Cincinnati has announced how it will spend
the next round of Railway Trust money for twenty twenty seven.
Officials expect fifty eight million dollars, two million more than
last year. The biggest chair, twenty two million, is set
aside for street repaving. Other projects include the Fleet Garage
and the Dunham Recreation Center. Mayor Pirraval says it costs
(23:21):
a million dollars to pave a single mile of road,
but he says crews have patched more than forty three
thousand potholes so far this year. The city is also
looking at cameras on city vehicles to flag new potholes.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
And the Queen.
Speaker 11 (23:35):
City Book Bank has opened its two hundred and fiftieth
Little Free Library the New Boxes in Avondale. Hosted by
former libraryan Connie Harris, the initiative provides free books to
more than four thousand elementary students in twenty Cincinnati schools
giving each child ten new books every year. Organizers say
the little free libraries help students build reading habits and
(23:59):
help neighborhoods connect. Our next update is with Lee Mallin
at one o'clock Breaking News Anytime. I'm Travis Lair News
Radio seven hundred WLW HI.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I'm Stephanie Quell and I'm Tom Quell. You're co founders
of the Jack Quell Foundation.
Speaker 11 (24:13):
We lost our son Jack in twenty twenty one to
fentanyl poisoning, which.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
Is the least sell your home, but you don't really
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(25:02):
cash out on your home's value without moving. That's Truehold
dot com.
Speaker 12 (25:15):
Here's your trucking forecast for the tri State and for
the rest of the country. Through the overnight, mostly cloudy
with a low fifty nine, mostly sunny, Friday with a
high eighty four, Mostly clear Friday night with a low
sixty Saturday, sunshine, high eighty four. Sunday, sunny, and a
high again of eighty four degrees for the rest.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Of the country.
Speaker 12 (25:36):
Record high temps possible across the northern Plains, upper Mississippi
Valley and Great Lakes. Below average temperatures to stretch from
the West Coast into the Great Basin and Northern Rockies,
and heavy rains and isolated flooding along the east coast
of Florida and from the northern Sierra into the Northern Rockies.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Seven hundred WLW. I'm Kevin Gordon. This is America struck
a network.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Last week, the Department of Transportation Seawn Duffy had a
press conference and they were discussing has declared a national
emergency over states handling of commercial driver's license for non citizens,
ordering immediate changes that could affect thousands of drivers and
potentially reshape hiring practices across the trucking industry. You may
(26:29):
recall back on I think it was September twenty fourth,
we covered on the show fmcsa data show surge in
roadside inspections where we talked about the number of trucks
been pulled over and.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Put out a service.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
This is as a result of the enforcement action that
was required by the Department of Transportation back in let's see,
it was in May the twentieth that Sean Duffy put
out this new guidance. In the headline at the time
was US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signs order announcing new
guidelines to enforce that English only proficiency. And then that
(27:09):
was supposed to go into effect on what was it,
June the twenty fifth. Now you may recall too that
on August the twelfth that heart Hard Gender Singe, the
one that the guy down in illegal Alien Driver's License
CDL license from California made that illegal U turn down
(27:32):
in Texas Florida that killed three family members, and all
of a sudden, this focus went on these illegal aliens
and the driver's licenses. Now, this again is something that
was announced back in May. The enforcement action began June
twenty fifth. This hard gender singh was pulled over in
(27:58):
July in New Mexican Co. Pulled over for speeding, was
issued a ticket. They couldn't communicate with him. The bodycam
footage of that showed he couldn't speak English, which meant
that he probably couldn't understand roadside road signs, and the
officers just let him go. And then less than a
(28:19):
month later he kills three people in Florida. And so
this is something that when the problem comes about.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
When a problem is announced.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Wouldn't you think that people would immediately jump on it
and say we need to change it. It was announced
in May, the enforcement date became June, July August, and
we still have these states that are a non compliance.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
It amazes me, and.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Especially the spoon fed regurgitators in the mainstream media, how
they tend to ignore these things. I watched the press conference,
and I watched it a couple of times. The press
conference last week when Sean Duffy was announcing this. They
took some questions afterwards, and the main focus was, what
do you suppose that with these people maybe losing their
(29:12):
licenses and put out of service, will this affect the
supply chain?
Speaker 4 (29:16):
What the hell difference does that make?
Speaker 3 (29:19):
What you're concerned about a little bit of inconvenience as
opposed to somebody driving an eighty thousand pound vehicle that
can't drive it, doesn't know the safety features, can't read
road signs, and could and has not passed the necessary
requirements to travel that truck. Do you not care about
your kids? Do you not care about your friends? Do
(29:40):
you not care about your families? You governors that continue
allow to have your DMVs go ahead and do this
are not concerned about making sure that your highways are safe.
This was a topic earlier or actually last night, Dan
Carroll on w Here on WLW a guest on his program,
(30:01):
and we were talking about this because one of the
topics that came up is and when we discussed it
on his show about how some of these driver's licenses
have the phrase no name given. Now, we talked about
this and one of the things that needs to be
looked at is that how is this being done, because
(30:22):
the stories were that these issues, these driver's license were
issued that had no name on us. He just said
under the you know, the normal name and said no
name given. But looking into it, some of these people
only have one name. And I don't understand that because
if you look at you know, whenever you look at
some of these shakes and these people in the Middle East,
(30:43):
they all have names. They all have a first name
and a last name. I can't believe that some of
these people would come over here and only have one name.
What do they share or adele or something like that.
I mean, there's got to be a name. I mean,
you know, even in the Arab countries you have like,
for instance, my name's Kevin Gordon, right, So if I
(31:05):
don't have a last name, and the city that I
live in is Wilder, Kentucky, so it would the normal
would be Kevin Ben Wilder, which means that I'm Kevin
from Wilder. So they always have some sort of a
name like that or it's bet something. So how this
is possible is incredible. But the focus of Sean Duffy's
(31:31):
press conference last week was the fact that well, let's
just get.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
Into the story.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Department of Transportation Secretary Shawan Duffy announced September the twenty
sixth that a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit uncovered
systematic failures in how multiple states issue non domiciled CDLs
and commercial Learners permits to foreign nationals living in the
United States.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
What the new rules require.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Now technically these and one of the things was that
these people were being issued driver's licenses even though their
work permits had expired. And in one instance that he
pointed out, this person's work authorization ended four years ago.
(32:18):
So how is this person even still in the country
if they're not even supposed to be here.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
It's just absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
As of September twenty sixth, an FMCSA interim final rule
imposes strict requirements. States issuing these licenses must now verify
the applicant documents through the Department of Homeland Securities Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlement system. Keep non domiciled application documents
(32:45):
for at least two years match non domiciled CDL CLP
expiration dates with US Immigration Form I ninety four ninety.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Four A expiration dates.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
In other words, make sure that they can cross references
with their papers as to whether or not they are
supposed to actually be in here and.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Have a work permit.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Downgrade non domiciled CDLs and colps if drivers become ineligible now,
he pointed out during his press conference the fact that
if you are a Mexican citizen or a Canadian citizen,
you can get a CDL license in Mexico and in Canada,
(33:28):
which allows you to drive in the United States. But
if you're non domiciled, you cannot be issued a permit.
You cannot be issued a driver's license only if you
are here legally, only if you are a citizen, and
can you be actually enrolled and get a CDL license. Now,
(33:49):
this whole deal of this English language proficiency, we talked
about this, and we talked about this a couple of times.
We talked about this when we were at the truck
show down in Louisville in March. We talked about this
with Louis Pugh a couple of weeks later on, and
we've talked about this off and on that the fact
that some of the I mean, it's the FMCSA requirements.
(34:12):
In twenty sixteen, during the latter part or the final
days of the Obama administration, they stopped enforcing those.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Now I don't know why the.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Next Department of Transportation secretary didn't pick up on that
and start enforcing it. But this had been going on
and then on through the Biden administration where they you know,
they just started issuing these driver's license without And we
had the case last a couple of weeks ago too,
where six people had been indicted for falsifying all the documents,
(34:42):
the training records, whether they had actually taken a course,
whether they passed the safety or whether they could actually
pass the road test. So they falsified these documents and
allowed these people to have these CDLs. I mean, how
any hell do you sleep at night knowing that you
have permitted somebody who's not qu Qui for driving such
a vehicle going down the highway and possibly killing people.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
So anyway, I will post this on Facebook because the
requirements and what was going on as far as this concern.
We'll cover a little bit more of this, but some
of the details I'll put this on Facebook. We'll cover
the rest of this coming up. I'm Kevin Gordon, America's
truck in Network seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know what your customers are saying.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
You know, we were talking about this story DOTS emergency
CDL ruling what that means for the trucking industry, and
as I mentioned during the press conference, these people were asking,
is this going to affect the trucking industry? Is it
going to affect the supply chain? And this goes into
a topic that we've had on this program before and
(35:49):
a topic that was discussed at the Mid America Trucking
Show down in Louisville, where you hear in the press
all the time that there is a driver shortage. I
think I think the number being floated around a couple
of years ago was that there were something I forget
what the number was, eighteen thousand or maybe sixty thousand.
(36:10):
I don't know what the number was off the top
of my head, but we were short that many drivers.
And then when I made that comment to somebody at
the truck show, they said, that's crazy. There are plenty
of drivers there. As a matter of fact, we have
too many drivers out there. And this has been a narrative.
I don't know where it began, but we talked. When
you listen to some of the stuff being discussed by
(36:32):
Chris Spear, president of American Trucking Associations. He talks about
that there's not a driver shortage. He talks about that
there's a problem with qualified drivers. He talks about the
fact that you know, we need to because the age
of some of the drivers, that there needs to be
other drivers coming up through the pipeline. That there should
be more trade show or trade schools that are started,
(36:54):
and the trucking schools began, you know, to train more
people and try to attract more people to the business.
But as far as a driver shortage, no, there is not,
and so there is not a need to try to
gin the system or to screw the system up by
throwing people in there unqualified. This is, in my opinion,
(37:18):
a criminal offense. The fact that you know, what is it,
I don't know. There's got to be some sort of
involuntary manslaughter on the person that issued the driver's license
if this person is involved in an accident, because you know,
if you falsified their data, if you've falsified whether or
not they passed the course, you're just as liable as
(37:41):
the person driving that car. In my opinion. So anyway,
when he put this out there. He's talking about the
states that face the most scrutiny. California faces the harshest
consequence because, you know, anything that the Trump administration says,
all of a sudden it's bad. You know, people can
talk about a particular topic for years, and then all
(38:03):
of a sudden, once Trump talks about it, all of
a sudden, everything that they've said, they ignore and go in.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
The opposite direction.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
California ignores everything coming from the White House, everything coming
from the administration, including this mandate about clamping down on
illegal and English language proficiency, experience or proficiency before you
get a driver's license. California faces the harshest consequence. FMCSA
(38:33):
auditors found twenty five percent of California's non domiciled CDLs
in violation of federal rules, Duffy called the most egregious
licensing situations.
Speaker 4 (38:45):
Of any states.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
California has over sixty thousand non domiciled CDLs in total.
That means that there are fifteen thousand people that have
driver's license that are unqualified and should not be behind
the wheel of a class eight a semi truck eighty
(39:11):
thousand pound truck going down the highway fifteen thousand people.
Those are potential, Those are accidents waiting to happen and
are preventable. Secretary gave California thirty days to comply or
face a loss of one hundred and sixty million in
federal highway funds. California must immediately pause issuance of non
(39:35):
domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non domiciled CDLs that failed
to comply with FMCSA regulations, revoke all non compliant non
domiciled CDLs, and reissue those that comply with the new
federal requirements. Duffy also pointed out that Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota,
(39:58):
Texas unbelievable, and Washington for also for licensing failures. I
just it boggles my mind that I have to repeat this.
The fact that somebody would even allow some I mean,
there are This is like handing a gun to somebody
(40:18):
that doesn't even know what end of the barrel the
bullet comes out of a loaded gun, and to say,
I'll go ahead, you know, go out.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
And play with it. It's there.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
It's an accident waiting to happen. And how the like
I said, how these people sleep at night? I have
no clue. Let's take a quick look at oil and
gas prices, because you know, with the interruptions and the
preemptions of this preempt in the show, gas prices.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Have really been coming down.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
In oil prices, West Texas Intermedia crude currently is a
sixty and sixty dollars and sixty eight cents a barrel,
That is down a dollar nineteen from yesterday, or one
point nine percent. Brent crude currently is sixty four dollars
and fifteen cents a barrel, that is down a dollar
eighteen or one point eighth percent, almost two percent there
(41:09):
just since January of the twentieth when Donald Trump came
into office. West Texas Intermediate crewed is down sixteen dollars
and twenty one cents. Brent crude is down fifteen dollars
and seventy five cents. That means that West Texas Intermediate
cru is down twenty one percent. Brent crude is down
twenty percent. And for the life of me, I keep
(41:32):
asking the question and I keep getting the answer back
that well, there are different grades. We're in the summer months,
that the summer blend of gasoline is different and it
costs a little bit higher in order to refine that.
But I go back to in twenty twenty, when we
are energy independent for the first time since nineteen forty nine,
(41:55):
oil prices were down in the fifty dollars range.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
We're very close to that now.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
Gas back in this back in twenty twenty, was it
two to twenty six a gallon?
Speaker 4 (42:06):
Diesel was a two thirty nine a gallon. Right now, as.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Of today, gas prices across the board national average three
dollars and sixteen cents. We are ninety cents higher than that.
I don't understand why gasoline isn't about ten percent or
at least maybe fifteen. If oil prices are down twenty
one percent and twenty percent, respectively, I don't understand why
(42:31):
gasoline prices aren't down a little bit lower. Imagine if
gasoline prices again match the and you know when you
see oil prices go up all of a sudden, gasoline
prices go up or around a holiday, and they call
it supply and demand. Yeah, I understand that. You know,
when you have a big demand and you have lower supplies,
the price is going to go up. But oil now
(42:54):
is down at a four month low. If oil prices,
if gasoline prices were to follow that and be about
fifteen percent less gasoline right now, I'd be about two
sixty a gallon. Diesel would be abround three fourteen as
opposed to three sixteen and three seventy, respectively. And the
reason that these gasoline prices are down OPEC is pumping
(43:17):
out more oil that their production numbers are up. The
International and the Energy Information Agency is talking about the
possibility of an oil glut, even though that's being argued
by some that it's not happening, but the fact that
the oil supply is going and going well, gasoline prices
should be following that.
Speaker 4 (43:39):
Well, folks, we're up against clock here.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Time for us to step out the door, have a
great weekend, stay home, stay tuned for Red Eye Radio
at the top of the hour. I'm Kevin Gordon, America's
struck A Network seven hundred WLW
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