History Lessons
The first time that I walked through Dealey Plaza felt strange. It was several years ago and it was my first 
GATS in Dallas. I try to beat the heat by walking just as it was getting light outside. Dawn is my favorite time of day. About 5 blocks from my hotel I came upon a familiar setting. It was as if I had been there before. It took a minute to realize that this was the sight of the Kennedy assassination.
The assassination happened before I turned 5. I have no direct recollection of the day. Yet, I had seen this spot on film enough for it to seem familiar. You can see the book depository where Oswald was set up. The turn from Houston onto Elm is well over 90 degrees and the motorcade had to slow down. The famous grassy knoll is there. There is an X in the street where JFK was hit with the fatal blow.
This year my load out did not load until early Monday evening. This gave me time to go see the sixth floor museum for the first time. I treated myself to an extra night at the hotel. After checkout on Monday, I walked to the museum. The tour costs $16. We took an elevator up to the sixth floor. We were given an audio player that led us around from station to station. At each station we learned about JFK. He was so young. It gets emotional.
They give the cold hard facts of the assassination. Oswald was a trained sniper. His rifle was on a stand tucked 
into the corner of a sixth floor window. When you are up there, you can see how close he was. He fired 4 shots. The first was a miss. The second shot hit JFK in the neck and shoulder and passed through to wound Governor Connally. The third shot was the fatal one. The fourth shot missed. Oswald ran from his position tossed the rifle and escaped down a back stairway. That we know. There is a lot that we can never know.
Presidential motorcades create traffic problems. If you pass through an area before the motorcade you will see the security. Buildings are cleared. Overpasses are lined with law enforcement. The President will be in a bullet proof vehicle. These precautions are from lessons learned. One thing that struck me as a looked out the sixth floor window. That shot could not have been made today. The trees have grown. There no longer is a clear line of sight.
We can learn from history. We can't change it. We can't go back to pre 1980 style regulated trucking either. The infrastructure has changed. The market has changed. There is a growing call for drivers to get paid for off the odometer on duty time. Market forces, media, and government chatter are pushing us in that direction. We can't change 1980, or go back and bulletproof JFK's limo. Trees grow and markets change. Logging on duty time as off duty is like trimming those trees and changing the market. Let markets take their course. Soon, one OTR company will pay drivers for all of their on duty-off the odometer time. They will not do this to be generous. They will do this becuase they will have to in order to recruit quality drivers The market will change when everyone starts logging properly.