[ RadSafe ] Truck Driver Charged With Lying AboutRadioactive Cargo

[Steven Dapra]

Aug. 31

         For my public comments I will confine myself to reiterating what I 
asked below:

         "In fact, since Bryan Kirk introduced the role of the 
broker/transporter,
where was the broker/transporter in this tragicomedy?  Was one required
on this shipment?  If so, why didn't he check the load to see that it
was properly secured?"

Steven Dapra


At 02:39 PM 8/31/07 -0400, Bryan Kirk wrote:
> >>From the original posting,
>"Randall U. Kubsh, 53, is charged with two counts of lying, to the FBI
>and U.S. Department of Transportation, according to an indictment handed
>down this week. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, but
>it's unlikely he will get that much time."
>
>Sorry Steven,
>
>Maybe I'm misreading your comments below, but you appear ready to blame
>everyone else, the media, the NRC, and the "eff bee eye". When you
>mentioned "employers fault" I took it to mean you think it's was their
>fault too (that he lied).
>
>"It's easy to believe that things are not quite as they appear. The
>press is incompetent and scientifically illiterate. The NRC undoubtedly
>wants to look like a bunch of swaggering tough guys who will throw the
>book at anyone who dares to cross it. It's a sorry state of affairs all
>the way around."
>
>"True on both counts. Have you noticed how the FBI is busy sticking its
>nose in everywhere? Funny though how it ignored reports from flight
>schools about suspicious people who only wanted to know how to fly
>airplanes, not how to get them off the ground and land them. I wonder
>how that happened."
>
>"I don't mean this against you Clayton -- I wonder if they can't get a
>straight answer, or if it is a matter of they can't get the driver to
>admit to some clever lie they have concocted. I wonder if the eff bee
>eye video taped the interrogation, and if so, I wonder if the tapes are
>available to anyone other than the "authorities."
>
>Sorry if my training comment was "notably dumb" but in your world where
>everyone is out to get you, it seemed to fit.
>
>Bryan Kirk
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>From: Steven Dapra [mailto:sjd at swcp.com]
>Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 11:42 AM
>To: Bryan Kirk; 'Radsafe'
>Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Truck Driver Charged With Lying
>AboutRadioactive Cargo
>
>Aug. 31
>
>         In a message dated Aug. 30, Clayton Bradt wrote, "There were
>numerous DOT violations and there still are unanswered questions about
>what actually happened to the package, and they can't get a straight
>answer from the driver."
>
>         In reply to this, I wrote, "With respect to the DOT violations,
>where does the driver's employer fit into all of this?  Some of those
>violations may be the employer's fault, such as (only guessing now)
>placarding violations.  Did anyone inspect the truck before it departed
>the loading dock?  Had the driver gone through all the training required
>by DOT?"
>
>         I was talking about DOT regulations that have been put down in
>writing in a book of regulations --- regs such as placarding, drug
>tests, log books, and physicals.  In light of that, and in light of my
>hypothetical suggestion about placarding violations, the suggestion
>below about being trained not to lie is notably dumb suggestion.  In
>fact, since Bryan Kirk introduced the role of the broker/transporter,
>where was the broker/transporter in this tragicomedy?  Was one required
>on this shipment?  If so, why didn't he check the load to see that it
>was properly secured?  Has the FBI grilled him?  Perhaps some hot dog US
>attorney should be snarling at him about ten years in jail for not
>seeing that the load was properly secured.
>
>Steven Dapra
>
>
>At 08:39 AM 8/31/07 -0400, Bryan Kirk wrote:
>
>I don't know the details of the case, other than what I've seen here.
>Assuming they are reported correctly, the driver should pay a stiff
>price for lying, we are not talking about a box of lost candy. I don't
>think 10 years is appropriate nor do I think he will get that sentence.
>It's better to give proper notification and begin a real search and
>maybe even lose your job rather than someone finding the item and
>getting hurt, and you spending time in jail.
>
>As far as the companies responsibility to properly train, I didn't know
>you were supposed to be trained not to lie.
>
>As a broker / transporter of radioactive materials and I am ultimately
>responsible for making sure my load is properly secured.
>
>Bryan Kirk

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