Sleep When You Can, Drive When You Have To

Here's a two part You Tube video I stumbled across and thought it could bring some interesting discussion. Be forewarned there is some R-rated swearing in part two of the videos. The text after these two videos came from the "About This Video" section. These are the words of the creator of these videos, who didn't have much luck in the industry.

[yt="Part One"]orHEav4qReI[/yt]
[yt="Part Two"]on4UG3CBWSg[/yt]

About This Video
Added: November 06, 2007
This is a video I made for a social inequality class a few years ago. I apologize for the sound quality.

I also need to mention that the reference to Jamaican farmers is my attempt to highlight the similarities between truck drivers in the United States and small farmers/business owners/ workers all over the world.

Truck drivers were once protected by a regulatory structure that prevented destructive competition (from 1934 to 1980 the Motor Carrier Act did this) and Jamaican farmers were also once protected by regulations that prevented destructive competition (tariffs). Both groups now stand unprotected in the global economy and, unlike Jamaican farmers/workers no documentary has been made about the hardships of truck drivers in the US. Given the economic and cultural significance of truck drivers I find this hard to believe!

Statistical evidence indicates that OTR truck drivers, who were once among the highest paid blue collar workers in the nation, have not had a "real wage" (wages adjusted for inflation) increase since 1974 and that working conditions continue to decline. As the pay structure stagnates or declines, state and corporate interference is on the increase for drivers. More and more transport companies use electronic/satellite surveillance devices in trucks to monitor drivers and DOT enforcement is on the rise.

This occupation, this trade is essential for the security and economic well being of our nation . . . and the global economy too!
This film asks the question: "How can such an important and highly skilled segment of our occupational structure be treated so poorly?"


*the activist in the opening scene is there to highlight a question I often ask, "why are we not working on problems in our own communities?" I think it is much easier and safer to march, yell and give opinions about the injustices on the other side of the world than it is to face local issues.

*Please post your comments, good or bad.
I am conducting a study and producing a full-length documentary specifically about over the road truck drivers. I invite all interested driver s to contact me to participate. <email address removed per Forum TOS>

 

I guess this wasn't as thought provoking as I thought it was.

 

I think that when Reagan (or was it Carter?) deregulated the industry our throats were cut. I can somewhat see the point that a free market is better than a controlled one, but someone will suffer as a result. In this case, it was the drivers who lost out.

Like so many other things in this country, the trucking industry needs a change for the better. I'm not asking for a Utopian "everybody wins" kind of change, but something that realistically benefits society as a whole in addition to the industry. In my opinion, if everyone is making more money (from the CEO of a company down to the driver) then we'd all be a lot happier. My dad (a 40+ year veteran driver) said that he's basically been making the same money since the 1970s. In some ways, he's making less. I'm the youngest of five kids and my mom never worked anything more than the occasional part time job when she and my dad were married. Yet we were still able to take yearly vacations, including a trip to the Grand Canyon in 1978. Could a family with five kids be able to afford to do that with just a company driver's pay and an extra couple hundred from a part time job (which wasn't always there) in today's world? Most couples I know with just two or three kids have to work two full time jobs and can't afford vacations without going into debt.