Well good luck in your future endeavors. I guess if you never took advantage of their discount programs/services or enjoyed the magazine or don't have an opinion on Mexican trucks, cabotage, excessive tolling, detention time, lumping laws, predatory leasing companies, fly by night brokers or the Minnesota Fatigue BS the $45 would be a waste.

Just curious as to what some of you guys think of the O/O Business Seminar OOIDA is holding at the end of October. There is a hyerlink for it over at Landline Mag dot com.

Once I transition (read: retire) from the Navy, my plan is to start out as a company hand with the ultimate goal of breaking out on my own. In your expert opinion....if I attend the seminar....do you feel that would be putting the cart before the horse? I am gonna call them tomorrow morning to get some feedback from them, too.

I am very much thinking of going. I have my CDL and am a OOIDA member.

Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

R/

Frat

__________________
US Navy Chief
"Navy Chief....Navy Pride"
"Destination: Excellence"
CDL Holder

here is another so-called driver putting ooida down.in fact there is no way ooida would ever say to you to look at another truck company'as a life member i can say todd would not tell his workers to say that to you or any other driver that called up there.but that is up to you to fell that way about them'but they have my backing and i got there anytime i need them they have come thru for me.so if you or any other driver wants to bash them for what they do for us' then we don't need the money from you. so have a nice day going down the road.

They did in fact tell me that!!!! This is ridiculous having to stick up for myself over something I was told. Just because you have not had it happen does not mean it didn't happen to someone else.

Why not figure out how to fix it, figure out why they are not helping every paid member!!!! Give me a positive solution on why they would tell me to find another company to lease on with, or hire an attorney. Find a solution or reason why they are not going after these companies who are breaching their contracts. The answer is not to find another company the answer is to fix it so that it won't happen to anyone ever!

As for being a so called driver, I guess you feel better about degrading someone who has a legitimate complaint. This is uncall for and I am owed an apology.

now i to am a member of ooida and its true tha the ### may not do a lot for the individual driver BUT they do a heluva lot for us as a whole . for example they have filed several law suits in our behalf bad companys that take advantage of the driver and as far as i no they have won every suit and still have a few pending which in turn makes it better for all of us .
my only issue with them is they advertise truck financing and its simply not true they refer you to a finance company or a bank and there all bad they have the worst application i have ever seen but in all fairness they are not in the finance business but they imply that they are.
but they do a lot of good for us and there well woth joining and ther the closest thing we have to support us . yo certainly wont get any thing out of the ATA or the teamsters and the services that they do offer is top shelf and there is a lot of services that we can and do use.----southernpride

my friend as an owner operator and a member i dont think you can go wrong by attending you will get a lot of information that will be useull good luck ----southernpride

now any owner operator in my opinion should join OOIDA now its true that they can not help every single driver and that is not there purpose and they cant solve all the problems in the trucking business all at the same time and i think those of you that complain about them if you think about it will understand why the trucking business is the biggest industry in the country with drivers all over the country it would be impossibel for any one ###, to solve all our problems simply because when one problem is solved drivers create a thousand more , in truth there the only ### that is in support of owner operators and compny driver alike and they in fact stand against bad companys and brokers a like but they do it thrue the courts where it does the most good and they havent lost a case yet, you get mad because they cant help and individual driver hell there not your mother some things you got to do yourself no one can do that .
you think ther bad well call the ATA see what you get out of them, there the chief reason why you cant have a radar detecter in a commercial vehicle, why you have to wear a damn seatbelt, they were for the 55 mph speed limit , ask them for help.
drivers need to start thinking about each other as a whole not as individuals. think about it they may not be perfect who among us is BUT there all we have.
have a good ride .---southernpride

Southern,

Thanks for the feedback. I spoke with Jane yesterday and she pretty much said the same thing. I am looking at the logistical side of it now...airfare, rental car, hotel....ect.

Thanks again for your time.

EDIT: If interested, I will let you guys know how it went. I just got off the phone with JoAnne and reserved my seat. There are 19 left as of Friday, 18 September.

R/

Jeff

__________________
US Navy Chief
"Navy Chief....Navy Pride"
"Destination: Excellence"
CDL Holder

Dear Southern Pride,

Thanks for your comments, I respect what you have to say, and what you believe in.

I am very much aware of who the ATA is, and I am not a member of that organization, I don’t support it now, nor will I ever support it. We all know where they get their money!!!

Being a member of ooida the following is what I thought they were all about.
That their mission is to serve owner-operators, small fleets and professional truckers; to work for a “business climate where truckers are treated equally and fairly.” To also promote a better business climate and efficiency for all truck operators. This is their mission and their words.

I do agree they have done so much when it comes to something that takes them to court or to Washington, DC, They have changed things that even I didn’t think would be accomplished. I do commend them for that, a great success that they themselves have achieved.

Still their goal is to help the owner operator (which I am).

Your right that there just are not enough people to go after all the companies. So I suppose that means the Federal Lease Laws don’t mean a thing, we should just rip them up because they are useless to the owner operator. We have nothing to hold over any company, or able to enforce the laws that have been set because there is not one person that is capable of enforcing them. At least for the little one truck owner operator. We should all work for free because regardless thinking there is help for us, there is NO HELP!

I say something needs to be done, these companies continue to get away with cheating people out of money in so many ways and truckers have no one to help them. We initially joined ooida thinking if there is a problem with the company we lease on with, we could look forward in being helped by ooida the only organization that serves the owner operator. We counted on them and have been disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged.

I would love to see ooida or somebody force these companies to have great work ethics, not lying, not cheating, no discrimination, not breaching any contract because they know they will be in big trouble for it. Start with one and go after the others, one at a time. Pretty soon word will be out and they will stop breaching contracts, stop firing people for nothing, stop cheating people out of money, stop lying, and stop the discrimination, pay a layover, pay detention time when they say they will, and when its due. Stop forcing o/o paying for things they should not have to, and that is not in their contracts. These things happen all the time to the owner operator. And, yes things will not always be perfect, but at least we could count on the laws being implemented.

I don’t think ooida has a bargaining tool like say a union has unfortunately. Maybe this is why they take our calls, listen attentively, and tell us to find another company to lease on with, or hire an attorney at our expense.

Sadly, people like me will let their membership expire because we can’t get the help that we thought we would receive when we joined. They will go on and do the big things, which don’t help me or others like me to continue to be in business. I guess I misunderstood what their purpose is.

As far as a driver thinking as a whole, that can’t happen nor should it, until the problems stop with all companies. A driver cannot worry about thousands of drivers when he or she does not even make enough money to send home to their family, because the company has lied to them about paying them. A driver cannot worry about a thousands of truckers when they don’t have enough money in their pocket to buy one meal, and that has happened to many drivers. We have given money to them lots of times to buy breakfast, just like I imagine you have too. Who knows maybe you were that driver at one time. If you have always had money to eat, pay your bills, and send money home to your children good for you. Are you willing or even have the funding to help the owner operators that are hurting, because of a company cheating them? You say you are a life time member. Well, life time member now is the time to do something to help the individual owner operator. Don’t let us fall because no one wants to go after a company to implement the laws that are already there.

I would lease on with another company. I look on this web site all the time to see if by chance there is one company that has no negative things said about them. These drivers are heart broken, angry, and broke, do you think I am going to leave a bad place to go to another bad place. Ask ooida to tell you about a good company, and they can’t because there are none. I asked them like so many others have.

Take care of the little guy and the rest will follow, don’t take care of the little guy and many will be lost members. And, that will prove to me that the mission of ooida is not the same as they advertise, or as my expectations are and have been.
As long as these things are not solved it won't be long and there will be no owner operators for ooida to worry about as a whole, or as a one little truck owner operator.

One last thing it is not my hope that ooida fail in anything, I pray they find a way and the will to straighten out this industry, to help us all.

God Bless You, Ooida, and my fellow owner operators, and truckers.

The last of what I have to say.

One last thing it is not my hope that ooida fail in anything, I pray they find a way and the will to straighten out this industry, to help us all.

God Bless You, Ooida, and my fellow owner operators, and truckers.