Cities and towns ban trucks from parking overnight within their borders. A truck driving down the highway is seen as an accident waiting to happen. Truckers are over regulated because they’re seen as too irresponsible to drive safely without government intervention. And now with new mandatory EOBR legislation, truckers aren’t even seen as trustworthy enough to maintain their own schedules. It seems fair to say the general public’s perception of the trucking industry as a whole is less than stellar, so a new campaign, Trucking Moves America Forward, has been introduced to give trucking’s public image a fresh coat of paint.
Launched as a combined effort between OOIDA, the ATA, many carriers, and other industry groups, the campaign hopes to raise and spend $5 million over the next five years in order to improve the public image of the trucking industry.
According to their website, the campaign’s goal is to “establish a long-term industry-wide movement to create a positive image for the industry, to ensure that policymakers and the public understand the importance of the trucking industry to the nation’s economy, and to build the political and grassroots support necessary to strengthen and grow the industry in the future.”
The campaign hopes to accomplish this through the use of web, radio, tv, and print advertising as well as wrapping the Trucking Moves America Forward logo around trucks.
While they are both backing this campaign, the ATA and OOIDA seem to hope for slightly different outcomes. OOIDA seems to be looking for an outcome that will improve the lives of those that are currently truck drivers, while the ATA is gunning for future truck drivers.
“Those behind the wheel, those that do the work … without them, this industry doesn’t exist because that’s really what it’s all about,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA Executive Vice President. “Surely if we don’t see the importance of what we do and recognize it, it’s not surprising the public doesn’t either.
The ATA on the other hand appears to be hoping to secure new drivers for the industry to solve their “driver shortage.” ATA Vice Chairman Kevin Burch weighed in on his ideal outcome for the campaign saying that he hoped to attract younger drivers to the industry.
“As we all know, we have a driver shortage. It’s a perfect storm with an aging workforce,” he said. “We’re trying to build excitement in this program. We need one million truck drivers over the next 10 years.”
It was Todd Spencer who boiled down the issue to what should be at the heart of this conversation.
“There are challenges that the trucking community itself has to be honest and deal with. How they’re treated, addressing the issues with drivers, shippers and receivers. If you want somebody to feel good about themselves then give them a reason to. It’s about how you pay them, the opportunities to make this a career.”
Next Story: Company Owner Gets $1,000 Slap On The Wrist For Bribing Federal Inspector
Source: truckinginfo, thetrucker
5 million over the next 5 years….. what a joke.
Don’t get me wrong now, I do believe something needs to be done but $1 million in a year aint even a 30 second radio spot nation wide.
small potatoes no doubt..sign of the lack of seriousness..this is LONG over due and ive posted this some time ago..the need to use the media just as the politicians use it ..its not only good for the public view but to draw more credible drivers to the industry because the trucking companies and destroying the image and attraction to the industry…with overnight hip pitches that never pan out..Drivers being manipulated and sold a bill of goods they never get. Investment returns investment..Take those billions your hording and invest em and you will make trillions….its a no brainer but the mentally as usual is we cant see beyond our nose..We dont look 50 years down the road..We look 5 days instead..
Its One million drivers over the next 10 yrs……..(( Now this is what people are concerned of……)) **Get it?
5 million? Isn’t that like saying we’re going to use the penny jar to finance a campaign to turn this industry around? Nuff said!
you would think an industry if ever it broke down completely could cripple the entire nation completely that it would be of Utmost priority..and a msg that never seems to go out clearly is the last thing this industry needs is incompetent regulation. Our government is the very worst manager of any industry. No industry has it laid its hands on that it did not in the long run damn near destroy. Yet here we go again repeating history in another industry. Who will we bail out? the crooks? The dishonest companies that grew off the regulations and got away with destroying the quality of it all.
After 30 years in trucking; Everything in the article was good and fine. However, with all of the, shall we call them “New Entries”, into the transportation and specifically the truck steering wheel holder (I call them steering wheel holders, since thats all they appear to do and can no longer repair their vehicles much less change a fuse in the fuse box without calling for highway repair =- wasting valuable time and money – creating late deliveries), o/o market, brokers, agents, etc from overseas, artifically inflating prices and costs of the of and within the industry. Nothing will change regardless of how much money we throw at it until the above mentioned are taken out of the equation. I speak with, and I’ll put a Countries on it, Asia, India and Latin natives (barely speaking English, if at all), cannot read a map, every day. There are few and no work ethics regarding pricing, vehicle maintenance and repair, drivers logs (running dual logs), driver fatigue, driving over hours without stopping, driving (as a solo) for 21 hours straight with zero break other than fuel and bathroom stops – NO SLEEP. – – – Governmental Regulation(s) have increased due to the above issues. Throwing money at advertising campaigns won’t do a thing, except remind idiots that carriers have a multi million dollar insurance policy, so lets make ‘um hit us so that we can sue to get lots of money, until the root cause is addressed.
Your correct! In 1986, the average educational level of truck drivers as-a-whole, was the 5th grade. Last year when I reviewed the statistics, truckers as-a-whole had risen to the 8th grade. When I started driving, I did not comprehend that anyone could drive with-out being able to read but there were many. That was why you would hear drivers asking for direction’s over the radio because they c0uld not read a map and they were U.S. Citizens born and raised. I know, because I got to know some of those drivers. Trucking companies don’t lavish a lot of miles on drivers that run legal because they are not as profitable if they enforce the letter-of-the law. When trucking companies are fined, at the same time truck drivers are for running when they should have shut down because a load has-to-be-there, nothing will ever change in the trucking industry. Trucking companies are the very one’s responsible for dispatching the loads and they have-to-know due to the loads a driver have already been dispatched out on that the driver is close or out-of-hours. Fine the trucking companies when truck drivers are fined for driving when they have no hours available to do so, only then will the problem change.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
But I agree with the gist of your statement.
Even better, have the EOBRs send a copy of their info to DC AND the Co….AND have somebody in DC watching/auditing various companies’ drivers logs–and busting the COMPANY ….BEFORE they even THINK of doing something to the individual driver..and mebbe integrate the Prepass system into the whole net, so that a truck can’t pass ANY scale, open OR closed..without the Feds and the particular state having it on record!!!!…you are correct–the load-has-to-be-there BS is exactly that….BS!!–NO load is worth the lives of a driver and/or innocent fourwheeler drivers and their families!!!..If a company–whether it be FedEx or whoever–won’t let their drivers slow for bad weather or whatever other conditions THE DRIVER is dealing with, then that company should be penalized for such attitude/actions, or mebbe even SHUT DOWN…PERMANENTLY!!!!!!…Hit a few bigboy companies in the pocketbook or(even better) in their ability to MAKE that money, and mebbe you would get the attention of ALL the companies out there!!!
Hey Scott,just so u know not all immigrants are illiterate or ignorant, I was born in Cuba, been here in the States for 20 years, read,speak, write perfect English and I also graduated from high school, just wanted to throw that out there.
OK, but “There are few and no work ethics regarding pricing, vehicle maintenance and repair, drivers logs (running dual logs), driver fatigue, driving over hours without stopping, driving (as a solo) for 21 hours straight with zero break other than fuel and bathroom stops ” is still accurate–along with driving like they are the most important critters in the world …and everybody has to get out of their way, and driving without watching the other drivers around them/driving without WATCHING for various signs–such as “Trucks OK” signs over the passing lane/second lane while going THROUGH a city–and pulling third-lane passes because the driver in front of them is doing under the CAR speed limit………altho I will say that this kind of BS is not just the domain of “immigrants”..us honkies and ne’ars do it too…………..and many of these idiots of BOTH groups do the “pee bomb” thing, which is both stupid, pointless AND disgusting to the rest of us and ESP to those members of the general public who know what they are when they see em…and THAT is part of why we drivers have such a bad image in the minds of the public AND the gov’t!!!!
One thing you forgot to mention……
Steering wheel holders create jobs for repair people. Also why would a company driver work on a truck he/she doesn’t own. We are all steering wheel holders. You think because you work on your truck you’re anything else? As a former o/o I was happy to let others work on my truck. I’ve seen too many idiots change the oil in parking lots and just let it drain on the ground. Also have seen the steering wheel holding mechanic “fix” something only to screw up something else. You don’t get paid any extra for being a mechanic and fixing the same thing over and over, oh, and delivering late. Bitch about something important not your little pet peeves!! Have a nice day damn it !!!
Scoot, let me tell you all the drivers you see with different look and axsent don’t think idiots. let me tell you about me I am from mother land Africa before I came a driver I was a master MT at car dealership ,I also have two college degrees from overseas and us.
None of the things you mentioned actually qualify you to drive a commercial vehicle. Right now, in America, there are no qualifications that have to be met, in order to drive a commercial vehicle, except having a CDL. “Truck driving schools” aren’t. They teach one (mostly) how to get a CDL, and send them out the door. That IS NOT truck driving school. That is a CDL mill.
AMEN!!!AMEN!!!!AMEN!!!!….Couldn’t have said it better myself!!!!!!!!…..We need MORE drivers with this viewpoint out there preaching this gospel to the gov’t, the public, and the trucking companies!!!
Sadly Charles, they are aware, they just don’t care. They refuse to allow the people that know how to fix the problem, to fix the problem! They are the educated ones, with all the studies and reports, that have never even been in a big truck, telling the drivers how to do their jobs!
In other words, THEIR job is to tell US how to do OUR jobs!
Follow the money: The industry chieftains don’t want electronic logs because honesty, ethics and driver safety cut into their profits.
At least your handle is logically consistent with your comment…I’ll give you that much.
Might as well not spend the money since it’s so small it won’t make a difference. Trucks are the safest vehicles on the road, but if $5 million is all they can spend to counter public perception then the industry can’t really believe in itself.
5 Million, what a joke. Just another way for some to tske more money out of our pockets to spen d on another project the goverment will find some way to control. There is nothing about safety in the new rules they are inforcing now . And companies are forcing drivers to run extra hard to get the frieght there on time. How about taking 5 Million and making the general public as responsible as we have to be . Maybe drug tests after an accident wether itsyour fualt or not.
” making the general public as responsible as we have to be”…as in making the penalties for speeding, DUI, etc. the same, perhaps???????…along with drug(INCLUDING MJ!!) AND alcohol tests post-accident???…AMEN!!!!!
First the ATA and the TCA along with a core group of mega carriers lobby for speed limiters and EOBR’s and then try to say that this was influenced by public perception of the trucking industry and now they need to do a campaign to counter it? Then add to the fact the ATA and the TCA are worried they might actually have to pay for all the time a driver works on duty or driving, and they are worried about their image? Is it any wonder they are having a tough time filling the seats. Young people today can glean a lot of information off the net and get a good idea about modern trucking, and know that it is has been changing into something that doesn’t appeal to them. And the primary motivator for this negative change is the very same groups that are crying foul now and need to improve their image. What a mad, mad world we live in.
This is the anti-‘working man’, freedom loving, capitalist manipulated psyche ward of these United States. Capitalism is not better than Communism; it is its evil twin. Democratic Socialism is the only real solution to the evaporating middle class and the anti-worker sentiment.
I’d agree, cept you got all your nouns backwards.
What he said.
🙂
$5 million doesn’t seem like enough and what else gets me is the cities and towns that make it against the law for drivers to use their jake brakes when within their city limits. Sure it’s a little noisy but it also keeps a truck from plowing in to the back of a car when it has 80k pounds on board too.
First, I’ve owned 4 trucks. All had engine brakes. NONE were as loud as the engine brakes that prompted various cities and towns to enact ‘no jake brake’ ordinances.
Second, if any driver would manage their speed better, the need to use the engine brake is minimized.
Third, if I had the authority, I’d issue a ticket to those that insist on running un-muffled engine brakes.
Agree completely Brian!!
We complain about many of the regulations but many are because we have so many who don’t follow the rules we have. I find the comment in the opening of the article regarding EOBR’S laughable. They are mandated because of all the two and three logbook drivers. And cities and businesses not wanting drivers to park stems from drivers throwing pee bottles and trash on the ground or urinating on the ground between tractor and trailer. And the public thinking that a truck is an accident waiting to happen? Could that be because of the number of drivers that cut in and out of traffic or feel like they are at Daytona as they nearly bump draft the vehicle, car or truck, in front of them? If we are honest many of these regulations are brought on by those who choose to be a steering wheel holder rather than a professional driver. Many act like animals out here and it hurts those who are professionals. So before we complain about all the stuff from the outside why don’t we try cleaning up our act from the inside? Act professional and we will be treated like professionals. We can each personally do more to change the public ‘ perception by logging legal, using the restrooms and trash cans provided and leaving plenty of room around us and moving with the flow. Then the public would not feel the need for more regulations.
Discarded pee jugs & bottles is one of the primary reason’s a lot of states have banned parking on the on/off ramps, not to mention the trash left behind by truckers. This is also the same reason most shopping center’s now prohibit commercial trucks from parking on their parking lot’s. While we are on the subject of cleaning from with-in, a mandantory drug test every two weeks, why? I’ve have personally witnessed commercial truck drivers “shooting-up” at rest areas, smoking dope, getting buzzed with booz at truck stops and yes, they pulled out and drove down the highway afterwards! In one such instance in Rhode Island, the truck driver made it to the next ramp when he collided and killed an entire family (husband, wife and children). This occurs a lot! Want to maximize driver efficiency? Design a Qual-Com that “Only” goes off to a given truck and not one that sends messages fleet wide “unless it is important for the entire fleet to have the information being dissiminated”. To be made aware of a highway closed in Mississippi when I’m in Washington state, means nothing to me and is a useless cost to the company & driver, the company for sending it fleet wide and the company & driver when the driver has to shut down to read a message that has nothing to do with him period. I have resorted to hanging my Qual-Com “key board” out the window & rolling the window up on the cable, when I go to bed so the thing won’t keep waking me up beeping messages that have nothing to do with me. Some companies seem to have the motto, “If the driver is not going to run just because he is out-of-hours then we don’t have to let him/her sleep either, uninterrupted.. A swith to turn the Qual Com OFF “completely” when a driver is in the sleeper should be mandantory! Your cell phone has an off button for those times you don’t want to be disturbed (wish more folks used them too when dining/movies/meetings, etc) I!m sure Qual-Com can do the same thing!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
How about random drug testing at scale houses?
Also peeing on the ground is not really that important it harms nothing because pee is sterile.
Want to stop trucks from tailgating? There is a device for that too.
Want to help put a stop to cars cutting you off ? Get an on board camera. When it happens send a copy with a formal complaint to state police. They will have tag number,time,day,and offense. Ask them to issue a ticket. If we as drivers flood law enforcement this way they will do something about it. If they don’t, send the same thing to news media. They will build a story and help us. Stop expecting things to change for the good without our help.
While most of your statement is spot on; the big companies are run by the stock holders and their dividends are priority. The side benefit of all our police actions in other countries is the influx of cheap labor. One may posit that the trucking industry lives by the credo, “equipment is king and employees are expendable. It is the great divide between those of us that make the country and them that rule.
I say add a billion more rules to make things as confusing as possible so that Congress has finally accomplished its mission: screw up the country so bad that we can’t work, we can’t buy things, we can’t go anywhere, and they just sit on their keisters and raise money from their billionaire cronnie buddies all day long instead of working for us, we are working for them now. This is our America, coming soon. I promise.
I’ve been a diesel tech for a while now. And I can tell you why there’s a driver shortage. Fleets treat their drivers like freeking garbage.
Your correct. Trucker’s are a necessary, really un-wanted part of trucking by most everyone. Trucking companies seem to think their equiment should never break down and expect truck drivers to make-up the down-time when in the shop, regardless it took 8 hours.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
interesting that at this time the comments made so far focus only on the money. I’m sure there will be a lot more comments on the money. BUT DRIVERS LOOK IN THE MIRROR, the industry has done it to itself. back in the day we were respected. we can only change the image ourselves and NO amount of money can help. if we want to park close to our customers STOP I repeat STOP THROWING TRASH ON THE GROUND. would you want somebody coming to your property and use it as a trash can!? and YES 90% of the trucks on the highway is an accident waiting to happen. with technology the way it is the new breed of drivers are distracted (and some old ones too) driving with the phone to their ear, texting, playing on the computer, driving an 80,000lbs vehicle like they are sitting in a recliner, tailgating, driving overly aggressive, ect., ect., ect.,. now for the Ebor’s or Eld’s or what ever the government wants to call them, and this is just my opinion, they hurt safety because that’s what’s causing the aggressive driving, the tailgating, the speeding through work zones or parking lots because the person behind the steering wheel makes their money on miles driven. again the industry brought these devices on it self by not being responsible enough to stop when tired or having the backbone to say no to a company that is pushing them. I suggest that the money be spent on PROPERLY TRAINING the drivers of all vehicles. this bad image was done over time and it will take time to improve it. so fellow drivers are you just going to wine and cry, bitch, moan and complain all the time or are you going to stand up and be responsible and help yourself and the industry. WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER no matter what you think.
As commented earlier, “Only when a trucking company receives a fine at the same time a truck driver receives a fine for driving out-of-hours will the problem cease to exist”. Why should trucking companies care how many tickets any driver gets because they (the trucking companies) are the one’s that are lining their pockets and bank accounts with the real money being made by truck drivers.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
Agree except for ELD comment. I was on them and did not have to drive aggressively. I drove legal, logged legal, made pickups and deliveries on time and was more rested.
I have been booed off the air on the radio for addressing this. Blatantly hearing drivers and old timers hint that yer a granny driver if you arent pushing the limits. Watching drivers damn near tip over turning in curves in order be a lil more macho behind the wheel. The idiotic idea yer somehow more of a man because you can face a risk..but its the ignorance blaring. The day dont see the lil car with children they werent ready for because they were too busy being super men. The filth is shameful. Seeing the pee bottles all over. Not even trying to show a minimal of respect for themselves or anyone else. Behaviours that are animal like..not civilized. People use the radio to rant and whine and complain. Suggest change and they all will say they made some attempt a long time ago..but what fool could believe these things? We are here because of a long time ago people stopped giving a shit. They laid the ground work for what we have today. Grab the money and get the hell out. That was the thinking. Our entire nation now suffers from this mentality that has matured in a couple generations and we cant think outside the greed and money..and CEOs arent in for the long run. None of them are entrepreneurs . They’re all coat tail riders from others efforts long ago. Learned a few more tricks around the system. How to cheat a lil better. The leaders in the industry are out for the bank not the for the industry. But change in fact starts with you and me and the next guy. None of it will change unless we within our realm take strides to be more able. More safe. More conscious and more professional.
The folks in 4 wheelers cried about the trucks going so fast that the government finally did something. Now those people get mad when we hold them up while we pass. They want to drive their cars 100mph but don’t want the trucks to run 70. Also, those same people don’t want violence on TV but they damn near cause accidents at accident scenes on the interstates rubbernecking !!! Where and when do we truckers say ” ENOUGH”!!!!!
Very well said Bar b que, soo on point!
5 million $$$$ that wont even begin to bring back the trustworthy of the trucking industry.
What a joke !!!!
It’s this a joke! 5 million over the next five years! You have to be kidding me. That’s not going to change a thing. I say we just shut the trucking industry down and see how the public likes that! The thing is we the truck driver keep America moving and the pay for that sucks!! I’ve been looking to get out of trucking because of that and the government is to involved. I became a truck driver to have the freedom but that freedom is long gone. Thanks to all these new laws of the government. Screw it, let’s just shut it down and see how the government likes it!!!
No one is going to shut down the trucking industry. It did not happen when the majority of truck drivers were owner operators and it can’t happen now that most truck drivers are company drivers! Back in the 80’s, had the owner operator’s listened to the trucking union, when the trucking union told them they could not go on strike till their contract ran out” and then they would gladly shut down together! Owner opeators did not listen and drove to Washington D.C. and drove around the capitol like a parade. Nothing was gained but a lot was lost. In the end for the owner opeartors arrogance, the trucking industry was DEREGULATED! Operating authorities that were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars were worth nothing. Anyone that had a few dollars to buy a truck and get it licensed could start their own company & fleet because no operating authority existed any more.
A lot of information and pain truck drivers are expressing on this site is valid and worth pondering. Like always, there is some chaff to get to the good stuff.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
I shut down and went back to college. Drive a school bus twice a day, classes in between, and get crunk on the weekend. They want the industry so bad, they can have it. I’m mine.
How about taken that 5 million and making more truck parking
A raise for drivers ,We are probably the lowest payed in the usa. Companies want us to have twic passport. Haz mat etc. But no extra pay we pay for it all they use for their advantage You take the time we are away from home the prices at truck stops for food breaks down to what the government gives us a day. Our industry is the biggest in the world an we have nothing to say about nothing. Sad.
You can have a say here:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-eobr-mandate-heavy-trucks/zrcmrQz4
Now lets see if you will.
Thats sad Earnest your trying but receiving no help.
I agree with Cliff and the other comments. $5 M is not enough!
Our image in the public s, law enforcement & government policymakers is likely tarnished beyond repair. Every person in America is inundated with negative signs regarding trucks. No trucks this lane, no trucks this exit not rucks here no trucks there. These signs are necessary but send a negative messages that reinforce, us against them mentality.
Many drivers help reinforce the poor image by their behavior. Parking is a big problem & more places such as Walmart no longer permit parking because drivers trash the parking lot.
There was a time when one had a better chance winning the lotto than getting a job driving truck! A driver didn’t start out in a shiny new truck either. Back then there was a family nature in the community of drivers. We helped each other out on the road!
The modern world of trucking is vastly different now! The truth is, drivers are only reflecting the ills of our modern society.
The big carriers like Prime want government regulation directed at the individual drivers. These carriers hope to drive out the small players & independents by regulating them to death. There won’t be a truck on the road without a big fleet name on it. The driver will only get the crumbs given them & like it or find another career. Since America is a free market society, the business model employed by the fleets with respect to manpower can take any form deemed profitable. Particularly at the expense of the individual.
Consider the “Mom & Pop” businesses of the past 30 years. Many that are gone because big corporations moved in & undercut them. You say, yes the free market rewards the performers! True, and the small business is enemy to the big!
Walmart & their ilk will say,”you’ll take what we give you because there is no where else to go.
Someone likes all the enmity in this country! There is profit & power in all the divisiveness!
I’ve been out here as an employee and O/O for 26 years. I applaud the introduction of EOBR’s in the truck as it protects me from dispatchers who pressure us to run illegal.
I can say that our image suffers from the few who have what I call the “King-of-the-Road” syndrome. We know them. Big loud pipes/engine brakes/tail-gaters, etc. Why would anyone want us in their community? I know I don’t want ’em around me.
O/O with Dispatchers? Some thing smells funny!
Regarding the callous comment about those who can’t or won’t do repairs on their trucks as “steering wheel holders,” you sir, are part of the problem regarding the public perception of truckers, as if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. What you are obviously and painfully not aware of is that trucking schools today teach that drivers should under NO circumstance attempt any repairs unless they are qualified (licensed or certified) mechanics to avoid liability issues. In addition, many companies also forbid drivers from performing or attempting repairs. Please get your facts together before condemning your fellow drivers who abide by what they are taught and company policy.
my boss disagrees, he told me it was too expensive to send a mechanic to fix the truck I was driving when the clutch went out last year on an off ramp of I-5 in N. Cal. I was on my way home when coming to do a pick up, and my foot went straight to the floor. So I get on the phone and he says go underneath the truck and pull on some stuff, (whoa say what??) wished I had listened to myself, and ignored his ignorant advisement. Instead I went ahead and pulled on something forgetting that the engine was still running and my brakes don’t always hold when not adjusted up, so I pull on a spring and the truck bolts right over my leg, its crushed and it finally crashes into a pile of sand. I should say I am lucky to be alive because if I hadn’t moved fast enough, It would have dragged me instead and probably killed me. I am almost healed, I have a limp, but hopefully I will be healed and looking for another line of work, soon.
Sue him. Repairs must be made by a qualified mechanic; it says so repeatedly right there in the glorious all knowing rulebook. You aren’t one, or you’d have had more options than “yank on something.” He knew that and forced you, under duress of losing your only income. Injuries, lost wages, forced change of careers, he’s liable for all that. Nail him. And don’t feel bad about it thinking he wouldn’t do the same to you, cause he would.
You really need to set your brakes & MAKE SURE it’s OUT of gear before getting under a truck! STUPID HURTS!
Wait, what? You FORGOT your engine was running? How was the engine running, AND in gear, but not pulling? There was an issue worse than the clutch, I would suggest. Perhaps it might be best if you DID consider another line of work.
Dispatching, perhaps?
Everyone should go on strike with new regulations there is no money to be made in this industry. Everyone is different some can drive for hours and hours without breaks others are not capable. If you think that with these new regulations safety is going to be better think again its mainly the idiots in the cars that cause their own deaths when they cut in front of a moving truck and slam their breaks. Best way to get an understanding of this is to have dot inspectors on the road with drivers and allow them to drive the way they want to whether its cheating on logs or not and you will see the real problems on the roads. As for language yes I agree their should be fines or even license revoking if you cannot understand English enough to communicate
You know, “angry with new rules” may be on to something here. Why not take some of that $5 million and pay for a campaign to have influential CVSA inspectors (perhaps state commercial vehicle inspection instructors or supervisors) ride along with a truck driver for a few days. And then bring their experiences back to their subordinates or have them write articles for the CVSA’s publication – the Guardian. It would be like the trip that OOIDA and LandLine magazine arranged for Anne Ferro.
Six months, minimum. They get out here and deal with everything we have to deal with, then maybe they have a little say in how things go on the regulatory level. If you haven’t lived the life, and that’s what it is, you don’t get a say in how the system is set up.
ATA will always be short of drivers. They are to greedy and controlling.
Common …. Do you really think this will work… 5 million…. For what…. There 4 times that much money spent on fuel every hour in America…. OOIDA and the ATA have a joke for years..
Education of the industry and more income for drivers, spend more time recruiting quality drivers instead of the Russian and polish clowns driving around America in these containers…. Te trucking industry is a JOKE
The general public has no idea what truckers do. They do not know about parking restrictions, government regulations or what an EOBR is. All they know about trucks is, they gotta pass us some how, some way, no matter what, damn the torpedoes full speed ahead. OOIDA is a toothless tiger and has about as much influence as an annoying fly. ATA just sucks and is only out for their own agenda. The basic problem in trucking is drivers not from the US. If you visit most any truck stop you’ll find groups of foreigners hanging together professing the merits of what ever crap hole country they came from and most of them bring their own form of road rage with them from who knows where. They don’t speak or understand English well enough to tie my shoes yet they are driving an 80k pound rig down the interstate at 70 mph. Another problem in trucking is the lack of proper training. These big “training” companies put drivers in the seat that I wouldn’t let start my truck but they are there. Lets see… CRST comes to mind and that’s just one of many. The trucking industry has shot itself in the foot then looked around and shot the other foot and is now whining about it. 9 more years till retirement and I’m done…..
Most of those drivers that are here and don’t speak English were brought here and sponsored by the trucking companies they work for. Hell, that has been going on since I got into over the road work 30 years ago. The big companies know they will work their ass off for little pay thus keeping your pay to a minimum. And the tea baggers and republicans call it ” the free market”. All I know is my wife and I are outa this game in 3 years.
I don’t know what’s stupider the artical thinking 5 will make any kind of difference or the idiots who blame this industry problems on foreigners ….
Bottle peeing, not showering , littering, being a dumb ass is done every driver. I have never seen one race do it more then the other. So that comment is just a testament to your lack of education about cultures and different people. You sir… are a fool. Retire early.
As for the atrical and the shortage it tries to make a difference in….there is no shortage of drivers. There is a shortage of companies that don’t want to pay or act like humans. So the decent drivers parked along time ago and left the industry. There is a sucker born every minute ….that’s what this industry has learned and that’s what it lives by. If one quites and other will show up tomorrow. That is the moto and the rule.
Until this industry pays worth a shit, expect to get what you pay for. It’s pretty simple, pay garbage and get garbage. I’m sure if a driver had a chance to make 60k a year and run legal and have reasonable time off at home , there would be a different industry out there. A different bunch of people driving, a different out look on us. But they pay so little that only the desperate, the bottom of the barrel, the uneducated, apply and take the job as a no choice last resort. ( this is a general comment so stfu if your gonna rage and say that ain’t you. That’s not me either. But look around next time your at a truck stop or homeless shelter and then talk to me ).
This industry needs a video commercial to educate the companies who make decisions, the leaders, the LEO’s, the trucking schools. Not the drivers. It needs a video showing what a driver who makes good money knows and does and a driver who makes shit, knows and does.
Then it needs a comparison sheet that shows what a company with low experience drivers pays in insurance and claims and fines…..and what a company with well paid drivers deals with and how many claims they have an how much they don’t spend on recruiters or idiots baby sitting other idiots.
Spend money solving the problem by chaining the thinking of the industry. Not the drivers. The drivers will be a reflection of the companies and a reflection of how they are treated!!!
When will these fools understand this?????
DRIVERS ARE A REFLECTION OF THE COMPANY AND HOW THEY ARE TREATED!!!!!!
No matter how much you spend you need to start looking at the bigger picture I have been in this industry sense 1988 and I have seen it get worse and worse every year. I worked for one of the largest carriers down to one of the smallest carriers and it was all the same. F??k the driver just get the load there know matter how little hours you have left now matter if your truck is in need of repair just get the load there and we will deal with it later. It all starts with the carriers and getting them all together and saying enough is enough our drivers are the back bone of the industry so let’s pay them what they need to be paid and stop forcing them on impossible delivery times. And let’s talk about the equipment issues when a driver says his or her truck needs repair just fix it stop telling them okay we will get to it when you get to the shop. Everything I wrote in this response the public sees. It’s the driver rushing down the road with something broken or in need if repair. I see this every single day of the week that I am out on the road if I see it I know the public sees it to. So to in prove the public I let’s start at the route of the problem get all the carriers together and tell them to step up. This will show the public that they are willing to do the right thing.
And one other thing no matter what you place in a truck to monitor a drivers hours there is ways carriers can get around it. The biggest and most used is while you are waiting to be loaded or unload show 7 to 15 minutes on duty then the rest in the sleeper even tho you are not in the sleeper. And if you say no to this the company just tells you okay that is one less load you will do for the week so this means a shit pay check. Because the shipper and receivers don’t care how long you sit and wait on them and how much time you spend. They get to you when they can. This practice needs to stop. If a driver arrives to be loaded or unloaded just do it or the company should say leave and here is you next load and if the companies start putting there foot down and stop taking crap from them this industry may get better.
Jd727’s narrative is exactly the kind of story that needs to be told to the people who write TV and movie scripts. So when they do write about truck drivers or some aspect of trucking, they don’t revert back to the old tried and (un)true stereotypes reinforcing the notion that truck drivers are at the root of the problem.
All it takes for that is a company with the balls to charge for wait time. No, we don’t need a signature from whatever min wage douchebag was on duty at the time, we have our driver saying what happened and sat tracking proving where our truck was for 16 hours while your guys goofed off in some dark corner instead of doing what you pay them to do. That will be $200 an hour, please. Or I have this lawyer here who will sue you for $2000 an hour. Your choice.
I don’t get that. Why are companies afraid of using a perfectly valid tactic to get paid? They do everything else for money, or to save money, down to a few pennies. Yet they’re afraid the shipper/receiver might not want them to come back to deliver loads they are getting ripped off on? Wtf, c’mon. I’ve even seen it work. If your trucks sit, charge for your very valuable time. If the customer tells you eff off, then you don’t need them. There’s a dozen more lined up begging for trucks that provide good service.
If anyone considering a career in trucking is reading this , you still have a chance, its a trap with cheese in it. Run away. It will not change ever until robots drive trucks. The powers that be will use any combination of words that is deemed appropriate to lure you in. It cant be made better, it can only be made illegal. Management will always see drivers as less than human. Its a robot job and it will n
ot change. You have the internet and a brain , use that and stay away from trucks. You can do better than a 65 dollar a day take home on your own. Ask yourself if you need them or if you just think you do. At best any
employer you find is only going to be fit to work for for six months then the risk for you is too high and you will either be a liability to corporation , yourself, or both. All it is is a short term arrangement to get a little cash. And we both know what sort of a job that is, dont we?
Royce is right. Reconsider before they have their hooks in you. The process for breaking into the industry is designed to put you in a hole (if you’re not already in one) that will make you feel dependent on your new boss. And in fact it may make you dependent on your new boss. The best case scenario is working for weeks at a time for a subsistence wage.
Part of the problem may be the impressions that movies like “Smokey and the Bandit” made among members of Generation X and Generation Y (who watched their parents’ old VHS tapes of the movies as they grew up). Although it’s an iconic classic, and waxes nostalgic for a time when truck drivers were road mavericks, I think movies like “Smokey and the Bandit” also reinforce the negative stereotypes. It shows truck drivers driving all night; bending the rules until they nearly or completely break; running and hiding from the law or confronting them and showing them up for complete buffoons. It’s all good fun, certainly. And admittedly, “Smokey and the Bandit” was one of my favorites growing up. But now trucking is working against those stereotypes reinforced by those occasional unfortunate circumstances where a truck driver plows into a station wagon or minivan or a century-old pergola in the middle of Pioneer Square. My concern is that a $5 million campaign is just not enough. The trucking industry isn’t going to change people’s attitudes overnight. Now perhaps it might be good to consider bankrolling a re-imagining of one of those old classic trucker movies. Perhaps with the right movie script, the right actors and the right director, it could not only be funny, but also poignant. But it would need clear direction and involvement of the trucking industry. Left on its own, Hollywood would only revert to the old stereotypes with little consideration to what trucking is really like today.
You want a good start! Then get all 50 states to print and make part of the DMV handbook for new Class C drivers to know the blind spots on trucks, stopping distances for trucks, turning radius for trucks, basic haz mat symbols, how to pass correctly and how not to cut across or cut off a big truck. Until the basics are down then you are barking up the wrong tree. Why don’t the law enforcement officials pull in vehicles into rest stops like they do trucks. Once there ask them for the following. 1. Registration of the vehicle 2. Proof of insurance or bond 3. Operators driver’s license. You as an operator must have these basic requirements to operate the vehicle. I wonder how many illegal operators, stolen vehicles and illegal activities would be stopped. Law enforcement would have writers cramp and the country would be a lot safer. Semper Fidelis!
I do not understand the OOIDA / ATA alliance. The ATA is thoroughly anti-driver. They pioneer the policies that divide drivers and defraud us out of hard-earned dollars. We’re talking short miles, per diem ripoffs, industry-wide consensus to withhold detention pay, …, the whole nine.
Drivers don’t need a PR makeover. Drivers need to be paid for everything the job requires at a rate that far surpasses the minimum wage. What we get right now is slick lies and reminders that we’re lucky to have jobs. Phooey. They’re lucky to have us driving these trucks and even luckier we haven’t commandeered them as our homes and only means of producing income.
To put it in a perspective: It is less than putting a 30 second commercial on TV during the Super Bowl. It says right away how seriously they take “trucking image”.
All the problems this industry faces, ie. public image, driver shortage, etc. could be fixed within a year or two by doing one thing. Bring drivers pay up to par. Some of these new OTR drivers are working 70-80 hours a week and they are doing it for peanuts. The larger ltl limes are the oy ones that pay a half decent wage, but they are also pulling back on pay raises. It will never happen but if drivers were able to make what they should, ie. Typical city p&d driver should be making 70k, then all of the afore mentioned problems would disappear. Just my two cents.
I began trucking at 17 as a yard dog; staging vans and flatbeds for runs. At 21I had a regular run from Seattle to Visalia, to Portland back to Seattle, and other Northwest cities, out 4 days in 3. Aside from veggie, rebar, and moving vans, I dragged fuel tankers, food tankers and so forth. Then the bottom lines became more important than driver welfare and salary. My small company sold out to a larger then a larger and with each merger my runs were longer, less pay and the worst part, substandard equipment. Trailer Brake cans leaked like cheap nylon stockings. A DM assigned me a different tractor with bald tires, weak brakes and a clutch that ‘worked part time.’ I complained and lost my run. My original small company fixed our trucks; the big company didn’t care or bother making repairs, just make the run. In 1982, I quit driving. CF, ONC, Laramie, and other companies chopped driver pay, eliminated safety incentives, and the driver with the fewest complaints got the best runs. What’s the point? The trucking industry has become a “whore house” where drivers are cheap commodities, their loads worth more than their lives. The industry went in decline in the mid70’s. It’s a bloody industry, fed by greedy owners and p0orly trained drivers. When a coworker blew weed waiting for his OTR run, I walked out of the industry and never looked back.
I had the best training development one could have given by a master driver. Driving schools don’t come close to what drivers need to know.
Five million dollars to change the face of an industry that’s been on a downhill run without a Jake, since 1977 isn’t going to change a thing. Drivers can change their habits; clean up after themselves, that might scratch the surface, but greedy companies who ignore maintenance, profit above all else, need to change the industry. If driver whore houses (driver mills) can be eliminated, change might begin. The industry didn’t sink overnight and it won’t change into a respectable industry until owners, and drivers unite to make changes; salary plus decently repaired vehicles is a small step.
Good Luck with that…a waste of 5 Million if you ask me.
Best part this is two things.
1. I heard an ad for CSX today that was this exact thing, right down to the slogan. “Ship by rail, 21,000 miles of track, moving America forward.” People are already thinking about eliminating trucking and shipping all by rail with no concept of how things work. Making this a collaborative campaign with truck/rail mashed together and only rail adds being run is foolish.
2. This is the worst, most bloated, money wasting, worthless government we’ve ever had from the viewpoints of most sane people. “Moving forward” is the government’s latest slogan. Associating with that in any way, let alone literally word for word, is even more foolish; and possibly intentional.
What ever it is its about time FMCSA is working to get the bad drivers out but no plan to improve the future. What ever it is Its about time to start from some where, lets regulate CB radio talk too…
Public perception of truck drivers is only a very small part of the problem. You will not fix this industry until the OTR companies themselves start treating their own drivers with more respect. Deceitful dispatchers, low pay, long periods away from home etc.. etc.. You can’t fix these issues with a clever PR campaign.
Unsafe truck drivers? Who put them on the road? Unsafe states rubber stamping their CDL’s
Trucking is a third-world industry and drivers are treated as criminals. No wonder the turn-over rate during a depression is still 165% or so. The DOT who loves to hate drivers should be required to drive OTR for at least a year before they are allowed to get their gravy jobs with gold-plated retirements, unlike any OTR driver who gets to face the horrors of what the DOT has created for them.
I Like What You Said
What a waste of money. Well, at least someone will make a paycheck out of it, sure won’t be me. Throw as much money at it as you will, as long as idiot truck drivers and idiot 4 wheeler drivers find they way into the media, and the slant they put on the story, usually the trucker being at fault, no amount of “face lifting” is going to help.
1 “Awshit” wipes out 100 “attaboys”
Well, personally, I couldn’t care less how the public sees truck drivers. Instead of wasting whatever money they are able to raise on this foolish campaign they should focus more on improving compensation and benefits to attract and retain drivers. Seems like the OOIDA and the ATA are getting more and more out of touch with what’s happening in the industry.
The image of trucking reflects reality; neither $5 million nor $50 million will make a dent. As long as consumers find products in stores at the prices expected, NOBODY WILL CARE.
Addressing the cimments about dispatchers pressuring the drivers to get the sgipments to there destination at any cost. The fact of the matter is, it is the drivers responsibility to ensure he is following all rules and regulations of the FMCSA and it is up to him to enforce that he is doing so. If every driver did this then the big companies and there dispatchers will have no ill recourse against a driver as there wont be a driver available that will go against federal safety regulations. And if your too tired, whether you have available hours left or not, it is our responsibility as a driver in the interest of public safety to make the call to stop, pull over, and rest. No one holds a gun to our head and says do it or ill shoot. Get some balls and dont be afraid to tell your dispatcher your not going to put the public or yourself at risk by being illegal.
When you also get ALL the police officers from ALL across this country screwing over the truck drivers with all their lies on thier tickets ,and in court , it makes the public, the politications,the news media,and the trucking company owner jump on the “screw the truck driver bandwagon”. I’ve drove truck over the road for 38 yrs,and have seen police officers from all over this country lie right to a trucker’s face with false accusations , that the officer get his fellow officers to “go along,and we’ll screw this guy”. I know this from expirence,the Ohio highway patrol pulled thier “scam” on me in 2005. I guess it was this truckers turn on top of the police officers scams pile. If the police don’t respect truckers,whom they work around every day…who will ? Oh yea…they are government employees..so that won’t work.
” And now with new mandatory EOBR legislation, truckers aren’t even seen as trustworthy enough to maintain their own schedules”…..of course, it WOULD be nice if ALLLL the dispatchers and companies out there would refrain from pushing drivers beyond their legal and physical limits, and if AALLLL the drivers out there would follow the regs and laws that are ALREADY on the books(not to mention common f-ing SENSE!!)………but thinking that they will do so is living in a fantasy world, one that apparently REQUIRES gov’t regulatory intervention— to TRY to MAKE them do what is safe, legal, and RIGHT!!!!!!………..I personally APPLAUD the coming of EOBRs, esp if they can be built to watch the truck itself, not just the log of the driver, and esp if they can be built to be tamper-proof/tamper-evident/tamper-notifying…as in notify the feds if a driver or co. attempts to re-program or otherwise mess with the EOBR!!!!!…IDK about the rest of you guys out there, but I’ve had enough bad experiences with being pushed/threatened/etc to do what was not legal, safe, and/or within my ability to do–as in running/working beyond the point of dead-dog-tired and UNSAFE on the road!!!!!..Making the almighty DOLLAR does NOT require drivers OR companies to run unsafe and/or ILLEGAL….,but you sure can’t tell it from the amount of BS regs we drivers are having piled on our heads due to the actions of SOME of us–and SOME of the companies we run for!!!!!!..If people would run–and the companies would run them– legal and safe, we might be able to dispense/do away with all the EXTRA regs and etc we are having to deal with!!
For a million a year? Why not just bring back a trucker-focused TV show.
Hollywood’s recycled everything else,
Who’s up for a new BJ& the Bear show? Smokey & the Bandit series? Highwayman?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueler?
If you want to give the trucking industry a “fresh coat of paint”, put tougher restrictions on the driving schools. They throw too many drivers through their courses and on the road too soon. That’s were the problem begins. This new generation of drivers who are doing this to the industry.
It will take a lot of time for folks in this country to appreciate no other part of world speaks American English even your neigbbour Canada.People from different countries all former British colonies speak fluent universal English even back at home more so many African countries,Asia ,Europe and Australia.But get me right we have language proficiency but accent depends on where you were born and no grown up person can pretend to attain a new accent.
You need to lobby your govt. to introduce History and deep geography of the whole world otherwise as an immigrant I see you guys as living in darkness.
We have more than 30 countries in Africa out of 55 countries in the continent who have English as their official language.From kindergarten univ. level every lesson is in English ,unlike Japanese and others we learn everything in English science,maths,business and many more courses .Just google these kind of information and we will live together very harmoniously because you will have an idea why people have different accents.And get to know there are millions of Americans citizens living and working in our countries and making dollars from a our beautiful countries which we are proud of.
Why is only one side of the “traffic safety” issue ever put under the microscope? Every day I spend on the road, I see literally thousands of cars and other vehicles using those same roads. How many of them are restricted in their length of work day or even driving time? Put everyone on a limited day and see what happens to highway safety. Unless EVERYONE is held responsible for it, it won’t happen. Require the same inspection and licensing requirements for ALL drivers, including a physical and random drug screen, and see what happens, after the deafening scream from the general population deafens us all.