Brokers: Do you get drivers that are hard to understand because of there accents?

It's VERY easy to get an accent right when you are talking to someone with that accent a lot. Particularly if you are a native speaker.

The ability to mimic in humans is probably much more developed than the ability to independently practice and perfect 'an accent'. I don't do accents, I do the person I'm talking to. Mirroring is a very powerful tool that gives you a meaningful bump in likability. We humans tend to like people who sound like us and act like us. We tend to dislike people who don't sound like us and act like us. 'Good behavior' from your own culture could be bad behavior in another. I advocate for taking a very strong 'when in Rome' stance... and I generally don't visit anywhere that would make me uncomfortable.

 

I'm not an expert but I know what southerners sound like and what an actor trying to play one sounds like, usually not so good.

 

The New England accent routinely gets butchered by everyone who tries it... It's not an accident that in Good Will Hunting the guys who are actually from Boston (Damon, the Afleck brothers, whoever else they used for their Boston friends) have spot on perfect accents and Robin Williams accent is awful. It's not anything he did wrong, the accent is just basically impossible without physically living around people who talk like that for a meaningful amount of time. There are two many tiny little things about it to memorize... It has to be in your bones basically.

 

You're not wrong. I can pass through pretty much anywhere in the US as a native, except New England. That was one place I never got up to, and frankly, I'm fine with that.

 

Being from the south, that New England accent cracks me up.

Me - How's it going man.

Him - Not worth a dem, my f'in ca crapped out on the freeway on da way in this monin.

Me - LMAO, sorry to hear that buddy, now get my trailer unloaded. I gotta get back down south where I belong.

 

I started to learn English (old British) in the 2nd grade and by the time I finished high school, I was capable of even writing poems.
But when I stepped on US land in the JFK and tried speaking to locals, I couldn't understand crap.
"Hello, how do you do?"
"Whassapp, man! What ya sayinn?"

 

Did you read Mark Twain in original?

 

Brokers should insist on speaking with dispatchers rather than directly to drivers. It may not appear professional for brokers to contact drivers unless in the event they are dealing with independent owner operators. Many drivers have immigrated from foreign countries due to government policies recognizing the truck driver shortage in North America. As a result, many truck drivers have English as their second language.