Can social media be the demise of bottom feeder companies?

I'm 41 and tech savy, my Dad is 63 and has forgotten more about computers than most kids will ever know after 20 years as a field engineer for a large computer company.

Dad still writes code as a "hobby" and has driven OTR the last 17 years. Do you have any hard data showing that the current driver pool is computer illiterate? Or are we assuming?

 

I think it would be great if someone like Vice did a documentary about the likes of CRE.

 

Yes have you looked on social media related to any of these bottom feeders? CRICKET CRICKET.....so where are all these tech savvy truckers at?

Exceptions prove the rule.

 

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...news/261518-abc-20-20-did-story-trucking.html

You're new here aren't you?

 

Exactly most "social truckers" only audience is other truckers or soon to be/wannabe truckers. They are awful at appealing and/or reaching out to anyone outside of that very microscopic bubble, the fact that the 20/20 story even broke was a miracle seeing how terrible truckers are at properly utilizing social media.

 

Tech savy and writing a successful blog are too totally different skill sets. Or are you eaquating tech savy to knowing how to use different forms of social media?

Either way, I think you aren't giving enough credit to the existing driver pool. Not saying that there aren't drivers out there that wouldn't know what to do with a laptop and WiFi signal besides Netflix and p0rn.

Social media is a two way street though. Ever hear of the driver who was a vlogger and his company saw a video he posted of himself driving and giving a running commentary and he blatantly runs a stop sign? Company dismissed him no questions asked.

To be clear, I'm not arguing that social media isn't a powerful tool that can be useful to us, the driving force. I'm saying it's not the "I win button" that people think it is.

 

And we'll have to disagree about that. They're aware of social media. Now, they may not necessarily know how to use it to full effect, sure, and some may not know how to use it with discretion to protect themselves (e.g., the driver in the Tracy Morgan crash), but they're not unaware of it. Rest assured, they know what's being said about them. Even if that did hold true, know what they do know? The industry. The game. How to control the board. What does a tech savvy 21 year-old coming into this industry have by comparison? Nothing.

Do you know why Fox News, MSNBC, et. al don't do such stories? It's really quite simple... the general public doesn't give two ##### about you or the industry. You tweet with congressmen and state senators? And...? Has that accomplished anything for you? You're saying this, you're saying that, where's the effect?
Things spread when people aren't apathetic to it. Ferguson... most everyone had an opinion about it one way or another. Trucking? They don't care. You drive off the side of a cliff, expect perhaps a few comments about, "oh, that ####### truck driver", perhaps a couple who'll say, "prayers" in order to make themselves feel like they're doing something without having to do something, and that's about it. Who'll pay heed to your tweets? Maybe the trucking community. Perhaps Joe General Public will respond with, "oh, that sucks" during the commercial break before going right back to the game and their six pack and subsequently forgetting whatever it was they replied to.
The people who changed the trucking industry - whether we're talking about people like Jimmy Hoffa or whether we're talking about the people who started these bottom feeder carriers - they accomplished what they did because they did something the typical keyboard crusader isn't willing to do - leg work. They didn't sit back and expect a media source to pull all their weight for them. So don't be surprised when your tweets, posts on Facebook, posts on Tumblr, etc. don't bring the tidal wave you're expecting it to. Social media has power - I won't deny that - but it's not a magic miracle drug.