Struck Truck

For the last two years Meredith Ochs and I have hosted a daily 3-hour talk show - Freewheelin' - on Sirius Satellite Radio's Road Dog channel 147. We just returned from MATS - the Mid-America Trucking Show - in Louisville, Kentucky where anyone who's anyone in the trucking industry displays their new wares or peddles their services. Before getting the gig on Sirius I never truly considered all that trucking means to this country. I've always enjoyed truck driving songs (the more maudlin the better), I'm old enough to remember the C.B. craze and can name just about every truck driving movie ever made: but pondering the importance of the American Truck Driver in the grand scheme of things is not an activity in which I ever engaged. My eyes have been opened.

Most four-wheelers (those folks in cars) view trucks as a hindrance on the highway and stereotype truck drives as a bunch of lard-ass rednecks with little or no brains. These people speed home from a store bitching about that 18-wheeler in their way and never make the connection between the stuff in their shopping bags and the cargo in that truck. As the saying goes, "If you bought it, a truck brought it." These same myopic four-wheelers don't realize there are women truckers, gay truckers, trans-gendered truckers, African-American truckers, Latino truckers, etc., etc. Nor do they understand there are company drivers and independent owner-operators, those who are over-the-road (OTR), moving loads long distances, never knowing where they might go next - and those who run dedicated routes. On Freewheelin' we've heard from 4th and 5th generation drivers whose great-grandfathers ran mule teams and who say "Trucking's in my blood..." and we've also gotten calls from former "corporate pukes" who gave up their desk jockey jobs so they could get out on the road, see some of the country and enjoy a little freedom.

But perhaps what the average four-wheeler understands least is just how fed up most truckers are. With the price of a gallon of diesel now over $4.00 in most states, tolls and highway taxes ticking ever upwards and the price of truck insurance skyrocketing, independent owner-operators are working on razor-thin margins with many claiming they'll soon be out of business. These are small business owners, the very people our current administration claims are the "backbone" of our economy. They feel betrayed by a country to which they've sacrificed so much, including any semblance of a family life. Even company drivers for whom operating costs are not an issue feel as if they get little or no respect on the road.

Truckers see the bail-out of Bear Stearns, wonder "What about us?" and begin - once again - to talk about striking. Or shutting their trucks off for a day or taking a "vacation", since a strike would be declared illegal. Legal or not, the strike chatter has reached a fever pitch, with some drivers creating websites like truckers4change.com to carry their message and test the waters. In the last few weeks there have been stories all over the web, in print and on TV and radio, including this article by Barb Ickes in the Quad City Times  as well as a report on KTKA-TV about a strike set for April 1 (or perhaps it's April 3 or some other day in the next month or two). Two recent documentaries - Alligator on the Zipper and Big Rig - also shine a light on how hard it is to be a trucker these days.

Will a strike actually happen? And - if it does - will anyone notice or care? There was a trucker strike in Italy recently and it did bring similar issues to light and force the government to take those issues seriously. Can it work here? Only if the independent owner-operators who take part are joined in significant numbers by their company driver brethren. Otherwise, the numbers would be too small to make an impact. The trade organization OOIDA (Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association) has taken the position that a strike would be at best unwise, at worst criminal. The Teamsters haven't released any statements about a possible strike. And no one has mentioned - as far as I can tell - that a strike was attempted about four months back, to no avail. But tomorrow is April 1st and if there is a nationwide trucker strike (shutdown, stoppage, vacation, etc.) it will not be a joke. This country will come to a standstill.

Comments

[Peter B]

First, I am not going to insult everyone and claim the Democratic party has all the answers, but I will say every trucker that votes republican is slashing their own tires. Gas was a buck and a half per gallon when Bush, an oil man, was appointed president. The GOP philosophy is, "Financial aid begins at the top."
So, until I hear that the stereotype of a trucker is a progressive, I have little sympathy for them. I am getting screwed, too, but at least I know who the enemy is.

[Chris T.]

Actually, Peter, I was shocked to find that many trucks DO hold progressive views and absolutely HATE Bush and his cronies. They do know who the enemy is...

[Jeffersonic]

Here's hoping they take a week off. Might as well make a big statement. The greater majority of people are losing their value within the system anyway. What's going to be left besides wage slavery and limited choices?

[David Lynch]

I do think people have a false picture of truckers. The Republican party likes to portray themselves as the party of the "common, working American", but it's just not necessarily true. I mean, trucking is still one of the most unionized jobs in America- how Republican is _that_, I ask you? Honestly I blame the Democratic party for a lot of this- every four years they run ads featuring Ivy League looking and sounding dudes standing around in front of steel mills and talking unconvincingly about how much they care about the "common man", and that's the extent of it. The Democrats are the party that lets everybody think Toby Keith is a spokesman for the Republican party. He's not. He's a Democrat. Yet most Democrats dismiss his stuff as stupid and jingoistic. Like nobody here ever wanted to put a boot in Osama Bin Laden's ass.

I don't know if a strike will help or hurt at this point. The unions have become so weak since Reagan and the air traffic controllers. Despite their long history of corruption, I think unions still have a strong role to play in the history of the American worker, and I'd like to see them become strong again. Most non-union Americans (which is by this point most Americans) believe the unions to be either Communists or some kind of Mafia front, so honestly a strike could easily backfire.

[Dale Hazelton]

With diesel at $4.39 a gallon at my local Sunoco, these guys should be all parked outside the White House and laying on the airhorn. Our fearless leader doesn't give a crap though, he'll continue to reap oil company stock dividends, then go to his consultancy job in Dubai when his term is over. The government NEVER should have dismantled the frieght rail system in the 70s. Trains move more goods at a cheaper overall price, but the infrastructure is falling apart. On a happy note, I've heard gay trucker pick up conversations on the CB. You learn something everyday. "Hello, Shirley? This is Squirrelly!"

[Peter from Seattle]

Do people really not make the connection between the goods they buy and the trucks that deliver them? Who are these people and why are they so stupid? Seriously, I don't get it. This is the same argument I hear from other "salt of the earth" types like garbage men and farmers. "People think that meat comes pre-packaged and shrink-wrapped! They don't know where their food comes from!"

Really? I'm guessing that most people could make the cognitive leap that meat comes from animals, gets cut-up and packaged, put onto a truck and delivered to a store. You know what kinds of things people really don't understand? Rocket science. If I was asked to do what farmers or truckers do on a daily basis, with no prior experience, I'm betting that I could at least keep 1 animal alive long enough to slaughter, cut-up and deliver to Safeway. It may not be as pretty as the professionals do it, but I could get it done. Ask me to do that same thing for NASA and there is no way in hell we're getting to the moon.

It's delusional to think that all Americans assume that electronics are made on site at Best Buy. Redonculous even. Truckers are important, but it is only marginally above a McJob, and if they don't like something about it...get another job.

[Dale Hazelton]

Peter, agreed that being a trucker doesn't require a masters degree, and as I said above, our govt. f*cked up bigtime when it caved in to the Teamsters union in the 60s and 70s. But driving a big ass truck, dealing with regulations, buying your own fuel and tires, getting trucks washed before they're allowed into certain city limits, insurance, etc is NOT akin to a food service job.

[Chris T.]

>Truckers are important, but it is only marginally above a McJob, and if they don't like something about it...get another job.

Dear Peter:

Wow, - what can I say? You just don't get it. Truckers are professionals, not unskilled labor. When I'm sharing the road with big rigs I'm grateful those drivers know what they're doing and would rather run into a ditch than run over you in your Honda.

Personally, I think garbage men, farmers and truckers are more important to most people's lives than rocket scientists or anyone at NASA. Among other things, NASA uses public dollars (your taxes) for research & development of patents that are then funneled to private corporations who profit from the technology we helped develop. I don't remember ever getting a royalty check from NASA. And while it's certainly important to get to the moon, I like my fresh produce delivered to a convenient market and my garbage hauled away when necessary.

If you could, help me to understand your animosity toward "salt of the earth types" because I just don't get it.

All best,

[Dale Hazelton]

Here's a fun, quick read about trucking in Europe and the US:

http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Miles-Nowhere-Trucking-Continents/dp/0865474893

Not a great book, but it's pretty cool to see how the truckers in Europe have to deal with bribing border officials, stolen loads in Russia, etc.

And Chris, I personally wouldn't want to live in a world without teflon. Alzheimers be damned.

[Trucking Dude]

The truckers are having a bad image with the small vehicles on the road. Others see truckers as aliens who lost their way and landed on the roads. This is a misconception which have to be changed. Because of the truckers only they are able to get their food and other necessary commodities in time at their nearby shops.

[Allan in Indiana]

Chris T. - I can't believe I am just now finding this! Nice job!

Regarding Peter's post - this is the kind of ignorance we deal with on a daily basis. You put it very well, "Peter, you just don't get it".

BTW - I bet he couldn't drive from Milwaukee to South Bend w/ a 53'er and make it alive, in one piece with the rubber side down, much less keep a chicken alive. I'll even give him the $50 for the tolls on 294 or the CHI Skyway!

Peace brotha! Keep up the good fight - we 'ppreciate it!

-Allan in IN

[Trucking Tutor]

Truckers have an important part in the business scenario. Because of the 18 wheelers only the transportation of goods are taking place smoothly and people are able to get those needed goods and items in the nearby shops.

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