| June
23rd, 2008.
At this time I have taken down some of the feedback links on the
pages here at TDU. While the current skyrocketing fuel
prices are a serious matter, they seem to be the only issue many
Truckers are interested in talking about.
While the cost of fuel IS one
of the most important issues facing our country today, I have
tried to make it clear that there are other issues still facing
the American Trucker that needs to be addressed, especially the
Company Drivers that AREN'T paying for the fuel for their
trucks.
Yes, higher diesel prices
mean higher retail prices, but it is absurd for the Owner
Operators in this country to expect the Company Drivers to risk
their jobs, join together, rally, or shut down without
addressing some of the other issues that will benefit the
Company Driver. I have seen a LOT of focus on the
Independent Owner Operators that are losing their trucks, and I
am NOT trying to take any focus off of that fact, but I have
also seen a LOT of Company Drivers that are running 10, 12, 15
weeks and longer and are still getting notices from the mortgage
company because the current cost of living is exceeding their
income, and they are falling behind in their payments.
OOs are losing their
trucks, and their companies. Small and even large trucking
companies are shutting their doors and their drivers are losing
their jobs. Company drivers are losing their homes. People
that aren't even in the trucking industry are losing their jobs,
and people are working extra hours just to pay for the gas to
get back and forth to work. This is insanity, and instead
of hearing drivers talking on the C.B. about how they can start
working together to try and help one another, they're calling
each other names, cussing each other out, arguing about whether
or not one driver turned on his signal before changing lanes,
and blaming each other in general for the problems we are all
facing. OOs are blaming Company Drivers for their
problems, Company Drivers are blaming OOs for hauling cheap
freight. Everyone is quick to point the finger of blame at
someone else, but slow to quit whining and crying and trying to
find solutions to the problem.
I applaud the Company Truck
Driver that did shut down in April, and the ones that have
joined the rallies and protests, but I also cannot say I blame
the ones that didn't get involved. Why should they?
No one is shutting down for the things that will help them.
In our protests, have we asked that there be a minimum wage for
Company Drivers, whether it be for the miles they run, detention
at the docks, or layover? Have the Company Drivers even
bothered to try and work together to bring about these changes
on their own? Did the OOs join together a year ago and
start discussing how they could work together when there were
clear signs of an economic depression on the horizon. No.
No one had the time or the desire to work together when they
weren't in a panic, so Trucker, maybe the next time you want to
point the finger of blame at someone, take a long hard look in
the mirror.
Of course, I also want to
say that I BLAME BOTH the Owner Operators and the Company
Drivers for ignoring all of the other issues and problems that
have faced our industry for so many years because they have
stood back and let it happen.
Lastly, even
though I have tried to get Truckers to organize for years now, I
have to blame MYSELF as well for not finding some way to
accomplish that task. Sometimes I was just too tired to
fight, and other times I had been kicked off of one too many
customer's property for fighting back to continue to take the
risk and try to stand up to another one.
When times were good, and
everyone was making a profit, no one wanted to look beyond the
end of their hood and start working together when we had the
chance.
Now, everyone is running
scared because of fuel prices. What happens if fuel prices
do come down? Do we all turn our backs on the future again
and just run as long and hard as we can trying to make a buck
before it happens again?
You know, when I started
TDU I was sitting in a truck stop in Laredo TX. Everyone
was complaining about the problems in the industry on the C.B.,
and someone suggested we start a website. I agreed to start the
site, and did so on the spot using another Drivers laptop, and
told everyone else that it was up to them to start spreading the
word and getting other drivers involved.
OK Drivers, Truck Drivers
United has been up since August of 2007. I did my part,
now it's time for you to do yours.
I'm not going to try to
start a nationwide organization any longer, I don't have the
time, money, or the resources. I'll keep TDU up and keep
the pages up with the issues posted that Drivers told me they
wanted changed, but it's time to for the Truckers in this
country to start doing more than running their mouths. I'm
not even going to try to create a place for Drivers to
communicate. There's a forum you can use for that now, so
use it.
If you want to join
together, then GET STARTED. Start talking to other Drivers
in your company, at the truck stops, at the docks, and
everywhere else. Quit whining, crying and arguing with
each other and start working together, forming small groups in
your company or in your area, and start working together to get
some of the changes made you want made in this industry!
As for me, I'll support you
all the way, just as I have every day I've been on the road, but
I'm not going to try and start an organization where people have
to pay membership fees, and obviously I can't do what needs to
be done with money from my own pocket.
As far as future shutdowns,
strikes, rallies, protests, or anything else. If YOU, the
American Truck Driver can quit arguing with one another for
once and work together to get the rest of the Drivers in this
country to stand with you, and you shutdown for intelligent
reasons that will have a positive effect on every aspect of the
trucking industry, then I will join with you in a heartbeat.
BUT, if you want to shut
down, rally, or protest next month because fuel is too high, then the month after
that because diesel tax is too high, then the month after that
because broker fees are too much, then the month after that
because fright rates are too low.... FORGET IT! Get
together, get a list of ALL the changes you want, then set a
date for a shutdown far enough in the future to get the word out
to every Truck Driver there is across this country.
It should be easy by then,
because you should have already started forming the
organizations within your company and in your area, so you
should be communicating with one another on a regular basis.
Start looking beyond the
end of your hood and look at the big picture. Start
communicating, get organized, decide what you want to change and
what you don't want to change, then talk to me about shutting
down with you again.
Hopefully, I'll still be
driving by then.. or at least still be alive.
Good Luck to all of you.
NOTE: If you are offended by
this, there is a challenge to any and all drivers that want to
go at it verbally with me about this on the forum. You can
find the challenge by
Clicking Here |
