What the Trucking Industry Would Rather The Motoring Public Did Not Know...

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If you don't think that the trucking industry has anything to do with your life, think again.  The Number #1 killer of Americans is the traffic crash.  While truck drivers have shown an exemplary record in regards to crashes, the statistics say that if you are involved with a truck in a crash, 98% of the time, the automobile driver is the one who is killed. 

General State of Condition

Conditions in the trucking industry have been on a downhill slide for some time.  Many believe that we have finally hit rock bottom.  Others believe the worst is yet to come.  Nearly everyone agrees that things are bad and continuing to deteriorate.

This has an effect on every American, in one way or another.  You are sharing the road with many professional and safety conscious truck drivers.  Unfortunately, you must share this same road with drivers who are exhausted, overworked and/or poorly trained.  The incredibly high rate of turnover in the industry virtually ensures that at the very least, the roads have a great many inexperienced truck drivers.  As these same drivers obtain the experience and knowledge that makes them better and safer, they grow bitter and leave.

Turnover is often blamed on the fickleness of the stereotypical truck driver.  The industry simply does not want to deal with the underlying issues and problems because they have a possibly devastating financial risk.  Carriers truly are in a Catch 22 situation, however.  They fear losing customers if they become too "demanding" by insisting on better conditions for drivers from shippers and receivers.  This is a valid fear.  Shippers will take their business elsewhere.  Shippers have been in the driver's seat (though unfortunately, never literally) for a long time.  They have enjoyed low freight rates for many years.  They have benefited tremendously from carriers who have cut each other's rates to practically nothing. 

On this "practically nothing" profit margin, carriers try to operate their businesses and pay their drivers.  Many have failed and many more will.  Some say that "only the strong survive".  Closer to truth would be "only the cutthroats survive".

The driver cannot depend upon the carrier, his employer, to do what is in his best interest. 

Hats Off to the Media

The media, more often than not, gleefully dramatizes truck crashes with bold headlines.  Drivers are portrayed as evil, greedy road hogs.  This type of irresponsible reporting only serves to widen the gap of ignorance and misunderstanding between cars and trucks.

CDL Testing

Not all drivers are professionals.  Every industry has a certain number of "bad apples" and trucking is no exception.  Tightening of CDL testing and requirements is desperately needed.

Obtaining a CDL is not a difficult process.  It does require some study and training, but too little.  It is not even required that a driver prove he or she can speak English.  (The rules state that the driver must be able to communicate in English, but there is no enforcement.  In fact, not too long ago a driver sued when he was cited in Florida for not being able to communicate in English.  He won.)  CDL written tests are available in most states in other languages.  There is no testing on Hours of Service rules (known far and wide as the "logbook.")  A driver must learn these skills from the company he/she goes to work for or from the school he/she attended.  There is no testing on one of the most basic of a truck driver's duties:  coupling the tractor and trailer.  When done improperly, this can result in catastrophe, yet a driver is not physically tested on their knowledge and ability to complete this task.  These are just a couple of the weaknesses in the testing system.  There are many more.

While we definitely need to pay attention to the "bad apples" among us, it is far more crucial that we pay even more attention to the seeds from which they've sprouted.

Truck Driver Training

Truck driver training is BIG business -- almost an industry of it's own.  Courses vary in length from only days to weeks or months.  Costs vary just as greatly.  The most reasonably priced programs tend to be found through community colleges, while some private schools charge as much as $8500.00.  This is exploitation and it is perfectly legal.  There are no requirements, laws or rules.  A driving school can teach, or not teach, anything they want to, in any method they choose.  In some states, the same school can even administer the CDL testing.  These third party testers have received a lot of attention as of late due to widespread corruption.  Even the DOT itself has shown a propensity towards corruption in several well publicized "CDL for sale" scams in Illinois, Florida and Pennsylvania.  Just type "CDL Scandal" into your favorite search engine - the results should shock you.

Because there are no required standards on which a school must base their training programs, many have set them up to cover only what they absolutely must in order for the student to obtain a CDL.  As mentioned previously, the CDL standards are low, so these training programs are inexcusably weak.  Unfortunately, there are carriers who will accept these students and this type of training program flourishes. 

The New Millennium Slave

Drivers are putting in an incredible number of hours, though not necessarily behind the wheel.  It is not uncommon that entire days are wasted by the time taken to load and unload.  OTR drivers are not paid for this time.  At 5:00 PM, when the workday is done for many workers, the driver, quite often, has not made any income yet.  Some anti-trucker groups merrily point out that greedy drivers lie in their logbooks about all of this dock time so they can make that extra buck by squeezing in another mile.  All of the pressure to "do the right thing" is placed squarely on the driver's back and the finger of blame pointed directly in his face.

In their pure ignorance they fail to understand and acknowledge that the pressure to cheat comes from the very top.

Interested in learning more? 

"Sweatshops On Wheels," Winners & Losers in Trucking Deregulation by Michael H. Belzer

Click here for book description (.pdf format)

"And Lord Let It Be Palletized"  (.pdf format)

CDL Mills  Where the corruption starts...

To The Motoring Public: What You Should Know, Page Two>>