January
2012
"STORIES"

Merry Christmas everyone! Can you believe we are already at the point of facing another new year? It has flown by even more quickly than I can comprehend. We have had a year jam packed full of things both within and outside of our industry, so many changes and proposed changes to our way of life, it's hard to keep up!

As of this writing the hours of service proposals have been turned over by FMCSA to the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) for their review and approval. We have no idea as yet just what kind of changes are in store for us, but we are apprehensive because they most certainly will be the subject of further litigation. I cannot bring myself to hope too strongly that someone in the bureaucratic machine has actually come up with solutions that will be helpful from our point of view. Historically, common sense doesn't play much of a role in those types of decisions.

More regulations are being proposed or 'suggested' that will supposedly lower instances of distracted driving by us, although we are NOT the cause of most crashes resulting from distracted drivers, (in fact we are all too often the victims). We are just the only aspect of the motoring public that are, and can be regulated by the federal government.

Because we fall under federal jurisdiction, more and more legislation limiting and controlling our activities is being proposed. We have got to be the largest, most heavily regulated de-regulated industry in our nation.

I am concerned for our collective future, the future of our entire industry. We continue to have rules heaped upon us at an ever increasingly alarming rate, so much so that I am afraid that anyone who is seriously considering a future within our industry may step back, take a look around and decide NOT to begin a career with us.

There is very little attraction these days for entry-level personnel within this industry. We need to change that somehow; we need to show young people that there is a future here, a good future with lots of opportunities for anyone who is willing to work hard.

Somehow we need to make trucking an attractive option for the upcoming generations. We need to have pride once again in what we do and we need to show it. We need to be the most courteous people on the highway, along with being the safest. We need to show the public that we are the good guys out on America's roads so that we may, by example, encourage others to pursue our choice of occupation. We NEED more professional drivers and that need is going to continue to increase as our economy improves. Until now I haven’t bought into the whole 'driver shortage' theory but as time passes, it is becoming increasingly more clear to me that it is a real danger.

We need quality people to continue where we leave off, whole generations of us are beginning to retire and we have seats to fill.  America needs trucks to move our nation; we rely heavily on trucks to move our economy as well as our freight.

I do not have the answers as to how we will accomplish this goal, but I would like to challenge each and every one of you out there to take it into consideration, give it some thought. We need to look forward and somehow help lay the groundwork for the future. We all need to be a part of the solution and by so doing help encourage others to do the same.

Take the first step by just being courteous, be kind to each other, and make this industry a place others want to be.

Have a safe and Blessed Christmas and New Year, and 'til next month, y'all be safe out there! God Bless!