When most people think of the transportation industry, they don’t think of it as being a minority with the need for advocacy. Our transportation system is a minority. Our transportation system is in need of advocacy. Tractor-trailers make up only 1% of all the vehicles on the road according to the Department of Transportation. Being the minority makes truck drivers and trucking companies an easy target for the other 99% and thus makes a great political target to attack and regulate. More regulation does not make for better safety on the roads.
The differences between how cars are treated and tractor-trailers are treated are numerous. To mention just a few, trucking companies and truck drivers are limited to driving 11 hours per day. They inspect and sign a written inspection of their vehicle each day before they start driving. Truck drivers keep a log of every state line they cross and register and pay in each state in which they drive their vehicle. They take regular drug and alcohol tests and have regular physical examinations from doctors. They are required to have $750,000 liability insurance compared to $50,000 liability for cars. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a truck driver shaving or putting on makeup while driving. Think of how much safer the roads would be if the other 99% of vehicles, which is approximately 253 million according to the DOT, were not doing their “unregulated” driving.
Everyone is talking about trucking companies and truck drivers causing congestion, poor air quality, damaging the roads, and not paying their fair share. Because trucking companies and truck drivers only make up 1% they are an easy target for the 99% that don’t want to change themselves. As a whole, trucking companies and truck drivers are not given a second thought for what they do for everyone in America each and every day. Without trucking companies and truck drivers, Americans would have no food to eat, no gas at the pumps, no mail service, no home package deliveries, no clothes in stores. The list could continue for practically every item in North America.
America’s transportation system is one of the most advanced, coordinated, and regulated networks in the entire world. Advocacy is about trying to put things into perspective for our legislators and every automobile driving American. Trucking companies and truck drivers work diligently every single day to deliver goods and services safely and timely so that they can return home safe and sound to their families. Even with all the issues and challenges the transportation industry faces, it is still one of the greatest systems in the world thanks to the hard work and safe driving of our truck drivers.