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Dan Rather Reports: Truck Talk
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Dan Rather took on another show about trucking this week on his HDNet “Dan Rather Reports” program. Since the twenty-minutes he did on truck driver training last month, exposing the sad issue of CDL training with Desiree Wood and Tom Hansen created such a buzz, Rather provided an encore show. The episode, a full hour, featured a panel of ‘experts’ down at Willie’s Place – the infamous former Carl’s Corner Truck Stop near Hillsboro Texas. And, they were true experts, including Werner Enterprises Chief Operating Officer Derek Leathers; longtime trucker and driver trainer Tim Dean from Werner, OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, Lifetime OOIDA member and trucker Miles Verhoef and Michael Belzer: former trucker, economist, assistant professor at Wayne State University and author of “Sweatshop on Wheels.” In the audience were Allen Smith, owner of Ask The Trucker website and Desiree Wood, along with a goodly assortment of truckers just passing through. In preparation, Rather also spoke with Bill Mack, aka The Midnight Cowboy, who has broadcast a trucking show for many, many years.
Rather first took the audience on a tour of famed Carl’s Corners with Carl Cornelius, the original owner who founded a town at the site to qualify for a liquor license. Carl alluded to the truck stop’s past glory with hot tubs, swimming pool and a ‘dancing pole’ with dancing girls. It was obvious Rather got quite a chuckle out of that bit of ancient history and Carl’s stories of losing the truck stop to his old pal Willie Nelson in many a card game. But the launch of BioWillie bio diesel and Willie’s new concert venue has given the old dusty lot a new life and new fame for a new generation of truck drivers. The stage at Willie’s Place provided an excellent place to film what is likely a historic forum: for the first time, experts, drivers and carriers got together to talk more or less frankly about the problems in the industry. And the issues are quite an eye-opener to a public unfamiliar with the business of trucking.
Rather began the discussion with a recap of the Queen of The Road segment he did previously with Desiree and Tom. And he made it clear that the American Trucking Association had been invited to appear. He also made it very clear that they had backed out at the last minute because, they said, Desiree would be there. Even though Rather promised them they could have twenty full minutes to get their story out, the ATA retreated behind their lawyers and ‘righteous indignation’ over the supposed unfair treatment of carriers in the Queen of The Road. Derek Leathers, on the other hand, said that they at Werner had decided to appear and answer the questions forthrightly instead of leaving things to conjecture. To his surprise, I imagine, no one treated him badly or badgered him and all were respectful to each other’s viewpoints. Most drivers truly do understand some of the stresses on carriers in this volatile economy: they just wish carriers would try to solve them a little more fairly where driver are concerned.
Spencer, Belzer and Verhoef all expressed agreement with the problems in the truck driver training aspect of the industry. Todd Spencer reminded the group that the predecessor of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association had been court-ordered to formulate truck driver training criteria in 1991 and yet it had never been done. Michal Belzer explained some of the historic background of the economics of trucking and also volunteered that bringing Mexican trucks into the United States on an unlimited basis could lower truckers already-low wages by at least a third. There was discussion of the economics of trucking in terms of both the current recession and other issues. Nearly all issues were touched on and the need for more programs to explore these issues was obvious.
Much good information was shared. Rather was well-prepared and asked excellent questions of the participants. He also called on Allen Smith from the floor, who talked about the hundreds of emails he has gotten from new drivers expressing shock and dismay over conditions encountered in training and on the road. No one was particularly shocked by anything said during the forum except, perhaps Dan Rather. And, he made it a point to talk about how safe the industry is as a whole.
Nothing was solved, of course. But the mere fact the conversation took place at all is a milestone in this industry. Rather promised he would be exploring the issues of trucking more fully in the future so we can hope for more shows and more public exposure to the serious issues facing the trucking industry. And, I’m getting the feeling that Dan Rather is beginning to enjoy this foray into the wild underworld, as so many think of trucking. It truly is a fascinating industry once you begin looking at it.
I think we need to give a round of applause to the people who tossed this ball to Rather in the first place. We should be thanking Allen Smith, who gave a voice to Trucker Desiree and to OOIDA – the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association. All three gave voice to the concerns of trucking in a way that piqued Rather’s interest and got the ball rolling. However, it’s up to us to KEEP it rolling. As long as the interest is there, we need to be emailing the show and telling them we appreciate their programs and want to see more. You can reach them here. And, now that we’re working together, lets keep working together. For once, we have a forum that the large carriers aren’t calling the shots on. Lets not screw it up by getting territorial, huh, guys?
You can watch the latest Dan Rather Reports show on bliptv here. And, if you’re interested in the series I did last month on the first show and some of the industry’s almost insurmountable problems, you can find it here, here, here, here and here.
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