Sunday, August 29, 2010

The U.S. Government vs The American Trucker

The following article is a re-post of my (probable) final post to Trucks * Truckers * Trucking
Writing for the Masses in not closing down.
**********

For the first 15 years of my trucking career I fought hard to improve the system. I wrote more letters to government officials than I care to remember. I bitched and complained to everyone I knew, and to a lot of people I did not know. Some transportation magazines were viewing my letter writing as regular contributions to their magazines. But, all of that work went for little gain for the men and women on the front lines. In the last 20 years I stopped trying to change things. I stopped yelling, screaming, bitching, complaining, and letter writing. I kept the driver's door shut. I rolled the windows up. I turned the c.b. off. I turned the a.m. on. And, I drove. And, I accomplished just as much change.


What I am trying to say is that there is only one way to change this industry. Letters from drivers won't do it. Shut downs won't do it. An occasional deadly crash on the highway won't do it. A thousand new rest areas, and 500 new fuel stops won't change a thing. By the time anything is done by a government entity you will find that it was done 20 years too late. Those are not idiots in Washington, but they are deaf mutes. If you want to change this industry you will have to tell the truth about this industry to prospective drivers. Convince them not to enter the industry. You will have to leave this industry. And, when there is nobody left to deliver the toilet paper to wipe their butts you will find that the ears will come unplugged. And, changes will be made.


This site (Trucks * Truckers * Trucking) is essentially null and void. For now it will not be deleted, and there may be an occassional post. And, in the future I may have the desire to work with the site again. I am a retired 35 year veteran of the trucking industry. I have started a new life. And, while I still enjoy photographing trucks I have no desire to write about the industry. I am, however, currently working on fictional characters, some of which are truckers, to be used in fictional stories that I have planned or am working on. But, I have fought the rules and regulations for 35 years. For now, the only reference I wish to make about government regulations of truckers, and all of the other crap truckers have to deal with, - well, that will be done in my stories.


Thanks for your visits to this blog.

No comments:

Post a Comment