Posts Tagged ‘American Trucking Association’

Women have proved to be reliable and efficient truck drivers, but recruiting, training and retaining them effectively in the trucking industry offers unique challenges. During the recession, when loads were scarce and the driver shortage mostly vanished, carriers had little reason to rework their employment process in a way that would speak to woman drivers.

Now, however, trucking insiders predict a massive shortage of drivers in the wake of the federal government’s new Compliance, Safety, Accountability safety-measurement program, which is expected to oust low-scoring drivers from the employment pool. That means higher-scoring woman truckers and women interested in becoming truckers will find themselves popular with carrier employment recruiters, who need to do their homework and find out what makes a female job candidate choose one carrier over another.

Women drivers are recruited by some carriers at levels exceeding 25%, but currently comprise only 5% to 6% of the driving population. Unfortunately, few woman drivers are able to withstand the manner in which their training is conducted — and those who do realize quickly that the recruiters played up the romance of the open road and glossed over some significant drawbacks for women.

I believe it is time to fully address these things so the trucking industry can move forward, and my first piece of advice for recruiting women is: “GET REAL.”

This is not a “pedicure and nylons” profession, and the female counterpart to the fabled “Knights of the Road” is not “Truck-Driving Barbie.” Explain the hardships inherent in navigating 80,000 pounds of metal through congested traffic, the danger of sleeping in the cab at unpoliced truck stops, and the sheer inconvenience of not being able to shower every day. Downplaying those things increases driver turnover when the truth hits home.

That is not to say that Pretty Girls cannot drive a big rigs, but trucking is still very much like the wild west & the unsupervised nature of the work presents personal safety issues that must not be glossed over.

Potential and new-to-the-profession women truck drivers need to be able to seek advice from other women in their company, and that support also should be available on an industry level. Perhaps American Trucking Associations and/or individual state trucking associations could provide professional support and information systems for female drivers and direct them to carriers in their area with good track records for recruiting and retaining women drivers.

A vital part of retention is understanding women drivers’ needs and remembering that it’s most often a single woman, not her married counterpart, embarking on a truck-driving career. Things important to a single woman driver differ from those of single male, married male and married/significant-other team drivers. Often as not, a single woman driver not only manages her truck from the driver’s seat, but her household as well — particularly if she’s also a single mother.
Unlike a married man driving solo, a single woman trucker generally lacks a support system at home a phone call away. Indeed, many times she is the entire support system for her family while she is on the road. An employer who wants to retain her services as a driver must understand that she needs to be more flexible when taking home time and might even want to take it at different locations in order to visit grown children, grandchildren or to deal with elderly parents.

Training also is critical for retaining women drivers and should begin prior to the classroom with recruiters giving female recruits an accurate depiction of all aspects of a life in trucking, ensuring that only informed and truly interested women enter training.

Because truck driving is still a mostly male profession, trainers tend to use techniques designed for men. As more women enter training, trainers need to incorporate the cultural lessons of the 1992 bestseller “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” While women do need the same driving and compliance training provided their male counterparts, they also need gender-specific training on the personal challenges and dangers inherent in life on the road.

For example, being women means we are far more susceptible than men to personal attacks. Carrier trainers need to discuss and address these dangers head on, instead of avoiding the subject because it’s “sensitive.” Night parking in well-lit areas, companion dining where possible, locked cabs at all times and emergency response training all should be a required part of classroom training.

Carriers also must establish supportive policy to protect their women drivers. Unfortunately, the risk of attack for women is not confined to outside sources. I personally know women who were assaulted by male drivers who were their co-workers with the same carrier. This risk is particularly great in mixed-gender team situations. Some trainers & other authority figures will often “show up” at orientation centers to sort of “troll” for incoming single females who are vulnerable & looking for a friend. Incoming women entering trucking must educate themselves on how this can set them off on the wrong foot & derail their long term success as truck drivers.

A company must have a strict policy against sexual harassment that extends to any and all encounters with women drivers who are co-workers. An abuse reporting procedure also must be provided that is confidential, responsive and reacts quickly to investigate and resolve issues.

Too many female drivers are lost from the industry in the first year because of misleading recruiting, shallow training and carrier failure to address personal safety issues. That’s unfortunate because women truck drivers are usually meticulous, safe and take great pride in their work — and because truck driving can be a rewarding profession regardless of gender.

Women who stay in trucking do so because it provides a freedom most haven’t experienced before and an opportunity to take pride in a job that’s critical to our economy. Women can be a large part of the solution to the upcoming driver shortage if carriers are willing to adapt their recruiting and training programs to address our cultural and personal differences.

Until big trucking can free themselves of the denial that is hurting women entering trucking & “GET REAL” I have taken the initiative to utilize you tube for series of videos that use tough talk about real issues for those entering truck driver training. “Advice for Women entering Trucking” is just one of many more to come on this topic to keep women safe by educating them before they are harmed in truck driver training.

Technorati Tags: American Trucking Association, ATA, CDL Training, Harassment, Lady Truck Drivers, Recruiting, Retention, Sexual Harassment, Truckers, Trucking, Women Truckers, You Tube

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The Environmental Protection Agency partnership with the American Trucking Association for a “Greener” Tomorrow may look, … well “Green” to outsiders and paper pushers but how does it affects human beings?

Most people could care less about truckers whose job requires them to live without luxuries like daily showers and toilet facilities in order to provide comfort to everyone else. Think about that for a second.

What if you could not take a shower, use a toilet or wash your hands when you wanted to and you had to perform your job everyday in these conditions.

Not only that but you had to sleep in your car and you were not permitted to use the air-conditioner in the summer to sleep OR use your heater in the winter.

Remember Old Ebenezer Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol” interrogating poor Bob Cratchit for needing to stay warm as he toiled away at his desk?
Morals and Ethics sacrificed for profits and awards is what you find when you scrape past that façade of the ATA partnership with the Smart Way EPA Program, not solutions for the environment.

Would you feel you were a safe driver in these conditions? How would you feel after sleeping in your car when it is 90 degree outside? Imagine you will be expected to cover 500 or more miles the next day to deliver a load of childrens blow up swimming pools and they had better be on time!

Rhianna Weir , writer for the Madison, Wisconsin trucking examiner wrote an article this week aimed at the non-trucking community that Saturday July 24, 2010 people take an hour out of their day to sit in their car, which is about the same area of space found inside the sleeper section of a semi truck. Challenging them to idle their car, SUV or pickup truck for no longer than five minutes and then try to relax for just one hour.

The first thing the non-trucking community needs to understand is that the American Trucking Association does not represent drivers; it represents carriers who are interested in profit not people. They are interested in media coverage to appear compliant and interested in formulating an image that seems genuinely concerned but these are strategies, anything that could affect profits by way of capital expenditures is not going to be embraced.

When public pressure gets turned up on safety issues a “partnership” will soon follow which helps control media creating a favorable image, a compliant and obedient image and this takes the spotlight off of the real issue.

In trucking when this happens it is the drivers who suffer because no one properly represents them and the nature of their job makes them unable to fight back.

Bill Hutson, a driver for 30 years and founder of a non-profit called Table Talk Ministries aptly puts it, “No matter how you squeeze a turnip a trucker pops out” and this seems to be the strategy of the ATA when they applaud themselves and the carriers they represent in their partnership with Smart Way Transport.

In this video from “Big Truck TV” it is clear that the ATA created this partnership for a very deliberate purpose but if you are an actual truck driver this video might make you vomit.

The truth is that some recipients of the Smart Way EPA award who are truck carriers represented by the ATA are able to reduce the idle emissions by inhumane and unsafe practices such as harassing drivers, charging drivers to idle but not providing solutions such as “Auxiliary Power Units” commonly referred to as APU’s .

These carriers are permitted to get way with saying “we are testing them” but they are not required to provide them despite rebates and other incentives like those which are funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The federal Department of Transportation regulations require 10 hours of rest for every 11 hours of driving. During these times, truck drivers often idle their engines to rest comfortably as would any other normal human being when they sleep.

Trucking idling laws fail to consider this and that many truckers are employees and do not have the option to buy expensive APU equipment and install them. Lease Owner-Operator truck drivers also generally have in their contract that they are not permitted to “alter” the trucks they are making payments on and this includes installing an APU. Smart Way EPA lets carriers receive awards who DO NOT provide solutions for employee drivers, this is unsafe & inhumane.

Performance scores are listed on the Smart Way Transport web site , a higher score or more favorable score would make a company more attractive to prospective shipper partners who care about environmental impacts and their own reputations but what if the carriers were reaching the score levels by inhumane means?

Smart Way encourages carriers to improve their score by adopting various fuel-efficiency and emission control technologies, policies, and strategies to their fleets but do they understand how these methods are practiced before they throw their annual shindig in Las Vegas, Nevada to hand out awards?

With so many states adopting new idle restrictions it seems that getting a photo opportunity accepting a Smart Way EPA award for a press release would be a trucking fleet President’s wet dream.

According to the SmartWay Transport web site, “A score of 1.25 represents outstanding environmental performance. These Carrier partners are already utilizing most of the commercially available fuel saving strategies and are actively evaluating the latest emerging technologies. Partners with scores of 1.25 are awarded the honor of displaying the SmartWay Transport Partner logo, EPA’s symbol for superior fuel efficiency and environmental performance.”

In practice, from a driver stand point, “fuel saving strategies” comes out of the drivers pocket. Being charged to idle or harassed for idling is one strategy used by some of the carriers who appear as award recipients on the Smart Way EPA website. Trucks drivers suffer with a fan if possible or pay for expensive motel rooms if they can find one that has truck parking, most do not and if you have a pet you are in really big trouble.

Now the first assumption is that if you have a pet in the truck you are exempt, that is not true in all states and if your company has idle restrictions they might still charge or penalize you for idling your truck. It is actually illegal in most states to have an animal in a hot vehicle but not illegal for an employer to do this to their employee. Also, driver’s do not have the option to put say $20.00 in the tank and use the receipt on their taxes for the fuel they burn in their company truck. Seems weird if fuel cost was all that mattered but even if the drivers were paying from their own pockets, the idle calculations still occur and maybe this affects qualifying to awards, just sayin..

Trucks drivers who are employees, which many fleets are on the Smart Way list are generally issued trucks to drive. It would make sense that if there was a limited amount with APU’s or bunk heaters, they would go to solo drivers who must park at night. Unfortunately it does not work that way. You can beg, plead, threaten, turn in hospital receipts from getting sick from trying to not idle and it will do you no good. More often than not you will be harassed verbally and over the Qualcomm about idling your truck with a complete disregard that the temperatures outside are so extreme that it would be unsafe to NOT idle your truck.

I suspect that measurement of idle time internally at trucking carriers may be linked to the SmartWay program so that they might qualify to be award recipients so let’s examine how this is being manipulated. I have copy and pasted and explanation from the website “The Rip Off Report” of how idling is calculated on each truck from “Baldy” of Pensacola, Florida.

He writes: “The onboard computer or “Qualcomm” measures engine running-time, speed-time (overspeed), and idle-time (among other things) and breaks this down into percentages. When it says that you are 30% over-idle, it means that 30% of the engine-running time was idle-time. Turning off the engine does not decrease the idle-time. It only keeps it from getting larger. The only way to lower the idle-time is to run more miles (run-time) than you sit idling (idle-time).

Example: If you cranked up your truck just after the weekly reset (mine was on Monday morning) and idled for 30 minutes without moving the truck, and then turned the truck off for the rest of the week, your idle-time for that week would be 100%. If you did that, and then ran down the road for 30 minutes before turning it off for the week, your idle-time for the week would be 50%.”

In a nutshell every second the engine is on it is calculating idle time against the tires rolling on the ground so even at a stop light the meter is running. If you are a solo driver running 5 or 6 days a week and you can drive 11 hours a day, you still have to remain parked and still a good deal of time.

Trucks have very little insulation, a fixable design flaw and like technology advancements like I brought up in “My Green Idle Idea“, the trucking industry does not embrace anything that costs money when they can find a way to make drivers pay for it.

The general public does not like truck drivers, they are afraid of them and they do not understand them so it’s perfect to pull this kind of crap because no one will bat an eye.

Fuel Saving Strategies noted by SmartWay should be understood to mean that a truck driver who is an employee or Owner-Operator who either is not provided a solution for idling or is forbidden to purchase an APU unit for their truck is actually paying for the carrier’s trip to Las Vegas to accept the SmartWay EPA Award. How do you like them Apples? The average paycheck per week being about $700 for driver in some companies I have heard as much as $300 has been charged to a driver from a single check. That’s a lesson most drivers do not want to experience twice.

A driver sitting with no load or during a rest period must idle in summer or winter or they can become sick, and most certainly will be operating the truck in an unsafe manner when they can roll again. Carriers who set idle policies do not take weather into account such as the case of the driver who posted about being charged to idle during a snowstorm and being told to buy more blankets even after becoming sick. Read Story Here

Some drivers report having their DAC reports ruined after complaining about being charged to idle or protesting idle policies. Citations given to drivers for idling in states who have adopted new laws are rarely paid for by carriers and with new CSA 2010 regulations drivers remain unclear how this will affect their records.

Until the general “Green” loving public can wrap their heads around how they are being bamboozled with “better air quality” campaigns that cover up safety shortfalls and inhumane practices against truck drivers this issue cannot be resolved.

Let the good times ROLL in Vegas for the SHAM called “The Smart Way Transport Partnership”
The slogan is accurate, “The Smart Way to save money, fuel and the environment” but here is the translation, “Save Money by Killling a Trucker, the Smart Way”.

Additional Reading:

Rhianna Weir Challenge
Preventing Truck Drivers from being Comfortable Underway Again
Smart Way Transport Partner List
Smart Way Award PDF
Fleet Owner – Smart Way names Excellence Award Winners
Rip Off Report Charging Employees to Idle
Smart Way Carrier Score Explanations

Technorati Tags: American Trucking Association, ATA, Environment, EPA, Idling, Smart Way Transport, Truckers, Trucking

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• Recruiting & Retaining Women as Truck Drivers (4)
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• Wild West Women (8)

The root core problem in truck driver training is irresponsible recruiting and predatory lending. We always come back to one word, GREED !

Greed over safety seems to be a recurrent theme over the past few months. The tragedy of the coal miners in West Virginia and the devastating BP Oil Spill that may very well impact generations to come.

Right under our complacent noses the federal government has been running an indentured servitude operation and it is called “The Truck Driver Shortage “.

Following the first Dan Rather Investigative Report into Truck Driver Training called “Queen of the Road” feeble remarks meant to imply a lack of credibility of the interview subjects were quickly published in an article by The Trucker inferring the persons interviewed were not credible and/or disgruntled. Perhaps before the advent of social media this would have done the trick to extinguish any glimmer of hope that the outside world might begin to take an interest to the issues that affect truck drivers.

Highway Safety pertains to everyone therefore revealing just how truck drivers are trained has been a secret the trucking industry had hoped to conceal.  Any responsible adult should be gravely concerned with this topic and be able to easily conclude that personal safety and highway safety are interwoven once you understand that in order to learn to drive a truck you must live cheek to cheek with a stranger.

For our non-trucking readers it is difficult to comprehend that the very trucking industry organizations that claims to exist in part to delve into advocacy for highway safety are perhaps the greatest foe to the American Driver. The American Trucking Association most definitely does not work on behalf of drivers but rather large carriers who push the scope of what humans can accomplish with a constant barrage of regulations, rules, intimidation tactics and retaliation while at the same time cultivating a public media persona.

This double faced organization is the epitome of all that has destroyed our nation. Corporate greed coupled with narcissistic arrogance that devours the American worker whose loyalty is no longer valued. At every echelon of this industry it is difficult to determine whether you are speaking to a saint or dealing with the devil. These organizations have mastered abuse like a parent that beats their child in private and dresses them in fine clothes for Sunday school that perfectly cover every contusion. There seems to be a never-ending stream of recruiting ads and phony social media sites to target truck drivers and prospective students painting a picture to portray drivers as having a safe, secure, and rewarding job, hiding the abusive and threatening tactics that are used against them as a means of manipulation and control.

The ATA is one of the most deceitful organizations I have ever come to learn of and I cannot imagine an organized crime family could have their meat hooks in any deeper to distort the truth about what their “business” is or consists of.  It was truly never my intention when I began writing my original student trucker story to discover these things but had it not been for an eager collaborator to the ATA , I would have never known.

Why would an organization put forth so much effort and continue with such tenacity, arrogance and sense of privilege to cover up and manipulate one person’s story?

The matter became so disturbing that it grew much greater than myself or the issue of women entering trucking but how this giant government funded monster was poised to prey on the most disenfranchised people it could get it tentacles on.  How many have been harmed simply because true stories were being manicured off the internet to suit recruitment machines?

I have always been mindful that I was creating an opportunity for the greedy & unethical.  I say this because when the attempts to cover my story failed, the very organization who tried to cover it up made sure to insert their name as a resource to solve the problem. They have failed to make it a priority and I see that it was merely another method to grab a headline.

It is 2010 and it seems only the trucking industry is still in the dark ages with regards to violence against women yet there is targeted recruitment aimed at the female population who many times are promptly put in a “Acquaintance Rape ” Situation in order to learn to drive the truck.

The NFL Players Association has Joined the Justice Department Effort to Raise Awareness Around Violence Against Women , The Office on Violence Against Women for the United States Department of Justice provides enormous resources but big trucking chooses DENIAL .

The only evidence I have seen to address the issue has been AFTER lawsuits become public as a PR remedy.  This is why I have persisted; I had no choice when faced with the thought that I had the ability to reach someone who needed to find help.

This site was created to provide self-help tools when it became clear that the trucking industry will spend any amount of money to cover up human indignities rather than correct them.

“Trucking has a very incestuous relationship with itself“, this was the phrase a veteran driver used to describe the many organizations, associations and media entities related to trucking.  As a civilian entering this industry I was in search of where I could go to find answers to what I was seeing in my training fleet. What I learned was that my experience was no mistake, it was a system that has been perfected to a science to generate turnover, to keep wages low by utilizing student labor running team freight to maximize profits.

Upon researching who is behind all the recruiting ads, industry magazines and controlled trucking media sources the world of trucking became a very small and the same names kept popping up. It seems everyone has been “in bed” with one another at some point.

It is not unusual in the trucking industry to steal content, plagiarize or take credit for another person’s hard work. It is not unusual to blatantly create a media campaign to cover up injustice. It is not unusual for someone to insert themselves into the center of a project and claim victory after the blood, sweat & tears of the invisible have been shed. What is unusual, is to go the extra mile to do the right thing and bring positive changes to the industry.

Recruitment generates recurring income NOT retention. The effects of positive change would result in: The retention of content and satisfied workers, who remain loyal because they receive their reward through pay raises, respect and benefits.  However, treating drivers in a humane fashion would negatively affect company profits. Turnover and recruitment of new drivers generates increased recurring income and profit. Ironically, the desire is to lure people in through seduction, only to promote failure and create higher profits by maintaining a high turnover rate.

Professional drivers are often vilified by their own industry in a subtle way when in fact it is the industry that pushes, prods and provokes drivers to do things outside the realm of their responsibility.

New regulations like FMCSA CSA 2010 make it seem that highway safety is a main concern yet according to Dan Little President of the Owner Operators United Inc.  “CSA 2010 fails to address the pattern of abuse in truck driver training.” But before we discuss training there is the abuse of predatory lending to attend truck driver training schools.

Predatory lending and poor recruitment go hand in hand dumping themselves into a poor training atmosphere where odds are you can get a few months of cheap labor at the expense of the motoring public. In 5 or 6 months commissions are paid to recruiters, the carriers qualify for the government hand outs while at the same time utilizing a less than minimum wage inexperienced workforce to run freight.

A very curious omission in the statistic loving trucking industry is how many trucking accidents are caused by student truckers by comparison to experienced truck drivers.

There is no doubt that CSA 2010 will change the face of trucking and many jobs will be lost to those who cannot adapt. The seven sections are for the most part good on intent and do hold carriers more accountable.  Still there are a few components that create a witch hunt on experienced drivers.

Without addressing predatory lending, Poor recruitment and truck driver training CSA 2010 have simply provided another tool sanctioned by the federal government to further assist in generating turnover.

For example: Last month I read of a student truck driver who was 20 days into training and trying to care financially for a disabled fiancé. The student was being delayed to make income due to the new sleep apnea testing that is a component to CSA 2010. (Read posting HERE )

My question is simple: Why was this person not informed prior to selling them a loan for truck driving school that sleep apnea is now an issue to become a truck driver?  This really bothers me that a person whose life is already in distress is wading around blindly searching the internet for answers when in fact they are simply just another notch in some recruiters’ belt!

Since the announcement of the CSA2010 Sleep Apnea issue for truck drivers I have heard of 3 people who have been fired based entirely on this one issue not their driving abilities.  If this is what is coming down the pike why are recruiters and carriers allowed to mislead people into the hope of a new career only to yank the rug out from under them a few months or days later?

One trainer shares this story:  He was assigned a student with sleep apnea, the student stated from day one his doctor warned that he could not travel to high elevations.  As student truckers you go where you are told but your recruiter or training company will not disclose this to you. In this case, the trainer and student were dispatched to Colorado. The trainer advised dispatch the student could not travel to Colorado for medical reasons.  The dispatcher refused to un-assign them from the load.

Most people do not realize that refusing a load can be detrimental to your career and working relationship. This is called forced dispatch. The trainer had to take the load and the student died. The family sued, the case was quietly settled and shoved under the carpet with the rest of the skeletons.

In another case former Swift trainer from Smart Union Blog talks about being given a student with narcolepsy , the sleeping disorder!  This is irresponsible recruiting and predatory lending.

A former female trainer told me about a student she was assigned who had a terrible skin disease where the skin was flaking off in the bed that they had to share. Another time having to be with someone who suffered from shingles which can be contagious.

Targeted recruitment at women is extremely misleading and this is excessively dangerous. One blog I read last week stated Women Truck drivers can make $60,000 a year!  They say nothing about what you have to do to make this. They also make no mention that for women there are specific dangers such as being thrown off the truck in the desert if you refuse to have sex with a trainer or co-driver. Listen to Ronald Fletcher in the Video Clip:
                      RAW SOUND BYTES ON HARASSMENT FROM A TRUCKING CONVENTION

These ads are deliberate to mislead people and entice them to go to truck driving school.  They are targeted to people who have no experience in the cloak and dagger trucking industry that uses people in a government subsidized indentured servitude operation.

Here is a sample: Truck Driver Jobs For Women in a Google search this person has several sites all leading to him, all the ads are misleading and predatory. This is the new spam where someone sits and creates website after website to appear as if it is a social media blog site with a testimonial.  Who do they cite as an authority? Read this Jobs & Business Blog to find out. “Great Truck Driving Jobs for Female Drivers”

Nuway Truck Driving school, the subject of the 3rd installment of the Dan Rather Investigative series into trucking “Mind Your Loan Business” was discovered as suspected to be in the loan selling business. Besides the poor training they provided they stood to gain from disenfranchised people who failed on their student loans which were sold to them a high interest rate. This school I was told by Tom Hansen formerly of CRST had such poor students that CRST had stopped accepting them.

Predatory lending and predatory recruitment are for the purpose to take advantage of people for profit.  In truth, it is very difficult to remain employed after completing your student phase from Michigan, South Florida and some western states due to the availability of freight. Selling loans to these people and using them for cheap labor at less than minimum wage is wrong.

The carriers utilize this disposable cheap labor force to run team freight for a short period of time and then toss them out before they have made enough money to pay off their student loans but long enough for the carriers to benefit for the recruitment commissions, tax incentives and subsidies to retrain workers. Many of these people receive government vouchers for these schools, therefore it is the U.S. Government who is funding and perpetuating this abuse and unethical treatment.

CSA 2010 does indeed propose greater enforcement standards for truck drivers and carriers but it does not address the rampant ethical considerations and the hostile training atmosphere that affect highway safety.
 

A worker has right to be trained in a safe manner therefore prospective truck driver students should have full disclosure of what is expected before they sign on for a loan. The job should be clearly defined that it requires 11 hours of driving a day, they should understand they will not be able to shower for days on end, that they will have to clean out trailers and not be paid for it., that they will have to keep strict schedules that require driving all hours of the day and night in all weather. They should understand they will be stretched to the limit at times that stopping to use a toilet is not possible! That is a truth about trucking.

Big Trucking has built a complex system that is so interwoven into many government entities that it can literally control wages and treatment to professional drivers at the expense of highway safety.  The Department of Labor classifys Truck Drivers as Unskilled Labor, the lack of accurate crash statistics of student truck drivers, the gross oversight of pattern of abuse by truck driver trainers to women entering trucking and the method of retaliation for reporting abuse. The false DAC reporting, this list goes on and on. These are all control mechanisms’ built over years to control workers and keep them silent and afraid.

Big Trucking expects to ignore two massive sexual harassment/discrimination cases going on right now and fails to address the training atmosphere while at the same time deluge media to claim 400,000 truck drivers are needed by 2011. This is a typical arrogant example of greed and privilege. There is not now nor has there ever been a truck driver shortage.  It is true there exists a population of truck drivers who should not be on the highways but without addressing training and recruitment the government is simply giving the nod to sponsor more of the same.

As it stands right now, taxpayers will be left with the $4.5 Million dollar legal bill for the failed EEOC case against CRST Van Expedited should they lose the appeal currently in court.  Is that the remedy? Let the EEOC babysit the trucking industry with a never-ending revolving door of cases from women claiming almost verbatim the same abuse?  Has CRST corrected its training system?

They say they have BUT according to 3 recent female grads who have contacted me they were never advised of instructions to assist them for an emergency procedure before leaving the terminal with trainers and co-drivers. All encountered later retaliation attempts and humiliation for reporting incidents. They have since been advised to proceed and file more claims against CRST in 2010, this is AFTER the fact.

 The problems exist because the trucking industry has been permitted to police themselves with their treatment of drivers while at the same time the federal government strangles drivers with rule after rule making it near impossible to complete the job.

We are in a transitional time and while some corrections may have been made in the past few years, these pervasive problems need to be monitored and inspected to make certain they continue to operate effectively.

With regards to women entering trucking, inappropriate trainers and a lack clear defined safety precautions have not been fully addressed. The advice stated in the “Raw Sound Bytes on Harassment from a Trucking Convention” for Women who have encountered abuse during training is to call the EEOC. This is not a solution! That would be like a landlord of an apartment complex refusing to repair a heater telling his tenants to go to the Doctor if they get sick rather than replace the heater. The solution should be to prevent it from happening to begin with!  The federal government with its layers of red tape should not have to babysit the trucking industry! For all its good intentions the EEOC trying to tangle with high powered trucking industry lawyers is an uneven playing field. Ultimately, this is taxpayer money, think about it.

On May 20, 2010 The Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood signed an agreement with the Women’s Transportation Seminar International (WTS) to encourage more women to enter the transportation sector stating: “There’s tremendous opportunity out there for women interested in transportation-related careers,” granted he was speaking of “Skilled Careers” but what better experience in the transporation sector than doing the actual transporting? Secretary LaHood also said “We need to do more to prepare, train and educate young women about the possibilities that await them .”

This is our mission, we must acknowledge the silent struggles of women truckers and students. Our collective failure to address the topic has handed the keys to the offenders.

The American Trucking Association would like for people to believe that there is a truck driver shortage but in fact everything points to a strategic effort to rid American Drivers with experience for H2b workers who are yet another cheap labor force.  Just read how clever this organization website H2B Workforce Coalition words their mission. Who is on the executive committee?  The American Trucking Association!

H2B brings workers from other countries legally to take American Jobs and again it is to maximize profit and abuse disenfranchised people LEGALLY! Read, “Used and Abused: Guest Workers and Immigration Reform”

The movement to close the border to illegals is one very sensitive issue but the ATA is actually positioning itself to legalize workers from other countries to take American driving jobs and package it as “HELPING“!

National Security, think about this:  A person applying for a learners permit to obtain a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) who can pass a 50 question multiple choice question test and pass a background check is eligible for a hazardous materials endorsement yet they have never proven they can operate the truck!
Our background check system has cracks so wouldn’t the above scenario permitting H2b workers give carte blanche on hauling freight with an elevated security clearance?  Isn’t it more common to see many non-English speaking student truckers lately?  How do we know what their criminal history is in the country they came from?  If the Transportation Security Administration background check goes through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, wouldn’t that show as a clean slate in the system?

Don’t just blame the government, read the list of American Companies who benefit from doing this and pay attention. The next time you stay in a motel note that the maids may be all blond hair and blue eyed but do not speak English.

If there is a shortage of anything in the trucking industry it is ethics among trucking industry insiders.  Making remarks like “Our collective experience is over 300 years in trucking” (one which was directed to me recently) has got to be one of the most ignorant statements I have ever heard given that the automobile is just over 100 years old!

Who is responsible to insure our highways are safe?  Why hasn’t poor truck driver training been addressed?  Are student truck driver’s expendable human chattel?  The responsibility of course rests upon the ATA and the carriers it represents to address and enforce preventative training.  Why is the advocacy page of the ATA agenda suspiciously absent of the human factor that requires any truck to move?

Will the federal government continue to give free reign to Big trucking as it has been doing for Big Coal and Big Oil?
These Highway Safety and Personal Safety and National Security Issues need to be addressed in Trucking before we have a disaster.

I have interviewed a number of seasoned truck drivers and come away with a very reasonable list of solutions.

1. Full disclosure to entering truck driver candidates before they obligate to a loan or utilize a “Workforce Investment Act” voucher paid for by our tax dollars, a “Bill of Rights”.

2. Raise the training standard for both operation of equipment AND conduct.

3. Require a graduated licensing system for truck drivers.

Tracy Hamm of the CRST Sexual Harassment Case and former trainer feels strongly that new drivers stay under permit longer. She notes that new teen drivers have to drive with a permit and limited driving privileges in some states while those who get a commercial drivers license to drive an 18-wheeler do not.
Truck driver trainers I have interviewed agree that school should be longer in class and on the road.  The student truck drivers should clearly understand what it means to be going “Over the Road” and what is involved to perform deliveries before they sign on for loans.

The federal government has created a welfare system for the handful of truck driver training carrier companies who appear to be profiteering off the government as evidenced by the ongoing 125% turnover rate. These carriers should be held to a higher standard to teach proper highway safety and conduct skills. The taxpayers have a right to expect their tax dollars are producing an effective workforce that is mindful that they are not only truck drivers but also the eyes and ears for national security. Times have changed and we must adjust our thinking.

Training should include classroom time of conduct skills with testing and signed contract that the student agrees to abide by or be fired. This includes Trainers who have a higher standard of conduct.

The harassment problem is unique in trucking due to the intense living arrangement required to learn to drive the truck.  Some carriers like CRST Van Expedited and Covenant Transport who have the “Team Business Model” as a component of their training must address this topic.

The armed forces are the only other training situation that can be remotely compared to truck driver training and they too are struggling to adapt as the introduction of women increases.

To fathom that being raped, beat up and left for dead in the desert is a common story in trucking while in your training period is absolutely unacceptable!

As a whole, we must address the disparity of recruitment vs. retention of Women Truckers. By raising the standard in other areas we create professionalism and boundaries.

Training in sexual harassment at government subsidized truck driver training companies is virtually non-existent except for scattered surface treatments and we will continue to see suits arise like the massive CRST case until we can come to grips with speaking openly about this highly unusual teaching environment and how to make it work.
I have included a replay of a Blog Talk Radio made in December 2009 on truck driver training solutions. Tom Hansen former safety manager of CRST was scheduled to join the show but had a family emergency that prevented him.

Tom Hansen appeared in the first Dan Rather Episode and spoke about the conflicts of interest he encountered at CRST and these are not unique either. It is a system that exists in truck driver training that is neither safe for the students or the motoring public.

Tom Hansen is not a disgruntled employee as the ATA and CRST tried to portray. Tom Hansen & Tracy Hamm are Heroes who decided to step forward to try and effect a change so that no one else would be hurt. Shortly after the broadcast I read remarks from one of Tom Hansen’s co-workers from CRST and he made it clear that Tom was respected in the company but his conscience simply began to eat at him.

At some point we must come to grips with the truth that our silence has potentially harmed someone who simply wanted a chance for a new life.

I encourage you to watch all 4 installments of the Dan Rather Investigative reports into trucking, especially if you know NOTHING about the trucking industry.

They can be downloaded from iTunes for $1.99 each. The titles are as follows:

“Queen of the Road“, “Truck Talk“, “Mind Your Loan Business” & “Haul or High Water”
You can also learn more about how truck drivers are set up to fail as a matter of practice in Allen Smith’s

 ”Truth About Trucking”

In the next installment I will discuss personal responsibility.

Additional Reading: (all links in post are links to additional reading also)
 

Wage Slavery – Methods of Control in Wage Systems

Bound for America H-2A Guest Worker Program

H2b Visa to Rescue Driver Shortage

H2b Visa Tractor-Trailer

Violence Against Women in the Military

Sexual Assaults in Military bring Shame Not Action

War with Ourselves: Sexual Violence in the Military

Male on Male Harassment in Trucking – Cagle v. Werner Enterprises

Technorati Tags: American Trucking Association, ATA, Covenant Transport, CRST Van Expedited, CSA 2010, Dan Rather, H2b Guest Worker, Harassment, Highway Safety, Indentured Servitude, Predatory Lending, Rape, Ray LaHood, Recruiting, Retaliation, Training, Truck Driver Shortage, Truckers, Trucking, Women, WTS

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• Practical Truck Driver Training Solutions: Part 1 (6)
• Practical Truck Driver Training Solutions – Part 3 Personal Responsibility (3)
• Recruiting & Retaining Women as Truck Drivers (4)
• REAL Women in Trucking (9)
• WIT President Seeks to Benefit from Harassment Judgment in Trucking (2)