Overdrive

Voices 2 | Overdrive | November 2018 On the third and final day – Satur- day, Oct. 6 – of the "That's a Big 10-4 on D.C." event, participants in the 50-truck show/demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., convoyed out of the city. As they headed toward the final rally point in Fredericksburg, Virgin- ia, in a nod to trucker protests of the 1970s, they staged two brief traffic stoppages. At five minutes or less, they amounted to little more than disruptive photo-ops. One result was online circulation of an image showing a participating trucker extending both hands' longest digits to the camera in front of a line of trucks across the highway. Partic- ipating truckers, it's sure, banked on more positive than negative public relations, but there's been no shortage of both in the aftermath. As poll results on this page indicate, there's clearly a wellspring of support for the action – not to mention the event overall – among truckers who feel the time has come for more high-profile displays of unity among owner-operators and drivers. "Time for talking is passed," reader Kenny Foster commented under the poll at OverdriveOnline.com. "Good for these people who have taken the time to go to D.C. — time from their businesses to speak for a lot of drivers and owner-operators. To the ones who are just going along, keep be- lieving what you're being told. You're making less now than we did years ago and out longer to do it." Many of those who agreed with the blockades called for a wide shut- down to ram the point home. Those opposed to the blockades were louder and more numerous in their com- mentaries the following week. Cries of "these folks do not represent me" on social media ranged from disgust with the photo of the trucker with raised fingers to more considered objections to the notion of stopping traffic as doing nothing but making enemies with the general public. "Whatever good they might have accomplished in D.C. was totally thrown down the drain with the stupidest stunt anyone could have done," wrote Tyler McMahon, com- menting at OverdriveOnline.com. He also signaled his agreement with Mike Vandermallie, who wrote that "these idiots should have charges brought against them." Mike Brown: "Why should we believe that bully tactics will work in the discussion of hours of service? Does anyone think that regulators will make hours of service decisions based on a group of thugs who stopped traf- fic on the beltway for five minutes? This action only serves to darken the image of trucking in America. The only way to deal with regulators is to deal from where they are. Where they are is in offices, and their decision is based on factual evidence and input from the industry and others affected by the industry." Foster, however, remained resolute and urged the " 'thugs' keep on doing what needs done." Representing the TruckerNation group during the 10-4 event on the Mall and in Fredericksburg, own- er-operator Brian Bucenell, whose Peterbilt is pictured second from the right in the photo on this page, re- Mixed reactions to D.C. highway blockade DOES STOPPING TRAFFIC BRIEFLY ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SEND A MESSAGE YOU SUPPORT? I don't know 3% No 27% Yes 42% Yes, but only without otherwise vulgar display 28% "That's a big 10-4 on D.C." convoy participants momentarily stopped traffic on I-95 on the morning of Oct. 6 as they exited Washington, D.C. Event and U.S. Transportation Alliance representative Brian Brase called this and one other brief stop on I-395 a "warning shot" intended to give regulators and legislators a hint at what could result from failure to act on drivers' concerns. Brase is in the blue Peterbilt, center; left of him is USTA-affiliated owner-op- erator Mike Landis in the Peterbilt cabover.

• Cover
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