Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/47076
EXIT ONLY TODD DILLS The limits of social media More drivers are needed in Washington, D.C., meeting rooms to impact regulatory planning T he final moments of the panel discussion among attendees and presenters during the Truck Driver Social Media Convention in Tunica, Miss., Oct. 15, brought the point of the whole event into focus. Frederick Schaffner of TheAmeri- canDriver.com — whom you may know for working to change Vir- ginia's two-hour truck parking time limits at rest areas to a more realis- tic overnight parking ban — ques- tioned panelist and attorney Paul Taylor's statement about the diffi- culty of affecting change in govern- ment once new regulations, rules and procedures are implemented. Schaffner took issue with that, given his success with the Virginia effort, demanding answers from the panelists about what drivers should do to be heard on regulatory issues, to change the industry — and what they could do to help. Taylor noted that the panelists, including former owner-operator Rich Wilson (now with the Trans Products compliance service provider) and James McCor- mack of Trucking Careers of America, POSTED Trucking ambassador? In my interview with Joe Bechtold, general man- ager of the Midway Travel Plaza truck stop that was the star of this fall's Truck Stop Missouri cable show on the Travel Channel, he expressed satisfaction with the show's depiction of the trucking industry. He thought the show was a positive force for the industry's public image. Think again, says Bruce Wieser, proprietor of the Dispatch Me Home social site at http:// dispatchmehomeext. ning.com, who said the few Truck Stop Missouri episodes he'd seen were little more than a circus. After I ran another post 74 TRUCKERS NEWS DECEMBER 2011 detailing Wieser's thoughts and asking for others, he gave the show a second chance. "Watching another two episodes … It turned out to be a huge mis- take on my part. All it did was solidify my first thoughts and impres- sions of this grossly poor supposed look at the trucker and truck- ing industry of this country. The first of the two 30-minute shows mostly dwelled on how hot it was, and keeping ice in portable coolers along with trying to curb a dog that felt the need to urinate on the corner of the Travel Stop building. Mr. Bechtold sent his manager out on a scavenger hunt for a 'fire hydrant' that was to be placed in a grassy area to give said dog an alterna- tive area to urinate. … At the very least … change the name of the show to exactly what it is depicting: 'Travel Plaza Missouri.'" however active they'd been in driver issues during federal rulemaking, are ultimately service providers to driv- ers. "You have to lead," Taylor said. Drivers' destinies are in their hands, as Schaffner's example proves, when it comes to indus- try change. And while online social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and others are potent tools toward collaborating and planning to influence regulations, drivers showing up and making their phys- ical presence felt in Washington, D.C., will be a key part. Of all the viewpoints put for- ward by drivers and panelists dur- ing the Tunica event, it's Wilson's image of 13 million CDL hold- ers on hand for a regulatory plan- ning meeting in our nation's capital that holds center stage in my mind. "What if we said [the CSA SMS rat- ing system, for example] was unfair 13 million times, is somebody going to listen?" Wilson asked. Use social media with tradi- tional trade and government-pro- duced media to stay abreast of what bureaucrats and politicians are doing on the front end of reg- ulations, get other drivers' view- points, network with those who care most about the industry and make plans to show up and tell reg- ulators where you stand, whether at congressional hearings or FMCSA committee meetings. At the least, Wilson noted, routinely submit well-thought-out comments on the federal docket. FMCSA by law is required to consider all of them. In large part, however, the work gets done in person in D.C. The ulti- mate message emerging from the social media convention is more drivers are needed there. Schaffner, now off the road and with time to be a voice for drivers, pledged to be a presence on their behalf at Motor Carrier Safety Advi- sory Committee meetings in the future. "I'm going to be there," he told me before the Oct. 24-27 series of MCSAC meetings. Connect with him on Facebook and send him comments on regulatory issues for future meetings. Truckers News Senior Editor Todd Dills blogs daily from Nashville, Tenn., via www. overdriveonline.com/channel19. Follow him at http://twitter.com/ channel19todd. To read Todd's blog on your smartphone, scan this QR code using a decoder, which can be found in your phone's app store.