Wake Up America- We Need to Recognize Truck Drivers

The increase in fuel prices has caused a tremendous hardship on the American Trucker, specifically owner operators. These men and woman rely on getting freight picked up and delivered, not only in a timely fashion, but at a cost which will enable a profit. The high price of fuel, diesel in particular, has caused many owner operators to "shut down" as their profit has become close to zero.

Recently, Truckers across the nation have displayed their dissatisfaction by exhibiting a "strike" against the high cost of fuel. Although this was a mild display, and in no way was a significant effect felt by our country, the fact that it happened at all should wake some people up.

The lifestyle of an over the road truck driver is difficult enough. The sacrifices which are made, in order to make a living for themselves and their families, are endured weeks at a time. Such sacrifices include: apart from friends and loved ones, sleeping inside of a truck, eating and showering at restaurants and truckstops, not to mention isolation and lonliness. These sacrifices are willingly endured year in and year out, since this is the career choice they have made. However, when you remove the "reward" for such sacrifice, what is it all for?

I would like everyone here reading this to realize that everything you see in any store was brought to you by a driver somehow. I don't think people realize that if the trucks in this country stopped, the country would literally be paralyzed.

Something must be done to relieve these men and woman of this burden. There must be provisions made for them by our government somehow. We are talking about thousands of people, people who have been truly taken for granted. It is no ones fault for this though because the awareness by the general public just is not there. Blame cannot be designated toward the general public because of their ignorance ( unawareness) regarding such a commsumer-related catastrophe.

When we drive by a truck on a highway, we're not thinking to ourselves, " Oh there's that nice truck driver bringing goods somewhere for us" No, we're thinking, "Another darn truck in the way on the highway that we need to pass".

So everyone, the next time you feel disgusted and annoyed, or even inconvenienced by those "darn trucks in the way", think about the people who are driving them. Keyword is "people", because that's whats operating this massive 18 wheeler. They're people with families, children, parents, siblings, and friends. They're people on those highways, not just "trucks".

These Truckers have had their income compromised due to high fuel prices. As their profession becomes limited in its pay, their families suffer. The government can only be forced to comply with the effects of high-fuel prices if the public becomes more sympathetic to the problems of the Trucker, as many other professions have been negatively affected by the increase.

A few years back I wrote a song about trucking. It's not really about any one driver in particular, but yet it's about all truckers in general. It wasn't until recently, with life getting even more difficult for truckers, that I decided to put it on the video sites, hoping that the viewing audience would empathize with a trucker's lifestyle and daily obstacles.

The name of the song is "The Trucking Brand". Just listen to the words if you would. Maybe it will give you better perspective on the troubles plaguing our Heroes of the Road

For those who don't know me, my name is Allen Smith and I'm a 30 year veteran of the trucking industry. One of my goals is to awaken the awareness of the scams within the industry itself, for truck drivers and truck driving students. Trucking is tough enough, without having to get scammed on top of it all.

We invite you to post a comment on our blog, AskTheTrucker.com

Allen Smith

Truth About Trucking

I hope this little song creates an awareness among all of you. Along with the difficult lifestyle , the increase in fuel prices, the trucking industry itself "giving it to the driver", so to speak, there's the public apathy and lack of concern.

Please stand behind the drivers. They're people.