Allen Smith- TruthAboutTrucking

Depending on who’s describing Allen Smith, the characterization could be quite different. Here’s a few descriptions of Allen according to some different types of people within the trucking industry.

Students and New Career Seekers and New Drivers

Allen is referred to as the guy who will tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it. He doesn’t pull any punches and just explains things as they are without concealing anything. He’ll steer you in the right direction, even if it’s not the direction you want to go in.

Veteran Drivers say he is the kind of person who will stand up for what’s right and be a voice for many, always trying to better things for drivers and the industry.

Friends and colleagues say that he cares as much as any when it comes to improving the conditions within the trucking industry. He goes the extra step to help drivers, students and trainees make sense of the insensible, expose the traps and deceit, guide the naïve and vulnerable, and  support s his friends and those who are also helping to improve trucking. He loathes injustice and will do whatever he can to prevent and stop it.

Trucking Companies and CDL Training Schools, depending on “which ones”, some may say that he’s a great guy because he makes them look good by separating them from the poor quality and abusive ones….and then “the others” may say he’s a trouble maker, trying to stir drivers and prospective students and drivers up by exposing many of the unscrupulous tactics and behavior they engage in ( as they justify and deny that they do.)

One thing though that most will say is that the reason and motivation behind the man, Allen Smith, is driven by the desire to help others succeed within an industry that is filled with injustice, unrewarded sacrifice, and an undeserving lack of respect.

As you read many of the blog posts you’ll discover that he is opinionated and isn’t afraid to speak his mind about the ongoing issues of the trucking industry.  He continues to support others who are also stepping up to the plate to help those in need of honesty, guidance and direction.  The list of supporters and like minded people grows daily and their ability to network together and share their thoughts and ideas for the betterment of others within trucking, has allowed the forward movement of

“Raising the standards of the trucking industry”

Allen Smith is a 34 year veteran ( starting at the age of 13 in the family moving business) of the trucking industry, many of those years spent over the road. He has been an owner operator, a company driver, operations manager, and has owned and operated a moving company, taking many of the long haul moves himself when needed.

He wrote his first book, “The Truth About Trucking” in the year 2000 in order to expose many of the scams and wrongful behavior that occurs within trucking, in hopes to enlighten ( a word many people use when they write to him) people to a reality they may not have known existed otherwise.

He started his first website www.truthabouttrucking.com in 2006 and created the AskTheTrucker Blog in 2007. In a desire to reach more people, Allen started his Blog Talk Radio ( Truth About Trucking “Live”) Show in 2008, and in just over a year it has reached a global audience of over 100,000 strong. The show has had many popular guests. One of the most memorable and influential guests that Allen invited on the show was Jeffrey Caldwell, Chief of Communications for VDOT.  Donna had sent Mr Caldwell an email invite at 11pm the evening before the scheduled BTR broadcast. Early the following  morning ,(the day of the show) Mr Caldwell accepted the invitation, eager to participate and help resolve the problems that truckers were being faced with. This was during the time when Virginia was closing down many rest areas and at the same time enforcing an old law of “ 2 hour parking”  This created not just unsafe highway conditions by having tired drivers on the road, but was forcing these drivers to break the 11 hour HOS laws. It was during this show with guests Fred and JB Schaffner of  TheAmericanDriver.com website  ( who together worked relentlessly to have the 2 hour parking law abolished…and won!) that the vision for positive and effective change was indeed a possibility to achieve for the benefit of the American driver.

Allen has started the petition against the unfair and abusive practices of the DAC report employed by several companies against drivers. He has been a strong supporter for Jason’s Law, HR 2156, which would ensure the need for more safe truck parking. The bill was presented by Congressman Paul Tonko in 2009, who also was a memorable guest on Allen’s Blog Talk Radio Show, “Truth About Trucking Live”

Allen and Donna also created the first trucking application for the trucking industry , the iPhone Trucker App, which was in the June 2009 edition of Truckers News.

In May of 2009, Allen was contacted by producer Robin Stein of the popular Dan Rather Reports Investigative news television show. The Dan Rather group was doing an investigation on CDL training schools, and since Allen was visibly the expert in the subject of directing prospective students in the right direction for their training, they decided to contact him.  After many lengthy interviews, Allen directed Robin to Desiree Wood, who herself had contacted Allen a year or so prior because of her own horrible experience she had endured during her CDL training . ( Desiree has her Student Trucker Story on the AskTheTrucker blog) which we encourage you to read) The rest was history as Dan Rather conducted a 3 part investigation of the corruption existing within many of the trucking schools and companies offering CDL training.

Desiree was featured in the first episode, “Queen of the road”, and Allen was the invited audience participant speaking about the problems with CDL training for the second episode, “Truck Talk”. The 3rd episode aired not too long after, “Mind Your Loan Business”, which discussed in  further detail much of the deceit existing among many CDL training facilities.

Allen has also been in many publication such as;  Truckers News, Overdrive Magazine,  The Examiner, and Peoples World. He and Donna were On Aprils 2010 Cover for the feature story, “Trucker Network” in Truckers News.

He also has a growing newsletter subscriber list of over 4000 where he communicates weekly with his followers about many of the existing issues and developments within trucking. Allen also keeps in contact with his his subscribers as he alerts them to Blog Talk Radio shows as well up to date current events.

Allen and several of his colleagues and fellow drivers are active on various social media websites, the most popular being Twitter and Facebook. Much of the spontaneous communication between drivers is conducted through these websites which has resulted in the transparency of many trucking groups and organizations, who were at one time, “not as transparent”

Allen is an advocate for the professional driver and continues his original objective to guide and teach CDL students and new drivers how to be successful in an industry which has many obstacles and unjust tactics to endure and overcome.   He is also an advocate for safety and has 3 million safe miles under his belt

Allen enjoys, writing, flying, playing guitar, writing songs, and martial arts. He’s a father, son, husband, grandfather,  and a loyal and trustworthy friend to all who know him.

© 2007 – 2010, AskTheTrucker. All rights reserved.

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