Trucking Advocate and Activist Allen Smith of TruthAboutTrucking.com : Articles Current News and Information for CDL Truck Drivers and Truck Driving Students…"Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry"
Opening Mexico’s border under the NAFTA agreement could cost professional truck drivers in the U. S. as many as two million jobs. With an estimated four million active U. S. truck drivers, that would equal cutting half of the work force. With an industry that already uses new student and CDL drivers for cheap labor to haul the cheap freight, should the Mexican border be opened completely would be devastating to the United States truckers’ vocation.
Listen to Truth About Trucking “LIVE” talk radio show which recently discussed this important issue:
“The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.”
That statement was once made by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. It’s a statement that I often recall when I hear or read about a so-called “victory” within our American judicial system. Granted, the system is not perfect, but it’s the best on the planet as far as “man” goes. Without a doubt it continues to rid America of criminals that prey on the weak and vulnerable. Like most things however, there are flaws. Criminals, most often seem to have more rights than the victims. Also, when it comes to our judicial system, many times nothing is more truer than the old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”
Those who have the courage to stand up and speak out about workplace harassment within the trucking industry and are not willing to sell themselves out to businesses or organizations, are making a difference within the industry. A difference that has some big players in the trucking game growing nervous. That is what the truth does . . . it can make a lot of people nervous. It can also strengthen a person’s courage to come forward and fight for what is right.
More and more, student, inexperienced and female drivers are coming to the front lines and exercising their rights as employees. Female drivers who have experienced harassment, abuse and even rape by male driver trainers, are going to court and fighting back. It’s about time. Some have won . . . and some have lost, but they fought back. This is the ultimate sign that things are changing and they will continue to change as long as there are those who will speak out against these secrets of the trucking industry and other industries as well. Not to be bought out . . . not to be frightened by threats . . . but to move forward with truth which holds the key in bringing about real change for the better, to an industry that has its share of corruption, lies and abuse.
There will be those workplace harassment cases that will be thrown out due to some trivial oversight, but not because the cases were not warrant. An attorney missed something . . . the statute of limitations were missed . . . or somebody “knew” somebody in high places. All to often, sadly enough, there will be those true victims that will run right into the brick wall of American injustice. The accused will claim “victory,” but I would like to know where exactly is the justice?
A friend in high places . . . Congress, Senate, Judge? American justice can be bought and paid for … it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
When victims lose the judicial battle, many times they still win. They won by not backing down and facing the demon head on and saying, “You cannot allow this treatment of drivers to continue, or we will fight back.” They may not win the case every time, but their courage and determination speaks volumes to many others and can lead them to follow in their footsteps and not back down when faced with violations of their employment rights. When a case is thrown out over some missed, minute detail, this is no victory for the accused. The facts of the case were never heard . . . the victims never had the opportunity to provide testimony . . . the defendant has no victory at all . . . just another example of judicial injustice.
Workplace harassment, whether it be in trucking or any other business . . . is not going away . . . but those of us who cannot be “bought out” by trucking companies, businesses and organizations . . . are not going away either.
Harassment, verbal and physical abuse, sexual assault and even rape is being reported within the trucking industry on student drivers by their driver trainers. Though most driver trainers are highly professional and respectful to their student trainees, there are those who are committing these acts of violent crime. The trucking companies who employ these known felons, (and all of us veteran drivers know who these companies are), simply look the other way and usually end up terminating the student, taking no action against the criminal trainer.
Unlawful harassment is a form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal authority. Any employee wishing to initiate an EEO complaint arising out of the alleged incident of harassment must contact an FCC EEO Counselor or other EEO official within 45 calendar days of the date of the incident. The employee should not wait until the trucking company’s internal harassment inquiry is completed to contact a counselor if waiting will allow the 45-day time limit to expire. Thus the reason many complaints fail to ever get resolved.
Furthermore, as a student or newcomer to trucking, needing a job and a paycheck . . . many reports go unreported because of fear of losing that job that is needed so badly. Therefore, these criminal driver trainers continue with their crimes as some of the trucking companies keep looking the other way. Many also, fear being ridiculed and made out to be the culprit instead of the victim . . . all thanks to savvy attorneys who will turn around and “attack” the victim of the crime.
Recently, more and more female drivers are banding together and filing lawsuits against these trucking companies who did nothing when the crimes were reported. There would have been many more, if they had not let the 45 day limit to pass, unknowingly. Let’s be clear . . . most trucking companies do not tolerate any type of employee harassment and will take the proper actions required. However, there are a handful of companies that allow this type of activity to continue and a few of them are now being taken to court. I hope the driver trainers who committed these crimes are brought to justice as well. I can only wish they spend many years in prison.
Trucking talk radio, Truth About Trucking “LIVE” will be confronting this issue in its upcoming broadcast on Monday, June 15th, 2009 and Tuesday , June 23rd, 2009. Not only will we be discussing these crimes taking place within the trucking industry, but we will have several special guests appearing on the June 21st show to further discuss why these crimes take place, how they occur and most importantly, finding solutions to resolve them.
This behavior by some driver trainers and the trucking companies that keep them employed, is nothing new. The problem is that this “little secret” has been swept under the rug for many years. It simply has not or does not get reported. We are going to change that.
CDL training schools are presently seeing an increase in student enrollment, as high as thirty percent. Are there enough truck driving jobs to accommodate them? Can a CDL student or recent CDL graduate find a trucking job in the present economic situation?
Allen will be discussing this important issue, tomorrow evening ( Tuesday, April 7th, 2009) at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time, on Blog Talk Radio’s: Truth About Trucking “LIVE.”
Ken Bons, Vice President of Eagle Training Services out of Illinois, is scheduled to call in and share his expertise from a CDL Training School’s perspective.
If you are a student or recent CDL grad that is having problems landing that trucking job, this is an important show scheduled just for you. Be sure to tune in and get information that can help you understand what steps you can take to put that new CDL license to work.
: border, cdl drivers, jobs, mexican border, mexico, NAFTA, student, talk radio, truck drivers, trucking, truth about trucking
