Dear Editor,

Regarding the fuss about black boxes, I think the vast majority of truckers are missing the biggest opportunity for a pay increase that has ever landed at their feet. Why? The only reason truckers run as hard as they do is because it’s the only way to make a living, and carriers know that truckers will fudge a few lines in their comic books to pound out another load. (I should know … I ran long haul with my own rig for nine years throughout the U.S. and Canada.)

Think about the implications if every rig on the road was clamped down hard to the rules. The exodus of professional drivers for other jobs would be phenomenal. Knock 30 per cent (or more) off a drivers’ pay (due to the driver’s inability to hustle) and the odds of a North American-wide shutdown loom large. I don’t mean a union-style strike. I mean a driver shortage of epic proportions as we head for local jobs that suddenly become more attractive, jobs that will pay the same as a life on the road if a trucker can’t run hard anymore. Carriers will suffer huge losses as their fleets lie dormant against the fence, and many will close down. Manufacturers of trucks will be hit as orders plummet, and the entire North American auto industry will be flung into a tailspin as their JIT systems take a wicked hit.

Another point to consider, especially for those truckers who don’t want Big Brother examining every move that precedes an incident, is that a true record will undoubtedly be better than the current attitude towards us. “Guilty until proven innocent” is the mantra that seems to pervade the justice and enforcement communities these days, so what have we got to lose?

In short, the possibility of black boxes should be loudly applauded by carriers and drivers, but only if the overall pay stays the same or goes up. Imagine. A good sleep every day (or night). No more 90 mph dispatch coupled with a 50 mph safety department. No more all-day loading dock disasters which, as we all know, invariably lead to all-night, non-stop runs for early-morning appointments. If you ask me, it’s about time we put a system in place that levels the playing field between drivers, dispatchers, customers and safety. It’s about time we were treated like people, not machines fueled by caffeine and nicotine. It’s about time we got the respect we deserve for the job we do and the time spent away from home. It’s about time truckers made a decent living without having to run so damned hard. We rarely get a thank-you for running 30 hours straight, but we’re the first to get it in the posterior if we’re 10 minutes late.

The last decade has seen a steady downward pressure on rates, along with intense upward pressure on perfect service and tiny appointment windows. Fully one third of all inventory in North America is sitting on trucks as JIT systems become more and more advanced. It’s going to get to the point where truckers have practically to adopt a Marines’ mentality regarding their jobs. We’ll do the hard stuff right away … the impossible takes a little longer.

Well, maybe black boxes could spell the end of that arduous road by shifting the burden of responsibility back to where it has always belonged — those people with corner offices and company cars who proclaim themselves to be logistics experts (or supply chain execution service providers). The truckers’ primary responsibility should always be safety. Any concerns relating to appointment times, finicky shippers, production line shutdowns and so on should not be the drivers’ problem. Us drivers have enough to worry about, such as increasing congestion, frivolous lawsuits, snarly dispatchers and lonely families.

Alan Wechsler

Stroud, Ont.