On Monday, May 1st, TMJ (Truckers Movement for Justice) staged a successful demonstration in front of the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters. With their goal of drawing attention to matters such as driver pay, brokered-freight transparency, and predatory leasing practices that are often overlooked by government officials, organizers considered it an achievement despite its smaller than anticipated turnout.
According to TMJ organizer, Billy Randel, there were approximately 75 drivers in attendance.
“It wasn’t the turnout we would have liked,” Randel said. “We would have liked to have a few hundred. But this, combined with all of our older members and new people who will continue to come in, this is our base.”
Administrator Robin Hutcheson, Deputy Administrator Earl Adams Jr., and Director Kala Wright of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration met with the group of protesters. Randel noted that Hutcheson informed them that the FMCSA is in the process of addressing their concerns, including an ongoing investigation on driver compensation.
It’s reported that FMCSA said in a statement to Overdrive that the agency takes the concerns of truckers “very seriously.” Adding that Hutcheson met with the TMJ members in attendance at the protest “to listen to their concerns and highlight efforts actively underway by FMCSA to enhance the lives of drivers.”
At Randel’s encouragement, Hutcheson spoke with each individual driver in attendance.
“She spoke to every single driver who was there individually, which I feel is a good thing,” Randel said.
It wasn’t lost on Randel that it was “Interesting that they announced after their impromptu meeting with us the task force to investigate predatory leasing. … It shows what a small group of truck drivers can do.”
Soon after, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration unveiled a new group of nine experts tasked with evaluating truck leasing agreements in today’s industry. The goal: to assess how these contracts could affect owner-operators’ safety and financial health.
The May 1 encounter was just the latest engagement between TMJ and FMCSA representatives. Last year, they convened in Charleston to discuss trucking matters, then again, a few months later at an event hosted by the White House.
William McKelvie, an owner-operator who’s been a part of TMJ for a couple of years said that while attendance was lower than expected, he felt that it was still “a good number of people considering trucks were not allowed. He ultimately said that all things considered he felt “it was a great turnout.” He noted that currently the market is tough, and many owner-operators are feeling the need to keep the focus on their business and keep their trucks rolling.
“We got the opportunity to speak to the top three people at FMCSA,” McKelvie added. Hutcheson “talked to every single one of us. … That’s very important that they listen to the drivers. One or two or even five drivers can’t hit the spot like 50 drivers all at once saying the same thing but in different ways.”
While McKelvie believes FMCSA is listening to the group’s concerns regarding pay and overtime, he doesn’t expect changes to be made overnight. He noted that “government doesn’t move fast at all,” and drivers need to understand it takes time to see results from demonstrations.
Nick Sarakhman, TMJ member and owner of Byteks USA, a small fleet out of Mayland, was disappointed in the turnout, but did say, “on a positive note, I was really happy to see the administrators come out to talk to us.”
Sarakhman went on to say that he was “pretty happy with the result” of the demonstration, though he felt that with a bigger turnout, it “could have been a lot different.” He also said he would have liked for the FMCSA officials to do more than acknowledge the issues and give more specifics on when action will be taken to address the issues.
Source: Overdrive
