Club Membership

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
You'll get equal numbers of yes's and no's . I'm on the no side . While they offer the convenience of offering several benefits at one location you can find a better deal on all available services by shopping around .
The most often made statement made by supporters is " They are the only ones out there working for us ." It's easy to be the best when you are the only one . It's also to sit back , pay them $40 and claim you are doing your part to make a change . That myth is exposed when FMCSA and NHTSA requests comments on the issue . Only a handful of OOIDA members will comment while the opposition gets thousands of comments from supporters . How successful are they ? As long as they have been in existence many issues remain unresolved , such as lumpers and unpaid time for loading and unloading . When they claim to "win" on an issue it's usually because a more powerful organization is fighting for the same thing .
They love class action suits . They will lose then appeal . Ask for help on an individual basis and it's a different story . I had a membership for one year and found them useless . Yes , some people will sday they were helped but more will say they weren't .
I will say one thing for OOIDA . When they take a stand on an issue they do their homework and their arguements are backed by facts . The ATA , Teamsters , Road Safe America , Public Citizen and others skew statistics and rarely have a valid case .
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
I have been a member for a couple of years, and it's hard to say if it is worth it.
For a tractor trailer driver, probably more so.
for us lowly straight truck and van drivers, it's hard to say.
 

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
Its not really a club to begin with. Joining them is much like being a member of the NRA or the GOA....some will say the NRA has gooten too big and doesn't work for the members as they should, and the GOA is still small enough to work with and for the membership....

The OOIDA has benefits that you hope you never need, like legal help, but is there when you do need it. They will look over contracts and leases for you, they offer tings that you might use every day, like there business plan cpm spread sheets...and they work on legislation that affects you daily...

Only you can say if they have something that is benefit to you....
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Clubs are frequently for children and near criminal biker types and OOIDA is neither of those however it is a very good organization. I am a life member. Everyone in this industry should be a member and should be active when calls to action are issued. You can join for $20 by using the member number of an active member. You can renew for $20 several different ways. There are more than $20 worth of benefits for anyone. If the membership numbers were multiples higher and if all the members would sign up for the call to action alerts and act on them we'd see significant benefits. They are the ones out there working for us. Join the Association and be a part of the solution.
 
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RLENT

Veteran Expediter
Clubs are primarily for children and near criminal biker types .....
Ill-advised and inflammatory rhetoric which adds absolutely nothing to the discussion (even if the original question was entirely disingenious and had an agenda IMO) and is certainty not in any way the least bit true:

Catholic Prayer Club

Handicapped Travel Club

Austin Deaf Club

..... ad infinitum .....

The above quoted commentary is exactly what I was referring to when I commented in another thread about the general ugliness which is sometimes extant on EO .....

And the agenda of original post should be clearly evident - simply by looking at the OP's sig line ......
 
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letzrockexpress

Veteran Expediter
OOIDA is a joke. it offers absolutely nothing you cannot find on your own if you are a good shopper. Some people are joiners and feel comfortable being a "member" of something. It might be good for them, I don't know.
Lottery tickets are a better investment....
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Join the Association and be a part of the solution.

like the Police Association? maybe the Teachers Association? oh wait..the Firefighters Association...


Just a fancy word for...UNION......blah.....pay your dues and we'll represent you...like a...UNION....
 

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
like the Police Association? maybe the Teachers Association? oh wait..the Firefighters Association...


Just a fancy word for...UNION......blah.....pay your dues and we'll represent you...like a...UNION....

I see it more like the AAA.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I'll change that to frequently for better accuracy. OOIDA isn't just a club though. It's a legitimate organization working for issues of importance to those of us in our profession. OOIDA is certainly no joke. They do the best they can to get things right for us. The more members they have the more clout they have. No, they aren't perfect but they are definitely better than ATA and any of the other organizations who are only in it for the corporate side of big trucking companies. OOIDA is for what's best for us individually. They need membership numbers to have the clout to defeat ATA and the rest and get things passed the best way for us. They work for that when nobody else does. Everyone should be a member. The only joke is not realizing how much better for us they are than any other trucking organization.
 

letzrockexpress

Veteran Expediter
I'll change that to frequently for better accuracy. OOIDA isn't just a club though. It's a legitimate organization working for issues of importance to those of us in our profession. OOIDA is certainly no joke. They do the best they can to get things right for us.

Name one thing they have done. They claim to have lobbyists who work in favor of the trucking industry in general and owner/operators. I have yet to see or hear of one single success they have had doing so...
 

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
Name one thing they have done. They claim to have lobbyists who work in favor of the trucking industry in general and owner/operators. I have yet to see or hear of one single success they have had doing so...
I believe they took Landstar to court in a class-action lawsuit over cheating owner-operators out of fuel surcharges due them and won.

While the decision didn't apply wholesale across the boards to every company/owner-operator, it's things of that nature that at least to serve to somewhat restrain criminal conduct on the part of companies against all owner-operators, and to deliver some measure of justice for at least some small number of individuals.

I think the court decision was available on their website for download in PDF format the last time I looked.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I do not have a list of what they've done. I know they were on the correct side of HOS and other fights. While I don't know I am very certain they would have more victories in our favor if they had multiple members thereby making more legislators pay attention to our side of things.
 
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