Get off your donkey

[LDB]

I am a guilty party. I know others who are also guilty. I know there are many others who are guilty but I don't directly know it. It's time to quit being guilty and get off your donkey. I'm an OOIDA member but I only partially work to recruit others. All this union talk makes me realize it's time to talk to all the other drivers I meet about joining, not just some of them. You all know who you are if you're part of the guilty majority like I am sooooo

Join OOIDA
Join Highway Watch
Join Truckerbuddy

We all know expediters are the cream of the driving industry. These 3 organizations and programs are the cream of what they do. Everyone should be a member of all three. OOIDA, because they actually work on our behalf on the correct side of issues. Highway Watch, because there are evil people out there and the more of us looking for them the less chance of them succeeding in any of their plans. Truckerbuddy, because you don't know how much fun you'll have with a class of kids until you actually try it.

SO GET OFF YOUR DONKEY AND GET WITH THE PROGRAMS!

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[redytrk]

Leo you are sooooooooo right.

THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS The more members we have the more clout in dealing with the politicians.

While at the J the other day I saw a driver wearing a nice jacket with the OOIDA emblem. What a great way to bring attention to our organization.

I plan to get one of those,if I can just get Carol to turn loose with the money!

 

[yaaintdeadyet]

I'm not aware of their positions. Where does OOIDA, Highway Watch and Truckerbuddy stand on union representation? This much I do know, many of the "join now" posts remind me of the organizing arm of a union.

 

[LDB]

I do not know OOIDA's position on unions and frankly do not care. I do know they are on the correct side of issues such as HOS, EOBR's, speed limiters etc. and that is what matters. I do know they are the only ones actually working for the good of drivers. Those facts alone are more than enough reason to join. Highway Watch and Truckerbuddy have no position on unions. They are not political at all. They are organizations that are good for the country directly through vigilance and indirectly through positive influence and role models for youth.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[JustUsTrucking]

Just a thought about the unions, where is consolidated freight, and since iam from utah, iwill add garrett freight, pacific intermountain express? All gone with union help. And all were big players in the transportation industry.

 

[kg]

Leo, with all due respect towards your views on OOIDA, how do they help the owner of an expedite truck?
Do they renegotiate a more favorable contract with your carrier?
Do they make more frieght available on a daily or weekly basis?
Do they cut your overhead with your carrier, or somehow rollback crude oil prices?
If they can't do any of the above then the changes are mostly political or fluff and it's money tossed at another lobbying group.
Unions or lobbying groups won't help what ails this industry.
The only help will be from your own resoursefulness,and business skills.

Just my opinion

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

Sorry Leo,

I have to disagree with you. I am an OOIDA member, have been for some time. I have researched their impact on our future quite extensively, and unfortunately I have discovered that OOIDA and its lawyers and lobbying coalition are one of the biggest jokes there is on capitol hill. They are ineffective and lack any momentum to get anything ambitious done thru congress. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The only things that they can count as successes are the things that the MTA does not oppose or care about. My membership pays for landline. That is it.


-Charlotte

 

[Broompilot]

Charlotte, obviously you have not visited there Web Site. And to add to it Landline on XM gives us more information that we should be acting on. Are YOU?

I am not only glad to be a member, but proud. Someone is at least trying for us without them KNOW ONE WOULD.... Just read the letter to President Bush regarding Mexican Drivers and all of the hazards they bring with them, when driving in this coutnry.

1. No Random Drug Test

2. No back ground checks for Hazmat

3. Mexico has no weight limits so these trucks are crossing the border when they know the scales are closed.

4. Equipment that is deplorable Saftey Record keeping ZERO.

5. No Computer connection to enforce any kind of driver back ground for tickets. We are allowed how many before we loose a CDL? They just keep driving or buy off the tickets. And if they get one up here they might act or they just might get another fake CDL that our DMV officers have no way of proving if its valid or not.

This is just one EXAMPLE OF WHAT OOIDA STANDS FOR.........

 

[LDB]

kg, what OOIDA does for me is fight for the correct position on the very important issues previously mentioned. If you can't see how a return to a sensible HOS would directly benefit you I can't help you. Ditto keeping EOBR's and speed limiters off our trucks.

Charlotte, the primary reason they don't have more clout is they don't have more members. If there were 1,500,000 OOIDA members they would definitely get more attention than they do with 150,000 members.

There's no reason OOIDA shouldn't have a million members other than too many people who are too cheap to spend $25 a year and use the tired old my one vote (in this case membership) doesn't matter excuse as well as too many, myself included, who have not whole heartedly worked to get others to join.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Broompilot]

Leo it would be intresting to see if you could send this line of posts over to them and ask OOIDA what info they could supply us with to promote the orginization.... You brought it up.....

 

[chuckwagon]

Leo -

Brother, you are right - we have not done enough to get others to join the OOIDA.

Some of these post from drivers say the OOIDA has done little or nothing, yet the driver does not belong to the OOIDA or does little or nothing to get others to join - thus defeating the purpose of the OOIDA.

We tend to blame others for the failures of our own or the lack of effort we are willing to put into a project.

For all those drivers who are to lazy to research a little information yourself it is real easy. Instead of typing in a letter to Leo about lack of information - type in www.ooida.com and go to the website.

Come one folks - let us stop wasting time, complaining about this and that and let us move forward with the OOIDA as our main focus and action organization.

THE OOIDA IS US - IT IS THE DRIVER - IT CAN BE DONE BY US!

 

[cheri1122]

If Charlotte is correct, then the answer is to join
OOIDA if you haven't yet, and encourage others to join if you have. I display my OOIDA stickers on my vehicle, and on the backpack I carry around - if I had more, I'd put them more places. Leo is right, the best way to make OOIDA more effective is to increase it's membership. Until they get the numbers they need to be a force to be reckoned with, the Landline magazine is worth the price of admission.

 

[cv4longhaul]

I've been reading alot about OOIDA lately. I am an American but married a Canadian and have been living in Canada for over 20 years now. Recently I joined my husband in the expediting trade. We drove team for a few months but have now gone into 2 separate vehicles. Now for my question...Being that I reside in Canada would I be able to join OOIDA?



Kathy
TST Expedited Service
#21096
Auntie Em, Auntie Em, Where am I????

 

[redytrk]

> Now for my
>question...Being that I reside in Canada would I be able to
>join OOIDA?

Go to the OOIDA web site. You will notice there is a box for Canadian addresses.

http://www.ooida.com/

 

[highway star]

With this post, I'm beginning to show my OOIDA# in my sig line. But, if you draw 2 time lines, 1 for OOIDA starting with it's founding to present day and another for the state of trucking, one has to ask if our money is well spent. I will continue to support them with the hope that as time goes on and the numbers grow, so will their effectiveness.

 

[silverdollar]

If expedite drivers were not so new to trucking you would know what OOIDA has done for drivers,Have any of you heard of Landstar having to make changes in their drivers contracts due to OOIDA. or how about the state of Tn. Tn used to really take advantage of o/o's and other trucks until OOIDA stepped in. after the lawsuit Tn did away with that whole dept. I think it was Tn PAS or something like that. I am just reciting this from memory but if you go to OOIDAs website you can find all the things they have done for o/o's and company drivers.

 

[geo]

ooida is a driving force in trucking as i have found out i have decal on both sides of the truck and back door and when i had my western star and fl60 and crossing the scales they would see the ooida decal and pass me on by and stop the next truck and stop next one
going on naval base in norfolk one time i was the lead egl truck and friend was the 2nd egl truck and non memeber and they stop him
and he ask why he stop him and trooper said you weren't ooida memeber

 

[highway star]

I've been in trucking since the mid-seventies, about the same time OOIDA was founded. I agree that they have done some good in some individual cases. I was looking at the industry as a whole.

 

[TeamCaffee]

Leo, We also push OOIDA but not as well as we should. We usually tell people the magazine itself is worth the price to join. We do need to become better educated on the benefits that OOIDA does offer us. Thanks for reminding us.

 

[RichM]

Several years ago I got into a urinating contest with Mercedes Benz Credit, nothing was getting resoloved so I called OOIDA ,told them the problem,they reccommended an Attorney experienced in my problem. Now I had bonafide ammunition, so I called MB Credit,mentioned this guys name and we settled the dispute in 30 minutes. I never once spoke to the attorney but I guess his name clicked somewhere.