>Yes, they can help an individual with a problem, and yes,
>they publicize the issues but: writing your congressman is
>about as useless as voting for a candidate against war. When
>OOIDA sent me an e-mail to support the recent
>anti-immgration bill, I told them they should stick to
>drivers' issues, and decided not to renew my membership.
>That's all we need is another pretense to impose
>restrictions at the border- and even in the FAST lane on
>some weapons smuggling scheme!
Sorry Simon Says, I think this is the attitude that is the cause of the failure in trucking and most of the country in general.
I have to say you need to look at some of these things with the kids today, thanks to the mandated community service c**p. I mean that several small groups of people make a big stink about some insignificant subject that affects no one here. They take their fight to the people who make the laws, have oversight of the different departments and they not only get the attention of their representatives but also meet with several committee members and even get tours of the capital. See the thing is if this small group of people can do it, why can’t many of us?
Immigration and invaders (or pc term ‘illegal aliens’) is not only a big issue in the industry but causes you and your family to be in danger by not having English only laws and prevents law enforcement to do the right thing to keep some of these people off the road. I am not saying all immigration is a bad thing, on the contrary it somewhat stabilizes the country in many ways. But that is another subject all together.
I support the OOIDA and a large number of other organizations that help all of us, even though I am not a member. Most have a lobbying group and can’t do it alone. With the attitude that a lot of truckers have (not just a few expediters) I find that they cry the most but when it comes to mobilization, they all think that someone else will do it for them and don’t want to get involved.
As one trucker commented when I was in Tampa a few weeks ago, “…it is not like we are all together in this profession; there is a brotherhood so to speak but it all stops at the door when we have to give a dime to help or need to step in to make a change…†I have to agree with him. It is funny that we all preach the greatness of independence but to further help our independence and make sure it lives on, many don’t believe in a united front or even the simplest things will make a difference.
I don’t like to use hippie terms but it all starts with you.
Apollo, thanks for the links but that is the first step. I have more on the way soon.
