Keeping the trucking tradition alive
OOIDA Board Member Rodney Morine comes from a trucking family. He even likes to tell people in the medical profession his blood type is “ethanol-free diesel.” His father, grandfather and uncles all drove trucks, so maybe gear jammin’ really is in the blood. It certainly is a family affair.
Rodney believes in the importance of experienced drivers passing on the “unwritten rules and regulations” of the road onto new drivers. He says every industry has unwritten rules. As the older generation leaves the industry, the younger generation is missing out on that wisdom, knowledge and tradition, he said. Rodney added that trucking is like a fraternity, full of traditions, stories and even rules that need to be preserved.
He makes it a point to be a mentor to new drivers and to offer advice or answer questions from his fellow truckers.
Q&A
When did you get your commercial driver’s license?
“I started driving school buses at 19 with a Class B bus license in the state of New Jersey. At 23, I was living in Houston and going to college. I got my CDL when my best friend’s dad asked me to come drive for him as a summertime job. I drove for him that summer and eventually stuck to it. I was going to school for accounting so I could do my own books for my trucking company, but I ended up getting my plans backward and starting the company first instead of finishing school.”
What kind of freight do you specialize in?
“Right now I haul dry van and general freight. I still have a flatbed and a reefer trailer too. I’ve been hauling pet and animal food for Purina lately. Everything but their dog food. But I don’t haul cheap freight. It can stay wherever it’s at.”
Why did you join OOIDA?
“When I got my first truck in 1998 through Fleetline. Believe it or not, they pretty much told everybody to get their insurance through OOIDA. As I read Land Line Magazine, I was like, ‘Holy moly, there’s a lot of information here,’ so I maintained my membership through the years.”
If you could make a significant change in the industry with the snap of your fingers, what would it be?
“It would be reforming hours of service and getting rid of the ELD mandate. You can’t call me a professional truck driver and then tell me that I don’t know when to sleep. I think it’s more dangerous for drivers to push when they have five or six more hours on the clock, but they don’t have five or six hours in the tank. It’s not fair to the drivers or the public. If you’ve got a driver that’s pushing it, it’s putting everybody else at risk.”
What legacy do you hope to leave?
“That he either brought back or tried to hold on to old-school trucking.” LL