OOIDA bringing the flex of 50 years
Milestones are fun to celebrate. They give us an excuse to throw a party and share in the excitement with others. But when you hit 50 years of anything, the accomplishment is rarely short of profound. That’s where we are with OOIDA.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023. From its humble beginnings in a travel trailer chained to a light pole with a CB, it’s easy to look back and realize we’ve come a long way, baby.
And it didn’t come easy. It took a vision, commitment, hard-headedness and a commitment to the core values – just to name a few things.
Celebrating this anniversary in 2023 frames the past against the future beautifully. Five decades is a long time to learn the most effective ways to represent the rights of all truck drivers. OOIDA is ready to flex that experience in one of the busier regulatory agendas we’ve seen in quite a few years.
Our cover story sets the stage for the battles facing truckers in the upcoming year. Many of the issues aren’t new, though some are. Either way, no matter what the mega fleet special interest groups want or try to sell, OOIDA will be in the middle of the mix repping truck drivers and what you need. You can check that out starting on Page 16.
It could feel a little bit overwhelming, especially coming off the regulatory lull we’ve enjoyed for the past several years. Go ahead and flip over to Page 48. There you will read our first article in our celebration of OOIDA’s 50th anniversary.
OOIDA President Todd Spencer explains so eloquently, as only he can, that as much as history is important it’s taking that history and the lessons learned to continue fighting for those core values. You can just tell OOIDA is ready to take on 2023.
We’re going to be coming up on three years since life as we knew it changed. COVID really mucked things up. Life didn’t have a rhythm and routine like it did before. Here at the end of 2022, it is starting to feel like we may be hitting a new stride.
Part of that comes with finally having a bona fide administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. October 2019 is when Ray Martinez left the agency, and since then we have had acting administrators in place.
Robin Hutcheson was officially confirmed earlier this year, and now we’re off to the races. Senior Editor Mark Schremmer and Land Line Now News Anchor Scott Thompson sat down with the administrator to get the low down on what truckers can and should expect. That interview starts on Page 20.
Hutcheson, before being confirmed, got a firsthand look at trucking, thanks to OOIDA life member Carmen Anderson. Anderson took Hutcheson on a ride-along and educated her on some of the finer points of driving a truck. Grassroots advocacy like that goes miles into shaping perceptions of regulators and lawmakers. Read about the experience on Page 46.
Finally, it’s always fun to celebrate the accomplishments of our members. This time it is a couple of the OOIDA board members.
Kurt Plummer shares an inspirational story about transformation. If you’re into New Year’s resolutions or really just looking to shake things up in your own life, his story may resonate with you. That starts on Page 52.
Doug Smith, who also serves on the OOIDA Board of Directors, was recently named a TA & Petro Citizen Driver. All of the Citizen Drivers are top-shelf people. It’s always a little bit more special when they are someone you know firsthand is an amazing human being. Congrats, Doug. We’re all really proud of you. LL