OOIDA to members: Make some noise

The past four years have not been easy on America’s truck drivers.

That fact certainly is not lost on the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which continues to advocate for policies in the legislative and regulatory arenas that will benefit small-business truckers.

“It’s an interesting time to live in America,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in April at the Association’s Spring 2026 Board of Directors meetings. “The economy has gone through all kinds of challenges and difficulties. Truckers – certainly over the past several years – have been squeezed in very many different ways.”

The pandemic and surge in demand for products created an overcapacity problem in the industry. A simpler way of saying it is that there were way too many trucks on the road. That led to a freight recession. There were signs that the trucking industry was going to come out of it in 2025, but then a series of tariffs created uncertainty. Similar circumstances kicked off 2026, but we’re left facing the uncertainty of the U.S. conflict with Iran and how it will continue to affect oil prices.

“This stuff changes every day, and it’s probably going to change every day for a while,” Spencer said. “I have no crystal ball in terms of how this war stuff is going to come out, but I suspect that we’re going to be dealing with higher fuel prices for a lot longer than we want to be.”

In the meantime, OOIDA remains busy fighting for policies that help professional and safe truckers rise to the top. The Association has helped guide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration toward such efforts as eliminating CDL mills, enforcing English-proficiency regulations and improving entry-level driver training requirements.

“It’d sure be nice if the better days we’re all hoping for would get here sooner rather than later,” Spencer said. “We’re going to do our best to provide information to our members and others to help them the best we can going forward.”

Working with FMCSA

Over the past year or so, the U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA have been focused on cleaning up the trucking industry. That includes tightening the reins on the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and taking steps to eliminate freight fraud.

Many of the efforts have OOIDA’s fingerprints all over them.

“Our relationship with FMCSA continues to be very prolific in a lot of ways,” said Jay Grimes, OOIDA director of federal affairs. “They are responsive and engaged, and we’re in touch with them directly. We’ve been in constant communication on a number of initiatives that are more positive.”

English proficiency is a prime example. OOIDA petitioned the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance in 2025 to place violators of the English rules out of service. Then, in May 2025, OOIDA joined Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at an event in Austin, Texas, where it was announced that FMCSA would begin enforcing regulations requiring truck drivers to possess basic English skills.

Since then, FMCSA has continued to demonstrate its belief that it’s safer when truck drivers can read electronic road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers.

OOIDA Board Member Doug Smith shared a story from the Mid-America Trucking Show to illustrate that the issue is top of mind for FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.

“At MATS, FMCSA had a booth, and there was a poster with a foreign language on it,” Smith said. “Administrator Barrs got it and took it down.”

The DOT and FMCSA have also been working with OOIDA in several ways to clean up the trucking industry. This past February, Duffy and Barrs announced efforts to go after chameleon carriers, CDL mills, lackluster third-party testers and companies that manufacture illegal ELDs.

OOIDA Board Member Tilden Curl expressed concern about whether the agency could actually enforce all of these policies.

“It seems to me that we’re enacting rules that we can’t enforce because they don’t have the manpower,” Curl said. “It’s great that we have it on the books, but what good is it if we don’t have the manpower?”

Although resources will always be a concern, OOIDA contends that FMCSA can be more efficient by focusing on the right things and using that manpower more effectively.

“Lack of manpower can always be a good excuse for why they’re not doing things,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh said. “We’ve seen that about broker fraud.”

Working with Congress

Regardless of which party is in charge, OOIDA’s overall priorities never change. The Association will always be pro-trucker.

So, when the Democrats were in control, OOIDA worked with Congress to examine truck driver pay and predatory lease-purchase agreements. With the Republicans in charge, OOIDA has capitalized on a desire to tighten up CDL rules and roll back environmental regulations.

This flexibility allows OOIDA to work with both parties and also to capitalize on bipartisan issues, such as truck parking.

“If Republicans are in charge, we can get stuff done. And if Democrats are in charge, we can get stuff done,” said Collin Long, OOIDA senior director of government affairs.

When the OOIDA board meetings were underway in April, the main headline in trucking was various versions of Dalilah’s Law. In February, President Donald Trump used his State of the Union Address to share the story of Dalilah Coleman, who was 5 years old when she was injured in a crash involving a tractor-trailer driven by Partap Singh. Trump called for the passage of a law that would prohibit states from issuing CDLs to undocumented immigrants.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced The Dalilah Law, or S3917, in February. The bill would impose limitations on non-domiciled CDLs and would also require mandatory recertification for all CDL holders within 180 days of the bill becoming law.

Many truck drivers had issues with the 180-day provision.

“That 180-day rule is definitely not realistic,” OOIDA Board Member Johanne Couture said. “Has anyone stood in line at the DMV lately?”

OOIDA has put its support behind Dalilah’s Law, HR5688, which Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C, introduced. The bill would crack down on the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs but does not include the provision requiring mandatory recertification of all CDLs.

The Association will continue to support efforts to strengthen CDL requirements and improve the day-to-day lives of America’s truck drivers.

Although it is unclear whether Congress will act quickly enough to pass a highway bill in 2026, OOIDA’s government affairs team has laid the groundwork for a legislative package that could provide substantial funding for truck parking and address other priorities for truckers.

“We have an opportunity to move forward on some pretty big issues,” Spencer said. “The key thing is actually getting Congress to come and go to work. Our guys are pretty good at laying the groundwork to move the ball forward. We just need a little bit of help. The way you can help move things forward is certainly by communicating with your lawmakers. Make some noise and some noise in a positive direction. Give them something they can support, and we’re likely to be successful.” LL