Talking trucking

Twice a year, the OOIDA Board of Directors gathers in Grain Valley, Mo., discuss the latest trucking issues and determine the best ways to advocate for truck drivers.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association held its fall 2025 board meetings during the week of Nov. 10.

A large portion of the meetings was dedicated to discussion about the upcoming highway bill – including what pro-trucker provisions OOIDA is working on getting in and the anti-trucker items the Association is fighting to keep out.

Land Line will provide full coverage of the OOIDA board meetings and the highway bill discussions in the March-April print edition.

However, the November meetings also provided Trucking with OOIDA an opportunity to speak with several of the board members to discuss a variety of topics of importance to truck drivers. Board members Mike Nichols, Matt Bradley, Harry Smith and Tilden Curl sat in with Trucking with OOIDA’s Scott Thompson and Ashley Blackford to discuss several topics.

On the ongoing freight recession

“Overcapacity, I think is huge just in terms of the stress and congestion on the road. That goes hand in hand with truck parking and the lack thereof … That also affects rates, because it’s supply and demand. For various reasons, trucking doesn’t seem to think it applies to them, but it absolutely does. We have an oversupply of trucks right now.” – Mike Nichols

“This (freight recession) is different in the respect that it has lasted as long as it has. Typically, a recession like this will go on maybe a year, and then things will start picking up. But we’re going into year three.” – Tilden Curl

“There’s always ebbs and flows in the freight market. We’re at a point right now that things have tightened up. The economy is tight. As far as independents and people working off the load boards and through brokers, they’re taking a real hit because of the overcapacity in the market … The capacity is going to have to tighten up before the economy will start coming back for us drivers. Once the economy starts picking up, I think we’ll be the first ones to see that out our windshields.” – Curl

On how Covid led to the overcapacity

“Part of the problem was social media. A lot of people without any trucking experience would jump online and say they could make $100,000 in the first month of trucking and then you get people buying trucks without any trucking experience.” – Matthew Bradley

“New registrants applying for a DOT number doubled or nearly tripled because everyone was trying to chase a quick dollar.” – Harry Smith

“A lot of drivers get into the business today without knowing the business of trucking. I say that a lot to people who are considering buying a truck. If you start out working for a company as a company driver, you get to know the business from that respect but you don’t have to worry about the money coming in or repairs. Then somebody comes in and tell you that you can make $5,000 a week if you just buy a truck. It’s important that people understand the business of trucking from every aspect. If you don’t understand the business of trucking, you’re already out before you even get in.” – Curl

On the driver shortage myth and the turnover problem

“You can’t have overcapacity and claim a driver shortage at the same time. You’d find plenty of people to do the job if they were paid right and treated right.” – Nichols

“There’s not a driver shortage. It’s how we treat drivers. Some trucking companies treat their drivers like crap.” – Bradley

“You have the new guys coming in who have been shown the reality TV version of trucking and not the making of the production of trucking TV series. That new guy starts with dreams and ambitions … and then in three months, he’s left broke, destitute and abandons the truck.” – Smith

“You’re seeing proponents of the driver shortage myth are trying to backtrack. I feel like a lot more needs to be done to put that to bed. I still hear people saying that no one wants to do that job. Yeah, they do. You just need to pay them.” – Nichols

On trucking realities

“There’s going to be some tough days. You’re going to miss home. You’re going to miss family. You’re going to miss X, Y and Z.” – Bradley

“There are three things are industry is lacking right now, and that’s culture, camaraderie and cohesion. And I think those three things are inextricable to safety.” – Nichols

“(The freight recession) came right after Covid when we were all heroes. Then (the pandemic) was over, and it went right back to, ‘Don’t park on our street.’” – Smith

“We went from heroes to zeros real fast (after Covid).” – Curl LL