OOIDA to represent truckers at Senate subcommittee hearing

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to reflect that Dawn King, president of the Truck Safety Coalition, has been added to the list of witnesses.

The U.S. Senate’s subcommittee on Transportation and Safety seeks stakeholder perspectives on trucking, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will be there to serve as the voice for the industry’s drivers.

OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh is scheduled to be one of five witnesses to testify in a hearing titled, “Keep on Truckin’: Stakeholder Perspectives on Trucking in America.” The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

The hearing plans to examine the state of the trucking industry in the United States, truck safety issues, and the regulatory environment from the stakeholder perspective.

A webcast of the hearing will be available here.

The hearing’s five witnesses:

• Chris Spear, American Trucking Associations president and CEO.
• Jake Parnell, manager of the Cattlemen’s Livestock market and director of the Livestock Marketing Association.
• Lewie Pugh, OOIDA executive vice president
• Sgt. John Samis, of the Delaware State Police and president of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Association.
• Dawn King, Truck Safety Coalition president

Pugh, who has more than 20 years of experience as an owner-operator, began his career in trucking as a motor transport operator for the U.S. Army Reserve in 1992. After leaving the military, he entered the trucking industry as a company driver before becoming an owner-operator in 1996. He joined OOIDA that same year and then was elected to the OOIDA Board of Directors in 2004. In 2018, Pugh was elected as OOIDA’s executive vice president.

House hearing

This past June, OOIDA also took part in a U.S. House of Representatives Highway and Transit subcommittee hearing on the state of trucking.

OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer testified at the hearing, telling Congress that it needs to recognize the vital role of truck drivers in order to fix a broken trucking industry.

“Unfortunately, trucking has been fundamentally broken for years, and conditions show little sign of improving,” Spencer said.

“Until Congress understands the most important component in trucking is the driver, very little will change. The next steps you must take are clear – help make trucking an appealing, safe and sustainable career.”

Spencer used his time during the three-hour hearing to discuss such issues as driver pay, detention time, “burdensome” regulations, and driver retention.

“The reasons drivers stay is because of pay, benefits and working conditions,” Spencer said. “The reasons they leave are for the lack thereof.

“When someone is considering a career, do they take one that works 40-45 hours a week and you’re home or one that’s 80 hours or more with you being away from home and you don’t make any more money? I don’t think that’s a real tough decision … We have to address the economic issues for drivers, how they are paid and the quirks that allow them to work unlimited hours without any kind of overtime compensation.”

Spencer’s complete written testimony can be found here.