We The People’s Forum: Are Truckers Getting A Fair Deal?

Steven Wright, a Trump-supporting conservative, has been in the trucking industry for nearly 30 years. He wonders if truckers should go on strike to raise national awareness of the problems that he says truckers face. But while “trucking used to be a brotherhood,” he says, it’s no longer that way today.

Michael Bravard, a liberal, began trucking in 1974 and just retired this year. He made a decent living as a trucker, but he says he feels bad for truckers who are just getting started today. “The entry-level trucker does not get a fair deal,” he says.

Both say that truckers agree on a lot about the challenges facing American truck drivers–no matter who they vote for.

Both say that many truck drivers feel that the people who make trucking regulations don’t listen to actual truck drivers.

Will anyone listen?

We The People’s Forums are an opportunity for the people who make this country function everyday–the important people who are not politicians, or talking heads on screens, or opinion writers in the big newspapers–- to make their voices heard.

Here’s how it works:

First part: our first speakers talk about their experiences and perspectives, their concerns about their own positions, and what they see in common.

Second part: it’s Q and E time: anyone may ask a question, and anyone with direct experience on the issue is encouraged to talk about their experience.

This event is open to the general public.

Our first speakers include:

Steven Wright: “I am a 28 year veteran of the logistics business living in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I have spent 19 years Over The Road driving as both an Owner Operator as well as Company Driver positions. I have 9 years in various positions in dispatching, sales, and safety.”

Michael Bravard: “I began driving locally in New Jersey in 1974, which began my almost fifty-year career as a truck driver. I began driving semi trucks in 1978, bought my first truck in 1983, and pulled refrigerated trailers until I retired in 2022. During my career, I was part of the Teamsters union for a period and also the United Chemical Workers Union for another period. I now live in Colorado.”