Recently, I’ve had items come up on my Facebook news feed in regards to trucker’s t-shirts and hoodies. The message on this apparel is in major contrast to the positive image message we are trying to promote within the trucking industry.
ACT in collaboration with the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, American Trucking Association (ATA) and the Truckload Carrier Association (TCA) have all made a huge effort to promote the “Trucking Moves America Forward” campaign. This effort is about improving the image of our industry and doing away with stereotypes. In my opinion, this is a worthwhile effort and very much needed. This is an industry that I’m proud of and the public should be aware of the many positive people who work within this industry. So…this covers the YING and now let’s talk about the YANG.
Last week, I’m having dinner at the truck stop in Texas when I decide to check my Facebook news feed. Popping up before my eyes is an advertisement for trucker hoodies. This clothing had poor, derogatory printed messages on the front and back of the items. The first one in the lineup had written words mentioning that truckers don’t just look like we’re crazy…but we actually are! Some of the others wording was so negative that I won’t even begin to print the words here on this blog. When I looked through the comments section on this post to see what people had to say about this clothing, I was much surprised. My astonishment was that people out here actually appeared to want to purchase these items. My hope is that these are not drivers who wish to wear these hoodies that paint our industry in a negative manner. Just opposite of what our industry leaders are trying to change. Needless to say, I don’t wear this type of hoodie and it made me curious to see what other types of trucker apparel are out on the market.
I googled “trucker t-shirts” to see what I would find. I did manage to find some brand t-shirts which promoted your OEM of choice. However, there was far more negative stereotypical messaging on my search. When I consider what type of messaging I would wear on a shirt, I would ask myself “would I wear this to Grandma’s house?”
I purposely didn’t include any pictures in this blog as maybe you want to paint your own picture or better yet, do a search on your own. I would ask the question to each of us working inside the trucking industry today… is this how we want our industry to be perceived by the public, family, friends or customers???