Everybody Needs to Calm Down
On the road, drivers have to remain calm. Everyday someone will do something to make us angry. That dock worker who treats you as if your time does not matter. Maybe the shipper looks down on you so much that they will not let you use their restroom. We need to calm down before you get on the road. The 4 wheelers 
that cut you off. Those 2 wheelers that dart between traffic and lanes so quickly that you don't see them. There is that guy who passes stopped vehicles to get to the front of the line in a construction zone. No matter what happens out there, driving a truck angry is something that we don't ever want to do.
Our leadership could use the same advice. It started with an advertisement in a magazine. A San Antonio law firm equated truckers to serial killers. Made me think of the line about “ What do you call a lawyer in cement boots at the bottom of the lake? A good start”. I think that many of the good lawyers in this country cringed when they saw that. We cringe when we see a bad trucker. It hurts the industry. The law firm issued a “non apology” apology. The magazine apologized. I found it interesting that the 
conglomerate that owns the magazine also owns a truck insurance company.
Then came the Collins Amendment calling for the repeal of many of changes in the 34 hour restart. The two biggest changes were getting rid of the requirement of 168 hours between usage of the restart and the two 1-5 am periods. Many of the trucking organizations declared victory. Anne Ferro wrote a blog on the DOT fastlane site. She defended her position. I did not like her usage of crash photos and stories of individual accidents. The blog made truckers look bad.
Then Jim Johnston and OOIDA, in my opinion, over reacted. They fired off a public letter to DOT Secretary Foxx demanding Ferro's resignation. They probably knew that Ferro was not going to resign. It was at best grand standing. To me it revealed a split between OOIDA leadership, OOIDA membership, and truckers overall. It has spurred calls for a change in leadership at OOIDA. It has also started rumblings of a start up organization in reaction that many believe that OOIDA favors the “outlaw” image over the law abiding trucker. Some people believe that “Landline” is leaning closer to advocacy than journalism. That can be a fine line in their business.
It is time for everybody to chill. Personally, I favor the 168 hour rule and oppose the 1-5 rule. I can live with it either way, and believe that many drivers seem to not understand how to use a recap. The American Bar Association should look at ways to censure law firms for unprofessional behavior. That OOIDA should consider changes. That influential people and groups who want to start a rival organization, should try to change OOIDA from within first and that OOIDA needs to really listen to their suggestions. They also need to take a step back and really consider where they are trying to take us. Are their positions giving an advantage to the trucker who operates outside of HOS over the one that is running legal?