After MATS- Lessons from the Mid-America Trucking Show

When more than a thousand exhibitors compete for the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) attendees’ time and attention, seeing drivers crowd around one booth for any length of time indicates something big is going on. Often, that’s the arrival of a celebrity making a short appearance to sign autographs and chat. Sometimes a demonstration draws attendees in. This year, the booth with the biggest buzz had neither of those.

TruckThat.com, a new exhibitor, offered free beer (okay big draw there) and something drivers desperately want and need — a chance to speak up. The website/social media outlet for the trucker community reached out to drivers and asked them to vent their frustrations. Within days, the website was filled with driver-generated comments and before long the Facebook page had more than 20,000 fans.

It’s a clear message to the industry: The men and women who choose to work as truck drivers feel marginalized and ignored. They see rapid changes in the industry that directly affect the way they work. More regulations intended to improve safety , greater monitoring of drivers in their trucks and local governments trying to ban trucks or truck parking within their borders and the demand that the job be done, faster, more efficiently, cheaper. By the end of the day drivers often feel defeated.

But wait, it’s not all bad

Venting helps, and there was plenty of that to be overheard as drivers made their way down the aisles. But there was also a desire to make things better. Truckers showed up at an FMCSA public forum on the Beyond Compliance incentive program to give their opinions to representatives of the regulatory agency. Women gathered together to support each other in the Salute to Women Behind the Wheel. The grumbling about an ELD mandate was matched by the gathering of knowledge by drivers attending ELD seminars and asking questions at vendor booths. And, of course, they were there. They travelled from all around the country to attend a trucking show.

The drivers who complain are the drivers who stay in the business because they love something about it and want to make it work. They have some idea of how that can happen. And they want somebody to listen.