What trucking unions? The long haul drivers have rejected efforts to organize them. The Teamsters gave up trying. This is a group of people that are as American as apple pie, conservative and working hard.
There are certainly union drivers out there, but a vast majority of those driving long haul (independent and company drivers) from distribution point to distribution point are non union. Some are lucky to be pulling in $350 a week, and that is a work week that has them away from home for weeks.
I drove a dedicated route that had me back home every 4-5 days. This was back during the Clinton era.
Union drivers comprise more of the industry than you realize. Kroger Inc., for example, is a closed shop; you want to work, you’re union. UPS ground transport, same thing. Organized trucking services the urban areas, the places most affected during a shutdown.
People haven’t a clue what truckers go through, what kind of ‘life’ it is on the road, how egregious the abuses from the trucking outfits, and just how VITAL they are to us, each and everyone.
The gov’t stays up nights devising ever more restritioncs on them - thought up by people who haven’t clue one what’s involved.
Truckers are in the top five catagory of our HEROES - but totally unsung. Drivers on the highway haven’t a clue hos to drive around the big rigs, how to compensate for off track, how many feet it takes for a big rig to stop or shift lanes.
It aught to be part of driver training, a prerequisite to getting a license: a course in how to drive around big rigs...and get off your damn cell phones, put your make up on and read your mail at home, etc etc.