Readers react to the Ride for the Constitution

Results are as of Thursday, October 10, 1 p.m.Results are as of Thursday, October 10, 1 p.m.

Response to the Ride for the Constitution effort have run the gamut over the last several weeks as word has gotten out about the ever-shifting range of demands, grievances and issues associated with it. Many readers responded favorably to the notion of potential outcomes in wide participation in a shutdown, as indicated by results of the poll included attendant in this linked story, which was conducted during the early days of the effort.

But as mainstream attention to the promoters of the Ride effort has continued to build through the week and voices within the trucking community have spoken up more definitively against the Ride effort, responses have trended negatively but are not entirely so by any stretch. Find some excerpts below, but for more, join the conversations under any of the recent Ride-related stories

Via Overdrive‘s Facebook page:
Neil Gabell Jr.: This is the best example ever of shooting yourself in the foot. Let’s throw a temper tantrum, wreak havoc on the public, then play the victim. I will not be associated with some haphazard protest that only highlights immaturity and ignorance…. Do you really need a pat on the back to accomplish what you voluntarily chose to do with your career? If you want “change” try using the avenues the rest of society utilizes. Vote, write your representative and support OOIDA. The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but that grease may be applied to an area you find uncomfortable. 

Brian Carlson: There is more to fixing our business and restoring the greatness that is the Constitution in our lives than what can be done in a weekend driving in circles. You need real directives. And before you can permeate society with wholesome, beneficial change, you have to apply the Constitution to our personal lives daily and to the job we do every day…. This is why these types of futile exercises will only do harm. So what if a few nontruckers are supporting it — its not long-term change with lasting results…

Michael Lincoln: If we really want to make an impact, why would we shut down over a weekend when 90 percent of drivers are home already? Want to make a statement? Have everybody refuse to make their Monday deliveries. Shut down two-three days in the middle of the week, maybe.

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Zachary Bell: I will not be a part of this shutdown, I will be working instead and making more money so I can get to a higher standard of living than I am at already. If I’m not working, I will be either at home or shopping for a new personal vehicle. If you want to shut it down and have an unhappy customer, be my guest. But remember you don’t get paid if the truck doesn’t move.

Commenting at OverdriveOnline.com: 
Daniel Kupke: We have got to do something! Get something done together just to show we can! This going through the proper channels doesn’t work… Things just go on day after day and nothing changes and noone does anything, etc. Then the Feds come alone every other month thinking up new things for us to be subjected to. I’m tired of it! I will support this and I’ve been out here on the road since ’79, so I do know a little about it!

Rey Moreno: I just cant sit here and be a whipping post for the fed, shippers, brokers, weight station inspectors, toll road commissions, state troopers, anymore! The trucking industry is a cash machine for the fed and states. Everywhere you turn somebody wants your money. Whenever they need money, they just yank the lever. Moreover, all the vendors out there have raised their rates. Cost of tires, parts, oil, fuel, shop labor, taxes, legal services, factoring, all have gotten their rate increases. The old guy at the parts counter even smiles at you when he tells you about the upcoming rate increase. Doesn’t that make your blood boil? For my business, my industry, and my country, I have to do something.

Karen Moore:  If every trucker and owner-operator in the country would do nothing more than pick up the phone and call their senator or congressperson once a month, you would see things change. It’s very easy to do; here’s the phone number for the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121. Ask for your congressperson or your senator or any other representative; the switchboard will plug you right in with a live person who will listen and make a record of your opinion and pass it on to your representative. It works!

Don Lanier: Yes we need change, yes we need to organize, but we also need to realize a truckers’ strike isn’t going to change who’s President or change his way of governing. Many don’t like who or what he is — vote him out of office. Then start with Congress and elect men and women who represent us, not lobbies. We can block traffic and honk our horns and wave our flags and show we are Proud of who we are, but if we do this wrong, it’s going to backfire and make us all look bad, and our reputations will suffer for it, especially owner-operators.