GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. – The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has submitted its wish list to President-elect Joe Biden.
In a letter, the association outlined strategies it hopes are employed by the new Administration.
“President-elect Biden and his team at the Department of Transportation have an opportunity to advance policies that not only support small-business truckers, but promote highway safety,” said OOIDA president and CEO Todd Spencer, who last week expressed interest in heading up the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “We’ve outlined several ways the new Administration can achieve these two critical goals, including expanding truck parking capacity, reducing excessive detention time, ensuring the safe and transparent development of automated vehicles and many others.”
The organization also wants to see improvements to driver training standards.
“Too many new drivers enter the industry without the basic skills to safely operate a CMV,” said Spencer. “And too many folks in our industry are pushing policies that make careers in trucking less appealing and less sustainable, which we know is contributing to today’s precariously high driver turnover rates.”
Additionally, the letter discourages the Biden Administration from pursuing costly new mandates and regulations that miss the mark.
“There are more regulations in place today than ever, and there is more enforcement and compliance with those regulations, yet highway safety isn’t improving,” said Spencer. “The Biden Administration has an opportunity to embrace a fresh approach to promoting highway safety. And that must start with listening to American truckers and trusting their experience.”