The enduring lesson of the 2020 US election might be that while the Democrats won the presidency, they will at best break even in Congressional races. Some pundits and analysts are attributing that to a lack of understanding of rural concerns in the country. As a window into those concerns, political strategists might do well to listen to the “Over The Road” podcast from Radiotopia, about the trucking industry, which ran from February through May 2020.
Trucking, as discussed in this podcast, is a good example of a number of issues of importance for rural areas – anything that might involve tension between regulation and freedom to conduct business in ways that make sense. In the first episode of the show, which checks in with attendees at the biggest trucking expo of the year, in Kentucky, the host, “Long Haul Paul” Marhoefer, finds out why truckers don’t like the electronic log book systems that have been required and installed in recent years. A lack of flexibility in enforcement, in truckers’ view, encourages them to stop short when they hit a time limit, even if that puts them diagonally across many parking spaces in a lot, or to deploy other workarounds to avoid losing time that should be counted toward being on-duty. The intention of the electronic log might be to improve safety and provide a resource to investigate accidents, but the purpose may have been lost in the letter of the law.
This issue is also, in turn, a recent manifestation of the overall historical and structural tensions within the trucking industry, covered in another episode “A Brief History of Trucking In America.” Here, Marhoefer and his guest, “The Long Haul” author Finn Murphy, explain the difference between corporate trucking where drivers are employees subject to more rules and regulation, and “wildcat” truckers, or independent owner-operators, who can set their own schedule. Also, there are truckers who just haul food including produce, and livestock, who need not be bound by an electronic log book, since they must do whatever they have to get their cargo to its destination, without spoilage or damage to farm animals.
Along with these concerns, other episodes and shorter interim mini-episodes during the show’s first season cover trucking culture, making it accessible to unfamiliar listeners, with coverage of how Covid-19 has changed the trucking business, a history of CB handles, truckers’ favorite music for the road, and more.
In “Over The Road,” Marhoefer and his guests offer those willing to listen an education about a working class subculture, exactly the type of people who felt ignored and turned to politicians who told them what they wanted to hear. Listening to the show will educate you on how society’s institutions could deliver what truckers need.
