Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate, unveiled his trucking policy at Iowa 80 on Thursday. He also shared his opinions on the present state of America’s $875 billion trucking industry.
“Each of us deserves to live in a rustic where we’re each allowed to attain that maximum of our potential,” said Ramaswamy, speaking concerning the American dream. “I don’t think that’s the case today for the way in which we’re treating truckers on this country, who’re the backbone of our economy, are the invisible glue that holds the provision chain together.”
The livestream from Iowa 80, the biggest truck stop in America, began with Ramaswamy arriving in a semi-truck. He greeted several drivers and posed for an image in front of the truck with those drivers and his son, Karthik.
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Truck driver Lee Schmitt of the CDL Drivers Unlimited, a brand new membership alliance for truck drivers, asked questions submitted by truck drivers after Ramaswamy delivered a temporary introduction.
The conversation touched upon a slew of trucker issues, including the risks of increased technology, mental health, speed limiters and reforms to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
“The ideas I’m sharing with you, these aren’t Black ideas or white ideas,” Ramaswamy said. “These aren’t even Democrat ideas or Republican ideas. They shouldn’t be. … That is commonsense, American ideas to say that all and sundry ought to be free from regulatory overreach, that all and sundry ought to be free to attain the utmost of their potential without anybody standing of their way. [T]he truckers of this country shouldn’t be an exception to that standard.”
There are greater than 2 million tractor-trailer truck drivers in the USA, per federal data. Nonetheless, presidential candidates rarely speak with truck drivers about their concerns. Ramaswamy’s policies appear friendlier to truck drivers than to large trucking firms or the mega-retailers and manufacturers they serve.
“We’ll say no to the World Economic Forum and standards of 2030 zero-emissions standards for truckers,” Ramaswamy said. “‘Zero emissions by 2030,’ says the World Economic Forum. Truck no!”
The Republican primary calendar officially begins on Jan. 15, 2024, when Republicans in Iowa will caucus to vote for his or her preferred candidate.
Several candidates are vying for the Republican nomination for president, including Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump has captured by far the biggest chunk of votes amongst likely voters, in response to recent polls.
Given Trump’s dominance in those polls, some are already speculating who could be the previous president’s pick for vp. Trump previously stated in an interview that Ramaswamy could be a “great” running mate.
The policy relies on three key points:
Ramaswamy says DOT needs to review driver retention over driver recruitment
One chunk of Ramaswamy’s policy urges the DOT the best way to retain drivers.
“We don’t have a trucker shortage as we’re taught to imagine,” Ramaswamy said Thursday. “What we actually have is a retention problem. And what now we have without delay, especially post-COVID, is an environment where, in that short window where there was a pointy demand, a variety of people were capable of get a truck [and] use debt potentially to do it. But now, we’re burned on the alternative side when now we have a glut of supply.”
The trucking industry, especially employers in the big truckload space, has unusually high turnover rates. Large truckload fleets saw an annual turnover rate of around 94% from 1995 to 2017. Somewhat than boost retention, many fleets as an alternative try to search out ways to extend the variety of potential truck drivers. Researchers concluded in a 2023 study that higher turnover is more profitable for trucking firms than paying drivers more.
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Nonetheless, Ramaswamy identified that reduced driver turnover means reduced administrative costs and higher safety. That’s backed up by research, too; one federal study from 2017 indicated that less experienced truck drivers were more more likely to cause a serious accident on the road. The evaluation found that a trucker with fewer than three years of experience, for instance, was 47% more more likely to cause an accident than one with greater than three years on the road.
Trucker policy advocates for ‘commonsense’ safety regulations
Ramaswamy’s policy drills down on hours-of-service regulations, a subject that’s hotly debated amongst truck drivers. Some drivers say these rules undercut safety, as they’re unable to dictate their very own working hours, while a federal study found that enforcing these rules could prevent as much as 24 deaths annually.
Ramaswamy’s policy states he believes higher parking availability could be a bigger boon to driver safety. A 2016 study from the American Transportation Research Institute found that the typical truck driver spends 56 minutes per day searching for parking. That translates to $4,600 in lost wages yearly.
In recent times, lawmakers have repeatedly introduced bills to direct federal funding for more parking, but these efforts haven’t yet succeeded.
Ramaswamy says it’s time to crack down on broker fraud, not owner-operators
Ramaswamy’s trucking policy turns away from California’s AB5 law, which curtailed the owner-operator trucking model in that state.
Ramaswamy said AB5’s test to find out whether an independent contractor is an worker could undermine good practices that integrate those contractors right into a given company. He said compliance monitoring, educational programs and the like could also be used to prove that a contractor is an worker. The IRS’ more open-ended checklist could be a greater technique to tackle worker misclassification.
As a substitute, Ramaswamy’s policy says this investigatory might ought to be used to research broker fraud and increase broker transparency. Brokers are the intermediaries that contract truck drivers and firms in search of to maneuver freight.
The FMCSA recently passed regulations that will curtail broker fraud by adjusting broker financial backing requirements. The compliance date for that rule is in 2026.
The Transportation Intermediaries Association, which represents freight brokers, told FreightWaves’ John Gallagher that these rules are overdue but “an enormous step towards addressing potential financial fraud and ensuring that funding is on the market to guard motor carriers and brokers.”
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