Watching the news, I am reminded of the Vietnam War protests of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, also of the civil rights protests that occurred when I was young. People are angry and some carry that anger too far. This time, while African Americans are fine-tuning their civil rights, instead of only knowing what is going on through the television, radio, or newspapers, information and speculation is instantaneous through the Internet. Emotions run high on all sides … black, white, police, and yes, truckers. These emotions run the gamut from fear to anger to outright terror.
Reginald Denny was severely injured in the riots after the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles in 1992. Denny was a concrete hauler who took a shortcut through the riot area and subsequently was pulled from his truck and beaten. The memory of this long ago act has come to the forefront in the current protests in truckers’ minds, even though no truckers have been physically harmed currently as of yet. The recent misinformation has it that Denny had died in the attack. He did not, Denny lives and works in Arizona.
We in the trucking industry need to come together to help each other with accurate information and tips on how to conduct ourselves if caught up in a protest location. We do not need to feed the fears and anger of our peers. We can do that starting with the carriers, shippers, and receivers. These folks need to develop an information circle and be willing to work with their drivers to reschedule appointments if a driver diverts to avoid a problem area and cannot make a scheduled appointment. Carriers need to keep updated on problem areas and alert their drivers immediately.
Furthermore, those carriers, especially with new drivers, need to be sensitive to the new drivers’ fears. And if necessary, provide a more experienced driver to mentor the new driver, hopefully one who has some experience with working around protests and/or strikes and who is calm. Recently, a relatively new female driver posted a video on Facebook of how she felt after ending up in a protest area and being verbally assaulted by protesters. Her terror was obvious.
The driver segment of the trucking industry also has an obligation to not fear and anger monger. We are the ones who will have to deal with protesters if we are not careful and have the most contact with our truck driver peers. I have seen many posts where someone will ask how to deal with the current situation and many of the answers are ‘run them over’ or buy a gun. These answers remind me of an old saying “Custer needed a few more Indians.” There are hundreds of protesters, one or two at most truck drivers, and maybe nine shots. Who is going to win? One would be overwhelmed quickly in a mob situation.
We drivers need to forget about our isolation and share information with our companies and our peers. The best protection in these cases is to avoid the area. As Jon Osburn said in a recent Landline Now segment on this subject “If there are protesters ahead, it is time to stop and have a cup of coffee.”
There is no reason to blindly go into a protest area. Many of these protests are in or around large cities and news of them are usually known ahead of time. A driver should be checking ahead by listening to local radio, gleaning information from the CB radio, or utilizing a free app on local traffic such as Wave.com. Sirius/XM also has traffic information on 20 of the largest cities on channels 132-140. Forewarned is forearmed and no load is worth entering a protest area.
However, if a driver does somehow get into a protest area, he/she needs to lock the doors and keep the windows up. Do not engage the protesters, do not show fear, do not show aggression in any way. You do not want to attract attention to yourself or your truck. You could set off a spark. Alert your company of the situation, your exact location, and keep them updated.
By working together, we in the trucking community can come through these current tough times unscathed and without setting off the powder keg that would direct protesters’ attention to truckers. Just like a terrific storm, this too will eventually pass. Let us get through it together.