08/29/2025
I’m sick of it. Aren’t you?
They’ve been bleeding us dry for damn near a century. The suits in D.C. keep calling it “safety,” but all it’s ever been is drivers paying the price.
Trucking didn’t die in a day — the government’s been cutting it open since 1935, and the blood’s always come from the driver.
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🚛 FMCSA & The Government – Same Circus, Different Clowns
The ICC got its claws in trucking back in 1935. By 1936 they rolled out the English-language rule. And let me be clear — I’m not against that rule. Hell, we need it. Pilots have aviation English for a reason. If you’re flying a plane or running 80,000 pounds down the highway, everyone better be speaking the same language. That’s just common sense.
But here’s the problem: FMCSA doesn’t care about safety. They weaponize the rules. They dust them off when it makes a headline, swing them like a hammer when it makes for publicity, and then forget about them until the next media cycle. This ain’t about protecting lives. It’s about flexing power and chasing headlines.
Meanwhile, not one trucker has a seat at their table. Pilots help write FAA rules. Railroaders sit in FRA meetings. Dock workers have unions fighting for them. Truckers? Not a single driver’s voice.
And I could go on — ELDs shoved down our throats in 2017, Jason’s Law in 2012 that promised parking but delivered nothing, split speed limits, towns banning truck stops, states treating us like walking ATMs with tickets — but you get the point.
They don’t care about safety. They care about headlines. And it’s always the driver that pays.
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🚛 Truck Stops – Robbery With a Thank-You
Most truck stops — not all, but most — stand there with a smile saying “We appreciate you” while charging $20 for a dirty shower and $15 just to use the scale.
That ain’t appreciation. That’s robbery with a thank-you.
Drivers walk out with $30 worth of chips, candy, hot dogs, and $5 energy drinks. Then those same drivers say they “can’t afford” the one thing that would actually keep them from being stranded.
And it’s not just the showers and scales. The shops at these stops push repairs drivers don’t really need, just to pad the ticket. Break down on the road without coverage? They’ll bleed you dry with sky-high rates and leave you no choice but to pay.
Truck stops rake in billions off junk we don’t need while refusing to invest in what we actually do: safe parking, clean showers, decent food.
They say appreciation. Most mean exploitation.
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🚛 Brokers – Right Up There With the Government
Most brokers — not all, but most — are bleeding us just as bad as the government.
They skim 10–35% off the top on average. Some take double or triple what the driver actually makes on the load. The guy in an office chair makes steakhouse money while the driver risks his life and ends up lucky to buy a sandwich.
And don’t get me started on double brokering, shady “quick pay” fees, or fuel surcharges that vanish before they ever reach the driver.
Brokers call it business. Drivers know it’s a hustle.
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🚛 Carriers – Safety First (Until the Load’s Late)
Some carriers — not all, but plenty — plaster “Safety First” on their bumpers, then turn around and push drivers past the breaking point.
The facts:
Mega-carrier turnover runs 90–94%. Nine out of ten gone in a year.
Smaller carriers? 74%. Still bad.
So when a mega calls you “family,” remember this: you’re just a truck number on a screen.
And the churn? By design. They run CDL schools funded by government subsidies. Veterans? Even better for them. Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the VA pays up to $29,920 a year for CDL training. The vet doesn’t pay, but the company sure doesn’t do it for free. They pocket the check, slap a patriotic wrap on the truck, and market it like they’re honoring heroes.
That ain’t family. That ain’t honor. That’s exploitation draped in red, white, and blue.
And I could go on — lease-purchase scams, rookie mills, worn-out trailers — but you get the idea.
For plenty of carriers, “Safety First” is just a sticker. For mega-carriers, “family” and “veteran pride” are nothing but marketing slogans.
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🚛 Snake Oil vs. Real Value
Too many so-called “influencers” are out here selling drivers junk they don’t need, don’t want, and wouldn’t touch themselves. That’s snake oil.
Meanwhile, drivers blow $30 at truck stops on snacks and caffeine and then say they “can’t afford” real protection.
Here’s the math: for the price of one fountain drink a day, a truck could be covered. The only outfit I know that actually offers that is RigNation Roadside.
That’s the difference.
Snake oil leaves you stranded. Real value gets you home.
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🚛 The Final Truth
For too long, drivers have carried the weight of this industry while everyone else — government suits, truck stops, brokers, and mega-carriers — cashed the checks.
We’ve been ticketed for sleeping, gouged for showers, robbed on freight rates, and churned like cattle in “family” companies that don’t even know our names. Veterans are paraded like marketing props, rookies are fed into debt traps, and FMCSA keeps writing rules without one real trucker at the table.
This is death by a thousand cuts. And every cut has landed on the driver.
We don’t want pity. We don’t want slogans. And we damn sure don’t want snake oil.
What drivers want is respect, honesty, and a fair shot to do the job that keeps America moving.
Wrong is wrong. Right is right. And no regulation, no sticker, no sales pitch changes that.
