Page 46 - ATR 5 2012 web 2

THE laST word

Comb your Hair

tory compliance is. We broke it, now we have to fix it.
How did this happen? An industry We must make our way back to that
that was looked upon a few decades 1970s driver – where the choice of attire
ago as one of integrity, honesty and was not sweatpants and flip-flops. We
pride must now come face to face with must change the general attitude of
an ugly truth—we are our own worst carelessness where small-minded men
enemy. and women use a big truck to bully
How does a growing number of our other motorists.
population view the trucking industry? If we don’t take back control, we
Well, it’s based on what they read, of disregard the respect for this industry
too many accidents and misbehavior – that our mentors, fathers and grandpas
an industry of liars, cheaters and crazed infused in us.
drug addicts who have been given an It starts with the little things. Tell
80,000-pound vehicle to speed down your drivers to clean up their mouths
the road, hogging bumpers, spreading on the CB. Tell them to take a shower
fear and disdain. before and after going to one of your
By gary salisbury More importantly, it’s based on customer’s place of business to load or
Guest Writer what they see. Our fellow motorists deliver freight. Have the driver put on a
now increasingly share the travel pla- collared shirt and leather shoes. Make
We in the trucking industry are zas with employees and contractors sure he combs his hair. The little things
finding ourselves in the middle of a who show up dirty, stinky and foul- – they will feel better about themselves
swamp fighting off alligators up to our mouthed, as they waddle in sweats and and I can guarantee you they will be
fifth wheels. Regulations keep coming, flip-flops. treated differently than the driver who
some of them justified, some not so That description might be a little walks in with the flip-flops, sweats and
much. over the top in some instances, but not strong aroma.
I bet if you asked truckers back by much. I get the opportunity to drive How about it truckers? We drive
in the late ’70s what would be one of our nation’s highways and I view my America—let’s steer it toward a repu-
our biggest challenges 30 years into fellow truckers with a discerning eye. table destination.
the future, the last thing they would As Lane Kidd has said over and
have said is “image.” But we who own over, public perception drives public pol- gary Salisbury is president of Fikes Truck
and manage trucking companies must icy. That means if the public perceives Line in Hope, Arkansas. He is a former
accept that we have an image problem us as the ugly truckers I described, we chairman of the Truckload Carriers
with the public, with some legislators, shouldn’t be surprised that a swell of Association, a member of the American
even within our own companies. And regulations keep coming at all levels of Trucking Associations Board of Directors
this image issue is having an effect on government to keep this dirty industry and is the current chairman of the
our bottom line as assuredly as regula- in check. Arkansas Trucking Association.

opinions expressed on this page may not reflect official policies or opinions of the Arkansas Trucking Association
or the American Trucking Associations.

46 arkansas truCking rePort | issue 5 2012