Rollin' 18 Podcast

Navigating Change: Trucking's Response to Trump's Return, Burt Reynolds' Romance, and New Paths for Drivers

Walter Gatlin

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Picture this: a week thrown off-kilter by unexpected facility breakdowns, yet providing the perfect backdrop to discuss the seismic shift as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency, now as the 47th President of the United States. We'll explore how the trucking industry is gearing up to adapt and collaborate, with insights from industry heavyweights David Heller of the Truckload Carriers Association and Todd Spencer of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Truck parking, environmental and speed limiter mandates are in the spotlight, and we’ll dig into the practicality—or lack thereof—of fully transitioning to electric trucks given current hurdles. Offering both a personal and professional take, I promise a discussion that's as thought-provoking as it is relevant to drivers on the ground.

Switching gears, I shine a spotlight on K&B Transportation’s enticing new pay and home time options, a potential game-changer for anyone looking to strike a better work-life balance. As I contemplate semi-retirement, these options pique my interest, fitting snugly into the broader conversation about Social Security income restrictions at age 62. Throw in a skeptical view on job fairs, backed by my own Army memories, and a survey spotlight from Trucker News on truck maintenance, and there's plenty to chew over. Rounding it all off with a nostalgic nod to "Smokey and the Bandit," I dive into Burt Reynolds' and Sally Field's captivating relationship, exploring the highs, the admiration, and the inevitable regrets. Join me for a ride through the latest industry updates and some personal musings.

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Email me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at rollin18podcast@gmail.com. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast. This 40-year veteran is here for anyone wanting to stay up to date in the trucking world. Grab your coffee, hop on board and let's get on down the road with Walter Gatlin.

Speaker 3:

Well, hello drivers. I hope you guys are having a great day out there. Last week, as usual, my job kept me extremely busy and we ended up with some really big surprises having to go many, many miles out of route in order to get to a facility because the original facility had broke down. So, yes, I did not put out a Friday podcast. I will try once again not to let that happen ever, but it seems like even after harvest, things come up and bite you in the face. Now I'm reading a news article today from truckernewscom, and I get my sources from them, I get my sources from OOIDA, I get my sources from all kinds of different places, because these folks really do their due diligence to make sure we get the truth, and the truth isn't always easy to hear. They are reporting that the trucking organizations react to Trump's second term as president. Now the vast majority of Americans have spoken. They appreciate the fact that Donald J Trump ended up getting reelected, which is what they wanted. Donald J Trump ended up getting re-elected, which is what they wanted, and there's three major trucking organizations today that congratulated Donald Trump on his return to the White House and said they look forward to working with him and the next Congress on issues important to the industry. It says here Trump becomes only the second president to be re-elected after losing his first bid for his second term. Now, the news story was reported a few days ago and it says he received 51% of the popular vote but, more importantly, he has 277 electoral votes, which at the end of today it is finalized. He ended up with 312 electoral votes compared to Kamala Harris's 226 electoral votes, to Kamala Harris's 226 electoral votes, and he won the popular vote by well over 3 million, and I think the total numbers was 71,248,000 for Kamala, 74,839,000 for Trump. Yeah, that was a major win, especially for a guy on a comeback. And we're not sure what happened to the 10 or 15 million people that voted in 2020 to oust President Trump, but they never showed up, so we're assuming they never existed to begin with, or possibly they just didn't want to vote. So we're not sure. We can kind of guess, but we're not sure.

Speaker 3:

The American Trucking Association, owner, operator, independent Drivers Association and the Truckload Carriers Association all said they expect to work with the new Trump administration on addressing issues of concern. Now David Heller is the Senior Vice President of Safety and Public Affairs for the TCA. This morning he shared an email statement which said our nation has spoken and TCA congratulates our 47th President, donald J Trump, on his decisive victory in the general election. As an association, we look forward to working with his administration on the next Congress to advance the priorities that our truckload membership has identified important to keep America moving. The OOIDA, which I recommend if you guys are an owner-operator, become a part of that organization because it can really help you out. The OOIDA and the 150,000 small business truckers we represent congratulate Donald Trump and JD Vance on their resounding victory, said OOIDA President Todd Spencer.

Speaker 3:

We look forward to working with the Trump administration and congressional allies to advance a pro-trucker agenda which includes expanding truck parking, stopping unworkable environmental mandates and preventing a dangerous speed limiter mandate. They are working hard to make sure the federal government slows down or stops their invasive regulations that are basically putting a chokehold on all drivers, whether it be company drivers or owner-operators. It's just silly, the story goes on to say. Ooida also pointed out that Vice President-elect JD Vance is officially on the record as a co-sponsor of OOIDA's top two legislative priorities. As a senator, vance has co-sponsored the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act and the DRIVE Act, which prohibited mandating speed limiters on commercial vehicles. We all know that's going to be crazy if they do something like that, because you cannot set everybody at a certain speed, like 55, when we have vehicles doing 70, 75, and 80 in some states, and then expect there not to be multiple fatalities within a very small period of time. Now, it says. While the ATA also congratulated Trump on his re-election, the organization's leader also detailed issues he hoped the new president would address. He says here we congratulate President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on their victory and look forward to working with their transition team and new administration in the days and months ahead.

Speaker 3:

President Trump made trucking a priority throughout his first term and partnered with us to enact policies that strengthened the supply chain, grew the economy and delivered for all Americans. His second term offers an historic opportunity to build upon that record and show why the best approach to governing is one paved by common sense. That begins by replacing EPA's electric truck rule with national emission standards that are technologically achievable and account for the operational realities of our essential industry. We can get into that and we are going to get into that in the weeks and months ahead throughout these podcasts. Benefits to electric trucks, but there's a lot of limitations and we cannot expect the entire country to kowtow to these unrealistic people that are in Washington that want every single diesel engine truck off the road. It's just not going to happen. It can't happen for many, many, many reasons and we'll get into all the technicalities on that in the future podcast. Because although some of those electric trucks are amazing and what they can do is amazing, anytime you end up with a glitch, an electric truck has a tether on it, a tether from somewhere else that has to be electronic, like an internet, and whenever there's a glitch or a slowdown or something freezes up, you're going to have major problems on the highway. That is a known fact. I don't foresee in the near future or in our lifetime that we're going to ever have trucks electric trucks that are so reliable, that will drive themselves and that will be able to efficiently do what they need to do without some sort of assistance inside that cab. I just don't see it happening.

Speaker 3:

It goes on to say, with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire next year, ata stands ready to work across the aisle on Capitol Hill to achieve pro-growth tax reform, including repealing the century-old punitive federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks and trailers that penalizes our industry for investing in newer, cleaner and safer equipment. We also look forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress on a host of policies to support our workforce, protect the right of independent truckers to choose their own career path and end lawsuit abuse by restoring balance and fairness to the civil justice system and that's going to be on a future podcast as well the lawsuit abuse, because it is getting crazy. And another thing I would like to see Congress work on is the abuse from brokers. Not all brokers are bad. I don't say that about any entity, whether it be a truck company or anything. They're not all bad, but the few that are bad make it bad for everybody, because everybody thinks it happens from. Everybody Goes on to say the next four years will present big decisions for our nation. As we tackle these challenges and opportunities together, the Trump administration and the 119th Congress will find a constructive partner in ATA. Now, during Trump's first administration, trucking enjoyed a high-profile, photo-opportunity-rich event at the White House, which was orchestrated by the ATA in March of 2017. With two tractor-trailers parked on the south lawn of the White House, trump and Vice President Mike Pence met members of ATA's American Road Team, captains and other members of the industry. During the event, trump climbed in one of the trucks, blew the air horn, mimicked being a truck driver, and he also met with industry members to discuss health care.

Speaker 3:

If you guys have an issue that is near and dear to your heart the number one issue you guys are drivers. Okay, number one, you're out there on the big road. You know what's going on. I don't care if you pull local 300 miles, 600 miles a night, or if you're driving from the east coast to the west coast. All that's irrelevant, you're a truck driver. Get on my email. Email me at at Roland18podcast at gmailcom. Let me know your number one issue. I don't need a full explanation, just tell me what your number one issue is, whether it be parking, whether it be fuel prices, whether it be fuel island delays, whether it be shipping delays, receiving delays. Let me know what your issue is, because we need to get to the outright number one problem that truckers have on the road today, and there are many of them, and there's many different things that people can tolerate that other people do not have the tolerance level for that, and that's another thing. When it comes to truck training, we need to figure out an avenue to train truck drivers that we can find out what their tolerance level is on certain things and not put them in that position to where they end up deciding they don't want to drive anymore and they just quit. The turnover rate, ladies and gentlemen, is still over 90 percent, and that is unacceptable, and I think if we work together and we come up with different solutions and we present these solutions to the new administration, there might be a way for us to get through Congress and the Senate to get some of these laws passed. Now is the perfect time.

Speaker 3:

On another note, k&b Transportation just announced they offer several different pay and home time options For you folks that are on the road and you decide, hey, I want to do local, but on the road at the same time. Home every other night, maybe off on the weekends, maybe get 48 hours off during the weekend instead of 36. The Nebraska-based carrier has three new driver options that allow drivers to pick their pay and the amount of home time they want. Now I'm getting old enough to where I want to semi-retire, and I'll probably do it next year, so I want to cut my hours down. This might be something for me to look into, but I think my farm will be able to. The farm I work at now will probably be able to accommodate me on that, because I want to cut my hours down Once you retire and you start collecting your 401k and your Social Security. I'm only allowed to at 62, I'm only allowed to make $1,750 gross per month. This might be something to look into. If my farm can accommodate me, I'm pretty sure they can, but this might be something that's right for you as well.

Speaker 3:

The company's pay package now includes option one called Road Warrior. Road Warrior OTR truck drivers can earn $90,000 plus yearly. Top drivers can earn $100,000 yearly, guaranteed $1,750 minimum per week. Earn $2,000 plus on top weeks. Road Warrior drivers earn $0.70 per mile, eight weeks out, 10 days off top miles, guaranteed $2,500 per week. Now that's option number one, and this is K&B out of Nebraska. So if you want to look them up, give them a holler Option.

Speaker 3:

Number two Midwest Regional Premium Pay Package. Midwest Regional truck drivers can earn $88,000 plus yearly. Truck drivers can earn $100,000 plus yearly, guaranteed with $1,700 minimum per week. And Midwest Regional drivers can earn $0.68 per mile. They're out four to five weeks, 10 days off. Top miles guaranteed at 2,500 miles. Now they have an option. Three traditional Midwest regional Truck drivers can earn $80,000 plus yearly guaranteed $1,500 minimum per week. Earn $1,800 on top weeks Traditional drivers earn $0.60 per mile. Up to $0.64 with raises 12 to 14 days out. Top miles guaranteed $2,500 per week. If that's something you're interested in, get a hold of Canby.

Speaker 3:

This is not an advertisement. It's basically something that they had announced. I know there's a lot of folks out there that enjoy a little bit more home time. That 10 days off after four to five weeks, 10 days off after let's see what did it say eight weeks out and 10 days off. Well, the third one didn't say 10 days off, yeah, I did, yeah, I did, and that was out four to five weeks. So I don't know, I don't know. Whatever you think floats your boat, that would be what you would need to talk about. Talk to them about anyway. Now. Uh, trucker news put out survey and if you guys want to go to truckernewscom, check out the survey, drive a pole.

Speaker 3:

What has your experience been with a B service for your truck? And last week they asked have you ever attended a job fair looking for a job? The results were 72% no. 23%. Yes. 22%. No 23% yes. Job fairs are questionable to me simply because of the fact that you know they're going to promise you the moon.

Speaker 3:

When I joined the Army in 1980, I wanted to go to Germany. They said the chance of me going to Germany was extremely high if I joined and went to Fort Knox, kentucky. I took that as a yes. I went ahead and joined. I went to Kentucky, I went through basic AIT and then they said no, you can't go to Germany. My brother joined two years later, went through all of his training. They sent him to Germany. I was pretty pissed.

Speaker 3:

But anyway, this poll here is what has your experience been with B service for your truck? And if you don't know what B service is, look up truck b service for your truck, google it, you'll find it. There's four answers uh, quick and efficient, no issues. Uh, number two usually requires an overnight stay, frustratingly long wait times. Or number four, inconsistent, depends on the location. So uh, yeah, it's not. A lot of people have to get these services done out on the road and you know I've been to several trucks and thousands of truck stops in my lifetime, but driving local for the last three, four years I've been through several truck stops. I'll stop and get something to eat. I normally fill it, you know, fuel up at the farm. But yeah, I see people waiting in line constantly. So you know the trucking industry has changed and there's a lot more trucks, a lot more cars, so I guess it all depends on where you go.

Speaker 3:

Now, last week I did a small trivia type thing, I guess you would call it, or I did some sound bites of Smokey and the Bandit. Now this week I'm going to add a few more sound bites, because I found Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields talking about each other years and years after the movie and stuff and I thought how cool it would be to find out what they thought of each other, because we know the story they got together, they dated or was together an item for many years and then all of a sudden just split up. But years and years after that, how did they feel? And this is basically, I guess, what Burt Reynolds said about Sally Fields.

Speaker 1:

You write in the book that your biggest regret was not making it work with Sally Field. And you have said recently that you still miss her terribly. She is the love of your life.

Speaker 2:

I do miss her. I think she was one of the most underrated actresses, you know, because of the volume and that stuff, and she was the best actress I have worked with.

Speaker 3:

Burt Reynolds has since passed, and it wasn't a year or two ago that Sally Fields had a sit-down and they interviewed her about her past with burt reynolds and the relationship they had, so I'm going to end this podcast with sally fields talking about hers. We will catch you guys next time, as always.

Speaker 5:

God bless, be safe, keep it between the lines, driver and then we should touch upon bururt Reynolds, this very important relationship, because what did what was? Because if smoking the bandit, you looked at it and you, I think you wrote in your diary. This is a terrible, shocking script but oh, piece of poop what did he say when he phoned you?

Speaker 4:

first of all, the first contact you had down the I think I think he said something like I know this is a piece of poop, that did begin it. But he said he thought we could sort of ad-lib our way through it. And oddly enough, he told me I had just done my first sort of film. And I thought, because I was wondering, why does he want? It was impossible for me to get a role in a film, and yet he was calling me to be in this film and he and I couldn't figure out why. And then he said he's always. He always loved me in Gidget and I thought he loved me in Gidget and that's why he wants to have me sit next to him for a whole film. You know, so it, you know.

Speaker 5:

But when you met him, when you met up, it was and there was an instantaneous I think is the word you use connection, yes absolutely, I think I used that very word instantaneous and intense.

Speaker 4:

And I also said we were a perfect match of flaws Right. We went together very well, but not necessarily for the right reasons. We just both of us felt and again it was a preformed rut in my road where I say in the book many times, if I could have been different, would he have been different? And I think you get lost in the reality of the day. You're reacting to things that didn't just happen.

Speaker 5:

They happened a long time ago, but he was very controlling though, wasn't he?

Speaker 4:

He was who he was and a man of his time and needed the women that he was with to represent him in a certain way. But would he have been different if I could have said don't do that, I don't like it, I. But I couldn't. I couldn't be myself. I could, I was absent from I. I was behaving the way I was taught and that is to be loved. I had to disappear, so I disappeared he, he passed away.

Speaker 5:

I think it was just 12 weeks before the book came out.

Speaker 4:

I think it was four days.

Speaker 5:

Only four days. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4:

It was very, very close. It was kind of horrifying that it was so close and I certainly never wanted to hurt him any more than I already had, and I knew this book would hurt him, even though I tried to paint him as a colorful human being that he was so I don't know. He will always be in my heart and my history. He will never not be there.

Speaker 5:

heart and my history.

Speaker 1:

He will never not be there. Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast. Please visit Walter's podcast site at Roland18podcastcom or his social media sites such as Instagram, facebook and TikTok. All links are in the description.