Trucking Industry Research vs Research on Truck Drivers

Today we provided a special screening link to members of the Transportation Research Board Blue Ribbon AT015 Freight Planning and Logistics Committee during the mid-year meeting.

The following introduction to “Driver” was presented by Desiree Wood.

"Driver" is a film about an industry that is invisible even though it is in plain sight.

I participated in the making of this film from 2018 to 2021 and allowed some of the most vulnerable times of my life to be documented hoping it would make an impact to address the inequities that occur in the trucking sector.

We filmed over 700 hours of footage. This film captures only a fraction of what the “trucking lifestyle” terminology means but we think it is an important start to help people understand truck drivers.

To me, being inclusive of truck drivers in Transportation Equity Assessments are important. From truck parking to bathroom access, to being paid for all hours worked to requiring that there should be working air conditioning in a commercial motor vehicle as a DOT requirement and so much more.

It is important people recognize that being a truck driver is one step away from homelessness in many of the business models operating in this workspace.

As planners and practitioners, I urge you to understand that data sources and studies from trucking associations must be heavily scrutinized. “Convenience Samples” must be understood as not representative of the area of concern for the greatest issues that affect truck drivers. Research produced with corporate interests and lobby group associations do not reflect the lived experiences of many of these workers.

Therefore, their research should not be influential when making recommendations that affect people’s lives. It is critically important to understand the difference in trucking industry research and research on truck drivers, in order to produce sound results that do not omit key information on underserved, vulnerable communities within the trucking sector, that provides useful recommendations and must not favor corporate interests. To do that you must talk to the truck drivers where they are, in the environment they perform their job function in the supply chain.

“Driver” has received great reviews and was nominated for a 2026 Emmy Award; it can now be seen on PBS Passport.

We support all those who seek to improve the lives of truck drivers through transportation and commercial motor vehicle industry research, planning and implementation projects.

We want to suggest the following reading material for anyone involved in transportation planning in the freight sector to better understand how the profession of commercial motor vehicle license holder has deteriorated since deregulation to evolve to the place that it has become. This list represents the "holy Grail" to understanding the race to the bottom in the trucking industry.

• Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation – Michael H. Belzer

• The Big Rig: Trucking and the decline of the American Dream ~ Steve Viscelli

• Life on the Big Slab: Identity and Mobility in the United States Trucking Industry – Valerie J. Keathley

• End of the Road - Inside the War on Truckers ~ Gord MaGill

• The Secret Life of Groceries – Benjamin Lorr

• Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance – Karen Levy

• Semi-Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers ~ Anne Balay

• Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate – Ginger Strand

• Longhaul – Hunting the Highway Serial Killers – Frank Figliuzzi