September 26, 2023 • 25 mins
Thousands of long-haul truck drivers in America share a common and constant challenge of remoteness. They find insight and community through the vast reach of satellite radio.
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Episode Transcript
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Bernie Fette (00:16):
Hello and welcome to Thinking Transportation --
conversations about how we getourselves and the things we
need from one place to another.
I'm Bernie Fette with the TexasA&M Transportation Institute.
As they work to meet thedemands of rigid schedules and
long hours, thousands oflong-haul truck drivers turn to
(00:39):
their radios for music andcommentary to ease the fatigue
that they face every day . Andif they're listening, there's a
good chance they're listeningto Mark Willis. Every weekday,
Mark tackles tough issuesfacing truck drivers today,
helping them stay on top of thenews that affects them and
giving them a voice inimportant conversations. You'll
(01:02):
find Mark on SiriusXM SatelliteRadio on channel 146 every
weekday. But for now, you'llfind him here with us on
Thinking Transportation. Mark,thanks so much for sharing your
time with us.
Mark Willis (01:17):
Hey, it's nice to talk with you. How are you
today?
Bernie Fette (01:20):
Wonderful. I was thinking maybe we could start
with you sharing some of yourimpressions about your
audience. And I'm guessing it'sa pretty loyal following of
listeners. They do share somethings in common, like long
hours on the road, longstretches of time away from
(01:40):
family, dedication to a jobthat's far more important than
they might often get creditfor. I'm wondering how your
years in this job have shapedyour thoughts and your
attitudes about your audienceand the industry that they
represent.
Mark Willis (01:57):
You know, that's a really great question. I'll
just give you a kind of ahistorical timeline that back
in 2004 I was news director forABC radio in Dallas and we were
approached by a company calledSirius Radio. They came to us
and said, we would like you toproduce a trucker show. And
(02:19):
just having very limitedknowledge about the trucking
industry, and I only thoughtabout that, was okay, trucks
are big, they go by me reallyquick, and they cut a lot of
people off. So that quicklychanged when I got into the
subject matter because itrequired me to do a lot of
intense research into thetrucking industry and
understanding what makes themen and women that are part of
(02:42):
the trucking industry goforward. This is an incredible
group of individuals that aresome of the hardest working
souls in America. From 2004 to2010 , I hosted the morning
show on what was then SiriusRadio . And this went out to
thousands of truckers allacross the United States and to
(03:04):
Canada as well. And when I leftthe uh , program in 2010, it
had built to a foundation thatwas really establishing it as a
very trusted news source. Myphilosophy was to build it on a
brand and that was news andinformation, and then provide
the content that the driversand those listening out there
really come to depend on. Icame back in 2012 and was
(03:29):
called by Sirius XM after themerger and they wanted me to
come back and do the mid-dayshow where I currently reside
from 1:00 to 4:00 central. WhenI came back, I just jumped
right back into the news andagain, started to provide the
information that drivers neededfrom traffic, weather, health
and wellness , uh, regulations,lifestyle, things like that to
(03:52):
help them get through theirday. And it's been very
successful and the way it'schanged my philosophy about
this when I started back in2004, that I really had no idea
the extent of the importance ofthe trucking industry. Many
people take it for granted thatthe things, the items that we
buy every day we come to dependon simply just appear on a
(04:14):
shelf. And they don't.
Bernie Fette (04:15):
Right. Right .
Mark Willis (04:16):
They really have gotta have , uh, a lot of
intense work to get them towhere those items need to go.
So a greater appreciation forthe men and women that are
driving the trucks out theretoday and understanding the
importance to the economy. Theyare the heart and soul of
America and the backbone ofthis country. A lot of respect
for them.
Bernie Fette (04:34):
Certainly a group that doesn't often get the
recognition it deserves. And Isuppose the pandemic really
threw a spotlight on that.
Mark Willis (04:43):
It did indeed. And that's a great point because
when the pandemic hit , thecountry basically locked down ,
folks are not able to get outof their house. And then it was
a situation where, okay, folksneed goods, they need material,
they need food, they needmedicine, they need shoes to
put on their children's feet.
(05:03):
And the truck drivers wouldliterally go into harm's way.
They would go into the hotspotwhere the Covid zones were.
They would drop the goods offand keep America rolling. And
the number of the drivers thatI've talked to over the years
really found a lot of focus onthe fact that they were so
dedicated to the mission ofgetting those goods to where
(05:24):
they needed to go. So again, itwas the determination to keep
the country moving, to makesure that people stayed
healthy, make sure that peoplestayed fed and they wanted to
do their part to keep thiscountry moving forward.
Bernie Fette (05:39):
What you gave us was a really helpful chronology
of the last , uh, 18 or 20years, it sounds like, Mark.
Let's look back even a bitfurther if we could. As I
understand it, the idea of aradio home for truckers goes
back at least a half a centuryto the time of Bill Mack , a
(05:59):
broadcaster whose name I'm sureyou're familiar with, known as
the Midnight Cowboy on WBAP-AMin Fort Worth. And I remember
this because I grew up in NorthTexas.
Mark Willis (06:11):
Absolutely.
Bernie Fette (06:12):
I'm wondering what stands out to you in terms
of what's changed the mostsince then in the world of
radio broadcasting? Andconversely, what is it in your
mind that hasn't changed atall?
Mark Willis (06:23):
You know, that's another great question. Going
back, looking at the timelinewith Bill Mack, he was
certainly the legendary leaderbecause he, he formulated the
strategy of reaching out to anaudience of truckers that a lot
of them ran overnight from likemidnight to 5:00, midnight to
6:00. And uh , he was theirleader, if you will. People
(06:46):
tuned in and came to listen forhis remarks about life in
general. He also played a lotof the country songs. He was
friends with a lot of thecountry stars back then and is
very famous for writing anumber of country songs that a
lot of folks hear , but theymay not know that Bill Mack was
the author of that. He was theone that wrote it. But Bill
(07:09):
provided a sense of comfort tothose that were out there on
the road back then. He was theone that really was keeping
people company as they traveledovernight. Trucking as you
know, is a very lonely job thatpeople are out there for hours
and hours and days on end. Sohe provided that path, if you
will, for the currentfoundation of what we've got
(07:29):
now with the trucking industrywith news, information,
traffic, and weather. And whenyou look at shows outside of
what I do, there's folks likethe legendary Dave Nemo who is
a synonymous with truckingradio. And uh , he is the host
of our morning show on SiriusXM. And he's been doing this
for years. Incredibly lovedindividual, very much
(07:53):
respected. So he providesinformation, news, he provides
that companionship for thedrivers that are out there as
well. And then K. C. Phillipsthen is the next show, and K.C.
is a young man, probably in hisoh, mid-forties, and he's taken
the tradition on to the nextlevel, providing a sense of
humor, sense of comfort tothose that are out there. And
(08:15):
then I take over with news andthen there's person by the name
of Grace Sharkey who follows mewith Freightways Radio. So it's
all about providing the driverwith that information, that
sense of comfort, camaraderieas uh , they're traveling
about. So the foundations havechanged over the years, but
Bill Mack certainly did set thebar very high, and we are
(08:38):
hoping that we are exceedingthose expectations.
Bernie Fette (08:41):
So it sounds like the purpose and the intent of
what you and your colleagueshave worked toward hasn't
changed at all over thoseyears. Name something for us
that really has changed a lot.
Mark Willis (08:53):
Well, the regulations for the trucking
industry are really first andforemost on the minds of so
many drivers that are out theretoday. We're talking about
rules under the Federal MotorCarrier Safety Administration.
That is the governing body inWashington that regulates the
trucking industry from thehours of service, which is a
(09:16):
14-hour duty day, 11-hourdriving cycle that the drivers
must follow the electroniclogging devices. There's
technology on board the trucksthat I think a lot of people on
Main Street USA would be reallyamazed at. Things such as
collision mitigation, lanedeparture warning systems, anti
rollover technology, satellitetracking technology. It's
(09:40):
really come a long way from theCB radio days back in the
seventies when the movies likeSmokey And The Bandit were out
there. So it's really come along way. Over the course of
those years, more and moretechnology is being introduced
into the cab.
Bernie Fette (09:55):
And the regulation that that you
mentioned, that's clearly oneof the things that's very
important to your audience. Andyou have such a great
connection with your listeners,it seems, largely because you
drive conversations aboutthings that are important to
them , like the regulatoryenvironment that you mentioned.
I'm wondering for those outthere who may have never heard
(10:16):
your show, what are the kindsof things that you address with
your listeners that are clearlyimportant to them?
Mark Willis (10:23):
Well, one of the big things , uh, in addition to
the regulation and safety , uh,there's a lot of emphasis on
health and wellness. Mm-hmm .
Drivers on theroad are very isolated and
they're in seated positions forextended periods of time,
sitting for like 11 hoursduring the day. They don't get
(10:43):
much exercise. They're noteating healthy, not eating well
at all. A lot of the food thatthey run across is in truck
stops, but it's usually fastfood outlets, maybe a
grab-and-go kind of area.
Bernie Fette (10:56):
Processed, yeah.
Mark Willis (10:57):
Exactly. And calories. And it's really not
the best food for them. So Idecided to put a medical spin
on it as well. I've got doctorsin from UT Southwestern Medical
Center that join us , uh,Parkland Health and Wellness,
also a department of , uh,there's a physician in Florida
(11:18):
that provides driver health andwellness tips as well. Eating
healthy, getting a lot ofsleep, addressing things that
are medically related. And it'sreally been a big benefit
because we've heard a lot ofgood stories from the drivers
that have subscribed to theidea of losing weight, stopping
smoking, and it's all designedto help improve their
lifestyle. I don't know if youdo this, but the average
(11:41):
trucker age is gonna be about54 years old, thereabouts in
that general ballpark. Andtruckers will live on average
about 10 years less than thegeneral population.
Bernie Fette (11:50):
Wow.
Mark Willis (11:50):
Due to the fact that that there's so many
sedentary things going on. Sothat's one thing we're gonna
continue to strive for, is togive them that medical
information they need, not todiagnose them over the phone,
but to give them that littleextra push to take themselves
into the doctor and say, Hey,help me with this.
Bernie Fette (12:09):
And we also know that there is a shortage of
those truckers out there. Theones who have the jobs now are
leaving the industry and themedia reports tell us that
there's a pretty substantialshortage of people to fill
those jobs. Why is that in yourview? And, and can you talk a
little about what you knowabout the working conditions,
(12:30):
the pay , et cetera , inaddition to what you've already
told us about the long days?
The long periods where they'rejust seated and facing health
problems that the rest of usmay not have to face.
Mark Willis (12:43):
The industry is undergoing a tremendous
metamorphosis, if you will. Abig change. Okay . And many in
the industry that are in thatgeneral population of say 55 or
so, that they're deciding to goahead and retire. They wanna go
ahead and go fishing, in otherwords. So we're seeing a lot of
people exiting the industry inthat age bracket. But the other
(13:04):
side of that is that we're alsoseeing new people coming into
the industry. There's a lot oftruck driver training schools
that are reporting recordenrollments from young people
that want to get into theindustry. The sense of
adventure on the open road,being your own boss, if they're
an owner operator. The payconditions are amazing. When
(13:24):
you look at where this has beenfrom years gone by, some
companies are paying in theneighborhood of $110,000 per
year to drive trucks for them.
And we're talking about thelargest retailer in North
America that is paying thosekind of dollars to bring people
in. And it's been verysuccessful. There's gonna be a
continued growth in the amountof pay that people are gonna be
(13:49):
receiving because theindustry's gotta be able to
compete with outside business.
People can make a lot of moneymaybe if they go manage a
restaurant or if they work ina, in a warehouse or some
managerial capacity. But thetrucking industry's really kind
of changed and ran quite a bit.
Now they're paying competitivewages, better benefits, sign on
(14:09):
bonuses. That may not be thewhole story though, simply
throwing money at a problem.
Many are saying it's aretention problem, not a driver
shortage, that the industryneeds to focus more on
retaining the drivers theyhave. Better working
conditions, have better pay forexisting drivers and things
like that. So it's almost likethe chicken and egg approach,
(14:32):
which comes first in anotherway .
Bernie Fette (14:35):
So do I understand correctly that the
trucker shortage that I justasked you about, is that trend
turning at least a little sothat the number of those vacant
spots, those vacant seats inthe trucks is reducing?
Mark Willis (14:50):
If you, you ask folks from OOYDA, the Owner
Operator Independent DriversAssociation, uhhuh ,
, uh, they wouldsay that the conditions need to
get better. Higher pay, havingaccess to restrooms for the
drivers is another major issue.
And that's why some people areleaving. Others like the
American Trucking Associationwould say that the numbers are
(15:14):
really looking good, thatthings are starting to turn
around. We've got a shortage,yes. But more people are
looking at entering into theindustry. It's kind of like
what press site do you wannaread, in other words?
Bernie Fette (15:25):
Right. So we've clearly got some disconnect in
that story depending on who youtalk to?
Mark Willis (15:30):
That's correct.
Bernie Fette (15:32):
Okay. Here's one issue or problem facing
truckers that I hadn't evenheard about before talking to
one of our researchers not longago: not having enough parking
spaces for trucks.
Mark Willis (15:45):
That's absolutely correct. The numbers are one
space for every 11 trucks.
Bernie Fette (15:51):
One for 11 . Wow.
Mark Willis (15:51):
And it's , it's an amazing story because of the
fact that this continues to bea problem that has been around
for generations. When you lookat the trucking parking
shortage, it is a safety issue.
It's not the fact that driverscan maybe find a space or they
can't find a space, but itcontributes to fatigue. On the
(16:14):
bottom line, drivers arepushing against their clock.
The 11 hour driving day tryingto find a parking space creates
fatigue. Safety becomes aconcern. And you have to also
look at it from a financialstandpoint as well, that many
of the drivers will stop theirduty day 4, 5, 6 hours early
because of concerns thatthey're not able to find a
(16:37):
parking space. So it's takingmoney outta their pockets and
many drivers are losingthousands of dollars each year
to try to remedy this. Some ofthem said the government needs
to step up more, there needs tobe more government intervention
to provide dollars for parking.
And indeed, we are seeing thatto some extent. Tennessee and
Florida just recently got somemillions of dollars in federal
(17:01):
grant money to open up moreaccess to truck parking. And
they talked with the Departmentof Transportation Secretary,
Pete Buttigieg just recently,and he was at an event in South
Dakota and he was talking aboutthe fact that , uh, federal
money is being poured intoSouth Dakota to open up more
trucking space there on some ofthe major interstates , uh,
(17:24):
that cross through that greatstate . So clearly there's
efforts being made to try tofix it, but certainly the truck
parking shortage is very , verymuch a concern.
Bernie Fette (17:34):
Yeah. You mentioned safety as one of the
consequences of that shortageof, of parking spaces. I wanted
to ask you also about thelowering of the legal driving
age for interstate truckdrivers. Can you touch just
very briefly on that, whatchange we have seen there and
(17:55):
whether or not that is an issueof concern to anyone? Or is it
another one of those caseswhere it's a concern depending
on who you talk to?
Mark Willis (18:06):
That's a great way to describe it. And I'll go
back to OOYDA -- Owner OperatorIndependent Driver Association.
And they have mentioned manytimes before that lowering the
age to 18 to drive a big rig issimply unsafe. That there needs
to be maybe a threshold wheresomebody's able to get in, say
(18:27):
at 21 or 25 because the skillsare not developed yet. I'm
paraphrasing that. AmericanTrucking Association has said
that with a carefully monitoredprogram that will bring drivers
in at the age of 18, that theycan indeed successfully be
trained to operate a big truck.
One of the interesting notesabout that is the fact that you
(18:51):
can drive intrastate betweenstate lines. Say in Texas for
example, you can drive fromsay, Laredo to Amarillo and you
could be 18 to drive a bigtruck. But if you're in
Dallas-Fort Worth, and if youtry to go north, say , of the
Red River into Durant in a bigtruck at the age of 18, you
(19:11):
can't do that. So there's a lotof debate in the industry
about, you know, who's on theright path? Do we lower the age
to 18 or do we increase the ageto 25 and go from there? So a
lot of debate on that subjectas well .
Bernie Fette (19:25):
What we've been talking about , Mark would be
easy for us to refer to astrucker issues , but the
implications reach well beyondthat particular audience,
right?
Mark Willis (19:37):
That's very true .
You can define it as truckerissues, but you are spot on
from the standpoint that theseare America's issues. These are
issues that affect Main Street,USA. Uhhuh ,
right down to the city hall,county governments, to the
regional transportationauthorities, to state
governments, and then on to thefederal level. Truckers' issues
(20:00):
affect everyone. Parking addsto fatigue, shortages on the
store shelves because of delayswith construction or not able
to find drivers. That'sAmerica's issue. That's not a
trucker issue .
Bernie Fette (20:12):
A lot of people learn about these issues in the
trucking industry by readingindustry websites or following
the news in other ways, but yougo straight to the source, your
listeners, you findstorytellers who are doing the
long haul runs and feelingthose changes or issues up
close. Why is that important?
Mark Willis (20:32):
It's important to me as a journalist, to get both
sides of the story. There'sgonna be all sorts of
information that's out therethat is written by media sites
or stories that are put on theair that are gonna have a
definitive spin. It's gonna bea narrative that would be maybe
(20:55):
directed by the organization,whoever that organization may
be. And it's going to reallyaffect the way that the
reporting is, is shown to thegeneral population. So it's
important for me to be able todig into the source and find
out who and what is driving thenarrative, not relying on other
sources of information thatcould be speculating on a
(21:16):
particular story or subjectmatter or trend. It's important
to do the research and thenfind out what matters. Then
presenting both sides of thestory and then letting the
public, the audience decide howthey feel about these things.
Critical to do that , becausethat really creates a
foundation of trust in thereporting, confidence in
reporting, knowing that bothsides are presented and people
(21:39):
can make their minds up on howthey feel. We would fail in our
mission if we didn't do that,if we did not do that research,
if we did not do that extrastep to bring that story to the
listener out there, then it'sreally doing them a disservice.
And that's why our foundationis to bring all of the news,
all of it as humanly possiblewe can find and then let the
(22:01):
public decide how they feel.
Bernie Fette (22:03):
Important things for us to remember the next
time we're out there sharingroadway space with your
listeners. Right?
Mark Willis (22:10):
Absolutely. Like I mentioned, they are the hardest
working men and women inAmerica. I've said this on the
show, that they're the heartand soul of America. They keep
us fed, they keep clothing onour back, and they do such a
wonderful job trying to makethings go for us that we need
to show them more appreciationfor what they do.
Bernie Fette (22:32):
Last question.
What is it that motivates youto show up to work every day?
Mark Willis (22:38):
You know, that's a really, really good question. I
was in mainstream media for 45years. News director. I've done
television work. So manydifferent stories you can
imagine from plane crashes toshootings to fires, and it
would usually revolve aroundhuman misery. And that is
(22:59):
really problematic. Becausethere's more to a story than
reporting the human miseryside. And when I started doing
the trucking industryreporting, I came to find out
that these are great men andwomen that are out there doing
, um, they're doing great work,and it's really interesting to
me and fun to hear their storyand to hear what makes them
(23:20):
tick . If I can provide asolution to them, then my job
has been successful for the day. If I can leave them with a
nugget of information that theycan make their day a little bit
better, then I know that I'vedone my work.
Bernie Fette (23:34):
We've been visiting with Mark Willis ,
veteran broadcaster and host ofRoad Dog Trucking News on
SiriusXM Channel 146. Thank youfor joining us, Mark. I really
enjoyed our visit and alsothank you for hosting so many
of our researchers from TTI onyour show. We really appreciate
(23:56):
that, and we appreciate youspending time with us today.
Thank you.
Mark Willis (24:00):
My pleasure. Let's do it again.
Bernie Fette (24:04):
Long-haul trucking can be a lonely
profession, but those who arepart of it always have a
virtual place to go, to be inthe company of other big rig
drivers -- on SiriusXM 146.
It's a gathering place for someof the hardest working men and
women in America, keeping theminformed on what's important to
them, whether it's dieselprices, healthcare concerns,
(24:27):
trucking regulation, or eventransportation research. Thanks
for listening. Please just takea minute to give us a review,
subscribe and share thisepisode. And please join us
again next time for anotherconversation about getting
ourselves and the things weneed from point A to point B.
(24:51):
Thinking Transportation is aproduction of the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute, amember of the Texas A&M
University System. The show isedited and produced by Chris
Pourteau. I'm your writer andhost, Bernie Fette. Thanks
again for joining us. We'll seeyou next time .
Hello and welcome to Thinking Transportation --
conversations about how we getourselves and the things we
need from one place to another.
I'm Bernie Fette with the TexasA&M Transportation Institute.
As they work to meet thedemands of rigid schedules and
long hours, thousands oflong-haul truck drivers turn to
(00:39):
their radios for music andcommentary to ease the fatigue
that they face every day . Andif they're listening, there's a
good chance they're listeningto Mark Willis. Every weekday,
Mark tackles tough issuesfacing truck drivers today,
helping them stay on top of thenews that affects them and
giving them a voice inimportant conversations. You'll
(01:02):
find Mark on SiriusXM SatelliteRadio on channel 146 every
weekday. But for now, you'llfind him here with us on
Thinking Transportation. Mark,thanks so much for sharing your
time with us.
Mark Willis (01:17):
Hey, it's nice to talk with you. How are you
today?
Bernie Fette (01:20):
Wonderful. I was thinking maybe we could start
with you sharing some of yourimpressions about your
audience. And I'm guessing it'sa pretty loyal following of
listeners. They do share somethings in common, like long
hours on the road, longstretches of time away from
(01:40):
family, dedication to a jobthat's far more important than
they might often get creditfor. I'm wondering how your
years in this job have shapedyour thoughts and your
attitudes about your audienceand the industry that they
represent.
Mark Willis (01:57):
You know, that's a really great question. I'll
just give you a kind of ahistorical timeline that back
in 2004 I was news director forABC radio in Dallas and we were
approached by a company calledSirius Radio. They came to us
and said, we would like you toproduce a trucker show. And
(02:19):
just having very limitedknowledge about the trucking
industry, and I only thoughtabout that, was okay, trucks
are big, they go by me reallyquick, and they cut a lot of
people off. So that quicklychanged when I got into the
subject matter because itrequired me to do a lot of
intense research into thetrucking industry and
understanding what makes themen and women that are part of
(02:42):
the trucking industry goforward. This is an incredible
group of individuals that aresome of the hardest working
souls in America. From 2004 to2010 , I hosted the morning
show on what was then SiriusRadio . And this went out to
thousands of truckers allacross the United States and to
(03:04):
Canada as well. And when I leftthe uh , program in 2010, it
had built to a foundation thatwas really establishing it as a
very trusted news source. Myphilosophy was to build it on a
brand and that was news andinformation, and then provide
the content that the driversand those listening out there
really come to depend on. Icame back in 2012 and was
(03:29):
called by Sirius XM after themerger and they wanted me to
come back and do the mid-dayshow where I currently reside
from 1:00 to 4:00 central. WhenI came back, I just jumped
right back into the news andagain, started to provide the
information that drivers neededfrom traffic, weather, health
and wellness , uh, regulations,lifestyle, things like that to
(03:52):
help them get through theirday. And it's been very
successful and the way it'schanged my philosophy about
this when I started back in2004, that I really had no idea
the extent of the importance ofthe trucking industry. Many
people take it for granted thatthe things, the items that we
buy every day we come to dependon simply just appear on a
(04:14):
shelf. And they don't.
Bernie Fette (04:15):
Right. Right .
Mark Willis (04:16):
They really have gotta have , uh, a lot of
intense work to get them towhere those items need to go.
So a greater appreciation forthe men and women that are
driving the trucks out theretoday and understanding the
importance to the economy. Theyare the heart and soul of
America and the backbone ofthis country. A lot of respect
for them.
Bernie Fette (04:34):
Certainly a group that doesn't often get the
recognition it deserves. And Isuppose the pandemic really
threw a spotlight on that.
Mark Willis (04:43):
It did indeed. And that's a great point because
when the pandemic hit , thecountry basically locked down ,
folks are not able to get outof their house. And then it was
a situation where, okay, folksneed goods, they need material,
they need food, they needmedicine, they need shoes to
put on their children's feet.
(05:03):
And the truck drivers wouldliterally go into harm's way.
They would go into the hotspotwhere the Covid zones were.
They would drop the goods offand keep America rolling. And
the number of the drivers thatI've talked to over the years
really found a lot of focus onthe fact that they were so
dedicated to the mission ofgetting those goods to where
(05:24):
they needed to go. So again, itwas the determination to keep
the country moving, to makesure that people stayed
healthy, make sure that peoplestayed fed and they wanted to
do their part to keep thiscountry moving forward.
Bernie Fette (05:39):
What you gave us was a really helpful chronology
of the last , uh, 18 or 20years, it sounds like, Mark.
Let's look back even a bitfurther if we could. As I
understand it, the idea of aradio home for truckers goes
back at least a half a centuryto the time of Bill Mack , a
(05:59):
broadcaster whose name I'm sureyou're familiar with, known as
the Midnight Cowboy on WBAP-AMin Fort Worth. And I remember
this because I grew up in NorthTexas.
Mark Willis (06:11):
Absolutely.
Bernie Fette (06:12):
I'm wondering what stands out to you in terms
of what's changed the mostsince then in the world of
radio broadcasting? Andconversely, what is it in your
mind that hasn't changed atall?
Mark Willis (06:23):
You know, that's another great question. Going
back, looking at the timelinewith Bill Mack, he was
certainly the legendary leaderbecause he, he formulated the
strategy of reaching out to anaudience of truckers that a lot
of them ran overnight from likemidnight to 5:00, midnight to
6:00. And uh , he was theirleader, if you will. People
(06:46):
tuned in and came to listen forhis remarks about life in
general. He also played a lotof the country songs. He was
friends with a lot of thecountry stars back then and is
very famous for writing anumber of country songs that a
lot of folks hear , but theymay not know that Bill Mack was
the author of that. He was theone that wrote it. But Bill
(07:09):
provided a sense of comfort tothose that were out there on
the road back then. He was theone that really was keeping
people company as they traveledovernight. Trucking as you
know, is a very lonely job thatpeople are out there for hours
and hours and days on end. Sohe provided that path, if you
will, for the currentfoundation of what we've got
(07:29):
now with the trucking industrywith news, information,
traffic, and weather. And whenyou look at shows outside of
what I do, there's folks likethe legendary Dave Nemo who is
a synonymous with truckingradio. And uh , he is the host
of our morning show on SiriusXM. And he's been doing this
for years. Incredibly lovedindividual, very much
(07:53):
respected. So he providesinformation, news, he provides
that companionship for thedrivers that are out there as
well. And then K. C. Phillipsthen is the next show, and K.C.
is a young man, probably in hisoh, mid-forties, and he's taken
the tradition on to the nextlevel, providing a sense of
humor, sense of comfort tothose that are out there. And
(08:15):
then I take over with news andthen there's person by the name
of Grace Sharkey who follows mewith Freightways Radio. So it's
all about providing the driverwith that information, that
sense of comfort, camaraderieas uh , they're traveling
about. So the foundations havechanged over the years, but
Bill Mack certainly did set thebar very high, and we are
(08:38):
hoping that we are exceedingthose expectations.
Bernie Fette (08:41):
So it sounds like the purpose and the intent of
what you and your colleagueshave worked toward hasn't
changed at all over thoseyears. Name something for us
that really has changed a lot.
Mark Willis (08:53):
Well, the regulations for the trucking
industry are really first andforemost on the minds of so
many drivers that are out theretoday. We're talking about
rules under the Federal MotorCarrier Safety Administration.
That is the governing body inWashington that regulates the
trucking industry from thehours of service, which is a
(09:16):
14-hour duty day, 11-hourdriving cycle that the drivers
must follow the electroniclogging devices. There's
technology on board the trucksthat I think a lot of people on
Main Street USA would be reallyamazed at. Things such as
collision mitigation, lanedeparture warning systems, anti
rollover technology, satellitetracking technology. It's
(09:40):
really come a long way from theCB radio days back in the
seventies when the movies likeSmokey And The Bandit were out
there. So it's really come along way. Over the course of
those years, more and moretechnology is being introduced
into the cab.
Bernie Fette (09:55):
And the regulation that that you
mentioned, that's clearly oneof the things that's very
important to your audience. Andyou have such a great
connection with your listeners,it seems, largely because you
drive conversations aboutthings that are important to
them , like the regulatoryenvironment that you mentioned.
I'm wondering for those outthere who may have never heard
(10:16):
your show, what are the kindsof things that you address with
your listeners that are clearlyimportant to them?
Mark Willis (10:23):
Well, one of the big things , uh, in addition to
the regulation and safety , uh,there's a lot of emphasis on
health and wellness. Mm-hmm .
they're in seated positions forextended periods of time,
sitting for like 11 hoursduring the day. They don't get
(10:43):
much exercise. They're noteating healthy, not eating well
at all. A lot of the food thatthey run across is in truck
stops, but it's usually fastfood outlets, maybe a
grab-and-go kind of area.
Bernie Fette (10:56):
Processed, yeah.
Mark Willis (10:57):
Exactly. And calories. And it's really not
the best food for them. So Idecided to put a medical spin
on it as well. I've got doctorsin from UT Southwestern Medical
Center that join us , uh,Parkland Health and Wellness,
also a department of , uh,there's a physician in Florida
(11:18):
that provides driver health andwellness tips as well. Eating
healthy, getting a lot ofsleep, addressing things that
are medically related. And it'sreally been a big benefit
because we've heard a lot ofgood stories from the drivers
that have subscribed to theidea of losing weight, stopping
smoking, and it's all designedto help improve their
lifestyle. I don't know if youdo this, but the average
(11:41):
trucker age is gonna be about54 years old, thereabouts in
that general ballpark. Andtruckers will live on average
about 10 years less than thegeneral population.
Bernie Fette (11:50):
Wow.
Mark Willis (11:50):
Due to the fact that that there's so many
sedentary things going on. Sothat's one thing we're gonna
continue to strive for, is togive them that medical
information they need, not todiagnose them over the phone,
but to give them that littleextra push to take themselves
into the doctor and say, Hey,help me with this.
Bernie Fette (12:09):
And we also know that there is a shortage of
those truckers out there. Theones who have the jobs now are
leaving the industry and themedia reports tell us that
there's a pretty substantialshortage of people to fill
those jobs. Why is that in yourview? And, and can you talk a
little about what you knowabout the working conditions,
(12:30):
the pay , et cetera , inaddition to what you've already
told us about the long days?
The long periods where they'rejust seated and facing health
problems that the rest of usmay not have to face.
Mark Willis (12:43):
The industry is undergoing a tremendous
metamorphosis, if you will. Abig change. Okay . And many in
the industry that are in thatgeneral population of say 55 or
so, that they're deciding to goahead and retire. They wanna go
ahead and go fishing, in otherwords. So we're seeing a lot of
people exiting the industry inthat age bracket. But the other
(13:04):
side of that is that we're alsoseeing new people coming into
the industry. There's a lot oftruck driver training schools
that are reporting recordenrollments from young people
that want to get into theindustry. The sense of
adventure on the open road,being your own boss, if they're
an owner operator. The payconditions are amazing. When
(13:24):
you look at where this has beenfrom years gone by, some
companies are paying in theneighborhood of $110,000 per
year to drive trucks for them.
And we're talking about thelargest retailer in North
America that is paying thosekind of dollars to bring people
in. And it's been verysuccessful. There's gonna be a
continued growth in the amountof pay that people are gonna be
(13:49):
receiving because theindustry's gotta be able to
compete with outside business.
People can make a lot of moneymaybe if they go manage a
restaurant or if they work ina, in a warehouse or some
managerial capacity. But thetrucking industry's really kind
of changed and ran quite a bit.
Now they're paying competitivewages, better benefits, sign on
(14:09):
bonuses. That may not be thewhole story though, simply
throwing money at a problem.
Many are saying it's aretention problem, not a driver
shortage, that the industryneeds to focus more on
retaining the drivers theyhave. Better working
conditions, have better pay forexisting drivers and things
like that. So it's almost likethe chicken and egg approach,
(14:32):
which comes first in anotherway .
Bernie Fette (14:35):
So do I understand correctly that the
trucker shortage that I justasked you about, is that trend
turning at least a little sothat the number of those vacant
spots, those vacant seats inthe trucks is reducing?
Mark Willis (14:50):
If you, you ask folks from OOYDA, the Owner
Operator Independent DriversAssociation, uhhuh ,
get better. Higher pay, havingaccess to restrooms for the
drivers is another major issue.
And that's why some people areleaving. Others like the
American Trucking Associationwould say that the numbers are
(15:14):
really looking good, thatthings are starting to turn
around. We've got a shortage,yes. But more people are
looking at entering into theindustry. It's kind of like
what press site do you wannaread, in other words?
Bernie Fette (15:25):
Right. So we've clearly got some disconnect in
that story depending on who youtalk to?
Mark Willis (15:30):
That's correct.
Bernie Fette (15:32):
Okay. Here's one issue or problem facing
truckers that I hadn't evenheard about before talking to
one of our researchers not longago: not having enough parking
spaces for trucks.
Mark Willis (15:45):
That's absolutely correct. The numbers are one
space for every 11 trucks.
Bernie Fette (15:51):
One for 11 . Wow.
Mark Willis (15:51):
And it's , it's an amazing story because of the
fact that this continues to bea problem that has been around
for generations. When you lookat the trucking parking
shortage, it is a safety issue.
It's not the fact that driverscan maybe find a space or they
can't find a space, but itcontributes to fatigue. On the
(16:14):
bottom line, drivers arepushing against their clock.
The 11 hour driving day tryingto find a parking space creates
fatigue. Safety becomes aconcern. And you have to also
look at it from a financialstandpoint as well, that many
of the drivers will stop theirduty day 4, 5, 6 hours early
because of concerns thatthey're not able to find a
(16:37):
parking space. So it's takingmoney outta their pockets and
many drivers are losingthousands of dollars each year
to try to remedy this. Some ofthem said the government needs
to step up more, there needs tobe more government intervention
to provide dollars for parking.
And indeed, we are seeing thatto some extent. Tennessee and
Florida just recently got somemillions of dollars in federal
(17:01):
grant money to open up moreaccess to truck parking. And
they talked with the Departmentof Transportation Secretary,
Pete Buttigieg just recently,and he was at an event in South
Dakota and he was talking aboutthe fact that , uh, federal
money is being poured intoSouth Dakota to open up more
trucking space there on some ofthe major interstates , uh,
(17:24):
that cross through that greatstate . So clearly there's
efforts being made to try tofix it, but certainly the truck
parking shortage is very , verymuch a concern.
Bernie Fette (17:34):
Yeah. You mentioned safety as one of the
consequences of that shortageof, of parking spaces. I wanted
to ask you also about thelowering of the legal driving
age for interstate truckdrivers. Can you touch just
very briefly on that, whatchange we have seen there and
(17:55):
whether or not that is an issueof concern to anyone? Or is it
another one of those caseswhere it's a concern depending
on who you talk to?
Mark Willis (18:06):
That's a great way to describe it. And I'll go
back to OOYDA -- Owner OperatorIndependent Driver Association.
And they have mentioned manytimes before that lowering the
age to 18 to drive a big rig issimply unsafe. That there needs
to be maybe a threshold wheresomebody's able to get in, say
(18:27):
at 21 or 25 because the skillsare not developed yet. I'm
paraphrasing that. AmericanTrucking Association has said
that with a carefully monitoredprogram that will bring drivers
in at the age of 18, that theycan indeed successfully be
trained to operate a big truck.
One of the interesting notesabout that is the fact that you
(18:51):
can drive intrastate betweenstate lines. Say in Texas for
example, you can drive fromsay, Laredo to Amarillo and you
could be 18 to drive a bigtruck. But if you're in
Dallas-Fort Worth, and if youtry to go north, say , of the
Red River into Durant in a bigtruck at the age of 18, you
(19:11):
can't do that. So there's a lotof debate in the industry
about, you know, who's on theright path? Do we lower the age
to 18 or do we increase the ageto 25 and go from there? So a
lot of debate on that subjectas well .
Bernie Fette (19:25):
What we've been talking about , Mark would be
easy for us to refer to astrucker issues , but the
implications reach well beyondthat particular audience,
right?
Mark Willis (19:37):
That's very true .
You can define it as truckerissues, but you are spot on
from the standpoint that theseare America's issues. These are
issues that affect Main Street,USA. Uhhuh ,
right down to the city hall,county governments, to the
regional transportationauthorities, to state
governments, and then on to thefederal level. Truckers' issues
(20:00):
affect everyone. Parking addsto fatigue, shortages on the
store shelves because of delayswith construction or not able
to find drivers. That'sAmerica's issue. That's not a
trucker issue .
Bernie Fette (20:12):
A lot of people learn about these issues in the
trucking industry by readingindustry websites or following
the news in other ways, but yougo straight to the source, your
listeners, you findstorytellers who are doing the
long haul runs and feelingthose changes or issues up
close. Why is that important?
Mark Willis (20:32):
It's important to me as a journalist, to get both
sides of the story. There'sgonna be all sorts of
information that's out therethat is written by media sites
or stories that are put on theair that are gonna have a
definitive spin. It's gonna bea narrative that would be maybe
(20:55):
directed by the organization,whoever that organization may
be. And it's going to reallyaffect the way that the
reporting is, is shown to thegeneral population. So it's
important for me to be able todig into the source and find
out who and what is driving thenarrative, not relying on other
sources of information thatcould be speculating on a
(21:16):
particular story or subjectmatter or trend. It's important
to do the research and thenfind out what matters. Then
presenting both sides of thestory and then letting the
public, the audience decide howthey feel about these things.
Critical to do that , becausethat really creates a
foundation of trust in thereporting, confidence in
reporting, knowing that bothsides are presented and people
(21:39):
can make their minds up on howthey feel. We would fail in our
mission if we didn't do that,if we did not do that research,
if we did not do that extrastep to bring that story to the
listener out there, then it'sreally doing them a disservice.
And that's why our foundationis to bring all of the news,
all of it as humanly possiblewe can find and then let the
(22:01):
public decide how they feel.
Bernie Fette (22:03):
Important things for us to remember the next
time we're out there sharingroadway space with your
listeners. Right?
Mark Willis (22:10):
Absolutely. Like I mentioned, they are the hardest
working men and women inAmerica. I've said this on the
show, that they're the heartand soul of America. They keep
us fed, they keep clothing onour back, and they do such a
wonderful job trying to makethings go for us that we need
to show them more appreciationfor what they do.
Bernie Fette (22:32):
Last question.
What is it that motivates youto show up to work every day?
Mark Willis (22:38):
You know, that's a really, really good question. I
was in mainstream media for 45years. News director. I've done
television work. So manydifferent stories you can
imagine from plane crashes toshootings to fires, and it
would usually revolve aroundhuman misery. And that is
(22:59):
really problematic. Becausethere's more to a story than
reporting the human miseryside. And when I started doing
the trucking industryreporting, I came to find out
that these are great men andwomen that are out there doing
, um, they're doing great work,and it's really interesting to
me and fun to hear their storyand to hear what makes them
(23:20):
tick . If I can provide asolution to them, then my job
has been successful for the day. If I can leave them with a
nugget of information that theycan make their day a little bit
better, then I know that I'vedone my work.
Bernie Fette (23:34):
We've been visiting with Mark Willis ,
veteran broadcaster and host ofRoad Dog Trucking News on
SiriusXM Channel 146. Thank youfor joining us, Mark. I really
enjoyed our visit and alsothank you for hosting so many
of our researchers from TTI onyour show. We really appreciate
(23:56):
that, and we appreciate youspending time with us today.
Thank you.
Mark Willis (24:00):
My pleasure. Let's do it again.
Bernie Fette (24:04):
Long-haul trucking can be a lonely
profession, but those who arepart of it always have a
virtual place to go, to be inthe company of other big rig
drivers -- on SiriusXM 146.
It's a gathering place for someof the hardest working men and
women in America, keeping theminformed on what's important to
them, whether it's dieselprices, healthcare concerns,
(24:27):
trucking regulation, or eventransportation research. Thanks
for listening. Please just takea minute to give us a review,
subscribe and share thisepisode. And please join us
again next time for anotherconversation about getting
ourselves and the things weneed from point A to point B.
(24:51):
Thinking Transportation is aproduction of the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute, amember of the Texas A&M
University System. The show isedited and produced by Chris
Pourteau. I'm your writer andhost, Bernie Fette. Thanks
again for joining us. We'll seeyou next time .
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