Divided
Trucking is a diverse industry. There is a place for a lot of different people. You can be a local driver 
and be home everyday. Some prefer over the road and stay out there for weeks, even months on end. Regional drivers can split the difference and be home every week or a couple of times per week. Still others may spot trailers and never even see a highway. It takes all of us to keep America moving forward.
Problems come up. Drivers take pride in what we do. We believe that we are important. That is alright. It is not alright when we believe that our set is more important than another set. As long as everything flows smoothly, it is not problem that matters. When bumps in the road occur teamwork keeps the freight moving forward. Arrogance stops it. The arrogance is one trucker believing that their time is more valuable than other truckers.
We see it everywhere. It bothers me. There was an incidence on facebook. An OTR driver with 
permission had taken an empty trailer from a customer's yard. The driver needed to take an empty to live load at a different customer. Editor's note: It is really hard to live load a load without a trailer. The spotter was posting that it was essential to have drop trailers in place. That over the course of the night that they would get loaded. That is true. Then he went on to write “Over the road drivers take trailers for their convenience.”Really? Please see the editor's note. Except that it isn't “really” hard. It is impossible. Immediate need takes precedence over future need. Hopefully, a trailer will be found before that customer needs one.
Then I saw another face book post. The poster was complaining about truckers running side by side at 15-20 mph. Yes, that is a problem. I agree. Then the poster wrote “Us local drivers don't have time for that.” What? Road drivers do? With the 14 hour rule, we simply can't be wasting our time either. No one can. Cooperation does not happen when other truckers believe that OTR drivers time has no value.
Unfortunately, the idea that over the road drivers' time has no value is rooted in history. We our 
partially to blame. Customers would keep us at the dock for hours. Drivers logged it as off duty. We compressed our time at the dock. Even if we were held up for 4-5 hours we logged it a 15 minutes on duty. Off duty? We had no incentive to log it any other way.
It has become cultural that OTR drivers time does not have value. It was virtually unlimited. It is not that way anymore. Our time is limited. Therefore it has value. It is one thing to educate shippers and consignees. The next challenge is to educate our fellow drivers.