US trucker says Biden still falling short after touting industry progress

A U.S. truck driver called out President Biden after touting industry progress, arguing more needs to be done to help drivers. 

Speaking on "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday, Monte Wiederhold, a truck driver from Ohio with more than four decades of experience, slammed the president's speech and stressed that the regulations drivers face should be reduced.

He specifically pointed to "the hours of service that drivers are faced with every day."

Wiederhold noted that once drivers start their work day, "the 14-hour clock is running in their head and it’s in front of them," and, therefore, "they are kind of in a hurry to get things done."

"So If we could do away with the 14-hour clock and let more flexibility in the hours of service [we] would be a lot better off," he argued. 

Speaking from the White House on Monday President Biden said that since he took office, his administration has started "to turn things around" for the industry. 

"In fact, 2021 was the best year for trucking employment since 1994," the president said. "There are now 35,000 more trucking jobs than there were before the pandemic."

Wiederhold stressed that the administration should cut more red tape to help the industry, pointing out that one reason drivers are leaving their jobs is because they spend nearly one hour a day looking for a place to park so they can take their mandated rest break. 

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"Unfortunately, a lot of times these guys … and girls wind up parking alongside the interstates on exit ramps, and they are not a safe place to park, No. 1, because you could be run into by someone not paying attention," he told host Steve Doocy. "It’s a bad situation all the way around." 

Wiederhold stressed that "something" needs to be done "as fast as possible" to address that risk. 

Tony Salas, co-founder of the Greater Houston Trucking Association, also slammed the president on Tuesday for highlighting his administration’s progress for the industry amid a driver shortage and supply chain issues. 

Speaking on "Fox & Friends First" on Tuesday, Salas blasted the Biden administration’s solutions for the trucking industry as "very vague and ambiguous."

"The administration is doing us a disservice by not giving us a clear path forward." He argued. "While This motivational speech was more focused on recruitment and putting more truckers on the road, nothing was said about retention."

"Each year we have an attrition rate of 90%, which means that 9 out of 10 drivers retire or go into another field," he continued, stressing that "we don’t have [a] recruitment problem, we have [a] retention problem."

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear told FOX Business earlier this year that there is a "chronic shortage of talent" and that the industry is short about 80,000 drivers.

Joining the president on the South Lawn on Monday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that "my department estimates that 300,000 [truck drivers] leave the career every year."

Salas noted that the shortage "certainly doesn’t help with inflation" and the current "supply chain issues."

He then offered solutions. 

"First, we need to pay truckers their due wages," Salas said, noting that "hardworking truckers with a family qualify for food stamps due to such low wages."

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"Second, we need to incentivize truckers, like other industries, by making trucking a desirable career path that people want to retire from," he continued, agreeing with Wiederhold’s point that "this means less mandate and less regulation."

Salas said the third solution is geared towards female drivers who want to work in the industry, noting that there should be an emphasis on making "trucking jobs safe for women." 

"Until we take a comprehensive view to address all the issues truckers face, we will keep on putting temporary Band-AIDS to a deep problem," he stressed. 

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