Truck Driver Appreciation Week got the statewide spotlight on Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal last week, where host Todd Stacy rolled a clip of the Alabama Trucking Association’s latest music video before sitting down with Alabama Trucking’s Joshua Vaughn. What followed was a 10-minute tour of everything on the industry’s mind: the people behind the wheel, the price at the pump, the crackdown on bad actors and the fight over lawsuit abuse.

A Thank-You Note With a Backbeat

This is the second year ATA has marked Appreciation Week with an original song. Last year had a country flavor. This year, the association’s house band, the Heroes of the Highway, went full 2000s grunge (think a little Pearl Jam), with the video filmed in Bessemer.

Vaughn said the goal is simple: find a creative way to reach drivers they don’t often see or hear. Then he got to the point.

“The trucking industry is the backbone of our economy,” he said. “Truck drivers are the backbone of that industry.”

The numbers back him up. Alabama is home to about 37,000 truck drivers and 130,000 trucking industry workers, roughly one in every 13 jobs in the state. (More at ATA’s Fast Facts & Stats page.) Vaughn reminded viewers that most of us pass those drivers on the interstate without a second thought, or with just one thought: get out of my way.

“It’s not that they expect it necessarily,” he said of the week’s thank-yous, “but they certainly appreciate it.”

Diesel Pain and a Word on Strike Rumors

Stacy pointed out that diesel had topped $6 a gallon and asked how the industry is holding up. Vaughn didn’t sugarcoat it. The costs hit carriers immediately and land hardest on small fleets and owner-operators, and eventually they reach consumers.

He also put the online strike rumors to bed. “Truckers are a resilient bunch,” he said. “They’re not going to go on strike. They’re going to deliver the goods that we all need.”

His ask of policymakers: long-term durable solutions, not knee-jerk reactions.

Getting Bad Actors Off the Road

On enforcement, Vaughn made clear who’s pushing hardest to clean up the industry: the good guys. “That’s really who’s leading the charge,” he said, citing drivers and companies who told ATA they needed help removing bad actors.

That demand became Trucking Resurgence, a seven-point plan developed by 50 state trucking executives. Most of its fixes are federal, but Alabama has acted too. Vaughn pointed to the English language proficiency law Gov. Kay Ivey signed in March, which takes effect Oct. 1, and credited the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency as a key partner.

Still, the problem doesn’t stop at the state line. “A truck coming from California drives through Alabama,” Vaughn said. The strategy: control what you can at home, strengthen enforcement tools, and keep pushing Washington.

Tort Reform in the Next Legislative Session

With a new governor and a wave of new lawmakers coming, Stacy asked whether tort reform will surface in the next session. Vaughn said he’s optimistic. Along with bad actors, lawsuit abuse is the issue ATA members raise most.

“One accident can put a family business out of business,” he said, pointing to the billboards that target trucking companies and paint drivers in a bad light. He praised the growing coalition behind Alabamians for Legal Reform and its new executive director, Harrison Proctor.

For Alabama truckers, the message from Montgomery was clear. The association is saying thank you and pushing for fixes at the same time.