extra credit
by Jason Thompson
Report on Owner Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA)
| Summary of web page OOIDA |
| Questions and Answers about OOIDA |
| My reactions |
| Comparison Classmates vs. I |
| What I’d tell the next student. |
| Summary of OOIDA |
To start off OOIDA stands for Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. The site was set up to attract and serve truck drivers. The foundation itself was started in 1973. It is a national trade association that represents the interests and the views of truckers who drive professionally in the United States and Canada.
OOIDA has a national headquarters located in Grain Valley, Missouri. The building is staffed with more than 100 full time employees. All of the Officers and Directors either have been or are currently professional truckers. There is a twenty one member board that is elected by the members from the members. This board decides on all major trucking issues what the organization will do.
The object of the organization is to serve owner operators, professional truckers and small fleets. Also to create a business climate, where professional truckers can promote better business in a equal and fair atmosphere.
The organization offers a wide variety of benefit programs available through its subsidiary, Owner Operator Services. The OOIDA has a total of more than 45,000 members.
Here are some of the links that I enjoyed and though were interesting. For a full list go here.
1.Membership 2. Land line Magazine
3.Medical Benefits 4.E-mail help
5.Trucks for sale 6.Speed limit chart
1.Membership
I went to the membership page and found that the fee for membership is forty five dollars a year. Questions asked are age, sex, commercial drivers license, if you are an owner operator/fleet driver/professional driver/owner non-driver. Also the number of trucks you own and if you own a trailer.
2.Land line Magazine
This link sent me to a subsidiary company of the organizations. Land Line Magazine is a magazine aimed at truckers. The magazine features advertisements, career opportunities, classifieds, road gear, and upcoming news interests for truckers.
3.Medical Benefits
This link is an advertisement for a Comprehensive Major Medical Plan that the organization offers to members. Rates are based on age, area, deductible, and number of eligible dependents. The plan advertises that it covers DOT (department of transportation) physical exams.
This extension was interesting and possibly very helpful to new members who do not know how to use email. The site includes a number of different mail programs including Unix, windows 95/98, windows 3.x, and Macintosh. Links that explain were also available including finding people on the internet, information about addresses, electronic mailing lists, and sending email across networks. Finally there are also links to miscellaneous interests such as a Smiley dictionary, Fun with Figlets, and how to write effective email. Click on the link above to explore for yourself.
5.Trucks for sale
I went to this link because I was curious what the market is for trucks. I wanted to know what the prices were for different years, and how many miles were on most used trucks. The site was a classified list of different individuals selling used trucks. I found trucks ranging anywhere from a 1986 Integral sleeper with 220,000 miles on a rebuilt motor selling for ten thousand dollars to a 1998 Kenworth with 214000 miles selling for 81,900.
6.Speed limit chart.
The title of this site sounded interesting in itself. I found a list of all fifty states. Listed was the state acronym the speed limit for all interstate highways in the state and all other primary four lane highways. This site would be great as a reference for truckers that travel to random states all the time. Arizona seemed to have among one of the highest speed limits ranging from seventy five on interstates to seventy on four lane highways. Texas was interesting because they have set a speed limit of seventy during the day for interstate and four lane highways, but at night the limit decreases to sixty five for both.
Summary
These were just some of the good sites that I enjoyed on this organizations site. The organizations magazine site was very extensive also with a lot of links, and even a survey that I filled out concerning seatbelt use. Have fun.
Questions and Answers about OOIDA
Questions from the class!
COREY EGAMI: If you were a trucker and on a very limited income, would you feel that your 45$ spent on this membership dues would be well spent.
RESPONSE: It all depends, I would find out first more about the benefits like medical and truck insurance. If the policies they offered save me
forty five dollars or more than it would be worth it. The sites information itself is free. As for helping the cause of trucking I would find out more about the organization and if I thought this organization was going to do things and fight for things that would better my livelihood, then yes I would support the OOIDA with my forty five dollars a year.
GEORGE PEDERSON: Does the Teamsters Union support this association.
I feel this is a good question, I went back to the site to try to find any association with unions or such. I really don't think so because even in the name they use independent drivers assn. Hopefully on some level they do support each other since they are searching for the same thing, the prospering of truck drivers.
DR. LEON JAMES: How does this site support the job and careers of truckers.
RESPONSE: The site is aimed to provide information or links to sites that truckers could use to get their job done safer, and faster. Traffic and weather links will help them to driver faster and safer. A speed limit chart can help them to prospectively plan a long trip. The site also has news articles on important topics such as the issue of split speed limits in some states for trucks. Also
proposals for new regulations that are stricter on hauling, licensing and many other aspects of truck driving.
SHAWN SHIGEMATSU: Should computers be a standard accessory in truck cabs instead of the
C.B..
RESPONSE: I think that in the future this could be a definite possibility. If they break down on the road, instead of call nearby truckers or others with a CB the driver could get online to a twenty four hour dispatcher for the company, or in event of an owner operator, he could access the authorities, a towing company, or a mechanic via instant messages. In the future everyone will be online. Well everyone that wants to
fulfill the niche and make money that is. But yes I think it will be very probable with the
oncoming of wireless internet and the dropping rates of cellular service.
JESSE TUDELA: Do you think that truckers today are computer literate or vice versa? Why?
RESPONSE: It is amazing today how many people are computer literate. People from all walks of life have access today. I think that just like in any group of people there are some people who are and some who aren't. Just from the sheer number of members to this Organization I would say that yes most are.
ALEX LACTAOTAO: What exactly does OOIDA stand for. Well the acronym stands for Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
RESPONSE: The owner operators are the truck drivers that own their rigs. There are also independent drivers that rent rigs and or trailers or are subcontracted into companies. The organization is also advertising to small fleets. I assume it means fleets that aren't part of a larger union.
| My reactions |
First of all I thought that this site was very informative and I was surprised by the number of drivers that pay this organization forty five dollars a year. Over forty five thousand members are active. I think everyone in the class was surprised at that. Verbal questions included what kind of benefits are available to members. The class seemed interested in how the organization can attract so many members. I feel that this is a one stop web site for all the needs of a trucker. It has links to weather, traffic, classifieds, truck purchasing programs, and up to date news on current truckers issues. If I was a trucker I would look further into this site and definitely join if the benefits applied to my needs as trucker.
Comparison Classmates vs. I
After visiting most of my classmates oral presentation pages, I have to conclude that everyone did a very similar job in the structure of their reports. Some had a little more creative flair than others. Personally I like to keep my reports simple and easily readable. The only creativity I have is usually left for my homepage. I did like Mr. Lactaotao's oral report on the book. It has a creative flair if you would like to view. I like the black background with yellow lettering. http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459f99/lactaotao/g12oral.html
What I’d tell the next student.
One of the best ideas I had was to type out the summary of the web sites I read as I read them. This was very timesaving. I could later just cut and paste my summary into my report from another file. The first year I did an oral report I wrote notes in the book alongside the themes in the margin. I thought this would be helpful. In class and later on during the writing of the report I found that it was a mistake because not only did I have to rewrite my notes, but my handwriting was hard to read, especially during the presentation when it counted.
Report#1: Tailgating behavior.