OOIDA boss makes waves at home and abroad

TORONTO — How many people do you know that would call a bulldozer a recreational vehicle? Jim Johnston does, and his idea of a relaxing afternoon is spending a few hours in the tall seat, stirring up the backyard, and then making it right again. He says he enjoys focusing on a particular task, and likes the immediacy of the reward.

When he’s not rearranging the landscape of southwestern Missouri, Johnston serves as president and CEO of the Owner-Operator and Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), a group he started with five other disenchanted owner-operators back in 1973. He’s been at it for 32 years now, and remains as committed to the success and prosperity of drivers and owner-ops as he ever was — and probably more so. Today he has over 133,000 members who operate 185,000 trucks in North America. That’s roughly one-third of the U.S. owner-operator population.

Jim Johnston decided more than 30 years ago
he wasn’t going to take it anymore

“We’re taken seriously today,” he says. “But that wasn’t always the case. We were making big strides 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s only been in the last five years or so that OOIDA’s been accepted as a mainstream player, not a bunch of trouble makers working out on the fringes.”

So, where is OOIDA today on the national landscape? From its headquarters in Grain Valley, MO — in an office complex befitting a multinational corporation. The combined revenue earned by that fleet exceeds (US) $22 billion annually, Johnston estimates. The organization has 350 people on staff, with three full-time lobbyists working in Washington. It publishes its own monthly magazine (Land Line), has a daily one-hour radio show on XM Satellite, an extensive web presence, and annual earnings of (US) $27 million. OOIDA’s insurance business alone generates (US) $95 million in revenue, Johnston says.

These days Johnston’s outfit is getting a lot of attention north of the border too. Last year, OOIDA took up a challenge with the Ontario Trucking Association’s speed limiter proposal, joining forces with the Canadian group, Owner Operator’s Business Association of Canada. Johnston’s staff, and OBAC executive director, Joanne Ritchie, recently co-authored and submitted a report to Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation on the impact of speed limiter regulation on traffic safety, saying speed limiters would do more harm than good.

The MTO has reviewed material from both opponents and proponents and is expected to respond to the proposal shortly.

OOIDA’s support has been growing steadily from those dark days in the early 1970s. At one point, Johnston admits, he was the group’s only member. Today, Johnston says he’s attracting small fleets now too, boasting a sizable roster of five to 10 truck operators. Surprisingly, he’s got “more than a few” 80-90 truck fleets in his stable as well.

Johnston was, himself, an owner-operator for 13 years, so the fire in his belly comes naturally. He’s been exposed directly at one time or another to most of the issues OOIDA has tackled over the years, and he smiles when asked about the group’s accomplishments.

“Accomplishments usually end up being compromises,” he says. Still, there are two he’s particularly proud of: the censuring of the Tennessee PSC (public service commission) for its illegal treatment of out-of-state truckers — fleets, owner-operators, and company drivers alike — and what have come to be known as the Truth-in-Leasing regulations, which paved the way for owner-operators to have all the terms and conditions of carrier lease arrangements spelled out.

As to where he wants to go with OOIDA, Johnston says he doesn’t need to look too hard to find some injustice to get involved in. He says what he’d really like to be known for is cleaning up things like mandatory random drug testing, roadside inspections that pit drivers against enforcement and their carriers, and the issue of adequate driver training.

“You could solve most of those (above) issues if we had better, more comprehensive training, and if we respected drivers,” he says. “It all comes around to how drivers are brought into the industry, what we expect of them, and what they have a right to expect from the industry. We fall flat on our faces on all of those fronts … We turn ’em loose untrained, and then the DOT has to get involved to rein ’em back in again.”

Riding around the back-40 on a bulldozer might not seem like a likely pastime for most, but given the impact Johnston and the OOIDA have had on trucking’s landscape, it’s not inappropriate at all.