As a long-haul truck driver, truck owner, or executive in the transportation and warehousing industry, you’ve felt the grind—the endless miles, the razor-thin margins, the constant battle for fair rates. But what if I told you that many of these struggles aren’t just bad luck or market forces? They’re the echoes of a deliberate, century-old campaign waged by wealthy capitalists to protect their railroad empires at your expense. This is the first in a three-part series diving deep into American trucking: the past suppressions that crippled growth, the present crises they birthed, and the optimistic future we can build together. Drawing from historical records and legislative battles, we’ll uncover the hidden truths, bolstered by key documents from the era. And we’ll connect it all to the American Dream Rail Legacy Project—a nine-point plan that’s poised to modernize trucking just in time for President Trump’s renewed push to reindustrialize America. Let’s get informed, get urgent, and get ready to reclaim our industry.
A Century-Old War is Being Waged on U.S. Highways
Picture this: It’s the late 1920s, and the open road[less] is buzzing with promise. Early trucking pioneers—hardworking Americans like you—are revolutionizing freight with faster, more flexible deliveries to remote areas where railroads can’t reach. Trucks are picking up slack during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, delivering goods efficiently and affordably. But this innovation threatens the fat profits of wealthy capitalists invested in railroads. They see trucking not as progress, but as a direct assault on their empires.
The battle begins in earnest around 1935, when these elites declare war on the highways. They pay experts, academics, and lobbyists to sway politicians, drafting Acts of Congress that tilt the scales forever. The goal? Control the price and flow of interstate freight to safeguard railroad investments. As documented in historical accounts, railroad leaders like F.E. Williamson of the New York Central Railroad openly celebrated these laws for “equalizing competitive conditions” —code for handcuffing truckers while railroads roamed free.
This wasn’t just business; it was a calculated suppression. From 1920 onward, the Transportation Act guaranteed government financial aid to railroads, ensuring their profitability through the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Railroads fought tooth and nail against trucking’s rise, pushing for territorial allocations to limit truck routes and even suing to integrate coal roads accessible only by truck into railroad systems. Lawsuits flew, consolidations were forced, and networking galas wined and dined officials to build alliances. By the 1930s, trucking’s growth—fueled by its affordability and reach—was seen as a “permanent form offinancial loss” to railroads, with testimonies before the ICC highlighting millions in lost freight pounds. The war’s first major strike? The Motor Carrier Act of 1935, which outlawed true competition and suppressed trucking’s explosive potential.
Legislation is Being Used Against Truck Owners to Profit Wealthy Capitalists
The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 was a masterstroke of oppression, designed to subjugate trucking and funnel profits back to railroads. Enacted amid the Great Depression, it imposed draconian requirements: All interstate carriers needed certificates, permits, and licenses from the ICC within 120 days—or face illegality. This bureaucratic nightmare was so complex that new entrants were effectively barred, leaving established truckers to battle alone. No such hurdles for railroads; instead, the Act gave the ICC—often answering to railroad owners—control over truck rates, working conditions, and safety measures.
Wealthy capitalists, through railroad proxies, ensured rates were fixed to keep trucking more expensive than rail, guaranteeing railroads dominated freight. Truckers had to submit fare data, tariffs, and charges for ICC approval, allowing railroads to undercut them systematically. Routes were restricted to circuitous paths, freight types limited to avoid overlapping with other truckers, and priorities given to truckers contracting exclusively with railroads. As one ICC member admitted in 1938, truckers needed “much instruction and help” from regulators—paternalistic speak for total control.
But the Act forced truckers into a legal trap: Rate-fixing violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Rather than repeal, capitalists pushed the Reed-Bulwinkle Act of 1948, exempting rate conferences from antitrust prosecution if ICC-approved. This legalized the “conference method” where railroads dictated truck rates, shielding their monopoly. Despite vetoes by President Truman and objections from figures like Senator Burton K. Wheeler—who decried it as rigging the system to keep the South and West in “economic bondage” —Congress overrode, passing it in defiance. Critics like Assistant Attorney General Wendell Berge called it a “far-flung and dangerous Monopoly” that allied railroads with steel, oil, and cement to block competitors.
The Reed-Bulwinkle Act also slashed railroad payroll taxes, saving them $100 million while draining the treasury. It empowered the ICC to quash lawsuits, block projects like the Saint Lawrence River Waterway that could undercut rail rates, and approve freight car interchanges— all antitrust violations exempted for railroads. Truckers? Still shackled, with rates set higher than rail for the same services.
This suppression lasted nearly 45 years, from 1935 to 1980, stifling innovation and growth. But the capitalists weren’t done. As railroads waned, they pivoted investments to manufacturing and retail, engineering the next blow: the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.In 1980, under the guise of “deregulation, ”the Act flipped the script from monopoly to perfect competition—benefiting shippers (now the capitalists’ new playground) at truckers’ expense.
Led by ICC Chairman Darius W. Gaskins, a deregulation zealot who influenced airlines and oil before trucking, it removed barriers to entry, flooding the market with thousands of new carriers. Profits plummeted 14% by September 1980, sparking layoffs and bankruptcies. Trucking executives like Paul Schuster begged for rate increases to survive, but the ICC argued the downturn wasn’t as bad as it seemed—ignoring the saturation.
This “unfettered deregulation, ” pushed by figures like Alfred E. Kahn, eased rules on routes and tariffs, but it atomized the industry, stripping truckers of price control. By 1982, over 5,000 new companies entered, wages dropped 20-30% for non-union drivers, and union market share eroded. Even ICC Chairman Reese H. Taylor, initially supportive, was ousted for not deregulating fast enough, replaced by pro-competition appointees.
These egregious acts—1935’s suppression and 1980’s chaos—carried forward, creating 2025’s plagues: oversaturation, low rates, driver shortages, and exploitation. But there’s hope on the horizon.
The Value of the U.S. Trucking Industry is Grossly Underestimated
Fellow truckers, let’s pause and recognize our worth. American trucking isn’t just vital—it’s the world’s most valuable industry, the backbone moving 70%+ of domestic freight [general industry knowledge]. It powers the supply chain, delivering everything from food to fuel, keeping America running. But its intangible value is staggering:
- $27.4 trillion as a Utility to 20 major U.S. industries
- $286 trillion as a contributor to popular consumer-markets
- $5.9 trillion with a [deflationary] digital [trucking] currency that shares the trading space with U.S. dollars
Any dictator—or capitalist—would covet this control. Price power was stolen in 1935 by railroads via the ICC, then permanently in 1980 by shippers through brokers. Today, in 2025, larger shippers hold it by proxy, a national security risk amid global tensions.
Long-Haul Trucking is the Premier Sector and a Virtual Mountain of Gold
Long-haul trucking (LHT) is our gold mine—ineffectively mined because shippers own the mountain. It’s zero-sum: More for us means less for them. So, they created an “elephant” —market oversaturation with 465,000 excess truck owners [narrative basis]. Since 1980, this has forfeited hundreds of billions in wealth for fleet owners.
The Elephant is a Wealth Eater and It Has Got to Go
This elephant gives shippers carte blanche: unreasonable delays, penalty fees, minimal detention pay. It proliferates middlemen who bow to shippers, caps rates, blocks organic growth, and cheats fleet owners of billions yearly. Worst, it exploits LHT drivers, stripping wealth and demanding 20 extra years of life for poor outcomes.
Long-Haul Trucking is in a Real Crisis
The driver shortage holds our economy hostage, growing unchecked for 40+ years. Root cause? The 1980 Act’s fragmentation:
- The Act of 1980 removed ALL federal barriers-to-entry.
- Hundreds of thousands of unsophisticated trucking entrepreneurs flooded the market.
- A new set of market conditions [characteristic of Perfect Competition] were created and the right of a trucking company to dictate its own price was stolen, once again. Only this time, it was held by the market.
- The change in market structure guarantees low prices and the lowest rates to the larger shippers.
- Low rates mean less revenue and less money to operate.
- Less money to operate means less compensation for drivers.
- Less compensation makes it easy to quit.
- An extreme job and inadequate compensation create an abundance of disappointed and disgruntled drivers who are unwilling to return.
All trace to 1980’s destructive effects. Solving one requires solving all—simultaneously.
Below is a Top 10 List by Contributor
Top 10 Problems Affecting Carriers:
- Disloyal truck drivers
- High driver turnover
- High operating ratio
- High opportunity cost
- Low driver quality ratio
- Low freight rates
- NO organic growth
- Poor driver training
- Shortage of drivers willing to stay
- Underpaid truck drivers
Top 10 Problems Affecting Drivers
- Cheated out of money
- Deprived of income
- Enslaved to debt
- Exploited for time and labor
- High opportunity cost
- Limited knowledge
- NO on-duty pay
- NO retirement plans
- Poor money management
- Undertrained
Top 10 Problems Affecting the Industry
- Archaic systems
- Cultural disintegration
- Distracted driving
- Inefficient and wasteful
- Market sets the price
- Needless middlemen
- Obsolescent infrastructure
- Poor public image
- Too many truck owners
- Unrestricted entry
Top 6 Problems Affecting Shippers
- Dishonest companies
- Disrespectful drivers
- Not enough trucks
- Poor visibility
- Poorly trained drivers
- Unreliable service
These decades-old issues prove carriers’ helplessness—but shippers won’t help, fearing lost advantages. They oppose tech like blockchain, which could add $150-250 billion in value by 2030 through efficiencies and intermediary disruption [narrative basis].
Corporate America Rules the Trucking Industry
The old phrase— “trucking is too important to be left to truckers” —echoes from 1920s closed doors. Corporate America rules because trucking is their lifeline; higher costs mean lower profits, so price control was stripped.
Highway Robbery Upward of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars
Without 1980’s Act, top carriers could have low-70s operating ratios and triple size today, paying fair wages and attracting drivers. Estimated annual cost to fleet owners: $175.7 billion. If 25 top companies adopted solutions in 2006, their 2021 combined revenue would surge $175.7 billion more [narrative basis].
Consolidate the Industry to Restore Price Control to Truck Owners
American First: Restore organic gains for truck owners, modernize for reindustrialization, lower consumer prices—at crony capitalists’ expense. This ties directly to the American Dream Rail Legacy Project’s nine-point legacy plan, emphasizing trucking modernization through integration with rail for efficiency, reduced oversaturation, and restored control [project reference]. With President Trump’s reindustrialization ramping up in 2025, this is urgent—modernizing now ensures trucking meets surging demand, creating jobs, fair pay, and prosperity.
The past was dark, but our future is bright. We’ve uncovered the truths; now act.
Call to Action
Long-haul truck drivers and truck owners: Get informed. Get involved. Sign the petition to support the American Dream Rail Legacy Project and end this suppression. Visit today—your road to freedom starts here.
