09x06 - Trucking industry in the United States

[bunniefuu]

LAST WEEK TONIGHT
WITH JOHN OLIVER

Welcome to "Last Week Tonight"!
I'm John Oliver,

Thank you so much for joining us.
It has been another busy week.

Russia is still brutalizing Ukraine,
Amazon workers in the U.S.

successfully voted
to unionize for the first time,

and at the Oscars, this happened,

a moment that has since spawned
thousands of terrible takes,

with this one maybe being
the one that we needed the least.

The question I've been getting is,
Will Smith and Chris Rock.

It was unfortunate,
I think Will was wrong.

I understood the feeling.

Nope. Not you, O.J. Not you.
No one wants to hear from you on this,

especially when you seem
to be coming live

from the Covid patio
of a Senor Frogs.

You can just sit this one out.

Think of this situation like a rowdy
bachelorette ordering a mimosa:

we want as little juice involved here
as humanly possible.

But let's move on to Washington, where
Republicans had a dramatic week,

thanks to Madison Cawthorn,

the freshman congressman
from North Carolina,

and the fallout from this interview.

I look at all these people,
a lot of them that I,

I've looked up to through my life,
I've always paid attention to politics.

Guys that, then all of a sudden
you get invited to...

"We're going to a sexual get-together
at one of our homes, you should come."

And I'm like, "What did you
just ask me to come to?"

And you realize they're asking you
to come to an orgy.

Or the fact that, you know,
they're some of the people

that are leading on the movement to try
and remove addiction in our country,

and then you watch them do, a key
bump of cocaine in front of you.

And it's like, this is wild.

No one uses the phrase "key bump"
without knowing exactly what it means,

so it feels like you're already
telling on yourself a little there.

Also, I'm pretty sure
that people having coke-fueled orgies

don't call them
"sexual get-togethers."

A "sexual get-together"
sounds like a sex toy party

at your friend Brenda's
friend Shenae's house,

where you realize halfway through that
the whole thing's a pyramid scheme.

"No, I don't want to sample
any more raspberry nipple cream.

This is a scam, and I'm going home.
I got a babysitter for this!"

Also, and this really isn't the point,
but what is this podcast?

That's rhetorical,
I don't care and won't learn.

I think that it's weird
that the only two clues we have

are a "Braveheart" poster

and what appears to be
a rag doll of Post Malone.

Cawthorn's remarks prompted
stern rebukes from his colleagues,

with House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy saying,

"There is no evidence
behind his statements,"

"he's lost my trust, and he's going
to have to earn it back."

And if that truly was the moment
when Cawthorn lost McCarthy's trust,

then let's take a minute on that.

Because Cawthorn
has said a lot of objectionable things.

He's urged people

to "lightly thr*aten" members
of Congress ahead of January 6th,

suggested Biden's
door-to-door vaccine strategy

could be used
to "take people's g*ns and Bibles,"

and just recently called Zelensky
a thug.

He also offered this incredible piece
of parenting advice just last year.

They're trying to demasculate
the young men in this country

because they don't want people
who are going to stand up.

And so, I'm telling you,
all of you moms here,

the people who I said were
the most vicious in our movement,

if you are raising a young man,
please raise them to be a monster.

Raise...

Don't worry, Madison.

I'm sure the moms who responded there
with front-row Beyoncé ticket energy

have already struck
the exact right balance of bigotry,

denial of affection,
and casual permission of v*olence

that'll have their sons on the
front page of a terrible news story.

The fact is, though,

Cawthorn's record with the truth
has always been unrelentingly bad.

He implied the car crash
that left him partially paralyzed

derailed his plans
to attend the U.S. Naval Academy,

even though his application had already
been rejected before the crash.

He frequently claimed
to be training for the Paralympics,

which was news to actual Paralympians
like Amanda McGrory,

who pointed out he's not even in the
official registry for Paralympians,

which he would have to be
in order to compete, adding:

"It's like a kid saying
they want to play in the NBA

when they're on their fourth-grade
basketball team."

And quick side note here:

Cawthorn often makes reference
to his disability,

or finds ways to center it.

Like when he made a point of standing
for the flag at the RNC.

That is something that especially
irritates some disability advocates,

who feels it plays
into the hands of societal ableism,

the cultural desire to see people
with disabilities only as inspirational,

when, obviously,
they are a broad group of people

who include everyone from incredible
athletes like Amanda McGrory,

to douchey frat bros
lying their way to power.

It turns out, being a shitty person,
unlike so much of our society,

is one of the few things that
is actually accessible for everyone.

But Cawthorn was also the subject
of a scathing public letter

signed by more than 150 of his former
college classmates,

alleging he engaged in "sexually
predatory behavior" while in college.

And while on one hand,
he denies those claims,

on the other hand, there was
this incredible moment in a debate.

If I have a daughter,
I want her to grow up in a world

where people will have
to ask permission to touch her.

It would have made my high school
experience much less awkward

if I knew that was a question
that could generally be asked.

If I have a son, I want him to grow up
in a world where he's not accused

of being a sexual predator
because he wants to kiss a girl.

The good news is,
that's already half true.

No one tells boys they're sexual
predators for wanting to kiss girls.

How are we doing on the other part?
I don't know, Madison.

Let's ask anyone
who went to college with you.

The point is, none of what happened
with Cawthorn this week

should be remotely surprising
to anyone.

Especially given that
when he ran for office,

this was one of his actual ads.

Did you hear?
My opponent is a simp.

He endorsed Nancy Pelosi right here
in western North Carolina.

I won't endorse Nancy Pelosi.
I'll make her life a living hell.

I believe you can run your life
better than I can.

Better than any socialist
simp Congress can.

I'm Madison Cawthorn.
I'm not a socialist.

I'm not a simp. I am your w*apon.
Send me to Congress to fight for you.

Okay, I don't know
how many times the word "simp"

should appear in a campaign ad,
but I don't think it's three.

And now I've said it out loud,
more than zero is clearly too many.

And for the record,
since his election,

Cawthorn has shown much less interest
in "fighting for his constituents"

than in shameless self-promotion,
reportedly telling colleagues

he'd built his staff around comms
rather than legislation.

Which absolutely makes sense.

Because this guy loves posting
sh*ts of himself on Instagram,

whether he's fishing,
smoking cigars,

or, in a post that's now been deleted,
visiting h*tler's vacation house,

known as the "Eagle's Nest",

in which his caption
refers to h*tler as "the Fuhrer"

and says the site had been
on his bucket list for a while

and "did not disappoint."

I know it's not the worst thing, but
there is also this photo, captioned,

"Getting crazy with some apple cobbler
made right over the smoke."

And I don't know what that is,
but it is definitely not a cobbler.

It doesn't have a biscuit
or a pie dough topping.

It's not a buckle, because I don't see
a cake base with a streusel topping.

If he was throwing it on a stovetop,
he could try and call it a grunt,

but it just isn't one.

It's not an apple brown betty,
it's not a crisp,

and if you're calling that a sonker,
you're dead f*cking wrong, my friend.

It basically looks like someone grated
a medium-sized baby into a skillet.

That's nothing.
That's f*cking nothing, Madison.

Words. Mean. Things.

But the absolute masterpiece
of his Instagram has got to be this.

Yeah. He appears to be punching
a tree because it looks weak.

It's like somebody
told the story of George Washington

chopping down the cherry tree to a dog,
then that dog told Madison Cawthorn.

It is one of the stupidest things
I've ever seen in my entire life.

If, when I die,
I meet God, and God says:

"Did you see that stupid thing?"

I'll know exactly
what God is talking about.

And all of this is really to say,

Kevin McCarthy, this is the guy
that surprised you this week?

This predatory, conspiratorial,
inexplicably hostile to trees guy?

Your party has supported
and enabled him this whole time.

And the tactics
he uses are pretty much in line

with Republicans' entire MO
right now.

Or to put this in terms
Madison Cawthorn would understand,

looks to me like you raised a monster,
and now it's your f*cking problem.

And now, this!

And Now...

Local News Has an Urgent Warning
About Season Two of "Bridgerton".

Less fun and less sex.

That's apparently what season two
of "Bridgerton" is all about.

And if you're going in expecting
this season

some of the stuff you got last season,
you're not going to get it.

Some of that spice? Okay.

I'm not saying
that I'm not enjoying it.

But last season was like,
up here with the action.

- It is not as steamy as the first.
- Nuts.

It's not as hot and heavy.
You're going to get the drama.

You're watching Bridgerton
for sex?

The aesthetic vision it's beautiful.
Some of the storylines were really cool.

- I just was expecting...
- More!

There's less bumping uglies,
you know what I mean?

It's just...
They're just playing polo and things.

There's only three minutes
of raunchy moments in this new season,

and I don't know what that's
compared to with last season,

but you remember, he was
unbuttoning, unzipping, unlacing...

- But it's also, it's nice.
- Yeah. It's okay.

- Yeah, no, it's good.
- Okay.

- It's just not...
- Just not great.

- No, it's just not that...
- The spice.

You know what I mean!

Moving on. Our main story tonight
concerns trucks.

Everybody loves them, from kids
who like the fact they go honk honk,

to producers of reality shows,

who it seems cannot get enough
of trucks and their drivers.

Across America giant trucks with cargos
worth millions vanish into thin air.

"Big Rig Bounty Hunters".

There's no better way to learn this job
than actually doing it.

"Highway Through Hell." All new.

"Shipping Wars." A new series.

"World's Toughest Trucker."
All new series.

"Mud Mountain Haulers."
New series.

IT'S A JOB

TO DIE FOR

"Ice Road Truckers".
Begins Sunday, June 17th, at 10:00.

People like their reality trucker shows
the same way I like my coffee:

full of ice, and intense
enough to make me sh*t myself.

But trucks are not
just a staple of reality TV,

they're a vital part
of our economy,

carrying 70% of the tonnage
that moves around America.

And the drivers involved know
how much this country relies on them.

If these trucks were shut down,
for one week,

this country would be in...

- Three days.
- Three days? Three days.

This country would be...

They'd shut the country down.

'Cause nothing you eat,
wear, drink, drive,

doesn't move on a truck.

It's pretty upsetting to realize that,
without trucks, after just a week...

- Three days!
- Sorry, three days...

Every produce department in America
would go from "fully-stocked market"

to "all-you-can-eat raccoon buffet."

So, it's no wonder
trucking's a huge industry,

with more than 3,5 million people
in America working as drivers,

from port truckers who bring goods
off ships to rail yards and warehouses,

to long-haul truckers
who move them across the country,

to last mile drivers,
who take care of local delivery.

And yet,
you've probably heard recently,

the whole industry
is facing a massive problem.

We're going to turn now to a nationwide
shortage of truck drivers.

...major truck driver shortage
straining the already stretched chain,

and there doesn't seem to be
an end in sight.

Empty store shelves signal
a supply chain in crisis,

exacerbated by a shortage
of truck drivers.

Yeah, that doesn't sound good,
does it?

The only time I'm actively
rooting for a supply chain crisis

is whenever a container ship
gets stuck in the Suez Canal.

I don't care if the entire
global economy collapses,

I just love to see
that big rectangle stuck.

The point is,
trucking companies have been quick

to claim they're suffering
a shortage of drivers.

They've been saying
that for a while now.

But the truth is,
their actual problem

is less a problem of driver shortage,
and more of driver retention.

Because hundreds of thousands of
people become truck drivers every year,

but hundreds of thousands also quit.

Job turnover for truckers averages
over 100 percent,

and at some companies,
it's as high as 300 percent,

meaning they're hiring three people for
a single job over the course of a year.

And when a field this important has
a level of job satisfaction that low,

it sure seems
like there is a huge problem.

So tonight,
let's examine the trucking industry:

how drivers make a living,
how they often don't,

and how companies benefit
from the whole miserable system.

And the first thing to know is,
it wasn't always like this.

In the 1970s, truck driving
was a solid middle-class profession,

with trucker culture even becoming
trendy, through songs like "Convoy,"

movies like
"Every Which Way but Loose,"

and TV shows
like "BJ and the Bear,"

about a trucker
and his chimpanzee friend.

And if you're thinking
that that show sounds weird,

you don't know the half of it.

BJ was a happy-go-lucky trucker
who would haul anything for a price.

You're the guy, aren't you?
The guy who hauls anything anywhere

for a buck and a half a mile,
no questions asked?

But this time,

his cargo was 11 young women
escaping from a white sl*very g*ng.

Roadblocks mean nothing
to BJ McKay,

an ex-POW
and helicopter pilot from Vietnam.

Claude Akins and Betty Finder
star in "BJ and the Bear"!

Yes! The true
golden age of television right there.

This medium peaked in 1979 and we will
never see the mountaintop again.

That promo started
with a driver living with a chimpanzee

and it escalated so fast, Casey Kasem
didn't have time to mention the chimp.

Where did it come from?
Was the chimp also in Vietnam?

Why is it called Bear?
Who cares? There's no time!

It seems we're sh**ting g*ns
from helicopters

at other helicopters now, those details
are going to have to wait.

Every year, the Emmys
should release a statement saying,

"All awards go to 'BJ and the Bear,'
again. Try harder next year, TV."

But the truth is, truck driving
was genuinely a decent job.

But that began to change in 1980,

when Jimmy Carter
signed the Motor Carrier Act,

deregulating the market in an attempt
to lower prices for consumers.

That set off a "race to the bottom

in cutting wages"
among trucking companies.


for long-haul truck drivers

is estimated to be down


And there are three key problems
with the way the industry's

currently set up
that we're going to look at tonight.

The first is how they are paid.

Because most long-haul drivers
are paid by the mile, not by the hour.

Raising obvious questions,

like, well, what about when
trucks are waiting to load,

unload, and reload?

Do they really not get paid for that?
And for the most part, they don't.

This is a huge sticking point
for truck drivers.

If you ever go on trucker
YouTube or TikTok,

which you absolutely should,
you will see videos like these.

Why do we have to sit in a dock
for three hours,

or three and a half hours
up to this point?

I've been in the shipper for...



Not many other jobs where you can
just be on the job and not get paid.

You're sitting over there judging me.
I don't have a reload, we can't move.

It's not me!
It's not me, it's dispatch!

I can't help that the dispatcher
is slow as sh*t!

You call and tell him,
I ain't, you ain't...

I don't give a damn if you ain't got
no thumbs, you call and tell him.

Yeah, it's a major problem,
the waiting time,

that is, not the fact that dogs don't
have thumbs and can't use a phone.

That is probably a good thing.
Because if they could do that,

they would literally never stop
texting you sh*t like,

"f*ck, I just saw a squirrel!"

and, "Miss you, love you, f*ck,
just saw the squirrel again!"

And while
this isn't a new problem,

long waits at loading docks have
jumped significantly in recent years.

If you are paid per mile
and lose half your workday waiting,

you are incentivized to try and make up
for that time once you're on the road.

Which does make sense,
doesn't it?

If I only got paid
per joke about AT&T,

I'd try and cram in as many
AT&T jokes as possible.

I'd be dropping them
like AT&T drops calls.

Because the more Johnny burns,
the more Johnny earns.

But this can be a real safety problem
for all of us.


in crashes involving large trucks.

The government has tried to address
safety concerns by mandating breaks

and limiting the number of hours
truckers can be on the road.

They even require electronic
monitoring devices like this one

that log when the truck is moving
to ensure compliance.

But many drivers find that frustrating
in a different way,

because it limits their agency
over how and when they can drive.

We're not computers,
we don't have an off button.

The thing this does do, is it forces
you to get up and go if you're tired.

It forces you to get up
and go if you don't feel good.

And it's not about running


it's about making a common sense
decision on how you feel,

how the road conditions are, whether or
not you want to run through rush hour.

There are some jobs you can do
if you don't feel good.

Like this one for instance.
I feel like sh*t all the time.

Look at me.
But it doesn't really matter, does it,

because this desk isn't moving
towards you at 80 miles an hour,

so the consequences of my poor
job performance are not likely to k*ll.

And when these rigid rules bump up
against unpredictable work hours,

drivers are put
in an impossible position.

Take this driver,

whose company made him take
his 10-hour break during the day,

when he couldn't sleep, and then found
himself driving exhausted at night.

And when he called his dispatcher
to say that he felt unsafe to drive,

just watch how badly
the call went.

Man, we got a bit of a problem.

I'm starting to fall asleep going
down the road here.

But get a load of this,
the K&B dispatchers,

instead of telling him
to just get some rest,

hot potato Abe
from one dispatcher to another,

each of them with the same advice.

Get some coffee
'cause we don't have a choice on this.

Get a cup of coffee,
walk around the truck, do something.

I already did that earlier, man.

Let's get out and get some fresh air.
What is it, about 10 degrees outside?

- Yep.
- That'll wake you right up.

I'm telling you, I'm not safe
to drive at the moment.

Okay, well then, here's the deal,
we don't have a choice on this.

That's not how we work here
at K&B.

I say I'm not gonna hurt anybody
out here on the road.

You don't need to jump to that.

That's dramatic...
I don't need this morning!

"I don't need that this morning?"
That is a hell of a statement.

"Get out of here with that dramatic
sh*t until at least 1:00 PM."

It's like the mug says,
"Don't confront me with the potentially

lethal consequences
of my reckless decision-making

until after I've had my coffee."

So, drivers end up getting squeezed
between regulations

and the companies
that they drive for...

At no point in the process are their
feelings or needs taken into account.

And that is not the only way
that they get squeezed here.

Because the second
exploitative quirk of this industry

concerns the relationship between
drivers and trucking companies.

Many carriers classify drivers
not as employees,

but as independent contractors.

And while there are some
to whom that label truly applies,

those who genuinely have the freedom
to choose between different loads

and haul for whomever they want,

the fact is, many companies
misclassify drivers as independent

who work exclusively for them,

and whose day-to-day lives
they fundamentally control.

And there are obvious reasons
for companies to do this,

as this trucker explains.

I am not classified
as an employee.

I am classified
as an independent contractor,

but I have very little control over
the success or failure of my company.

Despite his so-called independence,
Prior works exclusively for Shippers,

which doles out his daily routes.

He's seen his paychecks dwindle

and has none of the protections
he would get as an employee.

Long as we're independent contractors,
they don't have to cover benefits,

they don't have to cover sick days,
bereavement, leave time, holiday pay.

It just saves the company money.

Yeah, of course
this is attractive for companies.

They don't even have to give you
time off when a family member dies.

Unless your nana's wake is being held
in front of the diesel pump at a Wawa,

you're probably
not going to be able to attend.

And it actually exempts them from
even more than what he just said there.

Because it also allows companies
to avoid paying payroll taxes,

workers' comp,
and unemployment insurance,

as well as the minimum wage.

And if that wasn't enough,
being an independent contractor

means all the costs and risks of truck
ownership get pushed onto the driver.

Watch as this former trucker

explains exactly what was left
of her household earnings

once she and her husband
had accounted for all their costs.

We made $150,000, right,
in a year.

That sounds great, right?
That's, like, good money.

We paid $100,000 in fuel, okay?

So, right there,
now I made $50,000.

But I didn't really, because you get
an oil change every month.

$300 a month.

You have to do all the maintenance.
We had a motor blow out, right?

$13,000.

Right? I know, I choke up a little
just thinking about it,

because it was 13,000,
and we were off work for two weeks.

So, by the end of the year,
with that 150,000,

by the end of the year,
we'd made about $22,000.

Yeah. And look, I am no CPA,
despite the face, glasses,

and insatiable horniness for numbers
that strongly implies otherwise,

but that seems
like a pretty shitty bottom line.

While most of the drivers that you've
seen so far have been in long-haul,

this "independent contractor" problem

very much applies to those at either
end of the shipping process, too,

like port truckers,

where one study estimated
two-thirds of them are misclassified,

and also, last mile drivers...

those are the people who drive box
trucks or sprinter vans

to deliver stuff
directly to your door.

You know how
you see FedEx Ground trucks?

Those aren't actually
FedEx employees,

despite every visual indication
to the contrary.

They may wear a FedEx uniform,
their truck may say "FedEx" on it,

and they may exclusively
deliver packages for FedEx,

but they are technically independent,

if you look carefully
at the side of the trucks,

you will see small fine print
indicating who actually owns it,

and it's not FedEx.

Amazon uses a similar model
with its "delivery service partners."

And again,
the appeal for Amazon is obvious.

Using drivers that aren't direct
employees allows them

to distance themselves from liability
when things go wrong.

Which they do, particularly given the
ridiculous pace that Amazon expects.

You've heard all of the stories about
drivers having to urinate into bottles

because they didn't have time to stop.

That speaks to the relentless pressure

to deliver
hundreds of packages per shift.

People are busting their ass,
driving way over the speed limit.

People are running through stop signs,
running through yellow lights.

Everybody I knew was buckling
their seat belt behind their backs

because the time it took

to buckle your seat belt,
unbuckle your seat belt every time

was enough time
to get you behind schedule.

Yeah, that's not good, is it?
I thought that everyone knew

the only place it's absolutely fine
not to have a seat belt

is, for some reason, a school bus.

That is where we collectively agreed
to skimp on them as a society.

"The kids'll be fine! We'll put
a little stop sign on the outside!

They'll be fine!"

If you think that nonstop pressure
seems an accident waiting to happen,

it already has.

Investigations by ProPublica
and Buzzfeed

found that, in a four-year window,
"drivers delivering Amazon packages

had been involved in more than 60
crashes that led to serious injuries,"

including 13 deaths.

Or, as that's more commonly known,
a Bezos' dozen.

But, again, Amazon
is basically off the hook here,

because these drivers
are not their employees,

they're independent contractors,
meaning that the contractor

is responsible for anything
that goes wrong, not them.

In fact, under Amazon's contracts,
they're even reportedly responsible

for paying Amazon's legal bills
in the event of a lawsuit.

Which, you know what,
is actually only fair.

It's not like Jeff Bezos can afford
to pay all those lawyers.

He's spending his money on things
that truly benefit society,

like launching himself into space,
before disappointing everyone,

and coming back home safely.

And amazingly,
I've got one more exploitative quirk

of this industry to show you.

And it's something called
"lease purchase agreements".

This is a system where drivers
who cannot afford their own truck,

are offered the chance to lease one
from the company they drive for,

with the promise that they'll earn
enough to pay it off and own it.

Here is one company
giving you the hard sell.

Own your future
with Western Express!

Find your true potential and earning
power with truck ownership!

Western's lease-purchase program
is like no other.

There's no money down, no credit
check, and no balloon payments.

At Western Express, we deliver
independence, one driver at a time!

Okay, for what it's worth,
I am immediately suspicious

of phrases like "own your future"
and "find your true potential."

Companies with selling points like that
leave you with nothing but debt

and a closet full of leggings

designed to turn your crotch
into a Magic Eye poster.

Drivers who participate in lease-to-own
agreements almost never succeed.

One trucking company executive
even estimated that,

of all the drivers entering
into their lease-purchase program,

only around five to 10 percent

ended up successfully taking
ownership of the truck.

So the odds
are heavily against you.

And as for the whole
"delivering independence" part,

that is the real irony here.

If you are leasing a truck
from the company you work for,

you are now tethered to them.

You are reliant on them
to give you loads, to earn money,

which you are then paying back
to them to pay off your lease,

on top of all the other expenses
they can throw at you.

This has been a common problem
for both long-haul and port truckers.

It takes drivers until...
They get paid each week,

and it could take them until Wednesday
or even Thursday

before they even begin
to make $100.

The reason is because the company
charges them to use the company truck.

They charge them to maintain
the company truck, to buy new tires.

They even charge these guys to park
the company truck at the company yard,

they can't even take it home.

It gets worse.

A company charged contractors
for using company toilet paper.

All of which can lead a driver
to owe their company money

at the end of a work week.

Can you imagine
picking up your paycheck,

and finding an envelope
full of negative five dollar bills?

You'd be absolutely furious.

And yes, that is John Wilkes Booth
on the negative five,

which makes sense,
he cancels out a Lincoln.

Just like how Aaron Burr
is on the negative 10,

and the negative 100 features
the 72-ounce steak Ben Franklin

choked on while trying
to win a T-shirt.

Learn your history!

So, drivers are stuck here.

If they stay with the company,
they can end up scraping to get by.

But if they leave, they risk losing
the truck they've poured so much into,

most lease-to-own agreements stipulate
that if the driver leaves the company,

it can take back the truck,
leaving the driver with nothing.

It is frankly no surprise
multiple trucking companies

have settled over
accusations brought by drivers

who found their lease-to-own
agreements predatory,

and in fact, Western Express,
the "own your future" company,

is currently awaiting court signoff of
a $15 million class-action settlement.

And I know at least one person
who might be happy to hear that.

Because just watch
this former Western Express driver

talking about how she felt misled
after opening a paycheck that came to,

after all the company's deductions,
just $293.

I'm pissed the f*ck off.
If I had the strength

to pick this truck up and throw it
straight to Mars, I would.

Don't listen to those recruiters, 'cause
I'm telling you they f*cking lying!

Lease purchase here is a lie!

Yeah!
And it is probably a good thing

that people aren't strong enough
to hurl a semi truck to Mars,

because if they were, NASA would
have to plan their rover missions

around the constant rain
of 35,000-pound debt traps.

So, what can we do here?
We should probably recognize

that we have all gotten used to the
idea of free, next-day shipping,

but, crucially, someone somewhere
always pays the price.

Second, the work arrangements
that drivers endure,

and the fundamental lack of value
placed on their time,

clearly needs to be addressed.

And the good news is, the Departments
of Transportation and Labor

are set to examine the type of
predatory truck leasing arrangements

that we just talked about.

They also plan to study the issue
of driver pay and unpaid waiting times.

And, hopefully,
they won't just study it,

but actually also f*cking
do something about it.

Because the key way to stop
this so-called "shortage of drivers"

that we've actually
had for years now

is to make this a job that
people actually want to stay in.

And until we make big changes here,
the very least we can do

is make our trucking reality
shows a little more reflective

of what life on the road
for so many drivers is actually like.

Trucks: the lifeblood of America.
They flow across our highways,

driven by people tough enough to do
one of the grittiest jobs on Earth.

There's a lot of ways
you can die out here.

All right, baby,
we gotta get there.

From the makers of "Ice Road Truckers"
and "World's Toughest Trucker"

comes the realest reality show yet.

Each week, watch the best drivers
go up against the biggest odds,

navigating tough weather,
bumpy roads, and hardcore budgeting.

Okay. It's 14 grand for the engine,

fuel, oil change.

Don't forget the new tires.

Right.

God!

Yeah! These old road dogs
have diesel in their blood,

and they're living
the American dream.

It's kind of like being a cowboy.

I'm independent,
so I got my freedom.

I just gotta haul
what my company tells me,

where they tell me,
during the hours that they specify,

in a truck that I pay
for and do not own.

But on the plus side...

There's no slowing down
for these road warriors,

because in the freight industry,
every minute counts.

f*ck!

Except during loading
and unloading.

f*ck!

Dang it!

Come on.

Because those hours
are not compensated.

Is this your card?

Yes! This show brings you
all the thrills.

That's piss.
That's my own piss.

All the drama.

Is this a charge
for company toilet paper?

A man needs to wipe!

And all the romance
of life on the road.

I miss my wife.

The action literally never stops.

Hey, dispatch. I'm not safe to drive
right now, I'm falling asleep.

Roger, that, driver.
Why don't you pull over,

lie down in the back, curl up,
and f*ck yourself right in the face,

because I ain't dealing
with that baby sh*t. Over.

I'm just worried
that someone could get hurt.

Somebody could get hurt? I didn't
realize I was talking to a drama queen.

Tony, get a load of f*cking Hamlet
over here.

To drive or not to drive.
That is the question. Am I right?

Yeah. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind
to suffer the slings and arrows

of outrageous fortune, or to take
arms against a sea of troubles

and by opposing, end them?

That's you!
That's what you sound like!

You guys seem to both know
a lot of Hamlet verbatim.

Get back on the f*cking road.

Hell yeah!
Get ready for 100 percent excitement,


and 100 percent...

What, no, I didn't bring a coat.

sh*t!

And it's not just truckers.

This show brings you everyone
from the drivers to the company owners.

Owners is a pretty strong term.

We have a much more casual
relationship with our trucks.

No labels.

Why complicate things?
I'm having fun. You're having fun.

This paycheck
says I owe you money?

Is that right?

Yeah. Do you have the cash?

Tune in to the show that brings you
as close as you can get

to the trucker life
without actually being one.

So yeah, neither one of us
go to the dentist anymore,

and you bring
your own toilet paper to work.

- I ordered a new pack from Amazon.
- You what?!

- What the f*ck?
- Run!

"Trucked Up," coming to the
History Channel, for some reason.

That's our show, thanks for watching,
we'll see you next week, good night!

This thing's full of old
Backstreet Boys posters.

I don't know
why they need them.

You want a chip?

You don't get one.

I was shopping for caskets
last week online,

I was like,
"What the f*ck are you doing, man?"

I'm hanging on by a thread.

Dear Rebecca,
I'm sorry I missed your play.

Your mother
said you did real good.

I can't wait to see you,
I just have to get this load in Reno.

This thing has power,
pure power, man.

I feel so strong,
it's like driving a g*n.

I got a load!
I got big f*ckin' load!

I wish I was f*ckin' dead!

Yeah!