Sept. 1, 2004, Grain Valley, MO -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has initiated a campaign to encourage professional truckers to register and vote in the upcoming November elections.

Under the name TruckVote, the campaign will provide valuable information on voting to truckers through the association’s two Web sites, www.ooida.com and www.landlinemag.com, through its monthly publication, Land Line Magazine, as well as other communication. OOIDA has also set up a third Web site, www.truckvote.com, and through it provides an easy way to register to vote over the Web as well as important information on early voting, absentee ballots and deadlines for all states. In the upcoming weeks, OOIDA intends to post results of interviews and surveys with political candidates concerning their positions on trucking and highway safety issues.

According to OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, voting is the easiest and most direct way for truckers to take part in their government. According to statistics from the Federal Election Commission, in the United States, barely half of the roughly 200 million Americans who are eligible to vote actually do. Spencer points out that, as a group, the estimated population of about 3 million American truckers would be a significant political presence that would be hard to ignore if truckers wielded their voting clout in greater numbers.

“We are committed to reversing the perception out there that truckers don’t vote,” Spencer said. “Truckers have the potential to become a far stronger voice in the political process. Making sure that truckers and their families register and vote regularly in increasing numbers puts lawmakers on notice that we expect our positions on trucking issues to be given serious consideration.”

Spencer says the lifestyle of the professional trucker can often make voting a difficult exercise, and one for which a bit of early planning is sometimes needed. When out on the road, truckers must make sure that casting their votes via absentee ballot is arranged far enough in advance to meet the deadlines of their home states.

“Well over one-third of voting truckers cast their votes either through early voting or absentee ballot,” Spencer said. “Our communication mechanisms for TruckVote, including the www.truckvote.com site, are gearing up to provide instructions and relevant deadline information to assist truckers in casting their votes.”

Contact: Todd Spencer, executive vice president, OOIDA (816) 229-5791

Founded in 1973, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is composed of more than 114,000 owner-operators, professional drivers, and small business truckers from all 50 states, and Canada. OOIDA represents the interests of this nation's more than 350,000 small-business trucking professionals in the legislative and regulatory processes at both federal and state levels.