
Beyond the "Driver Shortage": OOIDA’s Fight for Quality, Training, and Highway Safety
From FreightWaves LIVE: An Events Podcast by FreightWaves
April 23, 2026 · 19 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges facing owner-operators in the trucking industry, focusing on training, safety, and legislative issues.
In this exclusive fireside chat, FreightWaves analyst Thomas Wasson sits down with OOIDA President Todd Spencer to confront the most pressing, and often controversial, legislative issues facing owner-operators today. Is the trucking industry truly suffering from a "driver shortage," or is the real crisis rooted in a broken training pipeline that prioritizes cheap labor over highway safety? Spencer sounds off on the controversial rise of "fly-by-night" CDL schools , the alarming safety impacts of selective English-language proficiency enforcement by authorities, and the urgent push for Delilah's Law to regulate non-domiciled drivers. Keep up with Live FreightWaves Events Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Thomas Wasson
Guest: Todd Spencer
Topics covered
- driver shortage
- trucking industry
- training pipeline
- highway safety
- legislative issues
- CDL schools
- English-language proficiency
Keywords
- driver shortage
- trucking
- owner-operators
- training
- safety
- legislation
- CDL schools
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OOIDA, Delilah's Law
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