Dealing With Protests

Has anyone had any advice or been told how they should handle being in the middle of a protest while on the road. I know the best situation is not to be there but you cannot have for knowledge of all situations?

Has anyone had any advice or been told how they should handle being in the middle of a protest while on the road. I know the best situation is not to be there but you cannot have for knowledge of all situations?

I have not been instructed one way or the other but I would run over 100 rioters before I'd let them drag me from my truck!!!! We all saw what happened to Reginald Denny.

Only instructions we've received is call our stores when we're about 10 minutes away so somebody will be waiting for us to allow us access inside. If we come across anything that makes us uncomfortable or feel unsafe we're to leave the area immediately and do not get out of the truck. They're also calling drivers that have been in areas affected to ensure they're safe. Our store in downtown Des Moines had all the windows busted out along with 90% of the other businesses in that district. That likely came from a bar owner taunting the protesters on twitter. A couple drivers told me the problem with us needing to call stores is everybody is being told something different. Some stores have a pad we can scan our badge to gain access and others require someone to let us in. Well the store managers it turns out have instructed their store to NOT answer the phones. It resulted in a few drivers standing outside at midnight for a half hour or more while trying to get ahold of somebody.

Turn around if you can. Keep moving, don’t stop. Use common sense as much as possible to avoid situations. Communicate with the office.

That’s what we were told.

Keep in mind is that their anger is aimed at the police, not at truck drivers. This is a racist issue to some extent for sure, but it's also an anti-government and abuse of power issue for all of us. I became a truck driver right after the L.A. Riots. I'm acutely aware of what happened to Reginald Denny.

If you look at the crowds in the streets today, most of the time there are far more white people than there are black people. If this was simply black vs white you wouldn't see that. This must be about the citizens uniting - all citizens.

I want to keep reminding people that at the core this isn't about black vs white, men vs women, gay vs straight, or Christian vs Muslim. This is about the abuse of power by the government and the enforcement agencies against our entire society. Anytime you have the opportunity, remind people that we all had our rights taken away. We all had our jobs and businesses and freedoms taken away. We were all lied to.

We must not turn on each other if we want to make a change in this country. We must unite as one. We can change things, and we can do it without violence. I hope each of you will spread this message.

The more people we can unite, the more powerful the movement.

Noble message Brett and there's nothing more I want than a united country. But I think these people are simply opportunists looking for personal gain. I don't think they consider these things and are probably way too "young and dumb".

Often times people take the actions they believe are necessary. They believe it's the only way to get what they want, to achieve their goals. But if you can show them a better way to get what they want, they'll listen.

The most important thing is to keep spreading the right message. Get the word out there that what the government has done is unacceptable and that we must band together peacefully to fix this and make sure it doesn't happen again.

There will be waves of civil rights activism, business reform, and political reform for years to come. Most people still don't know or haven't accepted the truth about this virus, but they will. Many still don't realize the truth was censored by the media and by social media. Heck, it's probably been since Vietnam that the government has done something this egregious. People didn't see it coming. Most of us have never lived through anything like this.

So don't give up so easily because a few misguided people are taking the wrong approach. What we need in order to move forward from here is real leadership and a clear message. I've noticed on Facebook there are a lot of people pointing fingers at each other, creating issues where there wasn't one, or bringing up things from the past that are no longer relevant.

In order to move forward, we need to understand what's happening today and form a plan for tomorrow, one we can all buy into.

I'll be speaking a lot on this topic in the coming months and years. We want to teach people what it takes to be great truck drivers, but we also want to help people be the best citizens they can be, improve the image of truck drivers, and live fulfilling lives. We have an awesome group of people here with so much to teach and contribute. I have ideas for ways we can expand our message and grow our tribe. I'll be talking about it quite a bit.

Right now the most important thing is to spread the right message and guide people in the right direction. We must keep people from turning on each other. We must move forward boldly, but peacefully. Of course, there are some people out there who don't know any better or they are so frustrated they don't care they're doing the wrong thing. They're the ones who need our message the most.

I agree with you, Brett.

Only problem is the looters, rioters, protesters, et al, are not seeing, hearing or reading this message.

No, but they're surrounded by people, and everyone talks. We must keep spreading the right message. The overwhelming majority of the people will hear it and respond the right way.

You guys are automatically assuming that anyone who is committing any sort of violence is unreasonable and unwilling to listen. Most of them are likely very young and need better leadership with a better message.

FYI, Tanker driver was released.