Beat Resources
On Facebook I will use a group called “We the Drivers” to obtain information about driver satisfaction, treatment, and concerns.
Notes from any journalists:
My understanding is this is not a topic that any journalist has touched so this will not be a path that I will pursue.
Notes on how I will cover the beat in person
Covid-19 will hinder how much of my beat I can cover in person. However, I can do much of my interviews through the internet with face to face meetings as well as conducting them over the phone. I will also have some communication using social media but this most likely will be the smallest portion of “in person” coverage that I will use.
Reference list for offline material that can help
As someone that is employed in the transportation industry, I have a plethora of contacts to pull from including drivers, driver managers and others that are in the industry. I will use the contacts that I have made over the course of my career and access them for information.
A document with links to online resources
I do have a few options for online resources to pull information from. Facebook groups are one of them as I stated earlier a group that I am a member of, and lucky for me driver love to tell the good, bad, and ugly about their profession. I also will resort to using websites such as trucker.com, thetrucker.com, cdllife.com and truckersnews.com.
A calendar you created of important events in your beat through the end of the semester
Some of the most important dates for truck drivers are holidays. There are a couple reasons for this. The first being that there will be an increase in workload as more freight will be moving to get onto stores shelves for the holiday season. The second reason for this is it is during these times that theft is at its highest as thieves are aware that there will be more freight on the roads. Drivers must be careful where they park to sleep at night and make sure their doors are locked so nobody enters their truck. Important dates coming up is the week leading up to October 31st Halloween, and the week of Thanksgiving especially November 26th Thanksgiving Day and the biggest of them all November 27th Black Friday. In addition to these dates if there are any major natural disasters that happen then the same applies to those and unfortunately those situations cannot be added to a calendar in advance. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/month/2020/10/1?tab=rc
Archival notes
I have already reached out to a few people in this profession and conducted one interview already. I am currently looking to add to my calendar future interview dates and will do so once those dates and times have been locked down.
My 5 W’s
Who: Professionals that are in the transportation industry with an emphasis on professional truck drivers.
When: Mostly during their time on the road as they are not home much, and I feel it necessary to not bother them during their home time. Other professionals in the industry will occur during normal Monday thru Friday 9 to 5 business hours.
Where: Most interview locations will take place online or over the phone
Why: To educate the public on the importance of professional truck drivers and to show the dangers and work conditions they live with daily.
How: to show how drivers are important not only to the nations supply chain and economy but to each U.S. citizen.
Lede:
Cellphones, clothing, groceries these items do not just magically appear on your local retail stores shelves. There are a group of men and women behind the scenes working day and night, sacrificing time with their families to ensure that your shopping experience is a pleasant one. But what do we know about these invisible essential workers? What are some of the issues that they face daily and how do they deal with them? Do they feel appreciated or taken advantage of and why do they feel this way? Driving a tractor trailer seems like an easy task but is it really that simple? How important are these drivers to our national economy if they are even important at all? These questions will be answered in an upcoming article with the purpose of educating the public on the lifestyle of a professional truck driver.
Transcribe at least three quotes you can use from at least two different people:
“There is more credit and satisfaction in being a first-rate truck driver than a tenth-rate executive.” -B.G. Forbes
“I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”-Robert Frost
“I’m an actor… I do a job and I go home. Why are you interested in me? You don’t ask a truck driver about his job.” -James Gandolfini
Great content! I do think there are reporters you can rely on if you need help. Of course, Nick, Russell, and I are always happy to help. Additionally there are reporters who cover this beat regularly, we just don’t know of any in the local media market.
However, you mentioned a number of transport news organizations above. I looked around too and came across Transport Topics. At the bottom of the website, they do have a link that will show you who works there. That lists senior and staff reporters, Content Managers, Editors, all sorts of folks at that magazine.
With such a niche publication, like those that Margaret mentioned when she joined our Zoom class, I bet many of those folks would be excited to help out a student journalist. I’d encourage you to write out to them.
You can get a bio for most, if not all of them, search for articles they’ve done, and check their social media accounts. Use those resources to find someone whose work you admire and let them know. If you don’t hear back after an email, try a couple of phone calls.
It could be a very good resource for you! If you choose to do this and find someone who is helpful, please let me know. If time allows, I can invite that person to be a guest columnist later this semester.