Voice Of GO(r)D is very happy to start off 2025 by bringing you an in depth conversation with fellow trucker and previous guest of the show, Lee Schmitt, along with his wife Lisa.

Lee has thrown his hat into the ring to become leader of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and we discuss why it would be only natural that someone with over 30 years of experience behind the wheel would be a better choice to head this extremely wasteful and ineffective agency.

It is revealed that the FMCSA is ineffective because they’ve had no consistent leadership since their inception, and not once have they followed the DOTs own rules to be lead by someone with experience in the trucking business.

Drivers can see this in their own working lives, and their workplaces out on the road. Our experiences tell us that it is clear the FMCSA is impervious to our concerns, as former head Robin Hutcheson refused to end an extremely unpopular mandate even after being shown that the mandate achieved the opposite of what it promised.

You might have heard Lee and Lisa here before in discussing a trucker advocacy organization called CDL-DU, which Lee has since resigned his position from, and you may have seen him hosting the now infamous Trucker’s Town Hall with Vivek Ramaswamy back in December of 2023.

Hopefully if Lee becomes FMCSA head, he can talk some sense back into Mr Ramaswamy, and something can be done about the rampant abuse of work visas and illegal migrants in the trucking business as outlined here -

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/p/truckers-tikka-masala

You can find Lee and Lisa Schmitt on Twitter - https://x.com/LSchmitt_TAAWTS

and if you are the sort to sign petitions, they have one over at Change.org which seeks to have the incoming administration consider Lee’s application.

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and encouraged - [email protected]

Friend of this Substack and FreightX maven Danielle Chaffin joins this, the last Voice Of GO(r)D episode of 2024, to discuss her family history in trucking, her own roles in the business which include an explainer on TMS software and being a regular conference goer, as well as the human element that seems to be slowly slipping away from us all.
A wholesome chungus way to wrap up 2024!

You can find Danielle on Twitter - https://x.com/maybedanielleee and over on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maybedanielleee/ as well as the TMS software outfit she works for - https://revenova.com/
Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are always welcomed and encouraged - [email protected]

Sign up for my Substack and never miss any writings, which will be delivered straight to your inbox along with every new episode of this podcast.

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice Of GO(r)D brings you a deep and dark conversation, hot on the heels of the UK Parliament passing an assisted dying law through second reading, between Canadian MAID critic Amanda Achtman, and Jeff Shafer, an American lawyer and scholar who has been investigating developments in legal language which have been used to justify the commercial expansion of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) beyond merely helping those who have trouble conceiving a child.

The conversation is a pretty serious examination of how The Machine applies its twisted logic to the beginning and end of life, and offers us a glimpse in to how we might resist these developments and conserve what humanity we have left in 2024.

For links to all of the suggested reading in this episode, please head over to my Subtack page, there is quite a bit there for you to check out.

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/p/the-machine-in-life-and-death-the

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are always welcomed and strongly encouraged - [email protected]

Two weeks ago, Canada’s ‘public broadcaster’, on their formerly flagship investigative journalism TV program ‘The Fifth Estate’, released a real humdinger of propaganda and lies about the Coutts Four case. Given that the CBC and other regime media in Canada had lied so much about the men involved when they bothered to report on the case at all, they ended up in an uncomfortable situation when Tony Olienick and Chris Carbert were found ‘NOT GUILTY’ of conspiracy to murder police officers; a charge that the CBC had been heavily invested in using to whip up fear against anyone who dissented against the Covid Regime.

In this situation of having attempted to convince the public of their guilt in the court of public opinion, and being rebuffed, instead of contending with the complexities of a case that involved malicious prosecution, lies, corruption, and the imposition of political prisoners on a modern western nation state, the CBC decided to double down on their true position as regime stenographers, and lie about everything some more.

Joining me to discuss this blatant propaganda smearing operation, and dissect it to the nth degree, are Jaclyne Martin, herself a protester during Freedom Convoy and wife of Jerry Morin, one of the Coutts Four men. Also joining the show are Alex ‘Amazing Zoltan’, independent journalist and documentarian, as well as Twitter Anon Buck McYoung whom you may remember from a post of his I hosted here on the Tort of Malicious Prosecution.

I have a special request of everyone that listens to this - Christmas is coming, and this will be the third Christmas that Chris spends away from his children, and Tony spends away from his mom. It is quite clear that they are guilty of nothing, and are Political Prisoners of the venal and vindictive regime of Justin Trudeau, who, God willing, we will see the end of next year - around the same time as Chris and Tony should be free from their torture. The least you can do to express some gratitude for what they have endured, downstream of standing up for your rights, is to write them a letter and say Merry Christmas.

Mail to -

Chris Carbert or Tony Olienick (you should write them both in separate envelopes)

c/o

Drumheller Institution

Highway #9

PO Box 3000

Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

T0J 0Y0

No gel pens, no stickers or labels, no smells or sparkler or anything weird, do not send money or stamps or gifts, not even books. You can type letters and send cards & photos.

Your envelope *must* include a return address.

And if you are a person of means who would like to defray their legal bills and/or help with future challenges -
In Canada, Interac Email money transfer -
[email protected]

[email protected]

In the US or internationally -
https://www.givesendgo.com/trudeauspoliticalprisoners

Special thanks to anyone who has already donated - every dollar counts.

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - [email protected]

For more writing and podcasts on this case and much else, head over to my substack and subscribe!

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice Of GO(r)D is very happy to bring an old friend to the show to tell you a little of his life story in forestry and trucking.
Nigel Frost is an owner operator based in Tauranga, New Zealand, who hauls logs in and around the Bay of Plenty area of NZ’s North Island. I first met Nigel when I went to work for the same company he contracts his truck to now, Rotorua Forest Haulage, way back in 2003. We have been friends ever since, and this phone chat was an overdue catch up, and a way for my North American and other international listeners to learn a little about New Zealand.
Nigel is old school, and doesn’t fart around much online, but you can glance at his Facebook here if you like - https://www.facebook.com/nigel.frost.581

If you would like to see a great collection of Nigel's NZ Log Trucking photos, head on over to my Substack, and while you are there, subscribe and never miss an episode or any of my written work.

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/p/a-kiwi-log-hauler

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are always welcomed and strongly encouraged - [email protected]

Voice Of GO(r)D is very happy to bring you yet another thoughtful trucker who understands the human connection involved in moving your goods around … and your kids, too; Ryan started out as a school bus driver.

Ryan tells us how he got into trucking, his time driving our precious children to school, going through the ringer of being a Lease Operator, and his current gig working for an LTL carrier in Austin, Texas.
Along the way we explore our mutual frustrations with technology and how the industry is influenced by those whom have forgotten the human element and how that human element is necessary for driver happiness and making our supply chains work.

We are both big fans of Matthew B. Crawford and fellow working man Brandon Daily of the Savage Collective Substack, and that comes through in much of the conversation; if you aren’t already, you ought to be reading their work.

We also take minor detours into what its like being six foot nine tall, being a car guy versus lessor hobbies, and dating apps.

You can find Ryan on Twitter - https://x.com/livefreetruckng
Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - [email protected]

Subscribe to my Substack and never miss a show or any written work - https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice Of GO(r)D is happy to bring you the second of a two part series I recorded with the wonderful Oliver Bateman Does the Work of the now defunct What’s Left? podcast on the pathologies of the trucking industry, but this time with UPenn sociologist and author of ‘The Big Rig - Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream’ Steve Viscelli, whom you heard on this show a few months ago.

This conversation was recorded in 2021, and as with part one, Oliver graciously granted me the privilege of re-releasing this discussion here for my readers and listeners.
Steve takes us through his life’s work of academic study into the trucking industry and the lies it tells itself, Oliver asks the hard questions, and I provide very crusty and colorful commentary. I hope you enjoy this chat and find it informative and valuable.

Apologies in advance for the lengthy intro, its been awhile and I had a few things I wanted to say before getting into the meat and potatoes.

You can find Oliver’s work here - https://oliverbatemandoesthework.substack.com/

And here is Steve Viscelli’s website - https://www.steveviscelli.com/
Why not purchase a copy of ‘The Big Rig’?

————

As mentioned in the intro, you can write letters to Tony Olienick and Chris Carbert at this address - remember, use plain paper with regular black or blue ink, you may send cards or photos but nothing else, no stickers or anything weird. You MUST include a return address.

Chris Carbert or Tony Olienick (why not write them both?)

c/o Drumheller Institution

Highway #9

PO Box 3000

Drumheller, Alberta T0J 0Y0

Don’t ever forget about them or the fact that the Trudeau Regime made these men political prisoners because they stood up for your rights to be free that you no longer possess in any meaningful way.

As always, questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - [email protected]

Never miss an episode or any of my written work - subscribe to my Substack and have it all delivered directly to your inbox -

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice Of GO(r)D is very happy to bring you Marilyn Burns, Tony Olienick’s lawyer, and Danielle Slettede, one of his oldest friends and longest serving member of the men’s support team.

Marilyn tells us about her history in Alberta, including her roles in politics, as she is one of the founding members of Alberta WildRose, her legal career, and how she came to represent Tony in her first ever criminal case. Marilyn and Danielle provide insight from having been in the courtroom, especially Danielle, as she has been there since day one.

Danielle has done a great deal of the legal legwork, taking on a second full time unpaid job in the filing and studying of tens of thousands of documents, and being in court for pre-trial and trial almost every single day.

They tell us about Justice Labrenz and the details around the sentencing, why that sentencing was ‘unjust’ and did not follow precedent, and I discuss many of the things they can’t. We also get into the ‘envelope’ situation, what that means going forward, and the practicalities of appeals versus riding out to parole.

There will be more written commentary on the sentencing in time, please stay tuned.

Tony and Chris have recently been transferred to the Drumheller Institution, a medium and low security detention facility in Alberta. As of publication time, they have yet to be issued prisoner numbers nor protocols for sending them letters.

As soon as that info is made available, it will be shared here on Substack and over on my Twitter account, as well as the men’s respective FB supporter pages.

The Men still have outstanding legal bills, the envelope situation has yet to play out, and fundraising is ongoing.

If you are in Canada, you can donate via interac email transfer to either of these accounts -

[email protected]
[email protected]

Outside of Canada you can donate to my GiveSendGo -

https://www.givesendgo.com/trudeauspoliticalprisoners

To all of you who have so kindly donated already, thank you so much. It is greatly appreciated and will not be forgotten.

You can follow updates from the men on these Facebook Groups -

https://www.facebook.com/groups/622318705558931/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1372655066704865/

If you would like to send feedback to Marilyn or Danielle or myself, feel free to email me - [email protected]

You should also subscribe to my Substack, and never miss a show or any written works -

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice Of GO(r)D brings you an interview I gave to Oliver Bateman of 

Oliver Bateman Does the Work at his now defunct podcast project with Aimee Terese, What’s Left? That show had a great run, and along the way Oliver did a series of interviews on ‘Doing The Work’, where he would talk to regular people with regular jobs, and I was quite chuffed to be the first interview of that series.

This discussion was recorded in November of 2020, and was probably amongst the first half a dozen or so interviews I have ever given, so my apologies if I don’t sound polished or even prepared for such a thing … not that my presentation has improved any in the ensuing four years; ‘Voice Of GO(r)D’ as a title for the show is nothing if not self referential humor at my own expense.

In the interview, I discuss my family history in the trucking business, and many of the problems in the industry, themes of which you will recognize as threads through all of my work since. The industry seems to have only become worse, but we can’t make trucking better if we don’t talk about the problems facing it, even if they seem intractable.

You would be well advised to subscribe to Oliver’s Substack - https://oliverbatemandoesthework.substack.com/

You can follow Oliver on Twitter - https://x.com/MoustacheClubUS

And find his lengthy bibliography here - https://www.oliverbateman.com/bibliography/

As always, questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and encouraged - [email protected]

And subscribe to my Substack -

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/

Voice of GO(r)D is delighted to bring you Oversize Load specialist, astute political observer and commentator, as well as the President of America Without Drivers, Mr Scott Douglass.

Scott tells us a little about his career moving long, wide and tall loads around America, as well as a dive into the possibilities presented for removing the capricious and evil excesses of the regulatory state from the lives of truckers, downstream of the Supreme Court and its Chevron Deference decision. We also muse on the possibilities of more rollbacks with a return to office of President Trump this November.

You can find Scott online moderating these two Facebook groups -
https://www.facebook.com/Americawithoutdrivers
https://www.facebook.com/groups/316493381138072

Or over at AWODs own site
https://americawithoutdrivers.com/

I’m looking forward to having Scott back on soon, with former guest of the show, and founder of America Without Drivers, Will Cook.

Thanks for listening, be sure to share this episode with your fellow truckers - a little optimism and some good news on the horizon is helpful for people to hear during these dark times in the industry.

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are always welcomed and encouraged - [email protected]

Don't forget to subscribe to my Substack, and never miss an episode or any of my written output -

https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/