Dr. Belzer has been a regular media source for over 30 years. His expert knowledge of trucking, unions, negotiating, and transportation has made him a trusted source for reporters at top news organizations around the world.
2020s
In the past few years, Dr. Belzer has been a trusted source of research and analysis about truck driver shortages, supply chain disruptions, lowering the age of trucker drivers, border protests, teamster elections, and highway safety.
"Pennsylvania resolution calls for truck drives under 21 to haul interstate." Keith Goble. Land Line, June 19, 2024. Read here
“There isn’t any such thing as a driver shortage. There is a recruitment and retention problem,” Belzer said. “That’s because at the margin, people decide, ‘Is it worth it to get the CDL to work that hard if I’m not making any money?’ A very rational decision on the part of the drivers is to quit, do something else. So we lose all those people. This thing has been upside down for decades, and it’s time to turn this truck right-side up, with the dirty side down where it belongs.”
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"Link Between Pay and Safety in Trucking: Interview." Land Line Media, April 30, 2024. Watch here
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"Higher Truck Driver Pay Linked to Fewer Crashes." Tyson Fisher. Land Line, April 23, 2024. Read here
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"Economist: Pay and safety go hand-in-hand in trucking: Interview." Land Line Now Podcast, April 19, 2024. Watch & Listen here
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"Can Increased Trucker Salaries Lead to Safer Roadways" Jordan Lassiter. Regulatory Review, April 11, 2024. Read here
"Lost Highway: The trials of trucking school." Emily Gogolak. Harpers Magazine, February 2024. Read here
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"Punching In: Behind the Scenes of UPS Efforts on Strikebreakers." Ian Kullgren & Robert Iafolla. Bloomberg Law, August 14, 2023. Read here
"Driver Pay System is Broken." Land Line podcast, February 3, 2023. Listen here
"2023 Burning Questions: Will there be a recession?" Ashley Winn. Hour Detroit. January 2023. Read here
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"The National Academies of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board is taking a long, hard look at driver pay and its effect on safety." (Dr. Belzer's testimony is discussed around the 35 min mark.) Land Line podcast, January 19, 2023. Listen here
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"Women are entering US truck-driving jobs in record numbers." Michelle Cheng. Quartz. December 5, 2022. Read here
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"Why Truckers Should Be Making at Least $120K/Year." Podcast interview with Jared Flinn. November 14, 2022. Bulkloads Trucking. Listen here
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"How We Got Where We Are in Trucking Today." Podcast interview with Jared Flinn. November 7, 2022. Bulkloads Trucking. Listen here
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"The Decision That Broke American Trucking." Karin Shedd, Cheddar News. September 27, 2022. Watch the video
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"An 84-year-old law prevents truck drivers from getting overtime pay." Rachel Premack, Freight Waves, April 21, 2022. Read more
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"At a crossroads: The U.S. DOT says the right things about driver pay and retention, but what will be done about it?" Mark Schremmer, Land Line, March/April 2022. Read more at Landline.com Download
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"The truck-driving industry is in peril. Here's how government, businesses and colleges could save it."Hilary Burns, The Business Journals, April 7, 2022. Read more
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"Time is Now to Detroit an International Rail Gateway." David Friedrich, Crain's Detroit Business, March 29, 2022. Read more
"Debunking the Driver Shortage Myth with Dr. Michael Belzer," Truck Safety Coalition, March 23, 2021, (Interview begins roughly 5min 45seconds into the recording). Watch here
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"How Life as a Trucker Devolved Into a Dystopian Nightmare." Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, New York Times, March 15, 2022. Read more
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"Truck drivers push for infrastructure dollars to expand parking capacity." Deon J. Hampton, NBC News, March 5, 2022. Read more
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"Want to Solve the Trucker Shortage? Stop Treating Them Like Crap." Dave Zweifel, The Cap Times, February 23, 2022. Read more
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"The Vibe Shift Will Favor Truck Drivers." Rachel Premack. Modes, February 18, 2022. Read more
"Concerns about Under-21 Drivers." Land Line podcast, February 15, 2022. Listen here
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"The Myth of the Truck Driver Shortage." Bruce Murphy, Urban Milwaukee, February 8, 2022. Read more
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“Where have all the truck drivers gone?: Pandemic supply chain disruptions are exacerbating a yearslong trucker shortage.” Jen Kirby, Vox, January 2, 2022. Read more
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“Trucking in America: Everything you bought in 2021 moved on a truck.” Laura Michelle Davis, CNET, December 30, 2021. Read more
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“Low Teamsters election turnout may not be what it seems: Only about 15% cast ballots in general election, but those who voted may end up carrying day in an O’Brien administration.” Mark Soloman, Freight Waves, November 23, 2021. Read more
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“‘Indentured servitude’: low pay and grueling conditions fueling US truck driver shortage.” Erin McCormik, The Guardian, November 22, 2021. Read more
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“Long-defiant truckers are forced into conformity.” Steve LeVine, Axios, July 9, 2021. Read newsletter Stream version
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“Higher pay means better-qualified applicants and a safer fleet.” John Bendel, Landline, July 2021. Read more
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"The Deadly Toll of Amazon's Trucking Boom." Paris Martineau, The Information, May 14, 2021. Read more
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“In the Colonial Pipeline Mess, Tanker Trucks Come to the Rescue: But driving millions of gallons of gas around the country is trickier than you might think.”Adrian Marshall, Wired, May 13, 2021. Read more
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“From lumber to labor, are we now in a ‘shortage economy’?” Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, May 11, 2021. Read more
“Higher Pay for the Long Haul: Part of the truck driver turnover problem is getting ‘paid by the mile but regulated by the hour.’” [Part Two of a Two Part Series]. Pat Pape, The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, April 20, 2021. Read more
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“Trucker Shortage Hits Home: A lack of drivers is challenging the trucking industry and impacting retailers” [Part One of a Two Part Series], Pat Pape, The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, April 19, 2021. Read more
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“How Lease Deals Have Truckers Hauling a Load of Debt.” Alan Prendergast, Westword, March 2, 2021. Read more
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“Why Truck Drivers Should Be Next in Line for the Vaccine.”Jason Silverstein, Men’s Health, December 21, 2020. Read more
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“What drives trucker compensation low?” Abdul Latheef, Trucknews, November 3, 2020. Read more
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“For Detroit's Auto Industry, The Coronavirus Represents a Massive Opportunity.” Andy Hirschfeld, Inside Hook, March, 27, 2020. Read more
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“U.S. short on long-haul truckers.” Mitchell Hartman, Marketplace, March 13, 2019. Read and listen
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“Strikes don't usually succeed without a union — but a group of 15,000 truckers are hoping to prove the opposite.” Rachel Premack,
Business Insider, January 10, 2019. Read more
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“The Trouble With Trucking: Want to understand how workers so often get a raw deal, even during a growing economy? Ask long-haul truckers.”The Editorial Board, New York Times, August 11, 2018. Read more
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“Truck drivers' salaries are experiencing an 'unprecedented' jump, but it's not enough to end the driver shortage that's making everything more expensive.” Rachel Premack, Business Insider, August 4, 2018. Read more
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