At one time this was a very respected profession. I suppose that we could debate the cause of the change in attitude, whether it is society or those in the industry that have caused the change in attitude.
One change that I would like to see is for the government or those who want all the new changes to prove that the sought after changes would be beneficial to the industry. For instance, those who want to force ALL who own class 8 trucks to go to the expense of EOBR's should have to do a controlled study that would prove that they would make the roads safer and would justify the cost of installation. If they cannot prove the need then the legislation should go away. Personally, I don't think that a study about the EOBR's would prove that they will make roads safer, but they will make a few people who have invested in the technology very rich.
I would think that doing a study on the hos would also be beneficial. They keep changing our hos but have yet to demonstrate how roads are being made safer with those changes. The lack of a provision for taking a rest break without impacting your work day is one example of people making rules about things in which they have no knowledge. It just sounded like a good idea at the time. When major changes are made in the hos then it costs this industry millions of dollars. Compliance is one of the major costs of being in this business.