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I would never work in trucking unless I was paid a comparable wage per hour as a normal person.. to spend all that time living on one's truck but only get paid for time spent driving... combined with the fact I can't focus on the road for long stretches and get really tired when I'm forced to try, it wouldn't be a long term career path for me.
It's also pretty bad for the body.. blood clots in the legs could become an issue as one ages, and the crappy, overpriced food, constant roadside inspections, slow speed limits, other drivers around.. I'd go nuts. Now some of the guys who carry around hazardous materials and get paid a lot more to do so.. that's different. If I can pull in $2K per week or whatever... but the cents per mile has not kept up with inflation just like in a lot of fields. If there's a labor shortage, start by looking at your pathetic wages.
I'd want $100K+ to be a trucker who's on the road full time, working 14+ hours per day, 7 days a week. To me that would feel like slavery, having to sleep in the truck, and work super long hours. I make 60K working 42 hours a week and I'm fine by that, and I have a house to go home to and forget about work at the end of the day. I don't want my life to revolve around work.
I can see the day coming where people put their foot down and simply stop working for slave wages.. I'd love to see the whole economy collapse because the low wage workers said enough is enough and quit these jobs. I believe they deserve higher pay for some of the grueling work they do versus office people who get paid double to gossip half the day. I wouldn't work at a fast food place for what they pay.. I'd move to Florida and beg in the streets if I had too. This is why the globalists are so for mass immigration, to a degree... they simply want cheap labor and to lower the standard of living of all countries to maximize the wealth being funneled up to the top 1%.
The truth is for every newer truck driver who tries to start their new truck driving careers as owner operators, without the benefit of knowing and understanding what is involved, there are 10 to 20 good, experienced drivers out there who make a damn good living because they know how to be a good driver which includes smart time management, pre-planning, maintenance, route selection, load acceptance or denial and planning to insure that their truck is not running around without a load on it whenever and wherever possible.
All that said, there is so much more to the story that the author either doesn't know or is willfully omitting because their article wouldn't sound as good without all the emotion he is trying to draw from an ignorant (due to not knowing or understanding the trucking industry) audience. Most experienced drivers know how to avoid the financial setbacks of bad contracts.
This article is the equivalent of an article written about a group of brand new motorcyclists who are screaming about the dangers of riding they never knew about when there are plenty of experienced riders out there who just say, "Pfft!" to those newbie cries of alarm.
Excellent analysis! One can't begin to understand the story unless one knows the economic factors, but the article immediately begins with "name-dropping" of major brands. aimed toward selling a guilt trip toward sheltered suburbanites, who have no idea what it's really like out there.
In the Seventies, when I worked in trucking (as a central dispatcher), a much greater portion of freight moved from terminal to terminal, rather than plant to plant. Drivers were more often based at home, but subject to call on short time, and had even less control over their schedules. One summer, I lost five men, three of whom died, to heart attacks while on the road. Robert Fellmeth's The Interstate Commerce Omission presents an accurate analysis of individual abuses, but the stories are, nevertheless, handpicked.
By 1970, the U S rail network east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio was a shambles -- totally unsuited to high-value or perishable freight, so most of that moved on the Intestate Highway system, then in the final stages of completion. with much-longer hauls. It was a jungle as far as enforcement of the rules was concerned, But as the pieces fell into place, the rail network rebuilt and geared to longer hauls and pickup and delivery left to newer less-structured (but more easily-monitored) carriers, the pieces fell into place.
Interestingly, it's not that hard for an outsider to get at least a partial view of a road driver;s life today; When away from home, I sometimes do laundry at a "truck plaza", and kill some time in the drivers' lounge. Business is heaviest in the evening hours, as drivers park in the lot and sleep in their (usually-customized) berths, in anticipation of a delivery the following morning. The microwave oven allowed at least some improvement in nutrition, and the availability of audio-books is proof that more of those guys behind the wheel have an intellect than you might think.
Figures don't lie, but liars figure:
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Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie
LOL, I bet you won't hear Trump complaining about this.
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Originally Posted by doc1
Now that this story is out I hope some law firms will get involved and sue the pants off the companies that do this.
And too many over-insulated grown-up children are swallowing the lies whole;
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Originally Posted by r small
I used to be an owner operator. So I have a soft spot for truckers and professional drivers. To anyone out there on the roads and streets delivering goods and keeping the economy moving. Hats off.
but some of us look a little deeper.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 06-17-2017 at 08:13 AM..
I think truckers are grossly underpaid and its terrible. Without truckers, we'd be sunk. Too many people disrespect the trucking industry, not understanding that it is truly the backbone of our lives. Just because someone is a new driver doesn't mean they should be paid slave wages.
I used to be an owner operator. Not long distance but local DC/Baltimore area. It was a tough gig. Hard work. Heavy traffic. Backed up loading docks. Out in lousy weather. Some weeks I made decent bread. Some weeks were lean. Lot of money going out on gas and maintenance on the van. Plus the cursed bpol (business and professional occupational license) tax. A gross receipts tax that goes to the state and gives nothing in return. That used to really get me steamed. So I have a soft spot for truckers and professional drivers. To anyone out there on the roads and streets delivering goods and keeping the economy moving. Hats off.
This is what Democrats want. More unskilled labor imported into America to do the jobs Americans won't do.........
For 67 cents a week.
Which is a complete fabrication of the facts. When you are a contractor you are your own business. When business put 100 hours in and come out with 67 cents they close shop.
When you lease a vehicle it is not yours so when you quit nobody is taking a damn thing from you as this article wants people to believe.
Democrats allow corporations to import cheap labor and ACT outraged at the corporations taking advantage of the workers.
This is what Democrats want. More unskilled labor imported into America to do the jobs Americans won't do.........
For 67 cents a week.
Which is a complete fabrication of the facts. When you are a contractor you are your own business. When business put 100 hours in and come out with 67 cents they close shop.
When you lease a vehicle it is not yours so when you quit nobody is taking a damn thing from you as this article wants people to believe.
Democrats allow corporations to import cheap labor and ACT outraged at the corporations taking advantage of the workers.
Fake ass Democrats.
I doubt that many of the drivers are illegal, but many of them are overseas-born or foreign nationals (Mexican in the South and West, and Puerto Rican or French Canadian in the Northeast). Their command of English is often limited, complicated by the jargon unique to tucking; they sometimes rely too much on GPS, and it's when they encounter a situation away from the main highways that things can get crazy.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 06-17-2017 at 08:12 AM..
This is what Democrats want. More unskilled labor imported into America to do the jobs Americans won't do.........
For 67 cents a week.
Which is a complete fabrication of the facts. When you are a contractor you are your own business. When business put 100 hours in and come out with 67 cents they close shop.
When you lease a vehicle it is not yours so when you quit nobody is taking a damn thing from you as this article wants people to believe.
Democrats allow corporations to import cheap labor and ACT outraged at the corporations taking advantage of the workers.
Fake ass Democrats.
I don't know about your state. My state has many vocal anti illegal people. The state has been run by Republicans for 20+ years. The politicians are scamming us. They give lip service to the no illegals crowd but do nothing to prevent hiring them.
Can illegals in your state get a drivers license and insurance? Years ago, our Texas AG John Cornyn ruled they could use their Matricular Consular cards as ID to do any kind of banking. And buy houses.
FWIW, Uber wants to do the same thing. Let drivers pay Uber for the cars they drive. Bet the payments and insurance are above market rates.
It's a scam that has been around for a long time. The leasing companies convince (mostly) new drivers that they are going to be self employed. A lot of people go for it, especially with companies that agree to "pay for training".
California requires a 10 year work history, so that will eliminate a lot of what is being implied in the article.
I drove long haul for 5 years, from 2005 - 20010. I drove 750,000 miles and made $300,000 doing it. It was something I always wanted to do, and had no trouble finding a job even though I was 60 when I started.
I had been self employed, and a letter from my accountant was sufficient to prove it.
I told the company right off, "If I can't make $50K/year I would just as soon stay at home." They hired me that same day.
Glad I got a chance to do it, and glad I don't have to do it anymore.
I would not like the government step in and take away the chance for owner-operators to succeed. And they will do that if they take away any possibility of failure.
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