Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
An Indiana truck driver called out the Big Brother-esque over-regulation that he experiences in his occupation.
Writing in The Federalist, Matthew Garnett said that for truck drivers, the federal government "literally decides when [they] work, eat and sleep."
"I never thought I'd come to a time in my life when "Big Brother" would be watching me 24/7. But then I became a truck driver. Every minute of every day is monitored by Uncle Sam, who takes care that I can never make a decision for myself based on my circumstances," he wrote.
BS. The alternative is drivers heading down the road at 80 MPH on no sleep and popping pills to stay awake. Now if they want to kill themselves, that's their right. But they don't have the right to take out that innocent family who just happens to be in the way when they fall asleep.
Only real way to remedy this is to switch all drivers over to hourly pay. Especially when a majority of the carriers out there strictly pay by the mile and don't take other factors into consideration that may hinder the amount of miles driven per day. Waiting to get loaded/unloaded, traffic congestion due to an accident, road construction, icy road that only an insane person would drive on.
But we all know that isn't going to happen. So the best thing to do would be to get your experience in with the mega carriers, and switch over to an outfit that either already pays by the hour(like foodservice or convenience store delivery). Or LTL/line-haul where you're still paid mileage, but you're only shuttling/relaying loaded trailers to a specific point for another driver and then back to your home terminal. No dealing with shipping/receiving and all the other difficult people at any given warehouse environment.
It's a difficult job and it could definitely drive one crazy. But there are options out there to deal with the FMCSA realities apart from leaving the industry altogether and finding your old self working a pennies-paying, fast-food position. Or holding a cardboard sign at an exit ramp.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,206,701 times
Reputation: 57821
This is why the husban/wife team concept has become popular, we see that a lot at the truck stop we often stay at in Portland, that has a nice motel. They can take turns driving and sleeping, so do more loads without risk of fatigue.
BS. The alternative is drivers heading down the road at 80 MPH on no sleep and popping pills to stay awake. Now if they want to kill themselves, that's their right. But they don't have the right to take out that innocent family who just happens to be in the way when they fall asleep.
Are you a driver? Own a trucking company? Know anything about the numerous rules, regulations, requirements and guidelines required by the Federal and State governments to get/have a CDL?
If not you have no basis to call anything BS and you really have no clue how wrong you are with the statement.
However, the other side of this coin is that those who drive cars under the influence of anything, are tired from lack of sleep for whatever reason, do not follow the rules of the road properly,
*do not have the right to take out that innocent family who just happens to be in the way when they fall
asleep, drive under the influence of anything *no matter how harmless you keep telling yourself it is*,
do not follow the rules of the road properly, are distracted while driving
*texting, talking on the cell phone, putting on make up, shaving, etc.etc*.
This is why the husban/wife team concept has become popular, we see that a lot at the truck stop we often stay at in Portland, that has a nice motel. They can take turns driving and sleeping, so do more loads without risk of fatigue.
Probably one of the few ways teaming could be done right. Most of the time, teams tend to fail since it's usually companies placing two random dudes together. Things are fine for a few days, up to a few weeks. But then tensions mount and then one of the guys is subsequently left abandoned at a rest area or truck stop, high and dry.
Solo driving works out well too. You just simply know your limits on how much you want to drive each day in order to get the driven trip done and stick to it. Instead of killing yourself pushing your 11 hour limit each night or day, stick to 8 or 9. Most trips a solo driver will get with a mega, dry or refrigerated van carrier any way are between 500-1200. And are usually given a lengthy enough, delivery window to get the product where it needs to be.
Of course there's always going to be those "super truckers" who are against other truckers enjoying life and berate those drivers for not getting those loads there a day or two early. Sometimes that works, most times it just means you'll be sitting and waiting for your next dispatch much earlier.
The antagonism is wide-spread in this industry and FMCSA/state police CMV enforcement is just a small piece of the battle. If it isn't your dispatchers trying to push you, or warehouse people trying to huff and puff, it's fellow drivers turning against you as well.
Again, best way to mitigate it all is to get your time in on with the laughable carriers and switch over to a local, or dedicated scheme where the pay, runs, and even people are more predictable.
Some drivers enjoy the variety of irregular routes, most drivers want a set pattern/routine before they go rabid.
An Indiana truck driver called out the Big Brother-esque over-regulation that he experiences in his occupation.
Writing in The Federalist, Matthew Garnett said that for truck drivers, the federal government "literally decides when [they] work, eat and sleep."
"I never thought I'd come to a time in my life when "Big Brother" would be watching me 24/7. But then I became a truck driver. Every minute of every day is monitored by Uncle Sam, who takes care that I can never make a decision for myself based on my circumstances," he wrote.
I thought it was a good article. I'm retired but I drove over 750,000 miles.
There are an awful lot of things the FMCSA does that are counterproductive, and it seems like every one of them are popular with people who know nothing. Eventually, some of them fail and are repealed, like the 55MPH speed limits that some states imposed. It was popular and legislators predicted this and that, but really the only thing that happened was, trucks got in the way of cars who wanted to go fast.
I don't look for much to change, though. Stupid regulations are a way of life in many industries.
Disingenuous. If you are going to be at a terminal all day, call your dispatchers and get permission to go off-duty or sleeper. Not being able to cut your grass is pure nonsense. You can do what you want on your days off or when you are off duty. If you chose to engage in work related emails, I suppose that can be considered "work", but how is anyone, especially a trooper on the side of the highway, going to know you sent an email. You can drive X number of hours per day. The government is not telling him what specific hours he has to work (just how many he can work), when he has to eat, or when he has to sleep.
Only real way to remedy this is to switch all drivers over to hourly pay. Especially when a majority of the carriers out there strictly pay by the mile and don't take other factors into consideration that may hinder the amount of miles driven per day. Waiting to get loaded/unloaded, traffic congestion due to an accident, road construction, icy road that only an insane person would drive on.
But we all know that isn't going to happen. So the best thing to do would be to get your experience in with the mega carriers, and switch over to an outfit that either already pays by the hour(like foodservice or convenience store delivery). Or LTL/line-haul where you're still paid mileage, but you're only shuttling/relaying loaded trailers to a specific point for another driver and then back to your home terminal. No dealing with shipping/receiving and all the other difficult people at any given warehouse environment.
It's a difficult job and it could definitely drive one crazy. But there are options out there to deal with the FMCSA realities apart from leaving the industry altogether and finding your old self working a pennies-paying, fast-food position. Or holding a cardboard sign at an exit ramp.
Hourly pay would be justifiable for drivers if the pay is greater than being paid by the mile.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
