The war over driver pay and minimum wage has raged off and on for decades now, but it looks like the tide may shift soon as a new legal battle is about to start in California courts. A judge has just approved class action status for a lawsuit being brought against Wal-Mart Transportation by a group of drivers claiming that Wal-Mart is violating state law by failing to pay them minimum wage.
You’ve probably heard this argument before, this ‘new’ case was actually first filed back in 2008, but it was only approved for class action status last week, which was the push that was needed to get the ball rolling.
Wal-Mart drivers are paid by the mile like most of the drivers in this industry, and also receive pay for any activity that Wal-Mart deems compensable. Some non-compensable duties drivers must perform are pre and post-trip inspections, completing paperwork, rest breaks, fueling, and maintaining and washing their rigs.
Again, all of this is fairly standard in the industry, but the plaintiffs in the case argue that while minimum wage requirements are satisfied if only driving time is taken into account, when you count the so-called non-compensable duties as part of the work day, Wal-Mart’s pay falls short.
It’s not only the below-minimum-wage pay that drivers are claiming is illegal. They also take issue with the lack of state mandated paid meal breaks, and failing to provide accurate wage statements.
There isn’t anything really remarkable about Wal-Mart’s treatment of its drivers, but that’s precisely what makes this case so important. It’s a high-profile company with a large class action suit being brought against it for the payment practices that the majority of carriers employ. If this domino falls, it could have a huge impact on the rest of the industry.
Next Story: Was This Driver Fired Because She Was Pregnant?
Source: thetrucker, overdrive
Image Source: flickr
dude says
Right, turn the industry from having “underpaid” drivers (and walmart pays more than anyone) to one that can not afford to pay its drivers. Looks like those self-driving trucks will be here much sooner than we all thought!
Thank you unions for for cutting your own throats and trying to take everyone else else down with you.
Even if you win, only the lawyers will see any of the money that may come of it.
chicknwing says
And since when was Wal-Mart’s fleet part of a Union? Being a proud member of the Teamsters, I challenge you to show me a company that is not unionized that pays as well as those that are!!
Because of the union I get paid to drop and hook, fuel the tractor, take part in the safety videos, wait for a load to be ready, and much more. What about you? I bet you sit and wait for a dispatch for free right…
The company I work for is exploding at the seams with freight and new hires. We don’t experience the turnover like other carriers do either…I guess thats because we are under paid right?
If more companies were unionized, you would not hear about drivers pay being such a big issue…
Don’t knock the unions, just because your jealous
TWade says
I am a Walmart driver and I will compare my wages and working conditions to yours any day of the week. I have bet teamster drivers that I make more then they do and I have had none that will show me their take home pay after I show them mine, they just walk away. We have several ex-union drivers that work at the DC and they have had the opportunity to go back to work for the union but they stay at Walmart. Their reply is always “why would I want to put up with the unions crap and make the same or less money then here”.
I had the opportunity to work for Yellow years ago and after listen to how I “might” work every week, being on call for hours or days at a time, you might work on the docks or drive “if we need you”, when the roads are bad you only shut down when the road is closed or when we let you, you might be laid off during the slow times, and you will pay so much every pay period to keep your job. Or we might ask at Midnight for you to show up for work at 4 am. I just laughed and walked away.
You might ask if this job is so good why would they file a law suite against Walmart. The same reason that the Teamster goes on strike. The fools that has a good job always want more.
Erique says
Bro… you are 100% on all that. Some people have this allusion that companies are treating them fairly when all they have to do is look closer at those who are unionized. Better pay all the way and no the company didn’t go out of business. If they do it’s because of greed not because of an undue burden on the company. Only been in the industry 5 years but alot of these guys are just institutionalized. You get what you tolerate.
Joe Skeptical says
QUOTE – “If this domino falls, it could have a huge impact on the rest of the industry.” – UN-QUOTE
I’ll bet a dime to a doughnut hole right now. Wal-Mart wins precisely because of that.
Steve says
I don’t know, CA actually has some descent labor laws when it comes to other industries. It may work, carriers streak of abusing loopholes (mainly overtime) won’t last forever.
michael says
Too big to fail? Where have we heard that before? Hauling freight for substandard wages is old as the industry itself if a company driver then do what the rest of WalMart employees do by restricting your hours to under 30 a week and apply for Federal taxpayer supplemental benefits instead?
There is no ‘shortage’ of pro drivers just those who refuse to work for ‘the greater good’.
hoagie says
You are absolutely on the money JK. The so called for the trucker organization, ATA will bow to the other forces like the FMCSA and every other group that supports the big carriers. The driver’s get hosed again.
Ray says
Maintenance and washing the truck are not compensated? I disagree that reflects the industry norm. Maybe for owners but not company drivers.
Joe Skeptical says
That’s right, most company drivers never bother. I’ve never seen a clean Schneider, Stevens, Swift, Prime, Gordon, Danny Herman, Melton, CR England, (etc etc etc) truck.
Matt says
When I drove for Schneider old Don was alive and running the show, if you came into a terminal with a dirty truck, you were asked to wash it. All the major terminals had auto truck washes. I figured since I got showers, a workout room, a company car to run errands, and free access to medical personnel; I could wash the truck without being paid. I hear things have gone downhill since those days.
Jraulpilot says
Good One!!!
Vl Rocks says
Matt FYI you have been brain washed by the corporate world, do not sell yourself short! Do you not feel for one second that by spending so much time on the road and away from home that you have not earned those amenities offered? You give up way more time than a 9 to 5 employee just by being a truck driver.
Stay safe, and think more of yourself.
Billy says
Roehl said was your truck while off duty. My response I put a dent in that truck we will know dang quick who’s truck it is! Sorry you fall have a piece of dirt fly off and blind you workers comp will not pay, your not on company time.
hoagie says
Also, there’s no compensation for sweeping out an MT trailer at Schneider Nat.
marc beverly says
Stevens only reemburses 2 washes a month.And u know that 3 days of driving it looks like u havnt washed it..
Joe Bob says
Have you ever seen a dirty TMC truck?
Timber Wolf says
yea, I’ve seen more n more lately
BigTruck says
But TMC trucks are always clean!
pinkfloyd213 says
You’ve never seen a clean truck from Danny Herman? The co. has an acct. at blue beacon and a mobile fleet wash that goes to their largest terminal in El Paso every weekday. I’m an o/p with them and I see clean trucks all the time. You should not make blanket statements like that.
Joe Skeptical says
@ pinkfloyd123 – I did NOT write that there are no clean trucks anywhere, I wrote that I have never seen one. I rarely ever see a clean truck and then only an O/O. “Clean truck” also includes one with just a few day’s worth of road grime and dirt, but still looks like it was washed recently.
Most trucks and trailers are covered with seasoned crud that’s been on them for weeks and weeks at least. Every trailer I’ve ever hooked up to, needed Windex and a brush to get the lights clean.
Mark says
I disagree, while I never personally had to wash or work on the truck, I had to take it and spend time getting it done. When I go to a company terminal, I usually sit most of the day for no money, can’t get sleep because truck is in shop, then expected to drive 600 miles like I was in the sleeper or off duty all day, and like I said, no money. If truck goes to a dealer for warranty or other repairs, I sit all day with no money and am expected to drive after it is fixed like I was resting and sleeping all day. YOU DO NOT GET PAID FOR WASHING AND REPAIRS, IT TAKES YOU TIME.
mike says
thats why the only time my trucks exterior gets washed is when it rains.not payed for pre or post trips either We are required to assist in loading and unloading but I only have 1/2 hour per stop so thats fifteen minutes on each side and I’m out of there becuase we get paid by the contract hour rate,no more no less.Good wage but not the greatest.
lacy says
It’s surprising that walmart is the only company included in this lawsuit. Thats one company that most of the drivers actually like their job. Lol!! Most company drivers don’t get paid minimum wage. Instead of more hours, we need to be asking for more pay. 70 hours a week? That’s usually just logged hours. It’s like working two full time jobs and no one sees a problem with that.
Moving Forward says
In addition to the above comment, does anyone know of any trucking companies that pay drivers to take the mandatory 30-minute DOT break?
Slayer88 says
None, but some of us are salaried also and re-imbursed sooooo….I thought Walmart was a top company to drive for?
Dustin Bradshaw says
Pilot/flying J and several others I know pay for the 30min break…some are hourly and a few by the mile.
Butch says
Never heard of a one. Nor have I heard of one that compensates for the time spent on that ridiculous online Keller training, or equivalent.
ez says
i was paid 12 hours at time and a half.
ez says
yes , there are a lot of them. most are local drivers.
mike says
thats funny becuase the rule was made for all drivers but mainly for the otr drivers. I get an hour break between my trips from my origin and that covers the 1/2 hour rule. I also on put in 8 hrs per day.
shawn gherity says
How many companies pay any of their employees for breaks? Thats getting to the point of being assinine. I cant wait to hear the wailing when walmart parks their trucks,lays off all of the drivers and gives the loads to outside carriers to run.
Butch says
For me, the issue isn’t money, it’s time. The last thing I want to do during my precious free time is Keller training, attend pointless company meetings, or wait for God knows what at the terminal…all without being fairly compensated for my valuable time. Maybe if com
Butch says
For me, the issue isn’t money, it’s time. The last thing I want to do during my precious free time is Keller training, attend pointless company meetings, or wait for God knows what at the terminal…all without being fairly compensated for my valuable time. Maybe if companies knew that had to pay for our time, they’d be less inclined to waste it.
Western star says
Everyone needs to take a vacation/call in sick during the same week. That’ll wake EVERYONE up!
Ben Stine says
Joe Gordon makes you actually pay for the wash yourself.
Joe Skeptical says
Let’s be completely clear, most trucking company execs would make drivers perform intimate, personal acts on them IF they could extract THAT as a condition of employment. I don’t know if there is another business in America that squeezes its workers as hard as trucking. Illegal aliens in restaurants maybe.
Robin Doiron says
As if Wally pays their retail employees a fair wage, why would anyone think their drivers are any different?
Jeff Scott says
Thats the beauty of a free market capitalist society…..if you employer doesnt pay you what you feel you are worth, you can always quit and find employment elsewhere. If you decide to stay anyways, maybe you aren’t worth what you think you are.
Struggling says
Uh—yah, if we WERE indeed in a ‘free market capitalist society’, it would be beautiful.
I am not sure which country or era you are living in, but in 2015 America, for the past 10-20 years, the USA has been a “CRONY CAPITALIST” society, where the big oligopolies pay to ensure that their ‘dreams to come true’. OTR trucking jobs are not going to pay any better as non-trucking jobs once did—non-trucking jobs are going to start paying like OTR trucking jobs.
Also, this economy of the past 6-9 years, it is not like there is a livable wage job waiting for whomever just around the corner to step in to. I am old now, and the one constant I have seen all my life in this country from businesses is: “How can we pay our employees less?”. When I was young, I saw all my parent’s friends getting laid-off in their 50s. Later when I was in the US Army, I saw Clinton give jobs away to overseas. Now under Dopey, workers are brought in from overseas, regardless of eligibility or not, to take jobs.
In a former life, I worked in an office. I got a junk email from an agency I once worked for over a decade ago advertising a job that pays maybe 4% more than it did in 1998. I can assure you that here in Northeast Illinois, the cost of living has skyrocketed more that 4% in the past decade: see the Illinois Toll Road article here on truckers report. I would approximate, with fuel and property taxes, that my cost of living has nearly doubled, or gone up 100% in this time since 2000.
Bringing this back around to trucking, I would make it illegal for any one company and its subsidiaries to possess more than 1,000 power units and more than 3,000 trailers. I also would agree that the 1938 ‘Motor Carriers Exemption’ law, that WING has spelled out in another post, essentially put OTR truckers in to the rice patty and it should be repealed.
If the government wanted to do us workers “a solid”, they would put a mortiarium on ALL immigration, but especially illegal such, so that the stagnant wages of the past 40 years can be buoyed. Instead, I get my representative, Luis Guitierrez, caring more for Latin Americans crossing the border than voting citizens in his district.
The other constant I have seen throughout my life is from governments plotting: “How can we soak the tax payer even more?”
Cliff Downing says
I guess what is bewildering in all of this, is that the drivers agreed to the work conditions and the compensatory scale that they are getting. They signed on the dotted line, as it were, and agreed to what they are now saying is unfair. Walmart is already paying a fair wage, in that they are paying what was agreed to when the person was hired. Probably even more than when the person was hired if they have over 90 days in the job. The drivers thought it was fair then, what makes it unfair now? If Walmart where cheating them out of something that was agreed to up front, they would have moral justification for some outrage.
Ray says
Sometimes the worker doesn’t understand the job until the worker actually does it. Sometimes the companies don’t give job descriptions. Sometimes they amend the job description.
Cary Davis says
Then the driver should take the time to understand the job prior to signing. If the driver has proof the job was ammended between the time they interviewed and the time they hired on, they might have a case. I did not read this in the article.
I agree with Cliff Downings assessment. You agreed to the job. Do it, or move on!
Joe Bob says
I listened to a group of tanker drivers complaining they aren’t paid for hooking and unhooking the hoses they only get paid for driving. What about flatbed drivers. Do you think we get paid for throwing chains and straps? It’s part of the job deal with it. There is no minimum wage in trucking.
Joe Skeptical says
Lots of turnover, too. The highest in any business in America, by multiples. Something’s wrong (or right) with trucking.
Cherokee says
That’s the reason why you ask lots of questions at the interview, Walmart has some of the highest payed driver’s in the industry, typical for high payed employees to complain when they themselves choose to live above there means and try to keep up with the Jones.
sudon't says
Sure, minimum wage (or less) is perfectly fair for the job of truck driving. It’s not like you have any responsibilities or potential liabilities in this work. If you want a grown-up’s job, go work at McDonald’s. And who needs more than one or two weeks of vacation a year? It’s not like you have the money to go somewhere, anyway. And I hope it goes without saying that you owe it to your employer to donate your time taking care of his equipment.
Working people just need to accept the fact that whatever companies decide to pay them is exactly what they’re worth. Employers are not gonna get rich paying everyone fair wages. At least, not as rich as they could get. Remember, you might be a rich man one day, and you don’t want laws in place, or uppity workers, that would take hard-earned money out of your pocket when you finally do get there. It could happen!
mike says
go back to your job at McDonalds.
Gregbo says
Coundn’t have said it better myself.
Jc says
Walmart retail is no different then any other retail store, regarding pay. Same with trucking. In fact I was under impression they were the place to get into in trucking . Everyone sounded happy.
The problem is it’s the industry. Walmart is just the vehicle they are using because they are big…
The industry pay actually stinks when you add all the hours you put in for the company in one week. That’s why the shortage. You can make good money. But what are you giving up to do it. Not seeing your family for a week or more. Just because I’m on 10 hour off duty, it’s not like the I’m throwing the ball in the yard with my son or eating dinner with my wife around dinner table. 9 times out of ten your stuck somewhere with that truck and load. Your not doing ” whatever you want”. Even @ 14 hours a day . Outside of trucking , you make loads of money for those extra hours . You. Can make good money , but most dont want to give up so much to do it. Add up the hours spent working, your actually not making that much. Company drivers I’m mostly talking about. And average, there is exceptions of course .
Ex Wally driver says
I used to be a Walmart driver. I never had to fix my truck they have a maintenance crew for it as well as if a driver is washing a truck it’s a matter of driving his truck through an auto wash. I only spent 170 days on layover working for them my final year with them and still made 96K for the year. They’re some of the highest paid drivers in the industry. Further more I’ve never worked for a company that paid me to do my paperwork. Seriously stop your bitching. These guys have it better then most anyone out driving. They don’t even have to fuel their trucks. They pull into a fuel island and a guy comes out and fuels the tractor and checks fluids and washes their windows. Bunch of greedy cry baby’s.
Russell Thurman says
Can anyone name a company that pays their drivers while they are in the sleeper during the 10 hour break?
Dustin Bradshaw says
Jason deli pays their drivers a little over min wage for their entire time in sleeper birth
cheyenne says
I can name a company that while your truck is in the shop the 1rst 10hrs are condidered your nandatory break so they dont have to.pay u even tho your sitting on the side walk waiting. All these big carriers burn their drivrrs. Paying for comchecks to unld and make you sign a resignation form if your fired by threatening to fk.up your dac so they dont have to.pay.unemployment and until drivers say enough….its only gonna get worse
Cowboy says
First off, the idea of paying unemployment you are professing is grossly inaccurate. Unemployment is paid by the state. As an employer, we pay into unemployment every week when we pay the employee. The only thing we ever have to say to unemployment is if they were terminated or quit. If you were terminated you are eligible to collect, if you leave on your own accord, you are not. If an employer terminates you and asks you to sign a form that you voluntarily quit or resign, that is fraud but it does not cost the employer anything if you do collect unemployment.
shauna says
I am new to driving so forgive me if I am wrong, but could you not just go ahead and take your ten hour and then put it in the shoo?
rubberducky68 says
Superior Carriers. We get $10 for every 10 hr break spent in the sleeper. It put’s an extra $50-70 a week on your check.
Gregbo says
Wow. Work like a dog 14 hours a day. Get paid for 90% of the miles you drive, everything else is for free. Don’t see your wife or kids for days, weeks, months (?). Risk your life, assets, and license every day. Have your every minute tracked and logged by a machine and every “available” hour booked by some ahole at a desk a thousand miles away. Use nothing but public toilets and wait in line for a truck stop shower if dispatch allows a spare hour. Eat crappy expensive truck stop food and piss in a bottle. But you’re gettin’ $50-70 bucks a week for your sleeper time. You are ridin’ the gravy train my boy.
rubberducky68 says
@Gregbo
Sorry to disappoint you but I don’t work like a dog 14 hours a day, more like 10. I am at the house 2-3 days a week, sometimes even 4 so I see my wife and kids all the time. I take my food with me so I don’t have to eat crappy expensive truck stop food. Showers never seem to be a problem to get, take one every day. Public bathrooms, yeah I guess you got me on that one but it beats pissing in the parking lot like I see a lot of scum bags do. I only answer to one dispatcher and she is not thousands of miles away as I run dedicated out and back. I am treated pretty good here at Superior so yeah I am sort of riding the gravy train compared to other companies out there. We get paid for everything we do so no free work here. Sleeper pay is just another perk.
Joe Skeptical says
You’re a rare exception, I hope you know that.
Straighta Hed says
Wally drivers get 42.00 per 10 hr. break.
Paul says
Miller Transporters was paying $20.00 Sleeper after 14 hours out of town. I got into it with the terminal mgr. over them taking my sheets out and throwing them out( Misc. pay form). Then I would have to go in and ask why I was not paid for something. Company is good BUT, Mobile was very bad.
tp says
Drivers don’t get paid this because we aren’t included in the fair labor act. Wal-Mart drivers are doing it wrong, court will decide in favor of Wal-Mart here because of the law, they need to get drivers included in the fair labor act to win. You notice when the half hour break became part of the hours of service it says “unpaid half hour break”
Paul says
CALIFORNIA CHP will nail you for going over the 8 hour break BUT will not do a damn thing about fair wage. They will nail for one side but say nothing about the other?????
Joe Skeptical says
QUIT
Kratz Leatherman says
I want to hear from Wal-Mart drivers. According to what I’ve heard they start at $76K a year. If true, how is that below minimum wage? That’s almost double what I get.
Ex Wally driver says
They do my first year on with them back in 2008 I made 86K. I still have many friends working there and most of them range from 85-100 and some make more.
jon province says
TODAYS CHUCKLE ( but sad) …I’m driving for a local guy ( nice guy, btw..anyway things get slow…….oh and I’m making. 40 mile….so he suggested. I file for unempl. Bennies to get me through.I’m talking to the nice, but ignorant young lady, and she asks me how many hours I worked last week. Then how much was I paid? I told her, OMG, SIR, THATS ILLEGEL YOUR EMPLOYER IS IN VIOLATION!!!!! …….lol. we are so our own out here.
Charlie says
If you don’t like your job. Quit ! It’s that simple. I own my own truck and do a whole lot of work for “free”. But. I do it because I choose to. I would like to see a short shutdown to get better rates in trucking, but that’s not going to happen. Walmart takes so much crap because they are successful, I wish they would shut the whole company down for a week. That would shake the world not just the US. Why is it American workers think they should be paid for every minute. Is it greed or just being spoiled. Maybe walmart should start paying they’re drivers for everything, but stop ordering truck with air conditioners and apu’s. Maybe drop power steering to offset the cost. Or just close the doors on the whole place, the Walton’s don’t have to have anymore money.
Steve Bell says
Sorry but don’t work for free….You work for yourself…So YOU Decide what to pay yourself and for what tasks…
If I chose to pay myself for showering and shaving I can…but remember it it taxable then….I think that i’d rather shave for free …but you are given the option to tax you new income if you chose to…
Gregbo says
I also own my own truck and I get paid by the load, not by the mile. I don’t haul cheap freight, I don’t work 14 hours a day, and I go home whenever I want to. But I compete with carriers who pay their drivers crap and treat them like sht. The entire transport system benefits from the slave labor that the mega carriers exploit because it drives down rates. That fact hurts my bottem line and yours as well.
Jean says
There is a big difference between a min. wage and a living wage.
Steve Bell says
Hey…Don’t you remember when Walmart Drivers were supposed to be retiring as Millionaires??
pocketchange says
After WallyWorld & Co., separated with Fresh America, they offered a few of us jobs.
I declined after reading their offer and do not regret my decision.
Fair Labor Laws.. are you kidding?
This industry has been in the toilet since it was de-regulated,
which is the reason anyone with common sense ran away decades ago.
The glory days of trucking died along with the rest of this mess.. decades ago.
Ray says
Deregulated? Don’t you mean over regulated?
Denise says
Pocketchange is referring back in the late 80’s when trucking became deregulated. NOW, it’s over regulated. But, they didn’t give us back the money they took, when the deregulated. Trucking will never be fair again. A man/woman could support their family back then. Thats why I quit this year.
Ray says
I hope you’re happy in your new endeavor.
Timothy W Lucas says
I split .13 cents a mile in 1975 with several drivers running team and hauling garbage. The government even after 40 years couldn’t run me out of this business. The freedom and wild card alone is nearly enough but the fact they pay me for it is greatly appreciated. I get by. Making everything I do as a paid entitlement is just more union corruption. No one can deny there isn’t plenty of that.
sudon't says
The drivers are over-regulated. It’s the companies that were de-regulated.
Ray says
I see.
Karen Ricardo says
I know a few Walmart drivers and they make way more than the average driver so I see no need for the nonsense lawsuit. They are not mistreated in the least.
Timothy W Lucas says
Over $70,000 a year.
Wife of Walmart driver says
The majority of the comments here have nothing to do with Walmart drivers, but are a general overview of the industry. The sad thing being, Walmart drivers are better compensated than the vast majority of the industry. This lawsuit is silly.
A Walmart driver is paid miles and they are paid activity pay. They get paid for a drop, a hook, a stop, a live load, a live unload, a premium on weekends, a premium when working in certain markets, unscheduled time (hourly) when a truck is worked on or you are at a shipper / dock longer than reasonable, $42 a night to sleep in your truck, etc. This is all agreed upon when you take the job. You get yearly raises, and raises when the company does well.
Starting pay for a Walmart driver runs between $75-80K a year. Many make well over $100K after a year or two.
No, you are not compensated for the 30 min brake, but that time is added back in and can be worked, thus you are compensated for it. No, you are not compensated to clean your truck at the end of the week. This is common courtesy as someone else will drive that truck when you are done. You want to drive a clean truck, and you leave a clean truck. You are not compensated to fuel your truck, but most DC’s fuel your truck for you, as you sit there. Next, they will be wanting to be paid for bathroom time.
This lawsuit is ridiculous.
Paujos says
This is why I hate lawyers!! They will get all the money. Class-action lawsuits are a joke!! My husband has been driving since ’98. He has either been paid hourly, or by the mile. Fueling, paperwork, washing his truck is all part of the job. I am so sick of Walmart always being the bad guy. My husband had to wait 14 hours on Labor Day to get unloaded, and between the broker and his employer, they aren’t sure if he’s getting paid for that time. Should he sue? He has had countless hours that he hasn’t gotten compensation for. I agree with a lot of these comments. It goes with the territory. Sue all the trucking companies, not just Walmart!!!!
Dave says
I’m confused. Getting to drive for Walmart is like the Holy Grail of trucking. Stuck at a DC one time, I struck up a conversation with a Walmart driver. The pay and bennies he described to me that he was getting just blew me away.
Joe Skeptical says
Wal-Mart incurs transportation expense a good deal less than if it sent loads to freight brokers and big companies, you realize that? A load delivered to Wal-Mart by someone else is when the shipper sold it to Wal-Mart and hired the delivery themselves, all included. If the transportation cost component were higher than Wal-Mart could do, Wal-Mart would get it themselves.
Transport expense for all goods Wal-Mart moves, including all costs – equipment, maintenance, fuel, salaries + benefits, EVERYTHING – is a good deal less than they would pay to hire any combination of big name companies like JB Hunt, Stevens Transport, Schneider, Swift, CR England, Prime, etc. etc. etc.
david b. says
walmart will just up the unloading fee they charge you poor folks to compensate thier warehouse workers -so now you can compensate thier drivers too-never hauled into walmart -never will-they don’t use heavy haul sooooooo-f–k walmart!
mike says
I delivered to a walmart dist cntr once and I’ll never do it again.Took my a layover and 5 hours to get unloaded. I am actually glad I don’t drive otr anymore but the worst thing is I have now is no quality at home time. My day is as such get up @ 0100 report to work for 0225 leave for 0230 come back at 0620 then leave at 0740 to do it all over again.My wife and I have conflicting schedules.when I work she sleeps and when I come home shes at work when she comes home I’m in bed sleeping sleeping.Such is life.. I know you didn’t want to hear this but I wrote it anyway.
Timothy W Lucas says
Every Wal-Mart today has a 2 hr. maximum window for live unloads that are scheduled. It sounds like you had no appointment and was a work-in as that does happen. Mostly appointments are required. I don’t work for Wal-Mart but have been in many dist. centers over a forty year period. It was not always like that as I remember but they have taken corrective action over the years.
andrew says
That’s why I couldn’t do local driving anymore. Same routine and crap everyday and you work ten time harder than running the road. I go out for a week and a half and go in for a week. I love it. Been running the road for 20 years.
FairWarning says
Without admitting wrongdoing, CTST “settled” a very similar class action suit last year. No dominoes will fall with this one. This case will never go to trial and judgement. This will be “settled” as well.
Jim says
Haven’t these guys ever heard of going on strike?
sudon't says
I’m sure they have, but the unions were pretty much legislated out of existence. No unions = no collective bargaining. That’s why their only recourse is the courts.
mike says
you don’t need a union to go on strike but they are good to have in you’re back pocket.The last truckers strike that happened there was a situation where a driver was killed while driving home mt.the law was looking for the drivers that did this because they say the driver was hauling a load instead of going home mt.Any way they found the culprits.They weren’t even truckers ,they just wanted to have fun at truckers expense.
Jude Ossowski says
Mechanics get paid for all they do; getting tools, checking specs in a book, etc. Accountants get paid for all they do; getting paperwork, changing printer ink, answering phone calls, etc. Janitors get paid for all they do; filling mop buckets, rolling carpet runners, putting brooms in a closet, etc. Why shouldn’t drivers get paid for all we do; fueling, sweeping trailers, inspections, etc? I’ve been asking this for years.
Grimshaw in Canada says
Hey Jude. I think you have a point, but many people with office staff & management positions that I know are expected to put in overtime for the same salaried benefit. While it’s true that it’s not as bad as it is for drivers who spend days or weeks out on the road, this happens too often in a lot of industries. I wouldn’t stand for it. And I don’t – to wit I’ve bounced around a lot of jobs in my life.
Now though, I have to thank my luck that I’m with Grimshaw in Canada. They do have per mile pay for certain longer hauls, but there’s a group of us that get paid by the hour doing short (160 – 200 mile) round trips & making deliveries while out there. In fact their per mile payees make more per hour than we do if they can keep it at about 10 – 12 hours a day (but I don’t know the #s).
It IS union, but still everyone is happy, company makes good too, & customers get excellent service as a result. I’ve never been afraid of quitting both before, or after having found another job if the company I’m with isn’t a good fit. If those affected by such poorly paid work can’t afford to do this, then I feel bad for you. But if you could leave, why do you stay??
I’d be passing out resumes on my free time what little I had. I just sayin’
Wife of Walmart driver says
Walmart drivers get paid for everything they do. They get paid mileage and activity pay such as drop, hook, live load, live unload, weekend premium, congested market premium, hourly for unscheduled time such as break downs, too long at shipper or dock. They get paid a percentage of their ADP (broken down by hours) for meetings and training. They are treated great, and there are a lot of them make well over $100K a year. This lawsuit is silly.
Jraulpilot says
This Domino should have fallen Ten years ago. **Filed in 2008…and just getting “the ball rolling”?? (Wonder why?? )
Flower child says
If you sign up and take the job….shut your mouth! Why have so many EMPLOYEES decided that THEY set the terms now!?!?! If yo u drove for me and fire you johnny on the spot! I’d try and do it where you were at least 2,000 miles from home. I wish the socialist would just leave our country. There are many places throughout the world you could go and live in misery!!!! Just go!
Rey says
I read almost all the Comments and I got bad news to all the drivers until we unite and be together and go to vote and do like the drivers in South America Puerto Rico and Europe they get together and they stop the country and the government solve the problem in less than 48 hours. Let me give you a example of the most genius ilegal idea of the industry, a regular employee work 8 hour a day with a 1 lunch and a few breaks in between, 40 hours a week with 2 days off. Holiday off but if have to work a holiday or a day off or past the 40 hours get compensated.
Truking industry LOL OMG for every 7days You work 24 7 you out of your house a month you get 4 days a month LOL., Lease Contractor is the most legal rippoff mafia a ever see charge the drivers and destroy him squeeze until the last drop of blood ,company pay 75,000 for a new truck make all kind mistery deals with the manufacturer KW, VOLVO, Freightliner, Purchase millions of dollars in fuel Driver pay 1000 dollars
a week 52,000 a year average for 4 or 5 years a 200,000.00 truck but dont worry the fuel ,company pay about 2.00 we going to charge this idiots 4.00 dollars a gallon driver spend another 75,000 ayear average in fuel , every year more and more regulations and the driver lost more and more money every year,the ironic true is that everybody in the universe including God need a Driver from Moses to a simple class D driver oooo sorry if I said God but even God use drivers to deliver a medicine a heart transplant ,everything that is in any house is transport in a truck everything that mister president use anything that DOT use anything that the owners of every transportation trucking industry company use is delivered by a Driver is time to give the Driver the respect that he deserve like a policeman, a fireman, without the drivers America dont move God Bless every driver out there and God bless USA.
Tim says
The whole point of sending it to class action status was to increase the finality of the final, preordained verdict.
Timothy W Lucas says
No company pays for meal time breaks. It is called per diem. This is but annoying from union’s wishing to break Wal-Mart and their non union back. All companies have employed the same practice of not paying drivers for some related duties for years. These demands from unions pushing to get everything paid for could cross every company in this country and most duties are required by the government so you should sue the government for these duties as it applies to drivers not Wal-Mart but Wal-Mart is charged as every other company to insure that these requirements are met. Unions got us a second term and continued failures so my sympathy doesn’t lie with unions but the people of this country that must suffer through another term and those they appoint to transportation that oversee the drivers in this country that has had to suffer through more than 10 years of rules and regulations that have little to offer the driver.
jc mosnar says
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
— U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, December 3, 1861[1]
It was the working men and women that built this country! Just look at the increase of the number of new billionaires since the start of free trade and deregulation, it quite significant. All of us need to force the government to revisit these and start working on behalf of the working men and women instead of big business.
We need to stand together like our forefathers and demand fair wages and working conditions.
Joe blow says
Hmm well I’ve been in this business for 30 years started with Schnider had to file bankrupt. Wasn’t there fault I took the job from them. Started driving fuel tankers didn’t pay to bad good benefits, OT. Paid sick time, the whole works, then the owner found out that if he sent 1trk over state lines once a month he wouldn’t have to pay all that because of federal regulations. No longer state. So he did it took everything away. Changed the name of the company and laid ed those that complained off. So I left. Scraped all I could together sold all I could and bought a peterbilt and reefer and started my own company. Now the only few complaints I have is being charged to unload the customers own product that he ordered by private contractors because they don’t want to have the liability from injured dock workers of their own and they make sure you can’t do it yourself so they give you a busted up pallet jack. Also load prices haven’t changed in years, but fuel has tripled, taxes have double and so on. So I guess what I’m trying to say is we each have the ability to change our own destiny and the right to complain, but only big changes can be accomplished in big groups. So lets all shut down for 1 week 7 days and jam up the fueling at the truck stops. Stand up for yourself truckers against low load prices, high fuel prices, $20,000 carb systems that only mess up your engine, side skirts that are only effective at 65mph, being forced to buy a new piece of junk semi that because of the carb system and the 7 different computers in it costing us $1000 in down time when it falls because it will. Come on driver’s at Walmart if you don’t like it then by alleans change it that’s your right. For the rest of you Stop your truck 7 days starting December 1 and you will see a cjangh.
andrew says
Wal-mart is the highest paying driving job in the industry. This is just another set of employees who’s just trying to get rich quick,get some extra cash so they can go and start their own business. They hope Walmart will settle out of court . I stand behind Walmart. I have spoken to quite a bit of drivers from Walmart and they’re all happy. If I wasn’t an owner operator and was looking for a company job, it damn sure would be Walmart.
David M says
As a Teamster we get paid for all of those thing. 15 minutes to fuel, 15 to drop and or hook, 30 for both. Go on the clock when sitting in traffic, go on the clock when waiting to be dispatched, go on the clock after being in a motel for more than 12 hours……GO TEAMSTERS!!!
isaac zavala says
FedEx isn’t union and pays all that… oh, and we do not pay the union any fees.
Cherokee says
They don’t like it Quit, I’ll take there job, Wal-Mart’s pay and benefits are some of the best in the industry for a nonunion company.
BT says
I’ve driven for Walmart 10 yrs, best job I could ever hope for. The pay, benefits, respect,fellow associates and the entire package beat most other driving jobs hands-down. Our turnover is around 4 percent annually, that is unheard of in this industry. This is just another trumped up lawsuit that’ll end up hurting all drivers IMHO.
Shelby says
I have a great deal to say about this. First of all I am a trucker’s daughter and a trucker’s fiancé. This industry severely underpays drivers. Drivers should have a hourly rate for driving, and for being held up by shippers and receivers. Walmart drivers are already some of the best paid drivers. I know very few drivers actually get emerge pay… and they may be there all day even if they had an appointment!!! Drivers eat and pay for overpriced and in nutritious foods. Drivers have to live 24/7 in a small confined space, have hardly any home/ family time. The industry needs a major over haul. There is no way it can continue this way. We shall see how this Walmart suit goes. I hope there is an improvement in every trucking company within the next couple years.
Joe Skeptical says
Walmart is not a trucking company – carrying others’ goods for hire & profit – Wal-Mart carries its OWN stuff, like Motor T in the Armed Forces?
Wal-Mart’s trucks are simply its transportation department. They don’t make a profit, they transport their own stuff CHEAPER than it costs to hire. They gain more control, flexibility, safety and reliability than any trucking company cold provide AND it also costs them less.
Trucking companies face the same equipment, fuel and facilities costs BUT make large profits from minimum wage labor.
isaac zavala says
I’ve always heard Walmart transportation was one of the top in the industry, they are clean all the time and get tons of miles, as well as great benefits. What else can you ask for as a company driver?
Don H says
Hey guys. After 22yrs running OTR and seeing the pay keep dropping as # of regs & rules go thru the roof, 3 yrs ago I quit the company that claimed to pay .54 while on the easy coast & in the City. I left and started hauling crude in the bakken field in Williston, ND. Was not easy but 3 years was paid over 100k currently making $2278 a week with free housing, health insurance. That is more than I made driving in Iraq for 2 years. Its going to get cold but oil runs 24/7. Go and get some!
Struggling says
How do you get “free housing”…?
I have heard over the radio on the Sean Hannity Show—a caller said that renting a single wide mobile home is $2.5k/month….
MF Hitchcock says
I’m blown away that any of us think more pay is a bad idea. Hurt the industry? Damn, we must be so brainwashed we’re ready to pay to go to work. Whenever surviving truck companies face a price increase, the wise ones pass the expense on to the customer. Fuel surcharges, so on and so forth.
Let’s talk reality – in almost any other industry, we would be paid twice as much as prevailing truck driving wages. These students out at $30K for living on the road? Good Lord, they must be making around a dollar an hour, yet subjected to drug testing, random safety roadside inspections, haz mat endorsements when applicable and away from home for weeks at a time. It’s not a lot better for we long time drivers. $50 or $65 a year really isn’t a lot of money in today’s world, especially those of us with deep roots and families located in the very expensive northeast US.
An experienced truck driver should be making around at least $150K a year, or much much more. My background – 15 years driving, and 15 years as owner of a 70 vehicle fleet.
Perhaps I am tainted because I am from the pre-deregulation days when trucking companies were profitable. A well run company could turn a profit much like say a well run plumbing company, and not be thrilled with single digit gross profits as is today’s norm.
Angela Goodwin says
Holy Cow, the comments have exploded on this! Whatever happened to a driver just getting another job? We have lots of drivers here that are not happy and leave, but realize that their next job wasn’t so good after all, so sometimes they come right back. Next thing you know, drivers will want to be paid for being out on their 34 hour restart, paid for being away from home on their required 10 + hour breaks, and extra pay for coupling, messing with landing gear, waiting at the customer even for short periods, and stopping at weigh stations. Truck drivers know what they are paid for, and if they win this law suit I will be shocked.
Dennis Gallagher says
Another cheapshot attack on Walmart!!! It’s most drivers dream job to drive for Walmart. It’s is one of the highest paying, if not the highest paying company jobs out there,along with terrific benefits, makes it the most sought after opportunities in the industry. It’s another lame attempt by union organizers to get filthy claws into them.