Choosing sides............possibly the other side can represent our interests better.

I've only been on this planet for a little while. But, what I've seen here so far is this: Companies competing with each other on the basis of price will erode an industry into nothing. EVERYBODY suffers along the way to the bottom. It's a sad, sorry way to go and it's a long drawn out affair.

What could truckers do to help stop this practice? Stick together and refuse to work for companies who operate on a small profit margin. You don't think that the company owners or shareholders work for less do you? No. The employees do.

As a guy on my way in to this industry, I am wondering why, as it is clearly under attack from lowballing, backstabbing, thieving, opportunistic owners.

There is strength in numbers. The only way out of this mess is to stick together, stand up and speak up.

 

Then the problem arises of you have large carriers who can easily leave a trailer sitting at a shipper or receiver while they load or unload it at their own leisurely pace, and you have the little guy who does not have the equipment to do this, so a truck must sit there. Big company now can get away with not paying a driver to sit there. Small company at another dis-advantage. The problem lies in the communication between the drivers and the dispatchers. We do not need electronic logs to accomplish this. I would rather see the FMCSA/DOT/whatever use their infinite wisdom and just shut the entire highway system down to trucks between say 10 pm and 7 am or so. Everything else they are doing is trying to get us on a day shift already anyway, why not put their money where their mouths are? Why do I feel like the whole 'tired truckers' issue is only a battle between the carriers/drivers and the lawmakers, while totally leaving shippers/receivers and the general population in the dark? I know the general population does not care, but maybe we should shed some light on WHY truck drivers are sometimes left feeling cornered into driving while tired? Simply more and more regulation will only make things worse.

 

Two simple food for thought questions:

1. Why is it that, if H.O.S. rules are all about safety, anyone hauling loads for an emergency are told, by the government, to toss their logbook out the window?

2. Which is more dangerous me driving 12 hours or a doctor or nurse working a busy ER after 12 hours?

 

I tossed the HOS regs out the window when I hauled Forest Fire Retardant. I have always said that I don't need the government to tell me when to go night night.

 

I guess I have to be odd one out on this argument.

I like being somewhat in control of my earnings. If I work a little harder out here, I can make a few extra bucks.

My friend who knows every Chinese buffet on the Eastern seaboard, sleeps 12 hours a day and stops at least once every 2 hours would make the same (or more) than me, because I do more driving, deliver and pick up more loads and earn the company more revenue simply because it takes him 60 hours a week to do the same amount of work that it takes me 45 hours to do.

Herein lies the problem. I don't want a camera watching me 24/7 in my truck to ensure I'm not ripping the company off and billing them for hours I didn't work. If I don't make miles, I don't get paid - no further monitoring required. My odometer keeps me honest.

I took this job knowing the score. If you want to punch a clock and have to account for and justify every minute of your shift to your boss, there's already lots of jobs out there for you. This isn't one of them. I can stop when I want for as long as I need to and as long as the loads are on time I am not questioned. If I can't manage my schedule I will be ticketed and/or fired.

Why should I be paid hourly when I am eating lunch and snoozing in my bunk while loading or unloading? If I am working in the trailer I am already paid an hourly rate, provided I can prove what I worked and have it approved by dispatch.

Given the choice between a $70,000/year OTR job and the lousy hourly paid jobs ($15/hr if you're lucky) around the Maritimes, the choice is pretty obvious, even if it involves working longer hours and sometimes not getting a dime for every time I lift my head off the pillow. The trade offs for being tracked every minute of my day is NOT worth it, not to mention taking a paycut for the privilege.

 

It must suck to live on the East Coast.

 

"That would be nice.....if they paid by the odometer....but they don't. And why is it you are only worth 10-15 p/hr when broke down or delayed ( after 2 hrs ) at a customer. You are only working for a percentage...that's how they settle on what a driver gets paid...depends on what they can bill."

I hope I'm not misunderstanding you, but this is how essentially all private enterprises work. My dad is an engineer with a few thousand people working under him at a huge multinational firm and every single one of his employees must submit a time sheet accounting for each hour worked for each job and customer so their wages can be billed. He is the only person on a "company salary" in the department who isn't billing customers directly. Obviously keeping the employees honest and hiring/firing the right people has value, or he would be out in the field earning his keep as well instead of sitting at a desk approving expenses and writing proposals to keep his team of engineers employed.

He doesn't have a cash kitty to pay people from for work that can't be billed to a customer, just as I don't get paid for waiting time in my own yard when our dock supervisor screws up and my trailer is t ready. If the dock man messes up enough and they lose drivers, he'll be out of a job. Similar to my dad if he messes up the schedules and has guys sitting around and it's HIS fault, he'll be looking for work.

Orcen, if that's the best you got then I can safely assume my point was made and valid, since you didn't even bother to refute me. I have a university degree and a dozen years as an officer in the Canadian Forces and even at my young age I know that life is only what you make of it. If life sucks, it ain't because of where you are!