First of all, look at what has happened to the organized and unorganized American labor force in recent years. I would especially direct your attention to jobs sent off-shore (overseas), and the in-flux of illegals and immigrants to supplement, or in many cases replace expensive American labor. Without getting into any major conspiracy theory, millions of previously good paying jobs have been lost via these two legally or illegal mechanisms of elite capitalism. The American trucking industry is at this time morphing into a lower paying profession. Keep in mind, that 5 or 6 bucks an hour is huge money to people coming from newly developed or third world countries. As a strong believer and advocate of human rights, I harbor no ill feelings toward these people. They are only doing what most Americans are trying to do, improve their way of life. You might wonder how I arrive at 5/6 bucks an hour. You will quickly learn that the 24-32 cents/mile newbie pay is watered down by much uncompensated line 2 and 4 time. And don't think that you will average 55-60 mph You could easily experience a ratio of 1 or 2 unpaid hours for every 5 that you drive. As a newbie, you will bust your butt, you'll overpay for everything at truckstops, and, you can and will find yourself overnighting in places not of your choosing. It's a generally very tough way to earn a living, and there are many forces at work making tougher and tougher. A newbie lasting a year is rare.

Be very careful, this industry experiences huge turnover. AND, remember that you are competing with a huge cheap labor pool.

You raise some points that are valid. I preferred to see it as being paid for what I logged on line 3 and what I did on line 1&2 was my own time, line 4 was the gimme. There are things we do that we would change if we knew before we got there.

What I'm doing now is supposed to get me home everyday, I don't do that all of the time, I end up doing some OTR and some peddle runs, on the peddle runs, I make money on line 4, we don't get paid for loading on livehaul, we do make a little for tarping. If I have to move a trailer to get to mine, I get paid for shagging.

I've offered this same arguement in the past (not here)...it fell on deaf ears.

The current NAFTA agreement will eventually send all the "long shoremen" jobs south of the border. They finally got the "clue" last year. Now they are PO'd that they were asleep at the wheel for so long. And, then who do you think will be moving all that freight into the U.S....Not us.

No 6 figure crane operators, and no driver making over 15K a year..WooHooo what a deal ! I will be able to buy a new 42 inch flat screen for only $200. If I had $200 that is.

DON'T YOU MEAN LINE 3 AND 4 TIME? LOL
BTW, THE UNCOMPENSATED TIME DEPENDS ON THE COMPANY, LIKE WAS SAID ABOVE (I LIKE THAT LINE 4 STATEMENT THE GIMME LINE lol) THAT'S THE ONLY REAL CATCH, AT MY CO. I LOG 1/4 HOUR TO DOCK THEN ANY TIME WAITING TO BE LOADED IS SPENT ON LINE 2. SO PRE-TRIP, FUEL,DROP-HOOK ETC IS THE ONLY THING I REALLY WASTE ANY TIME ON LINE 4 ON ,MAYBE AN HOUR PER DAY TOPS.

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tip for new truckers: to err is human, to forgive is not D.O.T. policy.

DON'T YOU MEAN LINE 3 AND 4 TIME? LOL


Pat, Line 3 is bread and butter.. Line 2 time logged after the 14 hour clock starts is pure wasted time. I think we all do the 15 minutes check in on line 4, and then go to line 2 for the dreaded wait on live load/unload. It is quite common for carriers to allow 2 hours for shipper/consignee to load/unload, before detention time is charged to them. That's 2 hours the typical (pay per mile) driver is sitting and not earning. Also the hourly rate paid to driver after the 2 hours is far less than his/her rolling miles average hourly pay. On days where you unload and reload, if either, or both shipper/consignee are slow, the driver can lose some substantial driving time, and therefore money. I'm experiencing an awful lot of 1.5- 2 hour load/unload, with the actual forklift time in/out of trailer being only 10-15 minutes.

I realize that nothing happens without shippers and consignees, but would love to see that 2 hour load/unload allowance cut in half.

I'm happy for you that you're enjoying the travel and the scenery, but please understand most OTR drivers aren't tourists, they're driving to earn a living.

BTW, ther is NO driver shortage, there are too many trucks..

i use that line 2 time loading/unloading to eat, catch a quick nap,or read
thankfully my CO. is mostly drop and hook.

__________________
tip for new truckers: to err is human, to forgive is not D.O.T. policy.