I have read so many complaints about this company that company. My question is. What do all of us truckers want? What do we all think is fair? What do we all want for pay and benefits thats fair in this buisness? come on folks lets all say what we think is right. maybe we can get what we think is fair. what i want is a nice house,new truck,and be able to pay my bills. and a dog that gets my newspaper every morning. what i have now is lots of debt. a junk car. and a dog who pee's on my tire's.

no taker's? come on, you all cry about it. state what you want to change!!

Pay for ALL we do, Paid by the hour when setting. I call Empty, time starts till dispatched. Waiting at shipper, hourly pay starts when I get there. Break down, pay starts when I call. Layover same thing. Pay me by the mile when I am driving, pay for my time when not.
Amount? A new driver should make $50,000 to start.
Home time? Scrap the EARNED day off for 7 out. I go home when I want for as long as I need. The market will determine reasonable, not the company.
Rider policy? Any child goes as long as they are not in a car seat.

I get all but the pay for down time now. But most drivers get very little of this.

The truck; A quality truck to drive that has been meticuosly maintained preferrably a double bunk full size condo with 3 stage jake brake, twin 150 gallon fuel tanks, 400 to 500 horse engine, top of the line apu with built in inverter for electrical appliances, built in refrigerator, satellite communications, and a receiver for tv such as the vu cube (in motion satellite tv tracking system). An integrated truck gps system with dash display. The exhaust stacks will be mounted behind the cab and vented to the top (no grass burner exhaust). The truck will have a top governed speed of 78 mph to take advantage of higher speed limits out west. An aerodynamic configuration such as the Cascadia, Prostar, or KW 660. The truck would be assigned to 1 driver no "slip seating."

The benefits; Blue cross/ Blue shield ppo with minimal co-pay (10 to 20 bucks). A top of the line prescription plan charging no more than 20.00 per prescription. Delta dental, vision insurance, disability and life insurance (short and long term, life insurance twice annual earnings paid by employer), aflac. Vacation pay up to 4 weeks calculated at 1/52nd of previous years earnings. Paid holidays (each federal holiday will qualify). Up to 6 paid sick/personal days off (each paid at the average daily wage).

The Pay; An hourly wage based upon actual report time and completion time of duties. All work functions to be paid at straight time up until the first 40 hours then overtime afterwards. For road drivers the 10 hour mandatory daily break would be "unpaid." 1 hour each day would be unpaid for meals and short rest stops. In essence drivers would be paid for 13 hours of work per day at an hourly wage.
An incentive based monthly bonus pay program to "encourage" safe and compliant operation of the truck. Parameters would include metrics on speeding, legal logs, on time service, and safe driving.

The work; Regular scheduled runs to specific customers. No touch/ no count shipments preferrably preloaded trailers and drop and hooks at each end.

The time off; Home each week for at least 48 consecutive hours off.

This is what I would wish for in a perfect world. There are some companies that offer bits and pieces of my "perfect" job but none that cover all.

__________________
Knowledge is Power