What would a good ole fashion 1970s true STRIKE do to our Industry today?

Discussion in 'Truckers Strike Forum' started by tahokid, Jul 29, 2013.

Would you as a Company Driver Strike?

  1. *

    Strke, even despite Gov. demands.. Give reasons Why.

    70.4%
  2. *

    No Strke.. Give reasons Why.

    22.2%
  3. *

    Get out of the Industry. Those Guys in the day were real and stopped at nothing.

    3.7%
  4. *

    This whole Industry is lost. Big Business and Wallstreet controls us.

    14.8%
  1. Dark Squall

    Dark Squall Medium Load Member

    557
    237
    Aug 11, 2013
    Grand Rapids, Michigan
    0
    I'm too new to know much about the industry, but know something about economics and scarcity. Let Gov. regulate, let the bosses take what they will; they're both on a collision course to exacerbate the actual shortage this industry is currently facing. Heck if the Fast Food workers win, good for them. Less dedicated drivers will leave and make scarcity even worse. This will drive up the pay per miles drivers get faster than any strike. And if Gov. keeps cutting driving hours, even more will leave. This is not even considering those at or past retirement age already planning on greener pastures.

    The only thing that will hamper this bubble bursting are the "Mills" as one driver put it. Those Schools do their job by at least weeding out the worst of the worst. Think if there weren't Schools or regulations now saying you had to be trained officially? This would be a flooded industry. Cents per mile would be lower...way lower now. I'm all for putting up barriers to entry on this industry. This makes sure the most dedicated thrive and the least find a painful lesson on how fast the dollar is taken away.
     
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  3. tserberis

    tserberis Light Load Member

    111
    17
    Jan 13, 2013
    0
    Don't know about back then, but right now truckers has no balls.

    Also so called bandits would strike in a heartbeat.

    Yes, euros run over limits and over stacked with partials for dirt cheap, but that's a free market for you. Do or die.
     
  4. TruckinBS

    TruckinBS Bobtail Member

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    8
    Sep 14, 2013
    0
    I'm 57 years young and I've worked construction all my life, carpenter to superintendent, building high-end residential and commercial up to the multi-million dollar pricetag. After the Great Recession (Wall Street and politicians) ruined that show, I drew unemployment until that ran out then got my CDL-A.
    Been driving now for four years - different outfits, long haul and regional - and have come to the conclusion that Truckin is BS! I'm going back to hammerin nails. Even if I have to starve doin it.
    Why? In short, these corporations are screwing everybody, YOU TRUCKERS included. Think about this:
    1. The pay per mile sucks.
    2. Don't get paid empty because, "Well, duh, you gotta bring the trailer back anyway."
    3. Don't get paid for On Duty Not Driving: Fueling, Loading, Unloading, Waiting to Unload (sometimes for hours!) etc.
    4. How many other industries expect 70 hour work weeks?
    5. You have to document every minute of your life, even when asleep and at home.
    6. Corporate truck stop food will kill you as sure as a dose of poison. And, if those burger flippers have the guts to strike for more money, why not you?
    7. As a Trucker you live like a stray dog. Eat like a stray dog. Sleep like a stray dog.
    8. These corporations are racking up record profits and only the top 1 percent are getting filthy rich while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet. Those profits should be shared fairly.
    9. Lastly but not only, I'm sick and tired of the TruckinBS.

    If I was going to stay in the business I'd be talking up a NATIONWIDE TRUCKERS STRIKE. But since I'm gettin out my only interest at this point is that I'd like to see some fairness for all Americans. You Truckers should STRIKE and organize a union. When unions were the norm, Americans lived well - they could buy a house, raise their families, take a well deserved vacation and enjoy a comfortable retirement. Let the New Era of American Unions start with YOU TRUCKERS. You should STRIKE NOW !!! If you got the guts. Think about that.
     
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  5. Lucar

    Lucar Road Train Member

    1,396
    889
    Aug 22, 2012
    Texas
    0
    Fuel
    Brokers
    Detention
    Mega carriers lies
    Fuel
    Brokers
    Detentuon
    Mega carriers lies
    Fuel
    Brokers
    Detention
    Mega carriers lies
     
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  6. juanveldez

    juanveldez Light Load Member

    152
    44
    Apr 24, 2007
    Iron Mountian MI
    0
    Truth be told, I would strike, but I don't see one having any affect these days. The days of the independent o/o are gone. Even most o/o trucks say "leased to" on their sides. But part of that too is that the groups out there that are supposed to lobby for us have been asleep at the wheel. They pretend to put up a fight to look good but they don't do a #### thing.
     
  7. Reo_Speedwagon

    Reo_Speedwagon Bobtail Member

    4
    1
    Dec 19, 2012
    0
    I haven't read all the posts. I decided to check in here when I heard about the Washington DC thing proposed for this weekend. I'm not a truck driver, I just am interested in the issues of working people everywhere. But I work for a wage too, and don't get the pay and the hours I should.

    Some are saying strike and others are saying get a different job. Well, where I come from the folks that say "get another job" are what we call 'blockheads'. Nobody will do it for you, nobody else will fix it - not the government, your boss, or whatever. The grass will not get greener on the other side of the fence. If a different job or employer would fix it, we wouldn't have a problem.

    So this guy, back in the early 1900's, had something to say about this. He was executed by the state because people were starting to listen to him and he was becoming a threat to the status quo. I'm not going to post the whole thing here, because some of you might freak out and close your minds to the possibilities, this is just an excerpt:

    Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2013
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  8. Reo_Speedwagon

    Reo_Speedwagon Bobtail Member

    4
    1
    Dec 19, 2012
    0
    (I accidentally replied to somebody's comment instead of the thread, and couldn't delete the original. Sorry about the double post.)

    I haven't read all the posts. I decided to check in here when I heard about the Washington DC thing proposed for this weekend. I'm not a truck driver, I just am interested in the issues of working people everywhere. But I work for a wage too, and don't get the pay and the hours I should.

    Some are saying strike and others are saying get a different job. Well, where I come from the folks that say "get another job" are what we call 'blockheads'. Nobody will do it for you, nobody else will fix it - not the government, your boss, or whatever. The grass will not get greener on the other side of the fence. If a different job or employer would fix it, we wouldn't have a problem.

    So this guy, back in the early 1900's, had something to say about this. He was executed by the state because people were starting to listen to him and he was becoming a threat to the status quo. I'm not going to post the whole thing here, because some of you might freak out and close your minds to the possibilities, this is just an excerpt:


    Good luck.
     
  9. Reo_Speedwagon

    Reo_Speedwagon Bobtail Member

    4
    1
    Dec 19, 2012
    0
    ####... did it again. better not let me out on the highway, either.
     
  10. Tinman1

    Tinman1 Bobtail Member

    41
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    Apr 5, 2011
    GA
    0
    Drivers today are basically clones...All having so much debt with by no means what its worth for your life out here for pay.. We all cave faster than Republicans to Democrats..lol. Its sad to know my father as an Independent made more money in the 70s than I could even think possible in the 2000s.. And Company drivers.. Hed tell us we're all crazy and we deserve everything we get, because we have the control, we're just to clonified to do anything about it.
     
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  11. 54Trucker

    54Trucker Light Load Member

    288
    226
    Sep 4, 2013
    0
    A strike would definitely turn things around but getting one to happen is a different story. Everyone would benefit from a strike. But there are several problems in the way,..the first and primary problem is the break down of the family, years ago there was a sense of community and honor towards family and neighbors. Today many drivers are faced with issues like divorce, child custody, and domestic charges. The second is debt, most drivers would put paying off loans first. Third is we are on the road working too alienated from one another and too busy watching television.

    Then there are the brokers who are taking up to 70% at times. Then came the increases in insurance, registration, and fuel. All of these expenses went up because of little or no resistance from the drivers as over the last three decades more and more thought only of themselves.

    What really and most importantly needs to be understood is that trucking actually destroyed the country. I say this after twenty years of seeing unnecessary loads going back and forth in the same lanes. We were the ones who consolidation possible for the big industries, we were the ones who shut down mom and pops corner store and farm etc..

    Shutting down mom and pops little corner store was the reason why truckers were paid more back in the seventies and eighties, and in the 50's and 60's the pay was even higher. In the 1960's a load from Tennessee to Texas paid around $4,000.00, and the pay was so high because there were no competition plus there were plenty of small family businesses back then that the corporations wanted.

    There were no Targets, Walmarts, or Costcos back in the eighties, and if some like Walmart existed they were no where near the size that they are today.

    http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/history/history-timeline

    Walmarts and these 'wholesale clubs' are all over now and they demand truckload after truckload of cheap products like 'plastic chairs' that have a very limited life. We went from a nation of quality to quantity, which resulted in more work for less pay.

    The blame for this mess can go all around, but I do agree with the OP that deregulation caused these wholesale clubs to expand exponentially. We've also been brainwashed by the media into believing this current lifestyle of economic consolidation is the best thing since slice bread,..selling us motto's like "Without trucks America shuts down" ..it should be more like, 'Without 80,000 trucks Corporations shut down'.

    We are more than capable of manufacturing our own tools, our own vehicles etc..we are more than capable of producing our own foods. They are all things that our grandparents and great grandparents did successfully. When trucking came along it started to replace the horse and buggy. Today there is only a small fraction of the population that kept the tradition of their grandparents..

    [​IMG]

    We may not agree with their lifestyles and they way that they dress but after driving OTR for nearly eight years and experiencing the isolation and the never ending hours I've come to the conclusion that our work is much harder than theirs.

    And not to be envious of course, as they earned their keep. We are now in a unfortunate position where it seems that only a total crash will turn things around. I hope that's not the case but we are too dependent on the corporations who carry a great deal of influence on the laws that we have to follow, and it is unlikely that they'll be letting free from bondage anytime soon.

    Our current predicament was actually created by the two previous generations before us, and since there is little use in cursing them let this generation make the sacrifices to correct this problem of consolidated greed. Whenever possible do not buy from Corporate America, make a strong family and a lifetime commitment to them. Go to church, or at least stay away from evil, do not support things that will harm you.

    Stop taking loans whenever possible, speak up when you are called to. Start learning how to strike in the small ways like having the courage and patience to stand up to that bully dispatcher who has no regard for you. Speak to your employer about your concerns. If you have to, record and videotape them and bring forth lawsuits.

    So I'll just say that although I am not against a strike I do not see one coming soon. I can only wish that before I die there will be one.
     
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