transport America CEO States now drivers must be paid more money than they hav

I'm sorry, but WTH is he talking about? Is he trying to tell me that CDL schools across America have empty seats and are struggling to fill them? Never mind the other factor that a lot of oil/gas patch truckers are going to be crawling back to carriers asking to be forgiven for the way they left, and begging to have their "old job" back. The oil boom the last 4 years has been one factor often overlooked by the so-called experts for the some carriers having a hard time keeping seats filled. That expansion is done and the costs have been absorbed, nothing left to do now but deal with the boomerang effect that always comes with sectors that have boom/bust cycles..

I see "trucking specialists" are just as clueless as politicians. We are doomed as a nation if this is the level of "expertise and honesty" we must rely on for guidance and leadership.

We don't need a continued flood of new entrants into trucking, we need to keep existing drivers from getting fed up with the job and leaving. Money may be part of that equation, but the respect they (drivers) also demand is not going to come before they earn respect. So, drivers need to step it up, and carrier bosses need to step it up, too. I realize it's not an easy task, but somebody has to start earning respect, and hopefully this will be matched in return.

 

Companies need to work on:

1. Getting drivers home weekly.(I think this would be a game changer regarding the high turnover at companies)
2. Fight harder to stop the government from introducing more laws that only hurt our industry.
3. More places for us to park at night

These are just some of the things that came to the top of mind.

 

What about the guys who WANT to stay out for a few weeks a a time? I know, they confuse me, too, but we gotta give them some focus, too.

One of things thst definitely needs to be addressed is the ridiculous wait times that cone up with some shippers/recievers. That is the biggest income killer for a lot of drivers.

 

There are drivers who want to stay out for weeks at a time but I think the majority of drivers would prefer to be home every week to make love to their wife. I'm sure companies would more than accommodate those who want to stay out for weeks. LOL

 

That's what regional fleets are for. Regional = shorter runs to keep you close to home = fewer miles = less money. For some this is a fine trade-off, many (more then you probably think) don't care to be home every 5-8 days ... perhaps every 18-24 days works for them. Long haul irregular route carriers (lot's of them) can't afford to have 2/3 of their fleet wanting to park for 1-2 days every 6 days. To do that requires more trucks and trailers and drivers to meet needs, thus aggravating your third complaint.

A lot of the "laws" that you may be speaking of were essentially requested and lobbied for by the trucking industry.

The parking situation will have to be added to over time and can't be "mandated". It's being addressed when/where it can be and we'll just have to be patient as the marketplace along with states can add more and larger parking areas. New truck stops are being built nationwide at phenomenal rates. Can't fault the private truck stop sector.

 

Driver don't get excited. This message was not delivered for your benifits the speach was given to alert shippers we are going to be increasing rates and we are telling you that it is because of increased wages. Since you are a busy professional you are not going to visit our website and look at what we have posted for driver pay rates and how many miles I driver would have to drive to make 65k under our current pay packages.

To our investors. Please look for increased profits.