Why a strike won't work for YOU

[luvmyhubby]

Just recently the largest employer in our COUNTY moved to mexico, why?....because the union workers here wanted more money, like they did everytime their contract came up, well guess what their union got them a place in the unemployment line. Years ago when workers needed to be protected in the workplace from dangerous equipment and buildings that were fire traps, not getting paid by employers for work they had done etc, unions served a purpose....today they are not needed. There are state and federal laws in place to cover most if not all of the safety/pay/health hazard problems that unions were once needed to correct. Look at GM today, workers there are laid off, and looking at not going back to work. Who in the world is worth 20-30 dollars per hour running a screw gun? Not to mention all the extras their contracts get them? Maybe the union contract is why a new car now costs as much as a house?.

A truckers strike will never happen as we all know, no matter how much buzz there is on boards like this and at the truck stops. Yes drivers get mad at "the boss" when they sit and wait for loads, to get unloaded etc. The only way to solve the problem is to NOT work for companies that refuse to pay wait time, break down pay etc. It is up to the driver to look at each company and decide what "they" are willing to live with. IF drivers refused to work for companies that don't pay for wait time, loading time etc by the hour or some pre-set amount for each load then the COMPANY would have to change the way they deal with driver pay.

There are better ways to get things changed than to talk about a strike, which is a waste of time to even think about or to sit back and just complain about the situation, active choices are the answer. This board is the best place to start, get the message out to the new guys, help the not so new ones make job choices that are more educated and better paying situations.

Companies can only get "away" with what drivers are willing to swallow. There are some good places out there to work at, it just takes a little bit of research to find them, and in todays techno world its usually just a click of the mouse.

Paying drivers by the mile is the one area that I think should be eliminated forever. This pay system encourages drivers to drive to the max both in miles and speed everyday. Drivers should all be paid a percentage of the load. I know thats radical but having been on both sides of the coin the percentage rate is better overall. Working for a company that pays a decent perdiem rate is also a plus, they are out there.

As for the CDL holders that are sitting on the sidelines waiting to take the jobs of truckers who would go on strike.....it seems if they hadn't driven in years that they would have to get some hours of at least refresher training before they could just be turned out on the roads....at least if you read the help wanted ads and company webpages they require 1-3 years of recent (proveable) experience. Company physicals and paperwork would take at least 2 days, so things would be jammed up pretty good by the time anyone got back in a truck and products started moving agian.

Yes the average driver is taken advantage of, o/o are hard pressed to make ends meet especially when fuel prices sky rocket out of sight, and living on the road 26-28 days a month can be hard on a family. BUT there are ways to make it better and quite honestly with all the informtion that this forum provides it has to be making a difference.

Please correct me if I am wrong here but the HOS is based on a 24 hour day, a driver can work a total of 14 hours a day, 11 max is driving time. They are required to take 10 hours of sleeper time either 10 straight or use the 8 and 2 system.

[tjgosurf]

The average american salary is: $39,795.

If you guys are making below that I believe you are in the wrong industry. But then again about the only people in America not complaining about getting paid more are CEO's.

[BUBBABONE]

Originally Posted by luvmyhubby

Just recently the largest employer in our COUNTY moved to mexico, why?....because the union workers here wanted more money, like they did everytime their contract came up, well guess what their union got them a place in the unemployment line. Years ago when workers needed to be protected in the workplace from dangerous equipment and buildings that were fire traps, not getting paid by employers for work they had done etc, unions served a purpose....today they are not needed. There are state and federal laws in place to cover most if not all of the safety/pay/health hazard problems that unions were once needed to correct. Look at GM today, workers there are laid off, and looking at not going back to work. Who in the world is worth 20-30 dollars per hour running a screw gun? Not to mention all the extras their contracts get them? Maybe the union contract is why a new car now costs as much as a house?.

A truckers strike will never happen as we all know, no matter how much buzz there is on boards like this and at the truck stops. Yes drivers get mad at "the boss" when they sit and wait for loads, to get unloaded etc. The only way to solve the problem is to NOT work for companies that refuse to pay wait time, break down pay etc. It is up to the driver to look at each company and decide what "they" are willing to live with. IF drivers refused to work for companies that don't pay for wait time, loading time etc by the hour or some pre-set amount for each load then the COMPANY would have to change the way they deal with driver pay.

There are better ways to get things changed than to talk about a strike, which is a waste of time to even think about or to sit back and just complain about the situation, active choices are the answer. This board is the best place to start, get the message out to the new guys, help the not so new ones make job choices that are more educated and better paying situations.

Companies can only get "away" with what drivers are willing to swallow. There are some good places out there to work at, it just takes a little bit of research to find them, and in todays techno world its usually just a click of the mouse.

Paying drivers by the mile is the one area that I think should be eliminated forever. This pay system encourages drivers to drive to the max both in miles and speed everyday. Drivers should all be paid a percentage of the load. I know thats radical but having been on both sides of the coin the percentage rate is better overall. Working for a company that pays a decent perdiem rate is also a plus, they are out there.

As for the CDL holders that are sitting on the sidelines waiting to take the jobs of truckers who would go on strike.....it seems if they hadn't driven in years that they would have to get some hours of at least refresher training before they could just be turned out on the roads....at least if you read the help wanted ads and company webpages they require 1-3 years of recent (proveable) experience. Company physicals and paperwork would take at least 2 days, so things would be jammed up pretty good by the time anyone got back in a truck and products started moving agian.

Yes the average driver is taken advantage of, o/o are hard pressed to make ends meet especially when fuel prices sky rocket out of sight, and living on the road 26-28 days a month can be hard on a family. BUT there are ways to make it better and quite honestly with all the informtion that this forum provides it has to be making a difference.

Please correct me if I am wrong here but the HOS is based on a 24 hour day, a driver can work a total of 14 hours a day, 11 max is driving time. They are required to take 10 hours of sleeper time either 10 straight or use the 8 and 2 system.

I hear ya luv. That is the absolute truth!!!

[4306]

Companies would be committing financial suicide to put a work force together that was composed of CDL holders that have not driven in years.
The insurance premiums would kill them becuase of the amount of liability.
I am one of those sitting on my CDL think about it I have not driven in eight years would you really want me on the road driving behind your wife and children my first day back in the saddle ?

[Burky]

4306 is echoing my thoughts exactly. Insurance companies and their requirements control so much of the hiring process and who is allowed to drive, that I somehow doubt that they are going to take kindly to a group of drivers who have been out of the industry for up to 20 years to just come in and start running the trucks.

In just the three years that our good friend Tip has been out, the rules we operate under have completely changed. Many of these so called sidelines drivers would simply not be up to the demands of getting back into a truck and operating under the new rules without some retraining.

And following his assumption that there are twice as many CDL holders out there as ther are currently driving, when they all come running back they are going to glut the market, and there goes the price and wage increase. But, there will be a shortage in whatever jobs these guys have been doing for the last 20 years, and I'll simply move over to one of those jobs. I'm versatile, and while I enjoy driving, I can always put my other skills to use.

[4306]

[quote.

In just the three years that our good friend Tip has been out, the rules we operate under have completely changed. Many of these so called sidelines drivers would simply not be up to the demands of getting back into a truck and operating under the new rules without some retraining.
quote]

I could see a problem becuase when I stopped otr it was left door shut right foot down two log books and get to Los Angeles from NC as fast as you can. I think if the regs have changed that much along with computer logs and hours of service monitoring on the truck I would definatly find it hard to get aclamated.

[Burky]

Yeah, I have this mental image of some guy who's been out from behind the wheel for 20 years coming back, and he's got the truck redlined at every shift, getting about 3 mpg because thats the way he always drove his 2 stroke Detroit Diesel. LOL!

[TurboTrucker]

A trucker's strike will never work today. At least not for YOU, the present driver.

Here's why:

Too many CDL holders.

Sure, every driver holds a CDL, but what about the "other" bunch, those who have CDLs but don't use them? This group is pretty big, I'd bet. You can not overlook them. I'll go out on a limb to get you guys talking and say there are TWO CDLs held by non-drivers for every CDL held by an actual driver. I don't really know what it is. I'll just say TWO.

Where do you get your information? Drivers who hold CDL's are now in some states, and will in all eventually, required to file copies of their DOT physical with their licensing bureaus to keep an active CDL, and I just don't see too many people going to the expense of obtaining DOT physicals as often as may be required to keep a CDL active.

Some of these non-drivers don't drive anymore because they are "holding out" waiting for pay rates to increase and some aggravating issues in trucking to be finally resolved.

So are some former Eastern Airlines Pilots, and it's not too hard to see where that has gotten THEM, now is it?

A strike COULD, theoretically, bring higher pay and resolve those issues.

Really? Are you remotely aware of the shift in regard to union success in the last 20 years? I certainly wouldn't coin it as a success.

But reality would be different, at least for YOU, the current driver. See, if you guys go on strike, you'll probably lose your jobs like the air-traffic controllers did back in the early 80s.

That's a totally different situation and type of worker. Striking would never occur for many reasons, the biggest one, because deregulation in 1980 set forth the circumstance where it will NEVER be possible to have organization enough by ANY trucking group to shut down this country ever again, and as controversial as this may sound, it was one of the WISEST things ever done FOR this country.

I mean, the president isn't going to fire you. He'll just order you back to work. If you don't comply, the companies will then be able to fire you. An example will be made of you, absolutely.

There is a flaw in your theory. Those unionized workers were subject to Presidential authority in disputes with their companies by standard union contract. The American people in general are not subject to collective bargaining agreements. In short, the President cannot force people to work. He can at the stroke of a pen, deny them welfare to feed their families, and bring about the same result, but that's about it.

But.......Who will take your place?

Se habla Espanol?

Who do you think? The holders of CDLs who haven't driven in some cases decades. Like my uncle from Michigan who hasn't driven a truck in 20 years but has kept his license all this time (I wonder if it's a CDL or a Chauffer's? I've not asked him). He's got like 20 years driving experience with no accidents that I know of.

He probably has neither, but that's beside the point. He's virtually unemployable no matter how long he drove in his past, or how accident free he is, as other have offered, because insurance companies would not allow him to drive without a certified training course in evidence, and supervisory of his ablities for an established period of time before he could be allowed to go solo.

He's holding out, but don't think he'll sit on the fence if things improve, no sir. He will come running like a wild cow kicking up his heels if a strike took pay to 60 cents per mile on average, you'd better believe it. I'd probably be joining him, too. Maybe my uncle would land YOUR job.

Gee...Heartland Express is offering almost that now, and they STILL can't get enough drivers to fill those seats. I know why, and so do many other people. That's why I spend the time I do to help others understand the same thing.

Selecting a job based on the per-mile rate, is like choosing a potential spouse because they are attractive. You have to get to know what's going on inside in order to make a sound judgment, and determine if the job, or the potential spouse is right for you.

What good is 60 cents a mile, or a buck a mile for that matter, if you are not getting the workload to go with it?

Yeah, you would go on strike, make all the sacrifices to make it work, and even get pay rates increased. Maybe you'd even finally get paid to sit at docks hours and hours and hours while you wait to be loaded. The only problem is, you wouldn't enjoy it, at least not for long, if at all. Somebody else will. That somebody else would take your place and reap the benefits of your sacrifices and hard work. Smart move.

Threats, intimidation, and blackmail are never smart moves. They never have been and they never will be.

Guess what? I don't have to worry about sitting at docks, nor do I make sacrifices and I don't even work hard. Why? Because I made my choices BEFORE I took my job, I familiarized myself with the company and it's operations, and I at the very LEAST, attempt to make smart decisions in the companies I work for, and because of this, my job is hardly in jeopardy. No one will take it before I am ready to give it up. I don't feel any need to strike, nor would I support one at the point of a GUN if that tactic was tried.

I do not like mob mentality. It is dangerous. It is counter-productive. It takes all focus off of individuality and the desire to achieve.

No, we don't have to worry about a truckers' strike in the foreseeable future. There are far too many CDLs out there held by folks who've not set foot in a truck in years. Perhaps that is exactly what trucking companies want, though. A whole bunch of people sitting around with CDLs not driving. They act as a collective "guard dog" against strikes.

This one's gonna hurt.

The reason why I would not strike is that I take charge of my life and do not lend it to others to toy with. I tried that route once and lost.

There is a ready made supply of people that are willing to believe anything they hear, who are it seems incapable of taking charge of their own lives, and also seemingly refuse to make wise decisions that will prevent them from becoming victims of abuse, by whatever definition that encompasses.

If they don't like their job, they made the decision that put them there. We are all born naked and screaming at the top of our lungs. When we age to the point where we are supposed to know right from wrong, the decisions we make from that point on determine the course of our lives, unless there are factors that enter our lives, creating circumstances out of our control that prevent one from taking care of themselves.

Now what all that means is simple. Most of the people who are working for an employer who takes full advantage of them has made at some point an unwise decision that placed them there. I'm not going to sit here and judge people for this, because I've done it too. But...I LEARNED from my mistakes, and with each negative aspect I encountered, I avoided a repeat of the same when I moved forward. I witness on a daily basis, people who repeat the same mistakes over and over, and they can't figure out why they never get a break.

So, as long as there are people willing to play the part of the victim, there will be a supply of companies out there willing to exploit them for profit and victimize them. No strike under the sun will change that fact. As a self-made man, I refuse to join in actions or attitudes that are counter in any manner, to how I made my life successful in my own eyes.

Look...A well paid employee will not leave a job. A contented employee will not leave their job. A starving employee will often stay because he cannot afford to change jobs because he is standing on the edge of a cliff already, but in this country, who is the only person on earth than can change things and turn them around for the better if that cliff is at the edge of your feet? Look in the mirror.

What happens if a strike does occur, pay goes through the roof, and the non-driver CDL holders land in the suddenly great-paying trucking jobs? A new equilibrium would be reached, and wages wouldn't remain high for long. After all, there'd be a whole new pool of non-driving CDL holders around dragging down pay, and YOU might be one of them.

Why debate something that will never happen? No legitimate or substantial strike will ever occur. Deregulation and competive forces have every trucking company and their drivers already at each others throats. That was the plan in 1980, and it worked like a charm. But then I see the sense in it too. I don't want any group, person, or entity to have enough power to bring this or any other nation to it's knees in a form of economic submission.

Look at General Motors and Ford Motors. Yes, for decades these people have been paid substantial sums for their work, and the hot air ballon that has been rising for all these years has popped. It's time to come back to earth. When I visit my local dealer and see that a pick-up truck costs more than what I spent for the roof that is over my head at the current moment, something is wrong. I can no longer support that.

I am a capitalist, an individualist, and have adapted to learn how to take care of myself without the need for joining any cause for solidarity other than to show others how to do as I have done. I do not blame others for my mistakes. I take responsibility for my mistakes. When I fall on my butt, I pick myself up, brush off the dirt, and try again. I've done it many times throughout my life, and I expect to do it more in my future.

If every other person on this earth would do the same thing, where would there be a problem? We live in this country, still the greatest on the planet in my estimation, where we are free to do almost anything that does not bring harm to another, and yet, some people just can't get it. They point fingers at others in blame for their lot in life, and it's well...silly in my opinion.

We all have a brain. Some use it to their advantage, and some use it for everything else but...

Uh oh....me bets I opened a can of worms with that one....

[4306]

Originally Posted by Burky

Yeah, I have this mental image of some guy who's been out from behind the wheel for 20 years coming back, and he's got the truck redlined at every shift, getting about 3 mpg because thats the way he always drove his 2 stroke Detroit Diesel. LOL!

[Tip]

That's good stuff, you guys. My "theory" is only speculation, and is a collage of several theories I heard out on the road. Man, this website is anything BUT boring. Give me a few days and I'll have another theory for you to dissect. Let me put it together, again using various other 'micro-theories' I've heard through my driving years.