Why a strike won't work for YOU

[Tip]

Here's another theory to get the hornet's nest buzzing:

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.

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.

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

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

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'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.

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.

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.

But this is all speculation.

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.

What do you think? Could a strike work today?

[Redneck]

What do you think? Could a strike work today?

No it won't work just for the simple fact you could not organize enough drivers to get it done.

[Tip]

I know you're right, 168. I've got the dreamer's disease, though.

Yeah, I'm a hopeless romantic. I'm also a coiled cobra ready to strike. If all drivers thought like I do, the trucks would be stopped five minutes from now. And I mean EVERY truck would be stopped, presidential orders be damned.

But what if drivers DID come together and go on strike? Wouldn't it be great? I'd go to the nearest truck stop, take a look at all the parked rigs, and you'd see tears in my eyes for sure. This in spite of the fact I don't even have a CDL anymore.

[tjgosurf]

A strike by the trucking industry would cripple the country in a matter of days , if not hours in some places. Not good for an image. I would like to take a moment to compare the trucking industry to strippers. Both are independent contractors, both can make alot of money or none, both can be fined heavily by law enforcement, and you cant either to unionize too many people willing to do the work.

Now I think unions are bad. Why? Because people need to figure out that demanding more pay sometimes shoots yourself in the foot. For example the pilots union, I hate that group of ######## more than I hate foot fungus. Their company could be in bankruptcy and they demand more money. God forbid working 1,000 hours a year would require them being paid 100k+ a year. Unions are a thing of the past, its not like someone cannot pick up and move at the drop of a hat. No longer are people stuck in one place and do work that most of the community does, for example coal mines, farming, or tobacco.

[PortlandDriver]

Originally Posted by tjgosurf

Their company could be in bankruptcy and they demand more money.

This is true of most of the unions, if the economy is bad and the company is looking at forclosure the union will demand more money..

Look at what happened to CF, they were 100% union and the company was strangled to death...

[Joethemechanic]

I don't think it will ever work. The scab situation is pretty much as bad as I have ever seen it. Always some gung-ho guy fresh out of truck driving school to take a drivers place. Not to mention so many O/Os with too big of payments on trucks running freight for cheap because they are hungry. Then there is always the "wannabe big time operator" just waiting to scab everyone because he thinks he is going to take over the market.

[Jarlaxle]

A truckers' strike could be construed as a criminal act under the RICo statutes, in that it would be an organized attempt to disrupt the economy.

[PortlandDriver]

If anybody had any thoughts about going on strike it would not happen industry wide, it would only be in pockets it happens at all...

[JOHNNYBRAVO]

If every single trruck driver out there who drives OTR, and not local, were to go on strike for better wages and better working conditions including waiting pay, and fair and realistic HOS rules. It would work. The reason it realistically wouldn't work, is because in real life, every truck driver out there wouldn't wouldn't partake in it.

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.

That's the reason the guys on the sidelines wouldn't drive while a trucker's strike is going on. They know and understand the merits of a trucker's strike. Those guys (And I'm including myself in this category) would be right there with the striking driver knowing and understanding exactly why he's doing what he's doing. In my opinion the striking driver is doing what he should have done a long time ago.

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

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

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'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.

I have to disagree with you on this point. I can't speak for you and your uncle, but I can speak for myself. If I know that freight pay is suddenly going up to try to punish truck drivers who are sacrificing for better working conditions and better pay, which I think we all can agree are deserved and lacking in this industry, there is no way I would hinder their efforts, and anybody who would, I would look upon as a piece of #### in this hypothetical situation. If working truck drivers and CDL holders sitting on on their licenses got together to make a strike work, I'd love to see companies move their freight with drivers coming straight out of trucking schools and CDL mills, with no trainers in those cabs. It's not that easy to SAFELY move a truck from point A to B. Just knowing how to fuel is something that must be learned. Yeah, let's suspend the HOS rules and jeopardize public safety, cuzz it takes a newbie longer to get the freight there.

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.

I think the implication here, is that as soon as they can find a replacement for you, you're out of there. NO. By going on strike and showing your unity, that shows companies and the government, that they can't pull chickenshit stuff like that. That's why strikes work.

That somebody else would take your place and reap the benefits of your sacrifices and hard work. Smart move.

No, they wouldn't take my place. They'd be there with me, thanking me for the sacrifices I made to give them better working conditions.

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.

But this is all speculation.

Yes, it's all speculation, except that in my speculation, Truck drivers and CDL holders are sticking together. CLD holders aren't waiting to jump into bed with big companies and the government to spit on and keep our fellow drivers oppressed and disrespected. I don't believe they'd be willing to cut out the legs from under someone who they know is doing the right thing. I would look at it as an us against them situation and would choose to side with the truck driver. I know God's on his side.

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.

If wages are good, and working conditions are fair, morale in the industry would go up and there would be less turnover and less need for inexperienced drivers. I believe a lot of people that tried driving and quit driving would be there striking with the working driver. I think they quit driving because the conditions and wages sucked for them. If they see truck drivers are finally doing something about it, after the strike is resolved, then they'd be willing to drive again under the conditions they and their brother drivers sacrificed for. But maybe at 36 years of age, I'm still taking a naive view on human nature. Maybe you're right and most people with CDLs would only look out for themselves and would help derail the efforts of the driver, like vultures jumping on a carcass, or hyenas cannibalizing an injured member of the pack. Maybe most CDL holders only see the short term and can face themselves in the mirror knowing EXACTLY why drivers would be taking a stand, but siding with the enemy. It's like during the war of independence, you had your Patriots, and you had your Loyalists, your Paul Reveres and your Benedict Arnolds. Like you wrote earlier, it's all speculation.

What do you think? Could a strike work today?

Yes a strike would work if everyone partakes.

[Tip]

Great points, J.

I see a strike (in my romantic mind, that is--I KNOW good and well a strike won't happen) working itself out this way:

1. All the OTR guys go on strike. Those guys who are forced to stay out on the highways for weeks and even months at a time for chicken-feed pay and no compensation for the companies' 'stealing their lives'. Those guys who sometimes sit at docks 15 hours waiting to be loaded/unloaded for no pay or sometimes are forced to load/unload for little pay. Those guys who are forced to run on an HOS system based on an 18-hour day (on 10, off 8, on 10, off 8) that hasn't been changed in like 70 years. These guys finally, somehow, miraculously get their acts together and shut down.

2. The president immediately orders all the OTRs back to work or else face firing like the air-traffic controllers did in like '81. Truck drivers working for private companies aren't federal employees, so the president couldn't FIRE them. But he could "allow" these drivers' companies to fire them. And fire them is what those companies would do. Somebody would need to be cast as the example of what happens when workers defy their masters.

3. Mileage pay would go up overnight, and a lot of these aggravating issues would magically disappear in a matter of days, if not hours.

4. The big companies would then hire the CDL holders who've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for this moment. Guys who gladly accept these jobs, as a trucking job now suddenly pays a LOT more and the "issues" have been finally rectified.

5. The current OTR drivers who helped make the strike happen would find themselves out of the industry. They'd spend the rest of their lives installing vinyl siding on houses like a lot of the old air traffic controller boys do to this day.

This is what would happen, IF it happened. The LTL boys wouldn't get involved in any strike. The longshoremen probably wouldn't either. Why? They get paid enough already, are home about every night, and most don't have to contend with HOS.