According to the ATA, the driver turnover rate has exceeded the 100% mark for the first time in 4 years. The ATA’s quarterly Trucking Activity Report stated that fleets reporting over $30 million in revenue had a 16% increase in driver turnover in the 2nd quarter alone, bringing it to 106%. This means that on average, drivers at large companies change jobs every 343 days.
“We continue to see steady, albeit sluggish, growth in freight volumes, which increases demand for drivers,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist. “That, coupled with continued pressure on fleets to improve their safety records as a result of regulatory oversight changes, is increasing competition among carriers for drivers with clean histories.”
Another major reason for such high driver turnover
is that according to Costello, the industry “is currently short somewhere in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 drivers,” so companies are constantly battling each other for drivers. Due to the way many of these companies pay their recruiters, it is more profitable (for the recruiters, not the companies) to focus on hiring new drivers rather than taking care of and retaining current drivers.
The turnover rate at smaller companies is lower, but still shockingly high at 86%, the highest it’s been since 2007.
The turnover rate for less-than-truckload fleets increased just from 8% in the first quarter to 9% in the second quarter.
The numbers are extremely high now, but trucking as always been an industry with a high turnover rate. Is it a good thing or a bad thing, and more importantly, for whom?
Next Story: State Highway Safety Chiefs Call For Handheld Cell Phone Ban
Sources:http://www.overdriveonline.com/truckload-driver-turnover-surges-in-2q/, http://fleetowner.com/fleet-management/driver-turnover-hits-highest-point-4-years
This is a joke. Its more lucrative to hire more than to retain the already hired.? Just another damn slap in the face to all drivers. I say as drivers.We need to show the companies the same disrespect..The next time a broker or dispatcher says, you have to go.! I say, SORRY!!!!! IM TIRED DUE TO EXHAUST FUMES . Drivers are a part of this industry and getting tired of the shit that we incure everyday at the hands of some jack leg sitting behind a computer
Csa is messed up. I been with small.companys for the last 2 yrs of my 8 yrs exp. I not happy with the amount of work and pay. Seriously am thinking of going to a larger scale company to make my income.i.use to make in 2003 to 2007. Don’t mind using e-logs as long as the planner keeps me rolling 3,000 miles a week. If i sit to much then its time to look for another job.
The blame for this can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the trucking companies that treat their drivers with disdain, under pay them, pay them for a fraction of the miles they actually drive, and generally act as if the drivers are an inconvenient reality they have to deal with. When trucking company employees (from driver managers to compliance officers, and mechanics to accountants) treat their drivers as important parts of their business and treat them fairly, you might see this turnover rate go down. The scary part of this is that the public doesn’t realize how many of the truckers on the road are rookies, disgruntled or have otherwise been mistreated by their employers. My experience, having driven for a west-coast company, is that there’s a very high percentage of people in management in trucking companies whose only business experience has been through the military. Their management style and behavior mirrors that military experience which is highly unsuitable for a civilian population.
RE: Turnover.One aspect of the turnover enigma is the draconian methods employed by trucking companies in their relationships with drivers. Human resources techniques hail back to ” sweat shop ” days. I am aware that this subject has been beaten to death, but it remains A major factor in the ability to maintain dedicated drivers. I was recently terminated for getting the right rear trailer tires mired in A drainage ditch. Although I paid for the winch-out , delivered my load of sodium hydroxide and worked for several days after the incident , I was ” cashiered ” because the safety supervisor viewed the pictures I dutifully took, and said ” it looked bad “. I had passed the delivery point, A water treatment plant I had never been to before and had difficulty finding A place to turn around on narrow secondary rural roads.. . Every day I found myself delivering to A place Ihad never seen before, which is part of the job.. Having said that, I follow with my code of ethics, i.e. ” an explanation of fact is NOT A justification by reason”. It was my fault , of course, I was the driver. When I returned to the terminal I was reassure that ” those things happen , there was no damage , I paid $400.00 for the wrecker etc………The ” safety director ” , put into that position by default, opined that it looked bad, was bad PR , and I was gone. My dispatcher was upset, I was A top producer, but coul do nothing. The quality of justice is tempered with mercy. I remain unemployed. Mike
It is the trucking companies own fault for allowing recruiters to lie to drivers just to get them into a truck.
Driver turnover is a driver moral problem. Low pay, long hours and lax concern for driver issues by the companies is the real reason driver just keep moving on… to the next company.
From the time you leave the house until you get back, you are on the job. You should get paid for every hour you are on the job.
The turnover rate is a result of CSA2010. A company driver has zero control over the maintenance on his truck. The company changes names with buying a new authority but the points stay with the driver. Unfair flawed system. Some companies cheat driver on pay use them up and look for another. So many bad companies and getting worse.
well from a driver that has 40 yrs under his belt. The bigggest reason i see about driver turnoverm is the B S factor….first, its the way drivers are treated by the dispatchers and the bosses of the trucking companies….weather, dispatch times, allowable trip times….companies making promises to customers they can’t keep. Low wages etc etc. plus they regs the govt puts on drivers…Mostly its the underlying things that make drivers change jobs….Only way to find out what the problem is, is to ask more drivers….
Hey Mike,
It sure seems strange you were terminated for that, especially considering you paid to have the truck winched out. I’ve been on the road for 40 years and 4 million miles, and just recently took retirement at 63 years old because of the ever-increasing low pay because of the low rates and the bullshit regulations. Never had a ticket or a chargeable, either. Freight rates had gotten so cheap (as an owner-operator, ) you ended up not making any more net pay than if you had a Wal-Mart job. What a joke! The current administration’s economic policies have put the whole trucking industry (and others) in the toilet.
I understand that DOT has cracked down and made it much much tougher on trucking companies. DOT has put laws in place that can cripple an institution to the brink of destruction over a single big accident involving one of their drivers. I understand that DOT has to do a lot of they do considering the magnitude of the industry. These trucks are big and can be considered weapons. That aside. Trucking companies themselves have put themselves in this position. They black ball otherwise good drivers over very small things such as the story I read that Mike Morley above wrote. The DAC report will kill your career for years over a very small unrecordable incident. 90% of drivers have all had a small incident or two in their careers. Companies can put just about whatever they want on your DAC considering DAC works for them and not for you. Your career can suffer the same fate as someone who gets in their truck intoxicated and ends up killing someone just because you have a small incident with no other vehicles or people involved. This is what the trucking companies have done to themselves. If they are happy with what they have done in playing the biggest role in this turn over rate they must understand that it won’t be long before they put themselves out of business due to unmanned tractors. There are only so many people in this country who want to drive a truck. Trucking was a high turnover industry before the DAC report and then DAC just raised the bar. Change your policy and the other wise good drivers who have small things on their record because “those things happen” can get back on the road and decrease the unmanned tractors.
Could it be that the big companies like it this way?
You’d think CSA would curb the influx of inexperienced drivers
and reward experienced good drivers but a new driver with no CSA score
is just as valuable to these guys as a driver with a time proven record.
Even more so when you consider the shuffling of employees means you
never have to pay for long term benefits, pay increases, 401k’s etc.
This story is a clear indication that drivers are losing big in the trucking industry and as
and as long as the big companies keep winning it’s not going to change.
I agree with the report. I personally have quit five different truck companies in one year. I’ve heard one cheap excuse after another and I’m not taking their crap. I now let them know at the start, if your straight and honest with me, chances are I will stay on. Too many times I find my paycheck short on miles. One company desperately tried to get me to run for .24 cpm and I quickly quit them with a few choice words. LOL. Agree, the CSA is at fault here and economy is also at fault as well. Most companies have started school program so they can start them out at super low rates.
I have since hired a very private company who performs a service where I tell them what company cheated me and then I receive monthly pictures where equipment accidents happen against the company. The service is affordable and I stay uninvolved. ($25 per picture).
Plain and simple.The fact that trucking companies could care less about drivers (It’s all about the Load) and the Goverment passing and enforcing more rules which the biggest majority are plain stupid.These are just two reason’s for the shortage.Low Pay.and hell even the truckstops don’t want us around.They even call them Travel stops or Travel Plaza’s now.They charge 3 times what a regular Wal-Mart charges,They refuse to put in enough parking for big trucks because they are more interested in the 4 wheeler’s getting their fuel and out than big trucks.It is all about the almighty dollar everyone that get’s a piece of the pie EXCEPT the DRIVER..Law enforcement,Travel Plaza’s,Trucking Comapanies,etc..the list go’es on and on..And these college educated folks keep trying to figure it out..COMMON SENSE..You do not need a colledge education to realize if you start treating drivers as human beings with families and homes and treat them as such and pay them as the professional’s they ARE and you want them to be then driver turn over would be a lot lower….DUH !!!!!! not hard to figure it out is it..
I quit driving OTR over 1 year ago for so many reasons that there is not enough pages to list all of the problems but will list a few. Lack of places to part for 10 hour break, Dispatch calling on cell phone waking you up on 10 hour break, forced to run illegal, Just in time loads then at shipper or receiver for over 4 hours and no detention pay but expected to make on time pick up or delivery, bad equipment and in repair shops for free even though you wrote up truck but was told no time to fix, will get truck fixed on road and you gotta go pick up that load now so get going, Getting slammed for idling truck when stuck in parking lots for up to 4 days either because of lack of freight or for being punished for not running illegal again for no pay, mandatory per Diem where you see maybe $10 a week on your pay but in the long run lose $35 to $50, Staying out on the road from 2 to 4 months away from home to make a decent living and find your sitting in parking lots more than ever driving less than 2,000 a week, -10%+ mileage pay deducted on all loads d/h or loaded, Dispatch telling you wouldn’t you do that for us when you tell them you just don’t have the legal hours, FMVSA always trying to change the HOS for the worst on the driver, Being treated like a 2nd class citizen, Being paid -$25,000.00 per year last 4 years for doing the same job but with more regulations and more stress and being told by company officials that your damn lucky to have a job after putting in 16-20 hour days and that same person dances out the door heading home after there 8 hour day, The list goes on and on and any long haul truck driver that’s been driving for more than 10 years know this is true. Driving truck use to be fun and gave a person pride in what they did, not today and the future doesn’t look good that it will get better. Thank you Drivers for all you do for America.
well i don’t have much experience like a lot of you…but the short time i was out their my big issues with it was being kept on a coast i am not from ( i am from the west coast and was kept on the east coast) would have ran the mid west as well just some where that my family didn’t feel like i was so far a way so i could keep them happy… also i was out for 6 to 7 weeks in transition period…which was a deal breaker with my family (with out them i don’t have a reason to be out there) the company was good pay was good miles were good but when my family life was falling apart and i was very sick and just after some for wheeler had just run in to the hood of the truck (which accident report clearly stated i was NOT at fault ) i was trying to get home… i was left stranded in a strange state and had to make my way home from their…not a good ending for me.
High turn over rates are loved by the companies. By encouraging high turn over they reduce their cost dramatically! One driver loss with day four years with the company allows at least two weeks vacation the company will not have to pay out, higher mileage pay is reduced with the rookie, 401K match is reduced as well along with having rookies running their tails off often beyond hours !
Turn over rate is a wrong term it should be cost cutters!
For Marlene above about the CSA2010 report. Its not true that the driver has zero control over maintenance. Your personal CSA score is only dinged over things that are considered the drivers oversight on things that should be noticed in a pre trip inspection. A simple walk around and notating in your logs and a QC record report to your road assist dept will CYA. Things that are an oversight of your company will not go on your personal CSA. There are over 900 violations that can be written up by DOT in a full inspection. Of those over 900 just about 570 are considered things that can be addressed in a driver mandated PTI. Also 6 months after a DOT insp your score will start to get better if you havn’t had any further violations and after 2 years those violations will go off your report. If your company says they won’t fix the problem try to have them put in on QC record. Otherwise pull into a weigh station and go have a dialogue with DOT over the issue and find yourself a new DOT compliant company to work for.
Trucking companies should hold the recruiters, orientation representative and definitely dispatcher/ load planners responsible for lying to the drivers because once that driver has taken the DOT physical and drug screen only then that company is allowed on that driver’s DAC Report which is highly unfair because it is the driver’s work history which makes it look like the driver just doesn’t want to work or has serious issues. In my case this has been a very serious problem because I prefer the south to run wherefore a lot of companies will tell you that that position is available however once you are hired all of a sudden there’s “No Freight in the south region” and forces the driver to run “North or Quit”; in 8 years I have worked for 11 companies with 4 on my DAC Report in which I left their orientation because of the lies from the recruiters, the others- just plain BS “No Freight going to nor coming out of the South”…
The problem is,that there are to many hand’s in the pocket’s of the driver’s, and the truck company’s.The computer age hit the trucking industry.They fine tuned it,to where they manage the driver, just like the mpg on a truck,you get traded in on a better, more tweeked model,if you don’t produce,where there is no human factor involved. The BIG truck company’s, are able to make the bottom line look good for the govt.as far as SAFETY,and EPA. With a big company you will only make so much,per week,now day’s your just a number. When a company let’s you go, they will screw you,as far a DAC,( like when you break-up with someone,they get pissey) you will pay,either by the comment,s or to get it taken off your DAC,will cost you.And the DOT will do it too,with the GOVT score sheet.Just look at the Bullcrap the GOVT. has done to us.Double standard’s..34hr restart? yea let’s sit at a T/S and look at each other,when you could be at the house in that time and spend it with your kid’s,for a few day’s,too many fine line’s to screw you!! I started back in the late’70’s,yup i’am one of those.Happy to say I do own a small fleet of 5…loose-leaf log’s..truck’s wide open, and I know my driver’s name’s.I don’t have a turn-over.Family first,cus that’s who your doing it for,unless you some brain-dead robot!!
Trucking companies has the power to say “Pennsylvania is a part of the south region”. It should be for the drivers which like driving the northern regions- which there are many because I run across them on a regular basis. I truly would love for someone to explain how that makes any sense? Just for the record- I always give the companies 3 weeks to get me back south before I quit. Now that I am an owner operator the fact of the matter is- there’s a lot of cheap freight coming from and going to the south but that should not have any barring on a company driver but it does. The South is the South someone needs to explain this tto trucking companies and make them responsible for their lies…
We can point fingers in every direction, thats not the cure. Having been in the industry for more than 40 years, from 2 million miler, dispatcher, safety, manager and even recruiter, I speak with some experince. It is time to restrucure the way drivers are paid. We need compaines that are forward thinking enough to take on this task Milage pay is nothing more than to old sweat shop piece work. We need to pay drivers the same way as every one else gets paid, either by salary or hourly. This would end a lot of problems, yes would create a few, but over all would be a big gain for both company and driver. Oh one more thing, it’s a darn shame that I got paid three times as much yearly as a recruiter than I ever did as a driver.
I was a newbie a few years ago. Laid off from a ‘regular’ career after 30 years and at age 59, couldn’t find work. So I paid for trucking school and hit the road (through a recruiter who lied) with a Texas-based OTR company. I pretty quickly learned all of the things mentioned here: you’re just a number, they don’t care, you get paid for only a fraction of the miles you drive, etc. The first year, I earned $17,000. That’s less than a quarter of my former pay. Plus I never saw my family because instead of getting me home every three weeks, as promised, I was always out 4-5 weeks. They couldn’t even get me home for holidays even though I arranged my first vacation AT the holiday. But we needed the income, so I toughed it out for 19 months. Then I turned 62 and immediately applied for Social Security. On SS alone, I will make more in a year than I did OTR. I supplement that by driving part-time hauling asphalt for a small local paving company and the people are great.
I don’t know how it will all play out at the big-company level, but something’s gotta give at some point, some bubble has to break. Until then, I would suggest to anyone entering the industry to tough it out with a big company for a year at least, two is better, then go for something more local where you can get home every night. There are lots of local driving jobs advertised in my area, but they all want 1-2 years experience.
“Due to the way many of these companies pay their recruiters, it is more profitable (for the recruiters, not the companies) to focus on hiring new drivers rather than taking care of and retaining current drivers.”
Right, so all the companies care about is that the recruiters do better than them?
This quote makes sense if you remove the parantheses (for the recruiters, not the companies).
Turn-over is baked into their business model, otherwise they WOULD take care of and retain current drivers. The bean counters have got this down to a science. It’s more cost effective to train and churn newbies than it is to retain them once they become REAL drivers. Why pay an experienced professional .45 cpm, full benefits, etc. when every year you can just keep training and hiring replacements at .25 cpm?
Now if DOT or the NTSB started tracking accidents and incidents based on driver experience alone, they’d see action on turn-over must be taken. But this is an inconvenient statistic they’d prefer no one find out about.
I’ve been driving big rigs for over 15 years. Half of that was long haul/crossborder and half local Toronto/Southern Ontario and Quebec. I am past that now as I have gone to school, and I am on my way into the health industry. I still drive part-time on the weekends. I love driving big truck, but I don’t like the job any more and I hate the industry. I heard and read these stories about supposed driver shortage and big turnover ever since I got into the truck cab 15 years ago. For me this story got really old really quickly. I do agree that there is a shortage of experienced, qualified and safe drivers out there, but its BS that the companies want to retain them. If that was the truth, we would not see such a surge in those same drivers leaving the industry, because the companies would do everything to retain them. I am such a driver. Extremely experienced, clean record and CVOR, no criminal record ( never been charged in my life ), honest, loyal and hard working. No accidents in last 7 years and no at fault accidents at all. You would think that according to all these articles I read in the trucking papers, I would be payed better and treated better, at least with more respect. No way. That’s why the industry lost another good driver at a prime age ( I’m only 40 ). So I don’t believe in all that crying. From what I see the industry, at least here in Canada, prefers new greenhorn drivers from Pakistan and India. As a result I see more, and more accidents involving big rigs and the new drivers. The answer to that is more and more regulation, speed limiters etc. Things that also contribute to older drivers leaving the industry. As someone already stated here: Driving is not fun anymore and above all is not lucrative either. You would thing that as a driver you would at least get respect?! I tell you something: I had one manager tell us drivers in a meeting that monkeys could do our job. He said he could train a monkey to do it. And the guy was educated. This is the attitude out there. I propose to all of you, if and when you get a chance go to school. It’s never too late. Look, I went to school again at 38 and soon I will be an ultrasound and x-ray technologist. I will probably drive every now and then as trucking is unfortunately already in my blood and it’s hard, hard to get rid of it. I long for a long haul to California every now and then. But if it happens it will be on my terms. I don’t need these a-holes anymore. Drive safe ya’ll.
The companies pay recruiters to tell the truck driver only the good things about the company,and not the bad. What we need is “independant truckers” like I was 38 yrs ago. I had 6 different brokers I trusted. When I got a delivery in their neighborhood I called them. If they didn’t have a load that paid good ,I just called another broker. I was my OWN boss. No broker ever cheated me because they knew I could go anywhere,and we all worked together. Mutual trust was a big thing years ago. The broker also knew I’d go anywhere they needed as long as it paid well. You don’t have this trust in big trucking companies…your just a driver under THEIR control,and they know this.
Start paying drivers MORE!!! You will not have the turnover…Period. Make it a job, where a man or woman feels it is ok to leave the family in exchange for a decent living. I mean (above average). I am so sick of these companies thinking they can pay drivers just enough. For you bean counters that have never been in a truck, try sitting behind a wheel, mile after mile and only receiving 60k (if you’re lucky), Then, take your food expenses and wash ect.. out. What do you send home to the family? not a whole hell of alot.
I see & hear about this alot.
Here I am, 21 & looking to get into the bussiness to provide for my wife & son, plus the one thats due this coming Monday & I have no ability to pay for the training.
Sure companies will reimburse…but finding the money to get started is the joke of all time.
3 times I have attempted to contact information about training from the ONLY local SAGE training school & nothing.
Im willing to put up with what I can to make an honest & promising living, turnover may be indeed the big issue, but not far behind it lurks those like myself who are truely trying to jump behind the wheel.
Promises are indeed made, but not 1 second can go by without those promising becoming lies.
Im here, willing to learn & willing to work…im here & still waiting.
These companies say gimme gimme gimme all you got, dont they know gimme gimme never gets.
I dont mind the work, I do have experience, nothing above the table mind you….but its with people like me that the problems start.
Be good from the beggining….& these companies should soon find out how much more profitable it can be for everyone in the game.
God Bless you drivers, I wish I was out there with yall.
The only way your going to get a decent truck driving job is at a company where the drivers are Teamsters. If you drivers would stick together and get the Teamsters to help you organize the company your driving for, you could solve most of these problems. Only worth while job I ever had and my Dad ever had was as a member of the Teamsters. These companies have no loyalty to you. They have no respect for you, your lively hood nor your family responsibilities. Can’t help you owner operators. But you drivers should be banding together and calling in the Teamsters. Union representation is needed now more than ever. Corporate America is blood thirsty with greed. Employees are being treated worse now than they have in fifty (50) years. It’s up to you drivers. Live with the same ole shit day in and day out or talk to the International Brotherhood Of Teamsters. It’s time to take action.
34years of bad equipment, bad loads, bad roads, lousy 4 wheelers( how come they aren’t required to take a u.i. or physical,and their license expirations are longer?), and I have no accidents, dui or speeding tickets. Flats,refers,dry,over length, car hauler,doubles and triples, TSA and FBI Class 1,hazmat,tanker. Yet the rookies (God Bless them, it takes rubber balls to bounce in the trucking industry) are number one with the trucking industry? I received 30 solicitations from the guys in the orange trainers, filled out three apps and received three craps! I don’t roll anymore……. And i don’t miss it either! The driver of today is a throw away!
I know all about turnover at one of the many truck mill outfits. The last one I quit failed to pay me for six long weeks. Oh yeah, I quit that one. The was another outfit where I made it as far as orientation when I read about four solid pages of possible fines the company would charge the driver. A DOT ticket could result in the company fining the driver. I quickly left that outfit as well. Then there was yet another truck mill outfit where they were demanding the driver pay the insurance company deductable ($5000) in case the driver gets into an accident. I haven’t ever got into an accident with a big truck, but than again I simply didn’t have a spare $5000 in my back pocket. They were willing to take it out of my paychecks weekly, and they acted like this was normal. I refused to sign and quickly left. Another truck company agreed to hire me to run the surrounding states of Michigan. However, after completing orientation, they said my run includes nearly all of the Eastern states including NYC and Canada. When I told them I would only run the states I first agreed to run, they asked me to leave their property. I was happy to have left as I never did like to be scammed.
I could go on and on, but you can see I have to agree with news report of a 100 percent turnover rate and then some.
Dan M
As I have said for these many years in the trucking industry, (35 years to be exact) there is NO mythical “driver shortage”. What there IS, is a shortage of less than intelligent people who would be willing to put up with the low pay and horrible working conditions, that the transportation industry has turned into since deregulation. WHY is there no hue and cry from our politicians to STOP the transportation industries long standing exemption from the Fair Labor and Standards Act ? We are not in the 1930’s anymore. We seem to care more about the poor foreign workers in sweatshops in China manufacturing Apple products (FOXCONN), than we do about American truck drivers. WHY does the person PICKING the lettuce have MORE labor rights than the person TRANSPORTING the lettuce ??? Until you can answer that question, the mythical “shortage” will continue.
Great idea, let’s all park our trucks for a week, okay we may loose some money but these companies well see that without us they will run into the ground. If everyone does it even the greenhorns will have to follow because their lead is in control of the truck. Truly let’s set a date for this!
driver turn over shows me that companys are not taking care of there drivers Isee so many drivers with no money or food to eat . Ibelieve companys should bee responceable for there drives from the moment you leave the yard till the moment you return . no money ,no food , low miles this leads to driver fatique. hih turn overs only shows me companys are going through drivers like changing there sox.this is sad.
Why isn’t there a Union for Truckers?…. All Truckers?….Since the Government won’t do anything about the slave labor in the trucking industry, there should be a Union!….Just Saying!
Maybe if the companies weren’t so cheap to let there trucks idle surfing down time so the driver would be comfortable for his off time. But instead there bottom line is more important than there drivers being able to get there correct rest. If you don’t want your truck idleing then put an apu on it. So maybe they should stop being so cheap. It’s all a write off at the end of the year anyway. Not all drivers have the same comfort zone for there rest. That don’t sweat in there house but they want us to in our house.
yup, i really loved driving my readymix concrete truck-what i didn’t love was getting shafted out of o.t. and being pushed aside in favor of the brown nosers and back stabbers. i tried hard to put out the loads and i neer asked for anything but the chance to make a living. and the company didn’t care about us as drivers or as people. no loyalty to nothing but the buck…just put out the work, say nothing about safety and keep quiet.
In Jan. 2011, after 15 yrs behind the wheel, I could not take it any more. I sold my truck got a $10.00 p/h job in a call center due to the Industry lies that there is a shortage of drivers and all the States using the Drivers as a supplement to their shrinking budgets. Truth is there is not a shortage of drivers, only a Shortage of good drivers. These companies think that putting these 14 day wonders behind the wheel with a trainer who might have 3 weeks more than the trainee on the road is the way to go, All that does is ensure they only have to pay a lower rate per mile to make more money for the Big Wigs of the Company. The only way to get equality and the respect that is deserved is by the drivers uniting, Quit bickering with each other over Race, Gender, Age, Experience or Sexual orientation. Remember we are or were all drivers, all for the common goal of supporting our families. Let’s start acting like the professional’s that we are. If we are to ever be respected we have to be respectable. When we can get along and show the industry that we can stand together, The Stronger the Voice. Drivers Unite or things will never change, just the day.
And drivers are getting fed up with all the increased harrasment by the DOT, and now we have to deal with county, and local cops getting in on it, what needs to happen is we all need to stop, and shut this country down for a few days, then we’ll see who really controls this country, these idiots in washington think that stuff magically appears on the shelf of their local grocery store, well i hate to tell ya, if you got it, a truck delivered it
B.S. Companies pay low and the goverment helps by giving out all these tax breaks, paying for the schooling, and after 3 to 4 months the company hires another to get the tax breaks so the older experinced driver is out again!
A large part of the problem is that people see 40-50k a year jobs on the way into the business but are never taught about the seasonal type of work trucking is. They are never told that this is before road expenses. Per mile, per load or load percentage pay that they will never show you their bills to customers so you can verify the amou8nts you are told you are making. Then add into the equasion the lease purchase scams that now have you using the off time to get repairs and maintance completed or the fact that you are now self employed and may not have workmans comp insurance if you fall off the trailer or running board and you have a system that created it’s own problem.
Next you have drivers who are working for substandard wages because they cannot find anyother work keeping the payscale down for the quality drivers.
Last and formost you have people like myself who value their license and understand that without it staying clean I cannot work. I personally went through 4 companies in 18 months before I landed where I am now. All because I will NOT operate substandard equipment.
Which brings me to my last point. I don’t mind the CSA system as I have worked with experenced drivers who thought a pretrip meant the key was in the truck. What I don’t like is that we get the same points for warnings as a full ticket. In the old days if I had a problem with the company not doing maintance then I would stop by a scale house and explain what they were not repairing and have it reviewed by the officer. I would recieve a warning ticket but the company got notice that DOT was looking. Problems were then repaired. Now if I refuse to drive the DOT violation truck, in Missouri I cannot collect unemployment because this state considers it job abandonment. Whats wrong with this picture.
I agree with just about every comment above. Trucking is a very hard industry to work for with very low pay and no appreciation. CDL mills are exploiting the market in training students and putting them in trucks with very low pay and no way to support a family, but the company is receiving money from the government for training and putting these said students to work. Then the trainer is paying half of the students daily wage, why doesn’t the company pay the whole student pay.
The wreck rate is very high at some of these companies either by rollovers, wrecks of all varieties, running through stop lights, or driver fatigue due to trainers not being able to sleep and babysit a new trainee in their newly leased truck. They may stick it out the 6 months or so in order to fulfill the contract and then off to greener pastures somewhere else or a whole new industry entirely, or dead in some cases.
Truckers need more places to park, it is very hard in some states to find sleeping places at night. Truckstops are put in here and there with what maybe 50 spots if you’re lucky. Yet unless the new rules mandated by July 2013 are overturned there is going to be an avalance of trucks parking on the weekend or their everyday of the week dedicated 34hr off days. Maybe the shippers/receivers need to help with some the make room to sleep on their properties. More rest areas need to be put in with more truckers spots, or maybe parking areas off ramps that have a large flat spot that is open and can be developed.
Ohio writes tickets for cars tailgating or cutting off trucks, why don’t the other states follow suit. It isn’t the truckers fault all the time when things happen, but they are treated that way and truckers are crucified and the public follows along with all the tales put out on TV by so called injury, wreck lawyers.
Detention at shippers/receivers should be held to a higher standard, why keep a trucker waiting
4,6,8 hrs or more. If a company can’t figure a better time frame for getting a truck in to be loaded/unloaded, then how do they work their employees and schedule them to work. Truckers are on a tight schedule as it is and cannot sit wasting valuable time waiting on a load to be loaded/unloaded. Sure sometimes something might go amiss at a company that has to be worked around, but not all the time. This is where the drivers company needs to start cracking down on these type places across the board and let it be known that they are going to charge this fee; if they can charge you a late fee for being late, then you should be paid for a late loading/unloading fee.
As far as truckers going on strike I think this would be hard to do, there are too many things to take into consideration and the load may just be the thing that is for an emergency setup or even food to hospitals and schools and nursing homes, it would be hard to justify if something happened to any of these people on a strike. The worst thing also would they fire you and hire the next greenhorn just to spite your face, I wouldn’t put it past the companies to do just that. You have no protection against strikes like unions do, you would just be gone. Perhaps owner operators could do this, but with the job shortage and the market out there once again there is someone to fill the spot just waiting.. Until companies are shamed for their acts and made to take notice it maybe a never ending situation.
Be safe.
I must say I got into the trucking industry thinking I’d have my own fleet of trucks at this point. So much
for that plan. I have HireRight to thank for spoiling that plan when they put “FALSE” information on my
DAQ report. I have placed 61 applications for driving jobs, and even though HireRight said the “FALSE” information had been taken off my DAQ, no company will do any more than check my driving record and criminal background. I never heard from them anymore. I was going for Lease/purchase operater to get started. There must be some way to clear my name so I can become an O/O. I completely agree with Jerry Todd. I know a BIG company right now that hires 15-20 drivers to go through orientation, get on the truck with trainers, complete training, and are then promptly fired after the company gets $150,000 for each orientation class that finishes training. 10 classes=$1.5 mil.
The main issue is driver pay. Who wants to live in a truck for a week for $500? I can get a “normal” job and bring home that much. Multi-Billion dollar companies act like it is shameful that those who actually earn the money the company makes don’t need to earn a living for themselves. They are of a mind that giving me home time once every couple of weeks is more than enough of a bother.I am,after,a mere employee.
Ynnis I’ve heard that for awhile that trucks stopping for a week would solve a lot of the problems, but the problem with that is a couple of things. 1- there are to many drivers who are afraid that they would lose their jobs ( they don’t realize how much that could fix) 2- you will always have cut throat companies/ owner opperators that would take that time to gain themselves financially. I feel the turn over rate is just a ploy that is put out there buy larger companies to get drivers to look for greener grass. I do believe recruiters are just another name for paid liars. My recruiter told me that that’s what they are. I give a company at least a full year to prove themselves to me.
Now wait a minute; the person who said today’s drivers are nothing. I happen to be a 14 year driver and consider myself well experienced, educated, and professional in both approach and appearance. I dress every day in a clean collared shirt, dress slacks, leather shoes (polishes) with socks. Now even though there are a large number of truly unprofessionals out there-many of us do hold the line-so to speak. There are many posts about the appearance of drivers on here and complants about how they are not respected and no longer the ‘knights of the road’. Well, how can we be respected and seen as highly professional with the way ‘new generation’ (and a few experienced) drivers look. I peronally don’t think (from a non-driver point of view) I could respect drivers who wear shorts and tank-top T-shirts and sandals; have tattoes on their neck and arms; have earnings (men) and walk around truckstops with their head electronically wired like a robot. The people who earned the label-‘knights of the road’ did not carry the appearance like most drivers of today. Furthermore,most of them became truckers because they wanted to drive-not just for the money. Most of the past professionals came from some sort of mechanical, rural, or farm background where they already knew about trucks and engines, and were able to handle non-office situations. So, how can drivers expect to be respected with the way they look today (by companies and the non-driving society)? If you want respect you first have to look and act like you deserve it.
Man 60K? You must be talking about the high earners. Try 40K being the average annual pay a driver recieves. Not even a large company would be able to handle the influx of applicants if they could feasibly tell a “white lie” that their drivers are averaging 60K a year
You drive a big truck while being dressed like you are a car salesman? I doubt it. Your not fooling anyone one here Jody.
I think that since we as drivers show our different companies that we have worked for on our CSA reports then the same should hold true for every trucking company out there. Their turnover rates should also be posted on their reports. This will give a driver considering working for them to make an educated decision as to work for them or not. This will also show the shippers and receivers that these companies have high turnovers and may not be a stable company to deal with. High turnover rates on a company tells me that they do not take care of their most values asset the driver.
This will also prevent these big companies from getting new recruits so fast and furious if the drivers can see the turn over rates of those companies. This will also make more companies think twice in they way that they treat their drivers. Making them more cautious about how they do treat their current drivers. And why should these companies be held up to the same standards as us drivers on our reports?
The government does one thing really good: SCREWING EVERYTHING UP. Would you really expect anything different?
So it wasn’t just me having all these problems?
Drivers are treated like criminals. If you get treated differently, I’d like to know what you’re doing. Your comments are welcome.
The problem with that is the previous company will bad-mouth you and besides, why should anyone have to put up with this crap in the first place?