more work same $ - legal to pay driver by the load in NJ?

I have not seen the original agreement so I don't know what was stated or even if it exists. According to the original poster he is not being paid by the load, but hourly. He was expected to haul 16 loads and is being paid for 40 hours of regular time and 10 hours of over time. His company now expects him to haul 18 loads. His employer did not cut his pay, but did raise his expectations of what his productivity should be. That is not a pay cut. It is the same as working in a factory where you are expected to produce a minimum number of a particular product. The company raises their expectations at some point and requires the worker to produce a couple more products during the week. Perhaps the company feels that he could be more productive and do the extra 2 loads during the same time period. His employer may have had to raise productivity because of the shipper or client in order to keep the business. We don't know all the details. Some shippers are attempting to squeeze as much out of carriers and suppliers as they can. Some shippers are attempting to put a maximum weight load on a carrier to keep costs down.

 

No we don't, but your assumptions all seem pretty one-sided.

The OP has posted that by having to do 18 runs instead of 16 the expectation is that it is going to add more hours to his workday. If we assume he was getting paid "market rate" before, it doesn't seem reasonable. Regardless of that, if the original agreement was for 16 loads per week at $1,500 and he now has to do 18, that is equivalent to an 11% reduction in pay. Or, the other way to look at it is that his productivity has to increase by 12.5% for the same pay. Either way it seems pretty harsh.

 

Sorry, I'm late to the party.

Unless the rules you're stating are state exceptions to the federal rules, you're a little off base...

There is no federal regulation that says local drivers can't work more than 12 hours. The "12 hours" that's in the 100 air-mile exemption says that you don't have to fill out the RODS if you don't exceed 100 air-miles AND come back to the work reporting location and are released from duty within 12 hours. So, you can work over 12 hours but if you do, all that's required is to fill out the RODS.

And there's nothing in the federal regulations that says a local driver must keep a time card. All it says is that the carrier must keep a record of start and finish times for each day.

There is no 70 in 6. It's 60 in 7 or 70 in 8, just like OTR. There is no 24 hour restart, only the 34 hour restart.

There are slight variations if you're considered a driver-salesperson, in oilfield operations, in the motion picture industry, driving a vehicle that doesn't require a CDL or making deliveries for retail stores around Christmas time.

 

He is apparently being paid by the hour. His employer wants him to be a little more productive. He is paid $1,500/week and is home every night. I would not be whining about being taken advantage of with that level of compensation and being home every night. He is only being required to be more productive, not take a pay cut. If he doesn't like the fact that he now has to haul 2 more loads for his pay then he can always leave the company and find another job. If the economy takes another dive, he could either lose his job or be forced to take a pay cut in order to have a job. If it takes him longer than 50 hours to do his job and he is being paid by the hour, then he might have a case. This is a time when the employee and employer must pull together in order to survive. Contrary to what we are hearing in the media, things are not rosy with the economy. I think that before the dust settles, some may actually have to take a pay cut or work for less money. This guy has not been asked to take a pay cut. He is still making $1,500/week.

 

So, first it's all about how the driver needs to honour any agreement he made, regardless of whether the compensation is fair or not. Then it's all about how the driver needs to just suck it up and go with it when the employer wants to unilaterally change the agreement.

I think I understand now.

 

We don't know if the original agreement was changed or not. From his post it appears that he is being paid for 50 hours of work. We don't know if the number of loads required was part of the original agreement or not. In any case, if the driver can do 18 loads in the same time then he has lost nothing. He still gets his same paycheck. As long as the employer pays the driver as agreed, then he has honored his agreement with the driver. When someone is paid a high wage, they should expect to produce at a higher level than someone who is being paid minimum wage. We are only speculating since the op has not commented.