$20/hr minimum

There is NO driver shortage. At this time, we have too many drivers and not enough freight. If you want to be paid hourly, then either find a local job or something else where you don't need to be held accountable for your productivity. Why should any company start inexperienced workers out at $20+/hour? This is an industry where workers can control, to an extent, their paychecks, based upon their productivity and how well they manage their time. If you want a raise, then drive a few extra miles. Spend a little less time on the computer or sitting at a truck stop. I don't see unions getting involved in otr. They are losing local members due to cutbacks at major ltl carriers. They can no longer afford the excessive pay and benefits that unions demand. Pay is also controlled, to some degree, by freight rates. Without major increased in rates, pay will not go up significantly. Drivers will also need to stay at a carrier for more than a few months to receive the higher pay. There are some who are earning $0.45-0.50/mile or more, but they are usually not pulling a box around and have several years experience and most likely have been with a carrier for several years. If you want a bigger paycheck, then hone your skills and find a niche where you can excel.

 

Driver shortage my butt!

If there was truly a shortage then wages would sky rocket like the price of hay has and the price of oil does.

If there was a shortage, warehouses wouldn't be able to close their door because the freight would be spilling out.

If there truly was a shortage carriers wouldn't be dicking drivers around by making them wait @ docks and truck stops for freight.

I could go on and on, there is NO driver shortage and never will be.

 

The shortage is.. good paying companies and drivers who have the balls to say no to working for cheap pricks.

 

"Driver shortage" said the training industry who derives 80% of their profits driving poor, unsuspecting kids off to truck driving school. "Driver shortage" said the large trucking companies who make significant money from government incentives herding people in, training, and watching them run home 3 months later, just after the tax credit gets earned.

There may be a lot of empty seats in a lot of wore out equipment that fell off the books years ago and should have been taken off the road permanently, but that my friends does not make a driver shortage.

 

This is true. There is no driver shortage and isn't likely to be one. Large carriers are having a hard time finding and keeping drivers because they don't treat them well and the pay is low but the "good" jobs have a waiting list. You're never going to have a shortage for any job that someone can train for in a few weeks.

 

Can I use that line please>that's perfect!

The big fleets suffer from "driver churn". Their HR department has a revolving door and they choose not to fix it. They know how to fix it, they just can't be bothered.

Again, great line ShortBusKid!

 

But let's be honest. Let's say trucking companies [who hire new CDL holders] cut new CDL recruit hiring 75%. If they did, probably within about 3-4 months those companies would be seriously hurting to cover their own existing freight. However, that would force them to enact pay and other incentive packages and other perks to enhance the "driver lifestyle" there, to retain their current drivers before they became disillusioned and left, creating a company shortage (not an industry shortage). It's a convoluted problem, with one issue feeding another issue in an ongoing vicious cycle.

 

The $20 hour gets a driver to a point where a productive driver at a productive company on mileage pay would gross. My point is, if a driver is productive, and at a productive company, pay is not an issue so much. The fact there are dues to be paid, and not every company is operating near 100% productivity is not so much a problem that an hourly wage is going to solve. If you're always maxing out on your log hours, and/or you're at home virtually every weekend, by choice, then what's the problem? If not, then you only need to stick around long enough to be hirable at a more productive outfit.

If you think you're going to be paid $20 hour for 10 hours/week as you sit waiting for a dispatch between loads, you're sorely mistaken.

 

LOL>>>delusional