Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

This is about "REGULATION (EC) No 561/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport and amending Council Regulations (EEC) No 3821/85 and (EC) No 2135/98 and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85". Art 16 sub 8 states "Where a driver chooses to do this, daily rest periods and reduced weekly rest periods away from base may be taken in a vehicle, as long as it has suitable sleeping facilities for each driver and the vehicle is stationary". It doesn't say anything explicitly about the regular weekly rest period, and that is why some countries did not enforce this ruling the way Germany etc. did. Implicitly however it does, because it isn't mentioned in Art. 16 sub 8, so that means the driver is not allowed to to take the regular weekly rest period in the cab. I suppose that is what the European Court of Justice now ruled.

 

We are not talking weeks but months.
While a NA sleeper is bigger i would not want to live in either a NA or EU sleeper for months.
We are talking modern slavery.
Things are changing but slowly.

ps one thing we are seeing is the lack off young drivers,even with the East Europeans.
Nearly all are +40y.

 

Bigger sleepers would be like giving a bandaid to someone who got his leg blown off.

 

I believe "modern slavery" is a bit harsh, at least in this country. Driving is a choice that one makes; nobody forces us to drive.

 

Nobody forced the Romanian but modern economics left him few choices.
I agree the situation is a little better in N A but if you read some off the stories on TTR the conclusion is that trucking wages are not what they should be.

The slavery comment was in responce to the video that was posted.
Did you wach it?

 

And yet there are US truck drivers who actually live in there truck, because they have no home!

 

I can tell you exactly why us young people are staying away from this industry. The pay and hours suck for the most part unless you manage to work yourself into a decent company or get your own truck.

 

No sir, I did not. Nor did I realize that your comment was in regard to that. My mistake.

 

Even the cheap big carriers that hire anyone with a pulse pay 40k a year. Drivers that are poor don't have an income problem, they have a spending problem.

 

I agree 100%.
Working in these conditions probably is still better than being unemployed in their home country, or having another job in their home country.

So theoretically, yes, there is a choice, they can quit the job.
Or they can choose to stay in a hotel (maybe, if their employer allows them), or eat at a truckstop, but remember they get paid the (much lower) wages for their home country, and have western european expenses.

I guess that this is much more of a choice they made than in the case of the eastern european truckers.

At least the US trucker get paid according to US standards, and have US expenses. I hope, or they do something wrong.
If the north american trucker (or husband and wife team) decide to buy a fancy custom sleeper with shower/toilet/stove/etc, instead of a house, and are happy with that, it is their choice.

And you simply can not compare a european sleeper with a large custom built NA sleeper.