Ughmm, the ELD measures on/off work hours ..

Good sir, I agree with you wholeheartedly. We should never always fallback on the "system". We need to teach our kids survival skills and for some to become hunters. I'm a proponent for teaching skills that lead to self-sustainability. The supermarket has made us lazy, indeed. But that should not deter us from forming a strong nation-wide union to battle against opposing forces. In our modern days that would be business and the interest of the lite and their respective corporations. They've been keeping more for themselves and giving less to everyone else for the last 40 years. If you know of a way to reverse that trend without a formal national union strike, then I'd really like to hear it.

But yes, I do realize there is still money to be made, however is specialized and certain sectors. Oil, gas, hazmat, wide-load, by percentage, etc etc.. I get it. But I'm speaking for the average dry-van hauler with often minimal experience. We can't be abusing them simply because they're not "specialized". It don't make sense in my view to subjugate the majority to poverty for the benefit of the few.

 

In no way and by no method should any union hurt an advantageous position of labor. Yet, I do understand that unions can get corrupted and plagued by their own forces of bureaucracy. As I mentioned earlier, a union is not a perfect beast, but with proper adjudication and diligent pragmatic assertions, those problems can be overcome. We need good men for this. Quality honorable folks.

I believe the problem of drivers not standing up to announce 'enough is enough', is of course by the lack of unionship. We've become so fragmented and at the same time jaded, that we've lost our unity. And that's exactly what the forces we battle rely on to keep us working on the cheap. Divide and conquer. At the same time the introduction of foreign labor has further segmented us. Business is in bed with government, from what I understand that's what they call Fascism. Labor is segmented and powerless, we now get told what to do, else we starve. Isn't that slavery? Hmm, perhaps not a direct form of it, but if only one side dictates the terms then we're not too far off from them bounding us is chains.

Now, I understand your dilemma of having a good contract and fear of losing it because of some union. But now imagine your sector of work dries up and you must return to dry-van OTR, and now what, now you're back in the slave pool again. So, we need to keep an objective view of our industry to ensure it serves everyone fairly. And yes, that's not always easy, but we should most definitely try.

The problem is wide and complex, indeed.

 

Indeed, drivers that would abuse hourly pay via ELD would need to be financially penalized, and if not corrected then fired. We can't have abuse coming from our end either. The rules of engagement must be fair and integral on both sides. If you're on the clock to drive, then you should be driving. End of discussion.

I strongly urge drivers push their employers into hourly pay for OTR. And support companies that are doing so by providing them with excellent service.

 

Don't they get like $300+ per day pay or something, I forget now. So all their camp sleep time is substantiated by the high pay rate.

Trucking can do same thing. $35/hr for each hour of driving. 11x35=$385.

 

^ yah, so I'm not certain exactly why is OTR not considered a "camp/remote/away" employment. As of course, it is. But it pays a crap rate by the mile. Don't get wrong, if the rate was closer to .85 cents it'd also make sense, but at .48 or .50 that they're forking out now is ridiculous. So we need to re-classify OTR as part of labor that's also hazardous and taxing. Much as the oil field and camp stuff. I hope I'm making sense. Who's ready to riot?