Driver pay

I've sat at docks for hours, but never without being paid. That's a myth also, that drivers have to sit there for free.
If a driver sits there for free, then that's the drivers fault; he's working for the wrong company.

 

The, "driver shortage" is a myth perpetuated by the ATA to justify their ridiculous, "solutions" that all end the same way - flooding the market with less qualified drivers so their members can pay drivers less. Whether it's green cards for foreigners to come to the US and drive trucks or training teenagers to drive trucks in high school it's about paying drivers less, not a shortage of drivers.

You know who doesn't think there's a driver shortage? The US Labor Department. They know that if there were a shortage the solution would be to pay drivers more to attract more people to the industry - just like every other industry. Wages have been slowly moving up, but still not keeping pace with inflation. The real problem is, "churn". The annual driver turnover rate for US trucking companies with revenues over $30 million/yr. (also know as the membership of the American Trucking Association) is 92%!

I don't agree with Pete Buttigieg on much, but I will give credit where it is due (no matter how painful):

We are glad that people are joining the industry -- we just need to improve conditions and raise wages so they stay. Until then, we are dealing with a bucket so leaky that simply turning up the faucet cannot solve the problem.

While I will gladly co-sign on @Chinatown's sentiment - if you're not being paid fairly find another job - the devil is in the details. It's often difficult to find out all the gory details about a given carrier until you actually sign on unless you have a blood relative already on their payroll.

 

Funny thing, the states have been trying to pass legislation to pay drivers fairly. In Washington if an employee is paid by any way other than a salary or hourly (such as per mile) the employer must provide a paid 10 minute break every 4 hours. Shazam! Almost every trucking company switched to hourly pay. Being paid hourly also means the driver is entitled to overtime after 40 hours/wk. under Washington law. Drivers made more money. Extra, unpaid tasks (safety training, meetings, etc) were minimized or disappeared completely. Oddly, it was as if when employers had to pay you for your time it had value to them. No companies went broke. No one went blind. Trucks keep moving, much like they did before the law passed.

 

If you think they did that for the workers, you are sorely mistaken. Much like CA's AB5,. it was all about increasing the tax base. By removing mileage pay they remove per diem, therefore increasing the tax burden on the worker.

 

No. Washington has no income tax and I still get per diem.

 

Which company is that?
I was always paid so much just for the stop, then hourly pay after one hour.
The stop pay took care of the first hour.
That's two questions I always asked when looking for a new job;
1. How much is the stop pay?
2. When does detention pay start?
Drivers getting screwed on pay while loading or unloading didn't ask the right questions before they took the job.

 

Sounds like you need to quit, and find a better gig.