So you think you're getting off by mileage pay, read this!

You can file for minimum wage but you cant file for overtime under the law, unless you were paid hourly, then you can file for overtime and minimum wage.

 

transportation workers are exempt from overtime laws

 

True to some extent, but if you are paid hourly, the state usually gives you more protections under the law then federal. If you were paid commission, mileage, or salerly, then thats where the driver gets screwed. If the person originated out of a state and was paid hourly, then the state can hold them to hourly rates, regardless of the transportation designation.

 

Transportation workers are exempt from a whole bunch of laws....except for those WE have to follow. I imagine there will be a day when we will be expected to pay to drive a truck.

It will be a dispatchers dream.

 

You ARE covered by the minimum wage law,, but it's such a hassle....

 

They're using a system no different than mileage because it's fixed no matter how long it took you to do the job.
Whether it took you 26 hours or 36 hours...you were paid for 28...at a pitiful rate of $13.00/hr straight-time.
Same as a driver under mileage pay...he's paid X amount of miles no matter how long it takes.

True hourly pay is a variable compensation model...it is based on the actual time you put into the job...which is why most trucking jobs are mileage/percentage etc...so they can pay you 8 hours and work you 14.

LOL...1746 miles / 28 hours = an average speed of over 62 mph...through DC?!?!?

I don't mean to be a jerk...but as long as drivers agree to work for low-life companies like this...the industry will never ever change for the better.
Too many idiots lease-purchasing trucks.
Too many O/O hauling cheap loads.
Too many company drivers willing to pull for .26 cpm.

It really is a sad state of affairs...

 

I agree with and I made sure that I joined OOIDA. Of every driver joined then the industry for drivers would be a much better place in my opinon; cowboy talk at the truck stop is not going to help our industry. Personally, Im suprized that this mileage thing has been allowed to go on for so long. I would figure that a good portion of trucker accidents were caused by fatigue due to the need to pay bills and make up for lost time like waiting for loads to get loaded, that you would figure the public would be up in arms and want to change the industry. But I am wrong.

 

This needs to end. I'm sick of the way the trucking industry is. Even if you work for a decent company, they are dying because their customers can always get a lower rate from a company like the big guys, primarily because they pay drivers ridiculously low wages and do what they can to cheat them out of money (short miles, milage based pay in places like NYC....)

My company has an extremely vaguely worded extra $40 pay for NYC. So vague that I think it might be completely fake. It says "You will be paid an extra $40 when you have to pick up or deliver in certain parts of Long Island or New York City that are reached by bridge. Check with your dispatcher for details.". Well, Long Island isn't even part of NYC, and I recently went to brooklyn for free. Brooklyn is reached by bridge, last i checked. I drove on sidewalks to clear left turns, scraped my mirror when passing a double parked semi (its legal there), dodged NYPD who double park when writing parking tickets, dodged low clearances, and had to assert my right of way to the point of not caring if i run over a car or two (if you care, you dont go anywhere). It's all very typical of NYC, infact had thousands of witnesses to all of the above and no one even batted an eye.

I actually kind of thought it was fun. I want to do it again. But I do think that being paid for 5 miles for 2 hours of work is very unfair. Infact, if i would have counted the miles, it probably wasn't even 5 paid miles.




I will refuse to ever go back to NYC for free again. If Werner pulls that one again, I will not take the load. Even if they fire me over it.

Kind of like ice road truckers but *real*. In most aspects, I'm a typical OTR driver. I have fun, I go to crazy places, I get pissed off, I love my job one day, hate my job the next, go through mostly brief periods of wanting to quit. I meet interesting people, sometimes famous people. I deal with idiots. I will also show my personal life, have discussions with my cameraman about what i love and what i hate about the work. Will go into the milage pay system and how it encourages drivers to cheat their logs and drive very fatigued to make more money (whether its because they're super truckers and want to get rich, or because they're getting screwed by the company and are trying to get the money they deserve...). Will also show a little of my personal life, to show that truckers are just regular people. Figured i'd show just the fun parts of my personal life. Nobody wants to see me wash my dishes, but I'll show myself roller skating and riding my motorcycle. hehe.

Only problem is, the companies are going to want to keep me from doing this. But it needs to happen, and the TV networks are not going to show the industry in a realistic way. The documentary needs to be widely distributed. I'm not looking to get rich off it. I just want to make a political statement. Also, I think it would actually be very entertaining. There is a lot of comedy and drama in my life. I'm not always posting rants on internet forums. I also talk BS with drivers in truckstops. I go along with the stories i hear even if i know they are total bull. Sometimes I call them out on it if its bull in a way that makes me mad.....I think i could make the long waits funny. Hmm...

I'm just trying to figure out how i can get someone to hold the camera for free or almost free. But people will drive trucks for free, so... I'll pay them a percentage, but if the thing just totally bombs that wont be much. I have a DV camera that will work fine and I will do all the real work, they just hold the camera basically....hehe...