Monopolized Lumper Services at Receivers.

At all too many places, lumpers won't allow drivers do the unloading and feel free to charge exorbitant fees, like they were hospitals.
For example, this lumper fee was $500 (!?!) plus $10 convenience fee. Let's say, I am physically fit and would not mind to do this labor as a physical exercise just as quick for $400 but that's not an option.

The broker will reimburse the fee but why does it have to be the driver/owner operator bothered with the task of supplying the hefty payment, especially at a place where access to do your own labor is not optional?

Besides...it pisses me off to see those often lazy lumpers to charge as much. They're not worth it.

 

The tax aspect of it is of a second relevance. The carrier almost never pays for it, let IRS worry about the rest.
What is more interesting are those skewed proportions; on an average load that pays $1000 - 400 miles; pick up today, deliver tomorrow - a lumper can make more than the truck that hauls it. At some places, their fees went up 100% since pre covid days.
That'd be OK in the free market spirit in which those lumpers were really hired by a carrier...if that were the case, they'd seldom exceed $50 for 1 hour worth of labor.