Why are truck drivers not treated the same as other workers?

I no longer have a QC (even though the big letters QC are on the side of my trailers..hahahaha), but my favorite at werner was Macro 37 "OK". I found it hilarious because it took the same effort to push the two keys for 37 as it would to push the two keys for OK. I'm not sure if dispatch could see it was a macro as opposed to a real message or not, but i would often send them macro 37 to be a ########.

They'd send the message "PLEASE CALL DISPATCH". A few times i tried sending them, "PLEASE CALL DRIVER". I dont think they understood why i sent it. They never did call me in response to it. Why should i sit on hold for 15 minutes to call them when they can call me and not sit on hold?

 

He's busy learning to spell.

 

Im an owner operater and a lot of the bad pay, like the millage rate,it pays $2. and on up there, but the main problem is your haulen it for $1. thats your fault no one elses. If all you owner ops. just say NO, and the brokers cant get that freight move then it puts the ball back to the driver. If I cant get a minnimum of $1.80 I dont move my truck. If ITS NOT OUT THERE THEN i DEAD HEAD HOME. I may take the loss but know one is going to profit off me while I go broke haulen there cheap freight

 

Don't forget your not paid true miles. Your paid on calculated miles based on household mover guides or PC miler. A load of Hazmat freight from Wheeling WV to St Louis for example is route restricted in both Columbus and Indy. Not only will you lose 8-12% miles off the shortest possible route but the restriction add another 50.

544 miles from zip code to zip code (via mapquest Wheeling to St Louis). Household movers guide is 502. Total driven miles is 598 using the loops as required by law (Hazmat load). The trip could be longer depending on what end of Wheeling you start on and what area of St Louis you deliver. The miles rate needs overhaul to if it's the standard we are going to use. Practical isn't good enough, it needs to be hub via the route of shortest distance. Most companies bill that way now so why not pay that way. On that load of Hazmat you are required by law to maintain that load as long as it is in your custody to as well as do checks everytime you stop so I guess you are working in your off time like a security guard. How many High value loads are you required to report on the saftey of cargo in your off time. REEFER REEFER REEFER, all the guys who have driven those know how you got to watch the temp when you stop and contiue to pulp produce and do check calls.

We all know that companies pile on the paper work to. I say I spend 10 hours a week doing scanning, faxing, logs, inspection reports, writeups, company trip reports, expense reports, counting freight, signing BOLs, waiting on BOLs in line, and signing fuel reciepts. Add another 2.5 hours to the fueling time that i don't log because I got to wait in line at a pilot or pay with a comcheck. Add that pretrip that you log at 15 minutes that can't be done in 30 minutes. That's 15 hours worked per week free and most of the time unlogged or logged the very least allowed by law. Tell me one driver who can check in, get bills signed, drop a trailer, and get his empty and get out of the gate in 15 minutes....Pay must be overhauled in trucking. If you own your own truck this doesn't apply to you because your not an employee your a contractor

 

So true ...

It seems as though these mapmakers keep shaving the miles themselves so they can get the most people subscribing to their services ...

Early on I made the realization that most otr companies actually pay 2-3 cents per mile less than advertised due to these bogus calculations.

So you think your making 40cpm - the reality is more like 37 per hub mile (or less on hzmt). (on average)

As far as all the other time, they could easily program their computers to issue a flat rate per customer/fueling/pti etc (wouldn't cover it all- but would be a start) ... but they won't, because the more difficult they make it on the driver to receive reimbursements, the more money they stand to keep - it's a racket.

Just like these outfits that make you submit receipts for tolls ... how much money in tolls do you think their drivers swallow? Due to forgetfulness and outright fraud ... enough to not even consider EZ pass.

I'll stop B4 I go too far off on a tangent - though the biggest joke is still companies that say it's still "your time" when you're "shackled" to the truck and freight on break ...

 

For X, Y and Z reasons we all got into trucking's knowing what the job entailed, when we were going to get paid and some of us how long we were going to be away from home. Yet we all seem to fuss about pay. We as OTR drivers are expected to move 11 hrs a day 7 days a week that's 77 hrs a week that our trucks should be moving. So with that formula we are in violation of our 70 hour work week.

Legally we can "work" 14 hrs a day including drive time for a total 98 hrs a week leaving a 21 hr difference between driving and "work" time. Again not legal. Yet we argue about the bases of how we get paid.

First of all we are paid differently because we do a different sort of job. Nothing about our jobs can be deemed normal. We don't work 24hrs a day (or we are not suppose to). Most of us never do 11 or 14 hour days and that's apparent daily when you pass a truck stop. But we all think we should get paid for 24 hrs of work. Sure we sit at shippers and consignees for hours from time to time and dispatchers and brokers still expect us to turn miles before they get to work in the morning. Is it fair NO but no one forced you to take those keys to that shiny new insert truck here... Again we picked these jobs.

Countless jobs don't have benefits or vacation time, stock options 401k but a lot of you company drivers do. If you get a low CPM there are literally thousands of companies that pay more.. problem is they probably will treat you worse then the lower paying companies will or run you less so you are still in the same position. Small companies sometimes pay better and you get home on weekends.

Instead of saying hey we make less than 7 an hour try looking at your job as if it were a 40 hour week with 20 hours of overtime. You'd be surprised at what your rate per hour actually is. For what it's worth most of us are no better than the salary manager at McDonald's working open to close for 36k a yr. Hours to work they are under paid too. Hell people join the military for less than what an entry level Werner driver makes and they don't ##### half as much and often work more, I wonder why? Probably cause they knew what the signed up for. Plus they can spend months away from home too.

As an owner operator yes I would love Higher paying freight. As a father I would love to be home more. As a driver I can see why one would be upset but as a logical person I took this job knowing what was gonna happen and became an owner operator so I can have the freedom to do what I want. The problem is not that your broke driver. You just don't get to sit at home.

 

I love giving someone the finger when they try to call me a "professional" driver. Any other "professional" jobs are well paying jobs. Truckers are paid like amateurs, and treated like criminals in some cases. You can only stay nice and polite for so long until you wake up one day, and come to the realization that courtesy towards others as a truck driver will never pay off in the end. There will always be ungrateful people that will hate our guts for whatever reason.

Not really a fact, just my opinion based on daily observations of other people such as trucking company office personnel's actions towards truck drivers (not paying drivers for work done, blatant dishonesty, etc), shippers/receivers actions and attitudes towards truck drivers, other truckers on the road and their attitudes and actions towards other truck drivers and motorists, and the general motoring public.

 

I agree! We are treated like the red headed ####### stepchild! !!

 

To Brooklyn,

Your an owner op you got options. Company drivers are really getting screwed right now and salary keeps going down as freight rates according to the ATA keeps rising. But you are right it's not only company truckers who are earning near min wage but those "Salary" guys at fast food places and several other jobs. I have never seen so many people working on 1099s outside of trucking than right now. labor market is real tight and until we change leadership in Washington at all levels and get some confidence back in the markets it's only getting worse.

I got a buddy i went to HS with who is working at the Georgetown KY Toyota plant as a "Quality Inspector" , he like about half of toyota is right now, is employed by third party temp services. He makes $8.75 an hour! He has been there six months to and the guy used to make 50K a year as a real estate agent. My opinion is $8.75 an hour Quailty Inspectors is why Toyota has all those recalls, he is waiting in line for a chance to move to the assembly line where the pay bumps up to $12-15 per hour depending on job and shift. No chance to ever go perm either, after 2-3 years as a temp he has to leave and come back as a temp again after 3 months.

 

No, we can legally "drive" 11 hrs per shift - and "work" 24 hrs straight for all the DOT cares ... just as long as we don't "drive" over the limit and without a break.

We can "work" 100 hrs in a week ... as long as we have a reset or gain hours B4 "driving" again - the regulators don't care.

And that is the essence of this discussion IMO - being paid for our "work" time fairly and adequately ... and with the same wage protections as those McDonalds workers.