Breaking the Industry

It was fun!
Leave it to our goobermint to screw up a good thing!!!

That's why politicians prefer to be on the bottom during sex.
They can only F*** UP!!!

 

They can unload you as they please, based on how they stock their space. JIT is a particular problem, it comes in and has to be prepped to be shipped immediately. That is the issue with Grocery Warehouses, they break down the shipment to the pallet of the store that it's going to.

This is a push. There is no middle ground. No one shipper or receiver is going to give you safe haven on your out of hours elog. Get used to that. You can go somewhere, and your company can jack the elog entry. Ask Warner! (weiner? wayner?worner? weiner wagon?)

Oh, gee. They don't care about us. Waaa.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!!!!!

 

Except that wouldn't be a drivers' market. A drivers' market would be one in which drivers demand and get better pay and benefits. If--if!--the HOS proposal leads to a need for more drivers, pay will not go up.

Actually, I'm not sure that trucking, at least in the U.S., has ever seen a drivers' market.

 

Most of the drivers who are overweight were "overweight" before they got into trucking.
Me? I had retained the same 170 lbs from the time I got out of High School (1973) up until 2006, when I quit trucking to work on the Gulf Coast after Katrina/Rita. I seriously think it was the rich Cajun food I was eating.
I haven't been able to shed the extra 40 pounds I put on in NOLA, truthfully, it looks good on me.
And I eat one good meal a day, sometimes I eat a bowl of cold cereal for b'fast.
Snacks? Seldom do, once in awhile I'll eat non-fattening snacks in moderation.

If you aren't getting paid what you think you're worth......whose fault is that? Not the industries'.
Truckers aren't exempt from "labor laws".....I don't know who told you that bunch of bullshizmet.

You think we should get paid "actual" miles??
So, if you miss your exit and have to drive an extra 15 miles to correct YOUR error, you should get paid for that?

 

In 1978 I was making 32 cpm hauling oly beer with full benefits. Do you really think our wages will ever come back to where they should be? Col should put us around 64 cpm and 28dollars an hour. I can't hold my breath that long

 

I see now, said the blind man.... I have been against the drivers wanting to stop the clock since I heard about it, thinking they were just being lazy and some probably are. I see here that you are actually running non stop. I assume you go home everyday and on the weekend? I can see than why you are asking for a break in time but what is the cause of you running so hard everyday?

SheepDog

 

Part of the problem with those here that think they are not getting paid for their time at docks and what not... is themselves.

If you are not getting paid for your time, then why are you pulling for whoever you are pulling for? I consistently get paid for detention. One receiver I went in to a while back, I needed a break anyway when I got there, and since they couldn't unload me for almost 11 hrs, I took the break I needed anyway. Along with that though, I got paid $375 for having to sit there that long. I rarely sit for anything more than a couple of hours, but when I do have to go beyond that, I get paid for it in all but a few cases. The few times I have gotten delayed at a shipper/Recv is not totally wasted... I get online and check email, catch up my financial books, do a little housekeeping on the truck, etc.

If the carrier you are with isn't going to pay you for this time, then why are you there? If the customer is not going to pay it, then why do you pull their freight? You all want the nanny government come to your rescue, when you are just as much of the problem as the shpr/recvr. There is no one on this forum or anywhere else that is forced to do anything. No one grabbed you by some body part and forced you to drive or pull for any carrier. I get paid for my time on a regular basis, and I don't haul for shprs/recvs that are going to take advantage of me. And yes, there are a lot of darn good customers out there that do not take advantage of the driver. Sometimes the customer is not at fault in that maybe they are short staffed that day due to employees out sick. It is not a perfect world. So many talk about truck strikes and whatever to get what they want. I do it all the time in that I refuse to haul to many customers or locations. If it is going to cost me to haul it, I don't do it. True, a company driver doesn't have that kind of flexibility, but they do not have to allow themselves to be abused by a carrier. Just clean out the truck and go elsewhere.

Instead of having the nanny state fight your battles for you, take it upon yourself to do it. If you are not making a living in trucking, get out. If you are being taken advantage of beyond any normal way, then quit. I have gotten the rotten treatment at a shipper before... I just turned the truck around and left. Did that to Ralston/Purina in Lawrence, KS after a yard driver said a derogatory comment about my wife who was riding with me that day. I had no problem with going back inside and telling the shipper to stuff their load and I left. Arranged another load in a few minutes and drove on.

Maybe several years as a Scout in the Army Cavalry made me a little more up front on some issues, but there is no reason that anyone else can't stand up and put it on the line when it counts. Cry, whine, and bellyache or stand up, ruck up, and move out. I don't want government to come to my rescue, they never really do a good job of it and usually mess things up more.

 

Drivers are paid what they are worth, for the most part. Wages might come up were it not for some of the "shrink" as retailers like to say. Having owned trucks and had drivers working for me for years, I can tell you one thing that cost carriers and drivers millions of dollars per year. Some drivers will steal from their carriers. They will sell fuel, sell equipment and even carry a load that a shipper or broker will pay them direct without the carrier knowing what is going on. Some will go out of route with their equipment, take joy rides to see the sights, all at the expense of their carrier. Those things cost carriers money. The more a carrier must pay in operating costs, the less money that is available for raises. Next time you hear someone selling fuel on the radio for a cheap price, consider that he is most likely selling the carrier's fuel. He is stealing and if you buy that fuel you are also stealing. The next time you hear someone selling chains, binders or other equipment off his trailer, assume that he is selling equipment that doesn't belong to him. Rather than complain, get the truck number and call the carrier. Take a picture of him selling fuel or equipment and send it to his carrier. When fuel or equipment is stolen by drivers it must be replaced. That takes away money for raises.

These EOBR's are being pushed for a few major carriers to help force shippers to pay for detention. Rather than either charging shippers for wasting their time and that of their drivers, they want to use technology and the government to do what they should be doing themselves. Most carriers will pay drivers detention if they collect it from the shipper. I once had a shipper have me sit for 6 hours for no good reason other than the loader didn't want to work. That was several years ago and I have not been back to that shipper since. They were supposed to have paid me detention. I am still waiting for that check.

 

Something I think many of you may not be considering is the total, complete change in the attitude and business strategy towards warehousing. Back in the day, a store ordered stuff as they needed, had problems with items being in stock or on back order (popular products), and things were shipped from large by huge warehouses.

Since the SKU system fully went into effect, our trucks are now in place of huge warehouses, saving companies millions of dollars since they don't have to have a gillion of a certain box of product... just whatever they need at the time, as dictated by the SKU inventory system.

Saves money for the owners of the product and the people receiving said product, but we're tied up in the middle...especially when it comes to groceries. Most grocery orders require making space by loading outgoing (their company/local trucks) trucks with the stuff that comes off your truck, with little space on hand for overflow.

PITA.

<< Several years in retail.