Common sense proposal for pay rate of OTR drivers

i make about $29 an hour and im paid by the mile...seems to work out for me. the rest will never be changed. although i would like to see a limit for driving and working hours only 10 hours a day driving with unlimited on duty time and never have to reset. but like you my friend i live in fantasy land. gotta go drive now see ya on the highway!

 

Hourly pay does not work very well for an employee who cant be monitored. Even the big Teamster linehaul outfits (yellow,roadway,ups) pay mileage+hourly pay. As for lease purchase, many drivers have used this pathway to O/O success, I know many companies are less than fair with their lease programs, but shame on anyone who gets involved with any transaction of that magnitude with out doing their homework. A $50 review of the contract, by a lawyer could save one thousands over time.

 

As long as the law does'nt step in and on the drivers side,otr will never pay by the hourly.But I do think it should pay more per mile then what it does.Trainees should get more then an insulting set salary for what they have to go thru and have to put up with.Companies are making a nice profit off trainees as well as drivers.Drivers could be making a nice living if it were'nt for companies hiring more drivers then they have freight which means more sitting for the drivers already employed with this company.But with every driver many of these companies hire means subsidy money.Which explains why companies could care less if you quit and many prefer it that way so they can hurry up and hire another driver for the subsidy.How do you think they can afford all these new trks,trls,elogs ect.Certainly can't do it on the freight pay alone.

 

And yet another proposal that encourages less productivity and discourages high productivity, and removes the incentive to excel, and makes everyone "equal and mediocre" ... welcome to obamaville. Another proposal that makes train transport seem an even more viable option.

 

where is this whoville you live in.

Elogs? get real and get out of my truck.

People get cheap wages because they willingly accept it thinking, "this is all I am worth." Don't like the wage, don't take the job. Supply and demand. You get a cheap company wage because you think you are a cheap company employee.

I have told people I would not work for them straight out because it was too low of a wage. Thank you sir, have a nice day.

If you don't have the means to stand up for yourself, why should you expect others to stand up for you.

 

Yeah, $700 a day for OTR is very good. Unfortunately most of us dont get paid for ALL of the time we are devoting to the job. Unless of course you count that time spent sitting alone in your sleeper 800 miles from home as "your time"... I count "my time" that im not being paid as time i spend at home with my family. The time I spend waiting to reset my 34 while staring at a fuel island or sitting in a coffee shop talking to truck drivers is NOT MY TIME. So if you only want to be paid when you are DRIVING what are you doing with the other 13 hours a day? Most people are teaching their son to throw a ball or taking their wife out to dinner.

 

The primary reason otr drivers are paid by the mile or percentage is due to the lack of oversight that a company can do. Paying by the hour doesn't work for most otr applications. Paying by productivity makes the most sense for both the drivers and the company. It provides an incentive for the driver to work and be productive and it takes away much of the risk for the carrier in paying driver to play video games or sit at a truck stop.

There are more healthy options to eat on the road. It is not always easy, but you can eat healthy on the road, if you so choose. You can get vegetables and fruit at most truck stop restaurants and there are still some independents that have a better menu of food options. You can also buy a refrigerator or cooler and microwave and eat out of the truck more.

You may like elogs, but most of us don't want or need them. The unions and ATA, along with some of their bigger members are the ones who have pushed for elogs. It is a cost that the rest of us don't want or need. I still know how to fill out a paper log. I would prefer to not have logs at all, but we live with what we must. If you use paper logs and get put out of service it is your fault, not the company for whom you work. Elogs make roads more unsafe. Those who use them often push longer than they should in order to make a decent living.

I don't like the lease purchase offered by most carriers, but I also don't want the government to step in and pass yet another law prohibiting free will. I would be willing to bet that 99% of those who get into these lease purchase programs, fail to read the contract. They are then surprised when something comes up that they don't understand or agree. Most carriers will put all the costs and relevant information in the contract. It is up to the one signing the agreement to decide whether they want to sign or not. I don't personally like them, but I am not ready for the government to step in to help get rid of them. We don't need the government to protect us from ourselves.

This is a very competitive industry. If you are not making enough money, then find ways that you can hone your skills or buy a truck and give yourself a raise. Starting out, you won't make top wages. If you are someone who moves around a lot, you will also not be making top wages. You don't need to be paid by the hour if you are a good worker. There are those who are making $200/day or more as a company driver. They don't start out at that rate, but many do earn that much with mileage or percentage pay. In order for a company to justify paying a driver more money, you must find a way to enhance your value to the company. Too many want to be paid a high wage and not give anything in return. I like the idea of incentive pay. With hourly pay, there is little incentive to be productive. All too many would only do the minimum to keep their job.

 

If anyone has worked other jobs on the road like in the construction industry one would understand better how much truckers are screwed. We are big part of the economy and that has to be tightly controlled. Cents per mile is the only way they can keep tight reins. There is so much that can be divided up on a load and unfortunately the driver is on the bottom unless you have your own thing going.