Why do we let them get away with it? And why doesn't the government protect drivers

It's been that way for years. I figured out along time a go if I was going to stay in this racket it would be the hour. Good luck on your furture endeavours.

 

I don't get paid for sitting at shippers. We get layover pay after 24 hours lol. But our miles are 2900+ aweek so we don't complain too much. And being paid for pti n fuel. Why would they its part of your job as being a driver.

 

A long time ago someone told me that trucking is like being in a crooked poker game and everybody knows it.

 

Here's the dirty little secret in regards to what has been going on in the trucking industry: The big carriers have successfully lobbied Congress (Remember, Congress is made up of only 535 people, mostly guys, to govern 315 Million Americans) to be exempt from any labor laws.
There's your answer.
The only way to fix this problem is for all of us drivers to stop denying that we are all getting screwed and then to be brave enough to do what is necessary; up to and including leaving the industry altogether.

 

Surfer Joe 4 president.

 

No offense....But it's like I tell people who work at Walmart or McD's who act surprised when they don't make enough to support family of 4 and afford the 4 bedroom house on the hill, working at either one....Working in trucking also applies....


Nobody held a gun to anyone's head and forced them to work for Walmart or McD's let alone work for the likes of Swift or CRE.....

How is that most the people who complain getting the shaft on the job spend more time researching that next smartphone or, that next plasma screen, than they do researching a potential employer?

 

Good sir, no offense meant to you either, but we all have to get over this "blame the victim" mentality. It's this type of attitude that keeps us divided; something that we all can ill afford these days.
Truth is, we all need to re-learn how to stand by one another. Perhaps the main reason that we are collectively being manipulated is that so many of us have developed the habit of finding any type of convenient fault with our peers, instead of realizing that the real problem lies with the "fellows" at the top.

 

Ok let me ask you this.


How would you react if a person approached you, handed you a card from a newly created entity that was called .. Lets say .. The "professional truckers association". They say theyre portraying themselves as a kinder, gentler and non-corrupt version of the teamsters. They tell you that instead of sitting around complaining, theyre trying to fix some problems. They're approaching drivers from companies large and small, all across the nation, and asking them the same question.


they just need your vote in organizing an effort to give a little bit of control back to the driver. They want to have a say in government regulation as well as driver compensation. In return, a small portion of your check will be taken to help maintain this entity.


You're not sure how others in your company are going to vote, but if a majority votes yes, you will be able to fix many of these problems. Now, your company might decide to close its doors rather than accept this, so there's a bit of risk involved.


No need to answer here, but what would you say? If you say no, the problem keeps getting worse and will continue to do so. If you say yes, you have a shot. Or, you could simply take surfer joes advice and leave the industry.

 

It's your job as a driver to driver down the road.. Does this mean you shouldn't get paid then??? ..... If it's PART of your job then you should be paid.. Why should anyone work for free??? So you can give your company all that free time where they don't have to pay you.... BS.... Now we all know going into the industry what your getting into, so it's hard to scream about something when you already know going into it this is what the industry is like and it won't be changing anytime soon... On the other hand like I said "no one should work for free" regardless of your job.. PTI'ing your truck is you working for the company, your making sure the truck is safe for the road.. You should be paid for this, otherwise your working for free checking out the truck...

Just because the industry has adapted to not being paid for things like PTI, downtime, loading etc.. doesn't make it RIGHT !!!!!!

When I was OTR I never worried about doing PTI on my own time but it still somewhat bothered me cause I should be getting paid to do it. It's a duty of my job therefore I am working.. It counts towards my daily hours so I should get paid to do it... Think about it this way say it takes an avg of 30mins to do a PTI... Take minimum wage of your area (my area is 10.25cdn in Ontario) so you do say 5 pre-trips a week (lets not forget about the legal post trip inspections as well) so 10 Post and Pre trip inspections a week (min).. So that would equal out to $50/week and $2600/yr that you are taking out of your pocket and putting it into your company's pocket... Just a different way of looking at not getting paid so you see that your actual out quite a bit of money... Oh and remember this is only your Post and Pre Trip inspections, start adding up loading times, break downs etc.. and your talking about well over $4000/yr out of pocket...

So I don't know about you, but I don't like working for free.... If I wanted to work for free, I'd move to a third world country and work in a sweat shop (which that in itself is a disgrace and just wrong)

BTW getting paid my the hour is the way to go.. I get paid for everything (even my lunch time up until recently, union negotiations)

Just my .02cents