Per diem or no per diem

I opted OUT of per diam during orientation at Knight years ago. It took about a month to get off of it. You need to keep after them to get out of it. As was already mentioned....isn't it classy of them to CHARGE you money to get YOUR money? I can think of nothing more "INYOFACE sucker" than that.

 

They do not charge you to be on per diem. Show me one case where a Knight driver has been charged to be on per diem?

Now if you are all ready to pop tall like I know DNA is let me give a example. NO place will you see on any pay statement showing Knight payed a driver .33 per mile then subtracts .02 and then pays out .20 per mile and .11 in per diem. For a total .31 per mile

This is what the statement will read, .20 mileage pay and .11 per diem for a total of .31

You see they pay .02 per mile LESS to be on per diem, they do not pay you then subtract it off your pay.

It's the same concept as a driver saying they get trained by the company for free when they start out 2 cents less per mile then the drivers who paid on their own. Your still paying 2 cents per mile to be trained so it ain't free. But the company can claim free training. And the numbty newbie thinks they got trained for free.

Now if you want to start at 2 cents less (not pay for) to get a little xtra each week, go for it. But it has already been pointed out that in most cases being on Knights perdiem only benefits Knight.

 

If you opted out in orientation then it would be a violation of labor laws to be put on per diem after opting out. And you should of resigned in haste and filed a grievance with labor and industry's Me thinks you got suckered during your glee of successful employment and did not opt out till after orientation. Now I hear a required per diem for 3 months in probation before you can opt out via a signed document by term mng is required.

 

I opted out in orientation and was put into it like I said above. JB Hunt brought per diam on a large scale to trucking in 2003 and this subject has been beat silly ever since. Me thinks its amazing that you think a company like Knight is all fair n square and believes the rules applies to them.

 

I also opted OUT but was automatically put on it every year thereafter and had to fight to be taken off with a form and 3 high-lvl (DM/Fleet Mgr/Div Mgr) signatures. I gave up the fight the last year there as I was planning on leaving....

General Rule: "If something is good for Knight then it's usually bad for the driver"...Knight is a bottom line business looking after their shareholders 1st!

 

I heard Kevin Rutherford once say about Knight and Heartland, "They have making money off trucking down to a science. I'd love to own there stock but that doesn't mean I'd be happy cashing a paycheck from them."

The man got that one right.

 

And, as long as there are ppl out there willing to pay for a CDL and be newbie drivers, the 'shortage' of drivers, you keep hearing about, will always just be temporary....

[similar to all fast food places having a "Help Wanted" sign permanently PAINTED/ENGRAVED in their windows!]

 

So basically you are saying that in order to take advantage of a program that saves the company money (the matching taxes on this amount) you have to take a pay CUT! I think that statement is much WORSE than saying they are charging you to administer the program and basically charging the driver to pay them and to give themselves a tax break. So I will modify my statement to say that any company that cuts your pay to give themselves a tax break is exploiting their drivers!

 

You may not ever collect social security retirement,

but what about social security disability ??

is that reduced by per diem also ?

 

check this article out!
Truck Driver Detention time

The Federal Government currently has approximately 4.1 million employees with an average annual salary of $78,500. This figure would work out to be about $37.74 per hour.
If each employee would work one hour a day for free, this would save the government $154,734,000 in salaries paid, per day, $3,094,680,000 per week and $160,923,360,000 per year; quite a hefty sum that could go toward paying off the U.S. National Debt.
Perhaps the government should look at asking their employees to work for free, just one hour a day?
Of course, this will never happen, yet the large majority of professional truck drivers are required to do this, at minimum, every day. In fact, truck drivers can easily provide several hours of work, per week, for free. Based on contracts that motor carriers have with shippers and/or receivers of freight, the driver is required to provide the first hour of “waiting time” at no pay.
After the first hour, most are supposed to begin receiving at minimum, about $15.00 per hour; still, most drivers will not see this pay either. Local drivers are not exempt from this as well. A local driver can load 3-4 times per day, with each load requiring the one hour wait time, racking up 15-20 hours per week of “free time.” It is all intertwined within the debacle that is known as “detention time.”
Take for instance, a motor carrier with 3,000 drivers. Each driver gives up one hour per week, no pay. This saves the motor carrier $45,000 per week in driver pay, $2,340,000 per year. Professional truckers, especially long-haul drivers, can very often spend several hours per week due to “waiting time.”
With 3,000 drivers giving up five work hours per week to the carrier, the company could now see a savings in driver pay for $225,000 per week, $11,700,000 per year. Rough figures of course, but you get the point; with thousands of motor carriers employing millions of drivers, there are big money savings for the carrier due to the detention time agreements. Every day, drivers provide hours of work for free to the carrier, while the company still retains payment from the shipper or carrier.
House bill, H.R. 756 – Driver Detention Time, was introduced by Congressman Peter DeFazio on February 17, 2011. The purpose of the bill was clear:
“to direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe standards for the maximum number of hours that an operator of a commercial motor vehicle may be reasonably detained by a shipper or receiver, and for other purposes.”
Furthermore, Section 14103 of title 49, U.S.C. is amended by adding language that “prohibits a shipper or receiver from detaining a person that operates a commercial motor vehicle without providing compensation for time detained beyond the maximum number of hours” that the Secretary determines, by regulation.
Legislative bills that will directly affect truck drivers in a positive way, are most often set aside; such is the case in H.R. 756. Todd Dills, Senior Editor of Overdrive magazine who also oversees his Channel 19 blog, reports that the bill is “getting close,” but if anything happens, it “might be 2015 before it’s done.”
For now anyway, truckers will continue providing labor hours for free, unlike any other industry in the nation.

© 2013, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.​