laws governing hourly trucking jobs VS. other hourly jobs

some more questions about some of the things this outfit does. he requires the driver washes their own truck once a week. ok, i dont really have a problem with that, what i do have a problem with is the separate wage he pays. upon arrival back at the yard on friday your pay stops (actually it stops the everyday you come back), you get one flat hour of pay to wash the truck, if you have to wait an hour for the hose to get freed up NO PAY for waiting in line to wash. he pays me $15.50 to drive and only $12 for that flat hour of pay to wash the truck. if it takes 2 hours to wash because there is 3 or 4 trucks ahead of me that $12 is a joke. he literally breaks the pay down on the pay stub. $15.50 of all the driving hours and 1 hour at $12. is he permitted by law to pay a separate wage to wash trucks? my belief is that all hours should be paid at the same rate. is he violating wage laws?

today he called me and told me that i had to buy PPE. the previous driver left a hard hat, yellow vest, gloves, and a sprayer on the truck. today he called me and asked me if i had those things and i said they were already on the truck and i dont know where they came from. apparently he buys NOTHING. i guess i can use what's already there BUT he expects drivers to furnish their own PPE. i looked it up according OSHA requires that the employer purchase all required PPE for hourly wage employees. i believe him requiring ALL hourly employees to purchase these items is in violation of OSHA and that HE is supposed to acquire these items. the only two things he tell me i am on my own would be the sprayer and non-specific shoes as they are not considered PPE items.

are freebies allowed in hourly trucking jobs? no pay for pre-trip, post trip, fueling, paperwork, ect. i have spoken with a former employee and he said that the owner was sued and lost on several occasions for unpaid time. he used to require washing the truck and didnt pay anything for it.

are hourly trucking jobs somehow governed different then other industries, i dont believe so.

 

union LOL i wish. more like labor board and inquire but not take action yet. i believe he is in violation of the law. i hear allot of people bash unions but i wish for once in my life i could work for a union company regardless of industry. unions have their place

 

if he paid the same wage for driving AND washing the truck i really wouldn't care to much about that. washing the truck is not a big deal, not being paid properly is the problem.

he also had me come in on a slow day to help him install a radiator in a truck, yes he paid me the same hourly wage as driving. i am mechanically inclined and do all of my own auto repairs so i really wasnt out of my element helping him. however the last time i checked i was hired as a driver not as a mechanic.

it appears to me like he is just getting very wealthy off the drivers and cheapening up more makes him even more wealthy. i did not agree to buy any of this stuff and only said it was already on the truck.

if he now knows that i didnt buy those items and removes them from the truck i am not spending MY money on things he is legally obligated to buy. it's not like $15.50 is a good wage for the responsibility of driving a CMV to begin with.

it smells like allot of dishonesty and usery and i don't like it much.

add to this him saying the driver with the MOST loads at the end of the day WINS. he encourages risk taking and reckless behavior or he wouldn't say that. the driver that completes every day without an accident, without a ticket, and loads delivered as efficiently as possible are the drivers that win.

i have 7 months of MVR experience, there is a reason he so quickly hired me. i dont think he has a great reputation most experienced drivers will run away i think. i think im going to be looking for something else for a comparable wage or perhaps more money. no way is this a place to want to work long term.

 

one think i don't like about the truck washing thing. he doesn't allow you to use a brush to he expects you to stand on the rubber hood mounts and use a hand sponge to clean the roof. i was looking for something to hold onto, i kind of broke one of the antennas. im sorry i dont have 8 foot arms. i went to walmart and bought a long reach terry cloth washing thing, its basically the same thing that use by hand but mounted on a pole. i intend on using it OR he can get up there and do it himself. its a microfiber so it wont scratch his precious paint.

his claim that a brush will scratch the paint and he obviously doesn't care where or HOW the driver has to stand to get it clean. i fall and break bones i wont be able to drive anymore. as it is i will still have to stand on the valve cover.

its kind of stupid anyways because a car wash brush is specifically designed to be soft enough to NOT damage paint.

 

yes he pays overtime i wouldnt do it all. if i run my butt off and work 50+ hours i do OK but not great.