Big Retail Exploiting Truck Drivers?

There are threads about this already...

 

"For decades, short-haul truckers at the nation’s ports relied on cheap clunkers to move goods to nearby warehouses and rail yards.

With little up-front investment, drivers – most of them independent contractors who owned their own trucks – could make a decent living squeezing the last miles from dilapidated big rigs that weren’t suited for the open road.

In October 2008, that changed dramatically in southern California, home of the nation’s busiest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach. State officials, fed up with deadly diesel fumes from 16,000 outdated trucks, ordered the entire fleet replaced with new, cleaner rigs.

Suddenly, this obscure but critical collection of trucking companies faced a $2.5 billion crossroads unlike anything experienced at other U.S. ports.

Instead of digging into their own pockets to undo the environmental mess they helped create, the companies found a way to push the cost onto individual drivers..."


Not following the logic in trying to shame the retailers.

The Government of California imposed a huge cost on those moving the freight. Most were independent contractors who owned their own trucks but were unable to purchase new trucks and therefore unable to keep operating.

The companies they pulled for stepped up and financed new trucks for them. They also, apparently, took advantage of these 'truck owners'. That doesn't quite match up with the idea that the companies found a way to push the cost onto the truck owners though. It's not like the companies had old trucks and when faced with replacing them they suddenly forced employees to replace company equipment.

Government created the mess. The companies found a way to fix it and exploited poor truck owners at the same time.

It's a terrible situation but the USA Today slant makes it hard to take their interpretation of it with more than a grain of salt.

 

What CARB did not turn out rainbows ?!? Unicorns were to running in the streets by now ...

 

I still remember the smog above Los Angeles before The CARB rules.
And it took 5 or 6 years for the truck makers to get the emissions systems to work right and be dependable, But looking at how much cleaner the air is now, it was worth it.

 

Still not reliable when brand new trucks have to go into the dealer for emissions problems shortly after being driven off the lot.

 

Knock on wood,but my last 2 new trucks were pretty dependable, I had more issues with the front brake chamber theman with the engine(prostar)

 

The ratio of trucks to cars is spit. Trucks are just a easier target and uninformed general public gives a big hurray!