Why do drivers have to accept freebies

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by ad356, Dec 3, 2017.

  1. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    so you're on a rotating schedule with two routes.

    You make $1000 a week with that schedule.

    You're paid to wait because you are paid by the route, not by the hour.

    A lot of other jobs will pay you for that wait time but locally you won't make $1000 a week.
     
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  3. ad356

    ad356 Road Train Member

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    I have had my cdl about a year with 6 months of that driving dump truck, I'm going to stick with this for a while and gain needed tractor trailer experience. Heck it's also tanker. The rural route is nice. If I sit at a plant more then two hours I get suplimental but the plant knows this and they will make sure you sit exactly two hours.

    Too those who say I should have never taken it, your options are limited with only having a cdl 1 year.

    I know otr drivers putg up with the same crap, really no one should work for free.
     
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  4. Dick Danger

    Dick Danger Medium Load Member

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    I get paid from the time I log on to the time I log out, minus the 30 minute break if I have to take it. When I reach 8 hours I get OT.

    Why you people keep rationalizing unpaid time is beyond me.

    In the summer I regularly hit my 70. I don't like working that much but 30 hours of OT makes for a nice check.

    What if the company paid you for everything you actually did and you made more? Would that be a bad thing?
     
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  5. ad356

    ad356 Road Train Member

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    The plant is not always part of the route, thank God. My day usually consists of taking any empty to two farms, taking it back to the yard doing a drop and hook grabbing another empty taking it to two or 3 farms depending upon which day of the rotation, then take that back to the yard. If the load goes to o-at-ka, then I have to take it there, all bets are off when do that. Yesterday I spent 4 hours there.

    I average about 60 hours per week, which calculates out to $16-$17 per hour, with no overtime rate.

    I keep seeing various news reports of driver shortages. Gee I wonder why. It's self inflicted, I bet there are a ton of people that hold a cdl that are working in factories and other occupations.

    Why is it wrong to not want pay for ALL of my time? It's not my fault the plant is backed up, not my fault the farmer isn't done milking. These entities should be paying my boss, and he should turn around and pay me for sitting.

    I say this should happen if any driver sits more then 15 minutes, I bet we won't sit anymore. I get to the farms nearly the same time everyday.
     
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  6. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    I feel your anguish, but the world doesn't work like clockwork, especially in the trucking biz. Again, you want to get paid for every minute, I suggest a factory, or dock work, or drive by the hour. You'd be amazed at how these places change their tune when they find out you are hourly.
     
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  7. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    Its even more silly in a case like this where you are paid by the load and doing the exact same loads week in and week out. If the boys caked it salary instead of by the load they would still whine about not being paid to fuel.
     
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  8. ShooterK2

    ShooterK2 Road Train Member

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    Try to understand what I'm saying: if I get paid mileage, and you get paid hourly. We both put in the SAME amount of work and waiting in a week, and our checks are the SAME amount, am I "rationalizing unpaid time"?

    We both put in the same amount of hours for the same pay. It's just broken down differently, which makes no difference to me. It's exactly like I said, if your weekly pay is worth the hours you put in, then great. If it ain't, then move on.

    This doesn't have to be so difficult.
     
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  9. SlowPoke44magnum

    SlowPoke44magnum Medium Load Member

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    Why a lot of drivers don't get paid for everything they do is a question that's been asked for decades. The answer is really quite simple, those that came before us accepted it and we've continued to accept it. I don't see it changing anytime soon either.
    Even IF OTR companies would pay by the hour or some other type of pay you for all your on duty time, does anyone really believe they'd increase your pay? I don't. I believe they would just lower the mileage rate, cut miles, etc. to make sure their payroll stays the same.
    I'm hourly and wouldn't work for run pay, mileage pay, percentage pay, or any other "incentivized" pay structure ever again. Sure when the world is working perfectly your "hourly" pay seems pretty good, but, this is trucking and we all know things rarely work that way.
    So you have to make a choice, stick with mileage/percentage/run pay or change jobs to get hourly pay.
     
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  10. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    Otr drivers dont work for free. road side inspectionsn Pre trips, post trips and fueling, plus the occasional long wait time is built into the mileage pay.
     
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  11. SlowPoke44magnum

    SlowPoke44magnum Medium Load Member

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    I believe this is the misconception a lot of drivers have. "If I get paid for everything I do I'll make more money." This is usually never the case save for a few union and non-union high paying LTL jobs. Many times driver's take a pay cut in the end when they go to hourly pay.
     
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