If you are a trucker please read and respond...drivers rights

Some additional stuff I thought of

Logging : If they say LOOSE LEAF or we dont care just match the fuel stop within 30 mins then run.. Guys/ Gals in order to make money out here you should not have to fake a fuel stop within 30 mins etc in order to make money or get 15 minutes further down the road ...

Think about this :

You are involved in an accident (GOD forbid) and they pull your last fuel stop which was within the last hour OK .. They call the vendor Ie.. Pilot Petro etc ... doesnt matter whom its is also doesnt matter if you are on recieptless fueling ( you think there is no record of it)
They match your reciept EXCACT TIME to where you are and determine you should not have been there YOU ARE AT FAULT ..

These companies are not going to back you up nor go to bat for you They will say they had no control over it
They pretend to benefit you by the 30 min fuel stop etc for auditing purposes but bascally you run harder and farther for them and keep their revenue per mile up per unit for them

Whats their inspection ratio at scales ..... Prepass or not ....


I made 69,K plus at walmart my last year running 100% LEGAL no varience and in some cases shutting down 45 miutes to 1 hour early due to no safe place to shut down and home EVERY WEEK .

The key is STRICTLY MILEAGE pay is not where it is it is acessory pay such as

Drop , Hook, Berth, Hourly, Fuel, Delay, Unload, Load, Wash, Layover, etc which compensate you for lost mileage not forcing you to RUN, RUN, RUN, it is the driver that pushes them selves to the limit that you find in the MEDIAN not the 100% compliant driver 8 times out of 10 (accidents do happen)

Companies that boast 70 mph trucks or 75 to intise drivers just goes to show you its a RUN, RUN , RUN world out there .

MILES is not not all you have to worry about ...

Most weeks at Walmart I did the following

1. 1800 to 2000 miles per week # 43.75 roughly ($880.00 per week)
2. 5 SLEEPER BERTHS # $42.00 per night = ($210.00)
3. 10 drops # 8.50 ea = ($85.00)
4. 10 hooks # 6.75 ea = (67.00)
5. delay at stores 14.00 per hr ( bout 3 hrs per week) ($32.00)
6. Fuel pay # 15 mins per ($14.00)

So on average for 2000 miles roughly $1,200 per week
some weeks b etter than others depending on drop and hooks and if you decided to get a 6th sleeper berth maybe an additional 100/ 200 miles
my best week at walmart was $1775.00 gross 6 days
2600 miles

Average driver on basic mileage of 0.40 cpm

to get $1200 has to run 3000 miles or 600 per day doable if freight is there but to get $1500 that increases to what almost 3700 miles ..

See the math not in your favor

Keep in mind this also to do this I only had to do the following

• Shower every day
• Run during the day
• Sleep at nite
• take a 10 hr break
• eat 3 meals a day
• take 2 /15 min breaks
• RUN LEGAL

If we all stick together we can get the companies to pay us like the premire companies do but QUESTION is will we stick together ?

No need to be a TRUCK STOP COWBOY we are all in this to make a living for our familes etc. Lets do the right thing stand up for your own prsonal morales and those of your fellow drivers and we can make this happen

Be SAFE first and foremost ..

 

You can get things removed from your DAC ..

The key is this ,

Document everything you do (journal kinda) when you turn in your equipment make someone sign for it and list your equipment turned in and that it was in working order ..

• Not wrecked
• locks
• books
• uniforms

all accounted for ...

If you have a signature from an employee whom works for the company doent matter who it is mechanic, dispatcher, janator, etc you can submit this to DAC and it WILL be removed ...

Also when you have equipment return sheet if you have a trailer have them inspect it was empty and in good condition and if BOBTAILED have that documented also

If you have a problem with a dispatcher over the QUALCOM take pictures of the screen these can be submitted also to DAC

Once you file a rebuttal to remove a file from the DAC or have it changed when you submit your claim and documents suporting the claim DAC will submit to the company in which then only has 30 days to rebute the claim or it is fixed ..

If they rebute the claim then you must have more supporting documents to support their rebuttal . but 9 out of 10 times when you are right you are right and it will be fixed .

I have had things removed from my DAC with no problems keep in mind you must have things to support claim and it takes 30 days at least up to 45 days to get changed it is not an automatic fix. kind of like a credit report .

NEVER TAKE A LOADED TRAILER TO ANY YARD UNLESS YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF THE QUALCOM MESSAGE STATING THIS AND GET A COPY OF THE BILLS FOR THE LOAD ETC ..
Have it signed trailer is loaded at return of equipment
load #
time / date
location

COPY OF THE BILLS (important)

get all this info for you have to be 100% accurate ...

PICTURES of equipment returned never hurts either ...

 

Superior Carriers also pays

$20.00 to cross border (1st hour then on clock) no cap

from time you stop in line not from time you get to agents at border

paid each way in and out ...

also they only go to CANADA with a PAR so documents are scaned with barcode

 

You need to show proof ATA and others are only interested in profit , not safety . ATA keeps pushing for speed limiters but read this article published before ATA filed the Speed Limiter Petition . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/national/27safety.html?_r=1 . What is the real reason ATA wants speed limiters on trucks ? http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=56699 . Note the comment "If a guy speeds , it's a competitive advantage . " Now tell me . Whose trucks do you see speeding most in construction zones and 55 m.p.h. zones ? The ones I see most belong to ATA carriers that signed the Speed Limiter Petition - U.S. Xpress and Schneider mostly . In my opinion the safest drivers are the most experienced drivers . To keep experienced drivers you have to give them good pay , good miles , and good equipment . Here is part of a conversation between Chris Lofgren CEO of Schneider and Senator Defazio during a House Transportation Committee Hearing .

Mr. Lofgren. Let's understand and let's go back. From the
point of deregulation, in real terms, the real wage of drivers
in the truckload industry is less than they were making in
1980. And the reason is that competition.
The other side is that driver pay is our number one cost.
If you are going to increase the number one cost to roughly
almost 40 percent to start to achieve some of the wages that I
know people can get when they drive for Wal-Mart, those costs
have to be recovered. And that has been part of the challenge
with the industry, is that people haven't been willing to cover
those costs.
So driver pay is our number one cost. It hasn't changed in
real terms since 1980; it is actually less. So we fundamentally
think it is an issue but, as a private industry, we have to be
able to recover the industry in that cost, and the market has
not allowed us to do it.
Mr. DeFazio. Well, I guess I am puzzled by the market. If
everybody is confronted with the same situation that you are,
has to deal with the same labor pool that you do, real wages
are down for drivers except at Wal-Mart and maybe some other
major firms, the other companies must be having the same
problems you are.
Mr. Lofgren. They absolutely do. And so it is--
Mr. DeFazio. Okay. So then perhaps--so you are saying your
solution is we import cheap labor. How about we start paying
people more and the competitive market just drives everybody in
that direction? Because if we don't open the door to a flood of
immigrants who will work for less, then maybe everybody is
going to have to raise their wages and you won't be at a
competitive disadvantage.

So Lofgren clearly states Schneider wants to keep wages at a minimum level and wanted immigration laws eased to bring in thousands of immigrant workers . Defazio and others weren't having any of it . ATA was very disappointed Bush didn't get his Guest Worker Bill approved . So never mind the recruiter wage promises . The Schneider CEO testified their wages are lower than they were in the 80's and 40% less than WalMart and other carriers pay .

 

this may seem dumb...

But I would be willing to bet that BILL O'REALLY
would be willing to put something about this on the FACTOR anyone with any insight to the FACTOR show could email him a link to this thread and maybe some of his producers or BILL himself would take intrest in this topic and shed some light on it.

Just a thought ..

I agree the national trucking pubs / ATA will not shed anylight on this their biggest customer base is the trucking companies . The ones we state here the BAD ones no one really ever tells stories about the REALLY GOOD COMPANIES .

Challenge to all Drivers

If you drive for a company that pays drivers not only mileage pay and does not cap things like layover etc list them here .

I am going to start a thread on Superior Carriers to show you progrss will report on it for fellow drivers . I am not a student so will give an experienced driver approach to it .

 

That's one of the best ideas i've heard. Force the companies to be more efficient in load planning and in hiring. I think it's total bull crap that a driver is only paid while he's moving.

As long as your away from home, you're working. How many people do you think would stay at a job if there were weeks when you might not get paid for 3 days or so? No one!

Attention media: STOP TRYING TO CONVINCE EVERYONE WE'RE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR A CHANGE. TAKE UP THIS CAUSE!

 

Thanks, for the very informative information. I am getting my CDL soon, and I don't have a clue as to what question to ask these company's

 

Get a hold of Glenn Beck.He's for the truck driving industry.he has a radio program and is also on Fox News.Helluva guy he is.I'm tellin ya.Make sure a copy of your report gets to his office.He's the most likely to give a crap about us and say something about it.

 

the rates you quoted are what they were 15 years ago perhaps we should at leas go to rates that are adjusted for inflation

 

I love Glenn Beck, and listen to him everyday. I haven't ever heard him say anything specifically about the trucking industry, but I wouldn't be surprised if what you say is true. Have you ever heard him speak on the subject?

Anyway, thanks for you comment.

Andrew