NY Times article The Trouble with Trucking

I like the way you Talk 'attention to detail !'

Its not the detail of the job, that makes it difficult. Its 'the sacrifice' of OTR life that makes it hard! (harder than most, and that's why the turn-over rate is 99%).

Local trucking jobs, don't have 'nearly' the turn-over rate as OTR.

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No my friend, when you are 'Brain-washed' you don't have a choice. At that point, your mind has become a prisoner of its own deception. ONCE YOU control someone's mind, you control everything (there is no room for critical thinking).

Just ask the Nazi's (if you need more proof).

 

How is brainwashing done? Through television? "Social" media?

 

TO EVERYONE;

I got a Problem. My Problem is 'I'm AN American.' 3rd Generation.

Agreed; Mr Oliveria should have been told by friend or fellow Trucker 'not sign that ##### agreement.' Its unfair agreement and you'll be screwed over.' But alas, he signed.

I'm an 3rd Generation American from working Class Family. We worked for lots of corporations but some were able to start and run their own business. BUT MY HEART is with the American Worker (Truckers, nurses, programmers, etc), and i hear the same story 'through-out' all the labor forces in this country; if you let them, CORPS will RUN American Workers 'INTO DUST!' (Study labor laws from history).

Mr. Oliveira judgment at the time he signed was 'not good.'

But What happened to Mr. Olivera, happens to many Truckers (to many). My guess is that Mr. Oliveira had dreams of doing better than his $700 paycheck, for being away from his family for 5-6 weeks. He was tired and looking to do better. He was looking for a 'way out.' AND, WHEN some 'con-artist' recruiter came along and said 'Hey boy, what are you doing? You could be making 2 times the money by being a "LO!" You could be putting more money on the table for your kids and calling your own shots and making your own schedules yada-yada.' Sign here, and well get you setup to be 'Your Own Boss!' AT THAT POINT, he thinks about his wife/kids back home (litte Tommy needs braces and little Lisa needs better clothes---and he sure would like to see them grow up while he can----he's gotta do better than what he's doing now)....So he signs (not knowing, he just signed a Deal with the Devil).

Being Stoopid? Man, 'the poor are usually stoopid.' (lets be real) They got dealt a ####ty hand and are 'doing the best they can.' LETS FACE IT, there's a lot better ways to make a living than being in a 6 ft box 70hrs a week OTR, and driving so-hard that your body gives out and too tired to even see or think straight.

Very FEW set-out in HS to become Truckers. Most everyone on this board wishes they had done something different, made a different choice, turned left instead of right. But That's life....we all make stupid choices (be it women, career, getting in trouble, etc). Part of being human is 'making mistakes.'

THE POINT; Our gov. is supposed to protect us from Criminals and Corporations that violate our Human Rights (IF YOU don't agree that Americans deserve a better way of life, well, perhaps you should go live in another country that doesn't CARE about its workers either).

CORPORATOCRACY

Laws are made to protect society from decaying from within. NO LAW?; Anarchy arises (you like that idea)? What happens to countries where the law is 'Unfair or Corrupt?; ANSWER; Anarchy AND Revolution (study your history).

BUT GOV. is not protecting ppl from Corps that take advantage of the poor. IF you let them, Corps would gladly bring back the 'day's of Human Slavery to meet production levels. There was a time when it was 'legal' to hire 'children' to work 10-12hr shifts in factories. (not too long ago).

You think the Corps who owned these factories 'cared' about workers? You never studied 'class struggle?' Have you 'seen' what corporations do their Citizens in 'China' (why do you think 3 world people risk their life's to come here)?

The LO laws are not fair to American Truckers. And they are illegal.

You for COROPOTACY? (you think its ok to let foreigners into our country to drive down our standard of living?) Computer programmers, nurses, competing in our country against YOU? You need to make $20-$25hr) just to pay your bills as an American??

Similar laws are on the books to protect Americans from Swindlers, RE Hucksters, Pension Fund administrators, etc; all of which have a History of 'Swindling American Workers!' DON'T you think that laws should exist to protect Truckers from being Swindled by Giant companies who (once have you tied up in an exclusive contract) now turn around and say 'hey, you can't run for anyone else, you gotta wait til we get your next load. Sit at the Truck Stop in Memphis and wait till be call you.'

NAH...that's BS.

Did Mr. Oliveria sign a bad deal? Yes he did. Should he be taken advantage by 'unfair trade practices' which enforce that agreement?' ANSWER; Emphatically NO!


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Thank you for that. Although I don’t ride much street anymore, have transitioned more to dirt, this is true.
I won’t let a company, man, or union dictate how I live my life.
Your enslaved by a company? A union would make your life better? How? A little bit better pay you think?some bennies?? Security???
You sure?
Way I see it, a union man is a slave with 2 masters.

 

Not all Unions are good. Many are worthless. Too much power corrupts absolutely. We've swung so far the other way, Americans have been brain-washed to think that Corps have their best interest at heart. Corps have circumvented Visa laws and now allow almost anyone with an H1B visa to work here. Corps have circumvented and made ' impotent' the possibility of any power that Unions might have had. UNLESS, they are organized and ARE NEEDED, Labor has little power against 'The Laws that protect Corps for exploitation.'

We are heading into a new age. The Chinese have moved passed us (way past us). The Chinese have developed 'quantum computers' which will further lead them ahead of the world. Their middle class will continue to rise and their manufacturing is 2nd to none. There will come a point when 'they don't need the American Consumer...' and then where will we be? Where will your kids be?

The Chinese, Unfortunately, devour low level workers into dust (truck drivers included). Have you ever seen the sheer number of Truck Drivers in China?

American ##### politicians have sold us out to lobbyists who represent 'corporations' that don't have your best interest at heart. They could give a Rat's arse about your family and their needs.

CORPORATOCRACY

Life is not easy, will never be. We grow old, get sick, decay and then die (hopefully we pass in our sleep).

But the American worker deserves some joy in his life (i think). AT LEAST, not to be taken advantaged of by some 'blood sucking company' and then 'cheered on' by the very workers they exploit (just read some of the comments on this thread).

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Everyone can move if they're faced with the choice of relocating, or slaving at a job that doesn't earn them enough to provide their family with the necessities.

 

You took the bait hook line n sinker.


If you need the government to help you because you signed a contract you didn't read.... what problem will you need their help with next?


Believing all that socialist propoganda is a choice you're making. People are laughing at you for the rhetoric you're repeating.

 

No my friend, (i wish it were true) but not 'everyone' can move to N.Dakota and take a job in the Bakin. Some of us are too old or can't handle that kinda cold. Some can't drive on Ice, Some can't drive in snow, some can't do 'flatbed' because they are LIMITED. Tony Robbins is wrong. You can't have everything...

'a man's got to know his limitations!' ~Clint Eastwood

Sure, 'Some can' pack up, sell everything off (in theory) and move to a place where there's better opportunity. But then there's 'the wife, the kids, the relatives' local obligations etc.

Not 'everyone' can get up and move!

 

No offense meant, but YOU are part of the PROBLEM, not the solution. Your solution only fuels the problem. Write this down, and ponder over this for a bit:

The very First step of Control is RESPONSIBILITY. In order to be in control of your own life, you must first BE RESPONSIBLE for your own life.

If you are holding someone else responsible for your failure, you are signing over control of your life. Does Mr Oliviera want to be in control of his life? He does? Did Mr Oliviera choose to sign a LP deal with Prime? Did he sign an operating contract or does someone else have power of attorney over him? Did Prime, in the operating contract, explain what he would have to pay and how he would be compensated for loads?

"But Six, that does not give them the right to take advantage of Mr Oliveria."

If you work for a US based company and you go trucking through Canada, where the HOS is different, signs are different and money system is different, whose responsibility is it to be able to understand the Canadian rules and regs? Since they are going to hold you, the driver as the responsible party, shouldnt you, take it upon yourself to EDUCATE yourself on the differences? If you hit a 4m overpass with your 13'6 trailer, who's responsible?

"But I am a company driver working for a forced dispatch company...they forced me to come here! I followed my GPS! It's a conspiracy!!!"

Every driver should have an agenda 1. Get paid. 2. Get home safely. It's your responsibility.

If you've been running the miles, and the pay doesn't add up, what do you do? When the travel agent/ boss/ whoever tells you about 'next week' when you are inquiring about 'this week's pay', you are the one that has to decide whether or not you're going to climb back in that truck. But see, here's the problem...we agreed on a certain pay rate paid on time, correct? If you climb your arse back in that truck and next week, they shut the doors, and you're stuck 2000 miles away from home, who do you blame?

Now, you are saying in a nutshell that poor people are unintelligent. I grew up poor. Poor people dont have many opportunities. But there ARE opportunities. I dont need 'many' opportunities, I only needed ONE.

The government gave us access to PUBLIC school. THAT was the opportunity. Make it happen. What you choose to do with that opportunity is your responsibility. Get a girl pregnant? You were the one that chose to think with your pickle. I didn't. I went to work. I made money. I started my own company.

"Doing what, Six?"

Carpenter by trade. See, no matter what happens, there's always going to be a need for the trades. Especially in the inner cities, where buildings and houses are old. You can find work. If you want to work.

Yes, I know, "people shouldn't have to live in a box, live in a truck...it's so inhuman and sad." It's another opportunity. It allowed me to go to where there was money and line my pockets faster and not have to worry about finding a place to sleep. People who cry about having to sleep in a truck have lived a much more privileged life than I have. Try sleeping in a pickup truck after you work all day.