$20/hr minimum

Feel free to use that line! The big box carriers have figured out that it's more cost effective to have "rookies" than to pay for experienced drivers. My personal opinion is that "good" drivers with common sense simply use them as a spring board to get into more specialized work - hazmat, ltl, private fleet, etc etc. I'm on my own but I'd bet many "company" drivers that haul hazmat or work for private fleets make as much or more than I do per year. I'm just not a team player and in my old age I have zero tolerance for idiotic "company policy" BS.

 

I agree,companies should'nt pay less then $20.00 an hr which means poverty wage the more drivers they can hire.As long as drivers are willing to get paid less then what they're worth and as long as companies can get away with it then why change.Laws are very unfair we have to follow the nations laws and also follow the trucking industries laws so it's a double whammy for the truckers.If the industry did pay hourly wage companies would'nt make a profit because for sitting in the dock for hrs,for sitting in the lounge at the mechanics shop getting paid hourly,yes it would be nice but never gonna happen unless you are a local driver.Not all local companies pay that though,mine don't.

 

But I do think companies should pay more per mile and still give good consistant miles.But when the economy first took a turn for the worst so did drivers pay and many companies have'nt increased that pay and I see it as many will never increase it no matter how better the economy gets.Also,when was the last time you got a raise?My boyfriend has been with my company 8 yrs and never got a raise.So what does that tell you about companies and their drivers?

 

Driving is a low skill job, don't get upset, I did not say NO skill, only low skill. There are many side skills to the job and given the speed, power and weight involved, the job needs someone with the discipline to pay attention, but the basic job is just pointing the truck in the right direction and applying throttle.

Many transportation companies are always going to try to get around paying high wages when they can just get someone off the street to do the job with comparatively little training.

 

True,many would interpet it as a low skilled job and some would even say a monkey can do it.Some call us steering wheel holders but I sure would like to see those ppl do what we do.

 

From some of the drivers I have seen this week they aren't worth $20 an hour.

 

Funny stuff...... but the wage is there, trust me. How else would they add 100k feet of office space with large white pillars in Choo Choo? How is my neighbor expanding his parking lot x2 with a foot of concrete. (prolly 100k or so )

Honestly? Having the numbers out for taxes anyway I cash about 55% of what they bill. Not hard to see where the cash come from......

 

cheap pay means cheap labor

 

Some that I have seen aren't worth $5/hour.

 

Driving a truck across the country for the most part is not a demanding or highly skilled job. Yeah, every once in a while you get a challenge but for the average OTR TL of crap hauling 53' van guy it's not that tough. The challenging part comes in negotiating city traffic, securing loads and other things like that