$20/hr minimum

For the record I don't and never will drive for a mega dry box carrier OTR. No way. I don't know what kind of fantasy land you live in but no matter what "skills" you have the companies generally decide on your pay. You might have a little negotiation room but if they offer $16 an hour straight time and I want $20 an hour with time and a half after 40 it won't happen and I will be walking out. Even for a dry van local job $20 an hour is not an unreasonable wage to ask for.

 

Wrong...

What part of earning more and working harder don't some of you get...

Earning more means you're paid more to do the job without having to put more hours/miles in to increase your bottom line.

It's no wonder these mega carriers love people that buy into their 'trucker math' formulas..

What would you call earning more.... 3000 miles at $.40/mile or 2400 miles at $.50/mile.

 

Location, location, location.

It all depends on the cost of living in a particular area. $20/hr is a unreasonable starting wage in certain states like Texas even for the seasoned veteran drivers. However, $20/hr is commonplace in states in the Mideast.

 

You think like a selfish, entitled little employee, with no thought at all to the well-being of the company. You want to earn a six figure income whilst only producing a minimum wage level of actual work. The job you do needs to produce a profit for the company or else the job won't exist...can't state it any simpler than that. It doesn't matter if you think you are worth $0.50 per mile or not, if the freight rates the carrier is getting do not allow for a $0.50 per mile wage, you aren't going to get paid $0.50 per mile to haul it.

...and 3000 miles at $0.40 per mile pays the same $1200 as 2400 miles at $0.50 per mile. The difference is what you had to do to get the money. Chances are, the driver earning $0.40 per mile has less responsibilities....maybe just needs to close the doors and keep an eye on the temperature of the load...whereas the driver earning $0.50 per mile has to secure the load and protect it from the weather to keep it from being damaged, and maybe deal with permits and curfews, too. So who is working harder for that $1200 per week?

 

He lives in Canada. The cost of living is higher up there, so jobs will typically pay more than they do down here.

 

I never said you did...just that if you don't want to compete with them, you need to acquire a skill and do something in the industry that the dry box mega carriers are unwilling or unable to do. As long as you are pulling the same kind of freight as the big box mega carriers, they are dragging down the rates your customers are willing to pay....and if the freight rates are down and the way operating expenses keep climbing, driver wages are going to remain low.

 

Not true. At my current company I started at $5 more per hour than a similar position with a union company. Also with my company, if there were not enough driving work for the day then there would be an option to work on the dock to continuing earning a living. With the union company, that would not be possible because the dock guys have their own union.

Unions are nothing more than a scam for the union leadership to line their pockets and have long outlived their usefulness.

 

and thus the problem, no one wants to work their way up in the world, they want everything handed to them on a gold plated platter and expect $20/hr plus bennies to start. Good luck with that, enjoy your unemployment, when your house is sold in foreclosure, tell me how it's working out for you.

 

He's right, ya' know. It's called cost of living. You may be able to live like a King off $15/hr in Co, but in Canadaland you'd qualify for Welfare.

 

and I'm calling BS on your comments, either that or your employer is clueless. If you walked into my office and talked to me in that manner, I'd pick up the phone, have HR cut your check, and tell you have a nice day.