ATA: tight rules on US truckload drivers speed turnover rates to 89%!!

It's tight wallets , not tight rules . LTL goes by the same rules . As long s BFI's pay 1980 wages the high turnover will continue .
The problem came with deregulation . The government should have set a minimum rate per mile that would allow carriers to pay a decent wage while remaining competitive .

 

Good,

lets see those turnover rates go back to 150-200% !!!!!!

 

Gotta love this. The government needs to come to our rescue! Boy, they sure are doing a great job of it now, aren't they? Like the latest HOS stuff. Anyone looking for the government to solve their problems deserves everything they get.

A decent rate per mile? What would that be? One operation could go broke on a rate that another operation could make money at. And there is never any guarantee that, even if the rates were more like you would like to see them, that a carrier would pay their drivers any better.

I want nothing to do with a more regulated industry. I want to be able to establish my own customer base and negotiate my own rates. No government interference.

 

All the blame doesn't sit at the feet of the trucking companies, although they certainly could do their part in eliminating the problems. In my opinion, shippers and consignees certainly contribute, in a large way, to the problem of turnover. I don't care how much a carrier is paying me per mile, if I am hung up at someone's dock for hours and hours without any compensation, then my mileage rate takes a big hit, along with my mental and physical condition.

Also, being "profiled" by those who have the authority to enforce the law, does not give a driver a sense of "dignity". Here goes a driver down the road making 35 to 40 cpm, it has taken him 4 or 5 hours to unload and then 4 or 5 hours to make a pick-up, he is already tired, his mental attitude is in the toilet and here comes a smart-### cop and starts nick-pickin him and the truck. WHO WANTS THIS TYPE OF LIFE? The driver has given away 10 hours for his life and who cares?? All we hear, "well that is trucking".

The minute the driver's mileage pay stops, hourly pay should kick in. Or, the driver should be paid strictly by the hour. And I contend that even when a driver is taking his "break", the driver should be paid something, he is not completely relieved of his responsibilities.

 

It IS the carriers fault . Do you think some carriers could charge detention time if others didn't ? The BFI's get detention pay . They just don't give the drivers any of it . Why do you think ATA told the government to stay out of the detention issue ?
Nobody forces anybody to stay with a carrier that expects you to put in uncompensated hours .

 

I understand this statement but the problem is that some drivers are in such a financial squeeze that they do not have the option of telling someone to "stick it". And even if detention is paid, you are probably going have to give them the first 2 hours and then the pay is not going to be near what you should be paid.

 

Detention pay doesn't solve the issue. Even if you charge a fee to a shipper/receiver, its not going to fix the problem of detention, they will simply write it off as the cost of doing business.

 

Government involvement in private enterprise is never good and government price controls are the worst type of government involvement.

 

It's called Free Market Conditions.
It doesn't matter what the product, as time goes on, there is always someone willing to do it cheaper, drive cheaper or work longer for free.
The only survival is to figure out how to do it more efficiently so you can charge the same price as the other guy, but keep more of the money.
These days, in trucking, it's all about fuel.
The single largest cost to trucking is the fuel cost. Figure out how to use less and you'll keep more of the gross.
You won't find big things. It's a compulation of the little things.
Idle less, drive slower, accelerate slower are just a few of the tricks.
Buy fuel more carefully. A penny here, a penny there...it all adds up.
By being more careful with my driving this past year, I upped my fuel mileage from 7.21 to 7.86. That mileage increase over 157,000 miles, and with an average fuel cost per gallon of $3.68 translates to 1,800 gallons saved and more than $6,600 in my pocket.
(I train, that's why my mileage is high)
Now I realize some of you super truckers are anathama to the concept of driving slower, or using an APU, but my numbers speak for themselves.
You can complain about the problem, try and find a government solution or you can do something about it.