Can drivers be forced to quit for being too old?

Sure they will - as soon as his cost of production is greater than the cost of replacement.

Say 70 year old Bob is making 60 cpm, running 2500 revenue producing miles a week. The company hires Tom at 40 cpm who runs 2200 revenue producing miles a week. Assume fixed cost and revenue per mile - which driver is "more profitable"? What about when Bob wants to cut his miles down to 2000 a week?

And that's before we start talking about health insurance costs and 401k match.

Is this kind of thinking good for the long term viability of the company? Absolutely not.

Is it good for the broader economy? Aw hell no.

Is it how board rooms operate? Yes. For evidence, please see Chris Lofgren's speech at the 2012 Georgia Tech conference called "U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative: Dialog on Next Generation Supply Networks and Logistics."

 

No No No. They get them from Dr. Churn-Burn-and-Earn. Dr. Rubberstamp is indifferent and slow, Dr. Churn-Burn-and-Earn is all about that volume- anything more than a quick slap and tickle cuts into his profit margin.

 

Take it any way that makes you happy. Or not, your choice entirely.
I don't know how the megas run their business beyond what I can see from the outside. It doesn't look like anything but aggravation for everyone concerned. If we had the turnover some of the megas have we couldn't operate. That's one of the reasons we like to see five years experience comparable to the kind of trucking we do. We don't have much turn-over.

All I know for sure is how our little company runs, how it's been in business for over fifty years, and the fact that we remain profitable in good years and bad.
One of the reasons for that is because, whenever possible, we hand pick our drivers. We pay them fair, give them good equipment, decent benefits, a safety and a longevity bonus, and we treat them like human beings.
They're good drivers. They could go anywhere they wanted and find a job. Most of them stay with us until they retire. What we as a company get out of that is easy to see. Steady, safe, and productive professionals pay off in the long run. They make money for the company and the company knows that.
The older drivers are steady and you can count on them to turn a profit every day.. In today's world that's rare.

 

Thank you for helping me prove my point.

 

Is it fair to say you didn't much care for Chris Lofgren?

 

What's not to like about a man who spends company money on a vanity book that makes it look like he transformed a mom and pop shop into an international behemoth while at the same time undermining the fundamentals the business was built on?

 

I was looking for something else and came upon this

Age Bias Claim Likely Merits Trial Against Schneider Electric

 

Unfortunately, therein lies the problem, we've become a society where we "hope it will be okay", and just deal with the worst as it happens. It's not an issue whether they can literally do the job or wants to work. Older people have a much higher risk of a health issue, typically have more issues than younger drivers and cost the company more in insurance. With companies running on a shoestring today, they will look to cut costs anyway they can( thanks to unemployed nephew bean counter) and I'm sorry, if I was an employer looking for a driver, I'd pick the younger one everytime.

 

OK one thing that I don’t get, is most employers specify that if you quit before retirement age, you lose the 401(k) matching funds. So if you’ve been at a company for five or 10 years, you’re talking about a large sum of money. So what if when you get close to retirement age, they just decide to find a reason to kick you to the curb? What happens to all that 401(k) money?

 

I think at age 65 everyone should have their license pulled and not be allowed to drive any type of vehicle.