Company Recruiting BS Promises of 60K annually for Drivers.

It took me a little time but there was a related thread

Driver vs Prime

Drivers vs Prime inc

Supreme Court Case Brief
Oliveira v. New Prime, Inc. - Public Justice

Followed by one of the very best articles in trucking recruitment and leasing and Owner Operator Issues. Within this article was the magic word "Minimum wage" I worked on that this afternoon in my mind and I decided to take two drivers, myself and my wife who were complete and full Team Reefer drivers in 2001 with FFE and one other company for a total of 306 days away from home supported by logbook (DOT Regs say service day in perdiem = being in a logged day with a big truck more than 125 miles away from home)

I made a connection because Trucking IS 24/7 it affects everything all Americans do, specially at the store buying stuff we haul in among other things. The Oversize transformer made in Korea then shipped to the east coast and oversized trucking overland to be installed at Peach Bottom Nuclear Power in PA a few years ago affects your very ability to do anything at home that needs electric power.

Trucking is 24/7 you are never really off duty. Therefore I advocate a minimum wage at 8.25 (Soon to be 11.00 in Arkansas... I'll get back to that shortly) for 24/7.

Out of a year, a whole year of trucking, day and night. Never being closer than 125 miles to your house a solid year of minimum wage 365 days comes to; 8760 hours. (Consider that our Freightliner Detriot accumulated almost 7500 hours on and running from it's brand new issue to us at 16 miles to 210000 miles in 9 months flat. This is essentially 24/7 If that thing aint running, we aint working. We never shut it off)

8760 hours in a full year comes to $72270.oo Gross.

THAT is for ONE PERSON, ONE DRIVER. You can eat your precious recruitment ad at 60K gross. NO one will knowingly hire on for less than minimum wage at a gas station or a 7-11 rob me store etc. Why should YOU the Professional who has had to pass pretty intensely detailed invasion of background checks to get Hazmat, Get to Canada, Get to Military Bases, to Seaports and designated TWIC areas etc. MOST of the American Population cannot qualifiy for many reasons to get the things YOU have on your CDL. THEY, that work in the 7-11 rob me shoot me store for peanuts that does NOT meet Society's current billing (Rent $1000.oo etc let's not even talk about Federal Poverty Guidlines for 1 Person which I think stands at 18700)

Now. When TWO of us (Happens to be a Husband and Wife. It could EASILY be just two random drivers assigned to team in the same truck) earn the SAME MONEY SPLIT TO A TEAM....

THE MINIMUM GROSS SHOULD BE (THIS is for TWO drivers, ESPECIALLY when we two are filing jointly on the same #### federal and state tax return)

$144540 exactly. No cents.

Our Gross pay for 2001? As filed on 306 service days (Being in a big truck on logbooks the two of us more than 125 miles away from home)

$67400 Or... $33700 each. To me, to spouse.

We could get a state job working sweeping up a college campus in several spots around our County for less trouble at almost twice that income with benefits. No need to be so far away from home all those working days. What a waste.

Now. There is no point in trying to collect on the 144540 owed to the two of us because the Court has not ruled on Minimum wage vs Trucking.

Keep in mind the Trucking Industry is EXEMPT from OVERTIME. So....

If I want to claim time and half for overtime each week working 70 hours a week, total of 30 hours time and half.... THAT will require the entire Industry to be removed from the Exempt status. We are dealing with myself and the spouse about 60 blessed hours each week of our labor, time and actual LIFE in pushing a 18 wheeler down the blessed highway because someone in FFE told us to be somewhere at a appointment date and time across the USA or we wont have a job or get paid. Last I checked it's a Job. That pays taxable wages. Therefore it should not be Exempt.

That's all I have for here. Im looking to see if there are some heavyweights who truly master this problem in the light of the Challenge against Prime at the Supreme Court vs the Entire Industry we might as well toss in a actual by goodness minimum wage and overtime.

Our truckers are not paid anywhere near what they should be paid.

NO wonder we don't have truckers. We need about what? 45000 this year? 860000 in 10 years?

Might as well convert the nation to all robot trucks. No drivers, no problem, complaints, expense etc. When Arkansas Ballot for 11.00 minimum wage increase passes (Don't think it wont...) from 8.25 in Novemeber then the 8760 Hours minimum for a year = $96360.oo Some of you in 15.oo States are more than that. Much more.

You can make a good living on that, even with 8000 to 10,000 dollars in truckstop food, showers, clothing which wear faster than non trucking etc..... expenses over and beyond a normal McDees fast food or 7-11 stab me store job.