Driver Perks

Like several others have said - driver comfort. Want a responsive, safe and courteous driver not fighting fatigue and frustration who's dependable, well rested, attentative, alert and feels respected? God knows we can't control the many day to day aggravations that come with the job, only how we react to them.

The Big 3:

-APU's. Went from having one to now having none. And if a company is going to put them on their fleet, make sure the techs get the training necessary to properly maintain them. When APU's are properly maintained, it's a proven fact they save a ton of money on just about any fleet size out there, not to mention they are a God send in weather extremes.

-A decent mattress or at least some compensation for me to get my own that insures once I go from line 1 to line 2, I'm not tossing and turning trying all night to get comfortable on a 1 inch piece of foam.

-Inverters. Know why so many companies are against them? Because of the outlaw mentality of hooking them up by a novice when a company has forbidden them in the first place. Our tractor becomes our home when we're out on the road. Trying to utilize 12v DC all the time or a 300 watt inverter from one cigarette plug in gets old real fast. Inverters correctly installed, cabled and properly routed insure risk reduction from the possibility of electrical problems, fires, longer battery life along with the feeling the company takes driver comfort seriously.

Not all will agree with this, but as for me? In order to get the owners and management to take it seriously and actually give it consideration, I'd be willing to help offset the cost by .01 to .02 cpm in the first year to make it happen.

The first receivers of the above should be the ones who take care of their equipment, do what they're supposed to do, have good records. You could even give incentives to reduction of cpm charged to those who perform at or above standard.

Pay and compensation:

Pay me what I'm worth and pay me for what you agreed to. I shouldn't be chasing my layover, breakdown or retention pay. I also shouldn't be getting paid the industry minimum after proving myself worthy of how I'm valued and then, having to beg for a raise 2 years later. I'm still trying to figure out why, an OTR driver, who leaves their family and home, for weeks at a time, makes less money then most local drivers out there.

Safety and keeping those who can affect honesty honest:

-Communication. I say leave the QC in the truck. Want me to run a load 3000 over my max? Fudge my hours to get it there on time? Won't correct a DOT violation until after I deliver? Send it to me on the QC and not on the phone. Then, once they do, then, you, as the safety manager / director will be the next one I call to insure that dispatcher / FM / DM whomever, directing me to do something either immigrant or unsafe, gets held accountable.

You, as the safety manager, are usually the first and last line in the defense of our CDL, record, reputation, CSA score etc. We depend on you for a lot. You are the lynchpin (Or should be) as to the bottom line between common sense and the stupid out there.

I don't know a darn thing about owning my own business or running a million dollar company, but I do know this - you take care of your people and your people will take care of you. The ones that don't, kick em to the curb as they hurt everyone's bottom line. The ones that do, do everything you can to retain them. Drive turnover in this industry is absolutely ridiculous. Stability along with job security benefits everyone from the driver on up and from the top on down. If that isn't incentive enough, I don't know what is.

 

the reasons stated here are why I work for the smaller companies.
they know you.
let you idle if its 100 or10 out.
get you home, every weekend for me.
no gov on engine. if I get speeding tickets, I'm gone.lol. simple.
pay for a wash once a month. every week?? we ain't out here for show and tell.
if I make a "living wage" and drive decent equipment. it's good.

I've been out here for too many yrs to put up with the big company bs. I know what I'm doing, just let me do it.

 

What nobody said "a cupcake and a card on my birthday"? Isn't that all we need?

Seriously though, please drill it though the office personnel's collective head, we really don't want to hear about your weekend plans on Friday afternoon while we look forward to 2 days of sitting because someone dropped the ball on a load. For the drivers it's 24/7 so we really get rankled by office people that treat the job as a 9 to 5. Bonus points if we can get someone on the phone on a Sunday afternoon who can make a decision and not pawn it off until Monday.

As a Safety director though, we'd like to get the feeling you will take our side vs. any issues with the LEO's. If the biggest scumbag murderer can get a proper defense attorney, at taxpayers expense no less, then why is it we drivers feel we have to cover up every infraction for fear of loosing our jobs? If you invest the time in hiring a driver, you should at least hear him out if there's a problem.

I'll take a solid-working truck over a pretty or new truck any day of the week. But not only should you fine drivers for leaving a messy truck, you should throw us a bone if we're the ones cleaning it out.

all I can think of that hasn't been already mentioned for now.

 

If you've been looking at street level from the trenches , it's likely whatever you've been up to is not working. They might not be seeking advice from those in the trenches.

 

Well , I'd have me an okay from the front offices to begin truck speed ," safety incentive program " for my most conscientious and safe drivers.
There Would be a entry level speed for those that didn't qualify for the higher rate of speed. 67 and you work your way up from there.
You come to me with 5yrs verifiable , no moving violations , and a good safety reference from prior employer or employers you start at 70mph the trucks would top out at 75 meaning come here with 5yrs exp. and 5 yrs later no infractions or preventable accidents and you'll be up to 75 (practical Miles) all drivers. It would be a rare few , but It's very enticing to us that been around.
I'd have a fair system to cut that truck back for certain offenses .

I'd also find a system that works for driver to get home.
And 3rd I'd find some way to convince the company that a driver that breaks down too often at no fault of his own should be compensated some. Now this is a system of fairness I'm referring to when it comes to breakdowns. I currently looking for employment , cause after 7 breakdowns in 7 weeks I still could not get a dime for my time and was told there's the door if I didn't like it.

 

Because "truck drivers" keep showing up, there's little or no incentive for an employer to change their pay schedule/rate of pay.

jbee, you're wating your time driving. You write well, you articulate well>you should be writing or editorializing!

 

I disagree about it being cause drivers keep showing up . If you have over 15 yrs in this industry you should by now see and understand what's happening.

Our Govt. wants so bad , and not just in this industry , but all aspects of the U.S. work force ,for all Americans to go backward 25yrs it ain't even funny. Lets face facts guys , I've seen new drivers get on these forums and talk like they know what a good company and good pay is. Quite frankly they haven't a clue to what they should be making for what they do and what they give up.

The Veterans in trucking that have been with the same company for over 10 yrs accident free , are that 5 to 8% that will fill those positions with the top 5% of the Industry. 2 examples being Walmart , or Scotts , there are a handful of others. These particular companies are taking in I bet 300 to 400 applications a week . Walmart will bring you in for 5 or 6 interviews each one will be a different person , and each and everyone of those people have full authority to pull the plug on everything you've accomplished thus far toward getting a foot in the door.

Age discrimination might not be a practiced at Walmart , so they say but start taking note of how many Walmart drivers you cross paths with that are under 30yrs old and you'll see it's about 2% if that.

Listen , this is unskilled labor , people coming into this industry from flipping burgers or mowing lawns for a landscape co or , working at seven eleven , are high as a kite at the thought of making 30 or 32k , when the most they ever made is 20k.

Guy like me 51yrs old , that started in 88 and have more than my fair share of jobs , are being weeded out , why cause I won't stick around a company that treats me like a low life that doesn't know the differnce anyway. I worked for Jevic Trans 7 and a half years. Home almost every single weekend and made 60k a year. 6 pd holidays at your hrly wage for 50hrs per wk was what the holiday pay was , and 150.00 layover pay . Grief and aggravation pay for your troubles or detention was 15.00 per hour. Why is Jevic no longer in business ? This is why .

Our govt does not want companies like this to survive cause it sets standards that are way too high. The United States govt want us to do more for less so employers can make more , they hope the domino effect brings more employers back to the U.S. They're madness is also that if we the people will go back in pay 25 yrs , prices will come down and people will buy like crazy again.

We all know this theory is as dumb as expecting the millionaire and Billionaires to lower prices enough to take a pay cut with everyone else. In an attempt to help stabilize our economy again.

So in theory crap companies are better to have "keep Americans Down" allow them to train the inexperienced and weed out the higher paid drivers , to make room for the entry level driver that will never know the difference. By the time they get enough experience to know , these companies will also no longer be.

 

If anything maninthemoon1, the government wants us on public assistance so we keep voting for them. Those of us dumb enough to keep working while others are paid to stay home and procreate are deemed "privileged" and that we need to "pay our fair share".

The problem is a lot of us are right on the bubble.

If I had Wall Street money, I'd hop on my yacht, sail down to the Caribbean and spend the rest of my millions one $5 Pina Colada at a time.

But according to the powers that be, I'm too "rich" for food stamps and the fact that 80% of my income goes for rent, electricity, insurance and food means I'm just living too well.

If I was in a in a hovel under a bridge cooking beans over a fire, then I'd appreciate how the rest of the world lives.

(Never mind that I already did that for 2 years at a mega-carrier)

 

so now we go to the old ,"it's a Gov. conspiracy", let's all put aluminum foil on our heads and hide in the closet!!!!!!!!

 

You have mistaken the meaning of what I said for Govt Conspiracy.

I was referring to the political agenda , and the direction is to get Americans to work for less , with a real naive belief that we work for less , the Billionaires in return , return to the U.S. agreeing to give some up their net profit up , so prices come down and the economy begins to look promising again so people begin buying again. Now if the Millionaires , Billionaires , Sports franchise owner and athletes all participate in this agenda we move forward even taking steps in the reverse direction in annual income. There's one big problem with this agenda though , the richest 5% in this country will never abide. So now can I tke the foil off my head and come back out seeing how it wasn't meant as a consiracy theory ?