Driver Shortage !!!!!!

Organise people under the teamsters, better pay and benefits etc. You wont see any UPS driver giving up his seat anytime soon. Until then, continue to suffer and be taken advantage of period. Just the facts for the majority of you out there.

 

You can't organize as o/o's.. it's illegal. Company drivers can but I've seen mgmt. fire the instigators and threaten the rest.

As a former Teamster I found my B.A. useless when the co. folded and I needed a job. He told me to get hired elsewhere and rejoin. Well worth the $42. dues.

 

I have always paid my drivers percentage of what the truck makes. If we collect detention then the driver gets his percentage of that money. I rarely do much sitting at shippers. Those that waste my time and are not willing to pay for it can find another carrier the next time they need a truck. I think that if a shipper keeps a truck tied up that they should be willing to pay for our time. I will add one thing. You complain about the mileage rate that you are paid. If your carrier provides insurance or other benefits, that is also part of your pay. If you are paid with a W2, then you need to add an additional 7.5% to your wage. That is approximately what your carrier contributes to your social security.

 

Unless a driver is paid a percentage of the line haul the carrier has no obligation to tell the driver what any load pays. It isn't a matter of having a lot of secrets, it is just none of the drivers business.

 

If you are not happy with what you are making then why don't you buy your own truck and trailer and get your own authority. Then, you can pay yourself what you want. In most professions, those who want to earn more money take classes, get a good education, learn a vocation or save their money and start their own business. Instead of putting your own money up and taking a risk on yourself and your abilities, you want to get a union to shake down a business and try to force them to give you a "fair share" of the profits (and then some) because you refuse to risk your own money. You want to ride on the backs of others who are willing to risk everything to build a better future for themselves and their families and to provide jobs for others who can do the same.

 

CPM???
Hourly???
PErcentage???

How about a Salary???

Mot drivers that stay at a carrier for more than a few years tend to get in a "goove" on yearly miles,mine for instance averages(for a 10 year period) to right at 131,000 miles a year(this takes in to account 5 days off per month=60 days per year,and 2 weeks paid Vacation)

For it to be fair to each party theDriver would have to commit to; 1.A number of days out per month(again for me thats 25)
2.Driver would have to be able for dispatch in the time period
And the Company would have to commit to having you home for remaining number of days in a month(and paid vacays also)

This would "aleave" all stress out here and put the impitus back on the Carrier to keep you gamefully employed,During the work period
1.Miles ran per week/month would not be an issue
2."If" you ran a ELOG/EOBR again as #1 ,now not an issue
3.You would be "technically" compensated for all what you do in that time peroid now
4.Predictable pay and hometime

And before you "Comment/RANT" yes i understand about the following\
1.What if you run over your avg miles per week?(Law of avg's would make this a moot point unless you were resetting your hours everyweek and running full hrs per week,,,Is anyone "Legally" doing that now?)
As always in this industry the freight dictates the "highs and Lows in miles ran,but it seems to Avg out pretty much the same every year

As for me yes I would take this "offer" it it was offered to me,Being paid by CPM just puts you right where they want you,,in that seat waiting to get another load

 

Okay I will give you UPS as a point

Now Explain: CF,Overnight,YRC??? yes plz YRC,,,part time casual work?

 

But hourly salary works here in Europe. A lot of drivers in Finland, Sweden, Norway are paid by an hour. And these are the happiest (and richest) nations on the planet. If it works here, you guys can make it work there. And we are allowed to drive only 9h/day.

My father for example is paid by days worked (fixed price for a day). Doesn`t matter if he is driving, waiting for a load, loading, on the ship, etc.

Company still has to calculate average cost per mile and ask that from the customer, but that is just maths and nothing impossible.

 

Paying drivers on salary may work in Europe, but I don't see it working the same in the U.S. It would be interesting to see a comparison between drivers being paid on percentage or mileage against salary in Europe. Are all drivers paid salary?

I think you have other issues in which to deal such as being on a ship with your truck to travel to some areas. U.S. drivers don't have that to worry about. If we can't get there by road then it doesn't get delivered. I also think that there is a different attitude among European and U.S. citizens. Trucking in the U.S. has always been associated with being free and exploring the country. The independent attitude seems to work better for those of us who prefer being compensated by performance rather than strictly hourly or a salary. When we are paid on performance we have an opportunity to give ourselves a raise by working a little harder or putting a little more effort into our day. I don't know about Europe.

 

I really like the ideology of independence and working hard (consider myself as a hard worker, as been working from age 13), but if you just get exploited by companies for doing so, then it is sad. For example if you work twice as much for 1,5 times the money then something is wrong.

I ve been reading this forum for some time now and you guys don t seem to be very happy about the situation over there. That shows that pushing it hard doesn`t always help to make your lives better. Would you drive 1000 miles for the same amount of money as you would for 500 miles ? Just for the sake of driving ?