Most drivers making same or less than they did last year

We're at Landstar living on Beefaroni.

 

There was a guy in our local that we figured stole $5K year in wasted drive time.

If he had an end of the day run, and it was on the outskirts, he'd get off and on every on ramp on the way back to the plant.

 

The question is intentionally subjective.

The point is that we all have the choice to go to MIT or become an exotic dancer or both. I could go to the local equipment rental company and sign on to deliver skid steers and backhoes for $20 bucks an hour if I wanted. I could also go to any big name company and sign on to go over the road for .40cpm if I choose. The beauty is in the choice, it separates the ones deserving of a good wage from those who do not. When I'm looking for a job I pass up countless options because the wage doesn't meet my criteria, eventually I find something that offers the wage I desire.
With all of the videos of mega carriers trucks on their side, wedged under bridges, on hydrants, etc. etc. do you really think that the typical automatic restricted cdl school grad deserves more pay? Personally I think the bar needs to be raised for admittance into the industry and with it you would see slight wage increases due to reduced operating expenses in the form of insurance claims for carriers.

The answer is not to give people more money, the answer is for people to make themselves more hireable and to seek out the job they want. If driver wages increased across the industry it would cause a massive push towards the automation of trucking. The technology is being developed, they just need good enough reason to implement it.

My advice to anyone who feels that they aren't getting paid as much as they like or are sitting for hours without pay is to go find a different job that pays what you desire for doing something you can tolerate.
I'm a believer that we can have any car, house, woman or job that we desire. We just have to be willing to do the work and in some cases prove our usefulness in order to reach the goal.
50k a year might be great for one guy but the next requires 90k to attain his goals.
Our American dream is whatever we make it and nobody is obligated to give it to us.
"This week it's the floors, next week it's the fries!"

 

That driver automation technology is years away, and they know it. They just want a sword to hang over our heads to keep driver pay artificially low.

The problem with the free market model you're describing is collusion between the carriers, whether by design or not. One carrier dips their toe into making drivers sit without pay for a couple hours, and if there isn't a mass exodus of employees, now ALL the carriers do it.

They're always experimenting with ways to pay you less. That's why I'm in a union. A union is an equal and opposite reaction to corporate power.

 

To many companies to unionize. And many don't want a union.
That's why I'd like drivers to be treated like other employees and paid hourly.

I agree with LameMule. If you think $50k is a good wage than take the job. If not keep looking.
I also agree with ltlAnonymous that companies find ways not to pay drivers.

That's why hourly works. If you are there to because that's where the company needs you to be, you get paid. Simple and transparent.

 

Broke drivers asked the boss.
" You said drivers make $80k a year plus home on weekends and I never get home time and only made $50k. What's up with that?

Boss- " Well we didn't get ya much miles and you sat alot. Thems the breaks. Besides we said "a" driver made $80k last year not all of em."
Driver - " Really which one did that?"
Boss-" Why that driver right over there with the brown stain around his mouth and gargling Listerine."

 

Eighteen years...