Questions on hourly positions

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by GettingRolling, Dec 29, 2019.

  1. GettingRolling

    GettingRolling Light Load Member

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    I have done a little digging on here but still have a few questions I could not find an answer for.

    1. Hourly positions is 40hrs or more a guarantee? Say traffic was light and you have some luck at ship/cons and you do your route an hour quick do you lose an hour pay?

    2. When you go off duty are you off the clock as in not being paid?
     
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  3. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    There is no gaurantee. Hourly is hourly.

    Time clock work starts when you punch in and ends when you punch out.

    Any delays in your route will cause your customers to call YOUR boss screaming WHERE YOU AT!? You have to be prepared to account for it.
     
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  4. GettingRolling

    GettingRolling Light Load Member

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    I guess I was more asking if the employer says it's a 40-50 hour position are there going to be weeks where it might be 30 hours or is it pretty stable and consistent
     
  5. ZVar

    ZVar Road Train Member

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    Depends on the company. For me if I punch in I'm paid for the next 8 hours no matter if I'm there for 15 minutes. (Keeps the company from calling meetings on one's day off.)

    But other than that, if I work 11.5 hours that day I get 11.5 hours pay. If I work 12, I get 12.
     
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  6. 88 Alpha

    88 Alpha Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    For me, we have no guarantees. We clock in and get paid for all time until we clock out. I stay on the driving line or on-duty, not driving line until I clock out, with the exception of the 30 minute break (get paid for that because I'm still clocked in).

    We have a driver who only wants to put in 8 hrs, a driver who only wants to put in 10 hours, and me, and I try to put in at least 12 hours every day.

    When I took my road test, I asked if I would have any trouble getting 40 hours and the tester laughed at me. At that time, I didn't understand why he did that. After being there 3 months now, I get it. I get 50-60 hours every week. When I applied, the ad said 40 each week. The ad was a bit off on their numbers.
     
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  7. REO6205

    REO6205 Road Train Member

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    We pay by the hour and we do not guarantee a minimum number of hours. We do mostly local and short regional.
    If a driver gets done early and wants to work in the shop or do some local stuff we can usually find something for him to do. It's not mandatory but if a driver wants to wash or grease his truck he stays on the clock.
    We very seldom have any short days. A short day for us is ten hours and during our busy season...which lasts about 9 months... the drivers are constantly bumping against their hours. When the drivers get a short day they usually take advantage of it and rest up.
    Our drivers make time-and-a-half after forty, have full medical benefits, retirement, and holidays. We're more than willing to pay for good drivers but I don't think we'll ever pay a man 8 hours pay for 6 hours work.
    A lot of the union outfits used to do that. Most of them aren't around any more.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2019
  8. buddyd157

    buddyd157 Road Train Member

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    no guarantee's except one job i had was a union job. if you got called in you were guaranteed 4 hours, if you went home after 3 hours of work. (but other wise, no guarantee of 40 hours a week. )

    then they deducted a mandatory 30 minutes for lunch, cuz guys were working thru lunch and some others were complaining that they could not take lunch cuz of the work. i think the company followed the state labor laws regarding lunch breaks. so mandatory 30 minutes for lunch, off the clock.

    that was at the old NEMF.
     
  9. 074344

    074344 Road Train Member

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    That is not entirely correct. It depends on who you work for and if they are represented by a union. Where I work, per our contract, we get an hourly wage guarantee of 8 hours per day Monday thru Friday if you show up to work. Case in point. I was supposed to make a delivery in the Bakersfield area on Thursday. I showed up to make the delivery. The Grapevine was closed on Thursday. I went home after 2 hours. I tried it again on Friday. I arrived at the yard but it was still closed. Went back home after about 30 minutes. I was paid 8 hours per day for both days. I was finally able to make the delivery on Saturday. Fortunately, all work on Saturday is overtime.
     
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  10. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    1. It varies from company to company. Some hourly position, few, are guaranteed a number of hours per week. Most non-union positions just pay you for the hours you work. Trucking is exempt from Federal laws that guarantee overtime pay after 40 hours per week. Companies can choose to pay overtime, but they are not required to pay OT. A few hourly positions pay overtime after 8 hours per day. That's common in union companies.

    2 Most hourly companies pay you from the time you clock in at start your day until you clock out and go home. It's not common for the company to stop paying you during your day for the time you are off-duty. I can't recall of EVERY hearing of that being done, except for the 30 minute break.

    MOST hourly paying jobs are for local or home daily type of jobs which avoids a lot of the complications of OTR driving and Hours of Service, although HOS still applies.
     
  11. GettingRolling

    GettingRolling Light Load Member

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    I'm seeing guarantee was the wrong word to use I was more wondering if a position said full time 40 I was more wondering if the weeks would stay pretty close to 40 or more and not a lot less like 25-30
     
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