Raise Driver Pay

Don't want to get paid HHG, then work somewhere that pays practical miles.

Don't want to get paid practical miles, then work somewhere that pays hourly.

Don't want to have to complain, then quit driving all together !!!!

 

No it isn't theft. It never was and never will be. You agreed to go to work for that company. When you agreed to do that you also agreed to accept the pay scale they offered and the program that pay scale was based on.

Most drivers don't understand the difference between Household Movers Guide, Pc Miler Practical, Pc Miler short 53', or hub miles let alone have the foresight to even ask before they even apply for the job.

The fact is if a driver is applying for a job then he is usually hat in hand and will take what ever is offered. If you don't like the pay scale or the structure then you are free to leave anytime.

 

What the last two posts propose - their final solution - is to run away with your tail between your legs. What about those of us who were wired to stand and fight?

 

Nonsense. The answer is to research a company thoroughly especially the lanes of operation, the pay structure, accessorial pay etc BEFORE ever applying for the job. Don't accept a job and then whine about the pay after the fact.

As for this "you are wired to stand and fight," comment who are you fighting against? Yourself? The trucking industry has been in existence for a lot longer than any of us have been around and will continue long after we are gone and forgotten.

Best advice anyone can offer is; if you don't like the pay offered then go into business for yourself and set your own pay scale. Of course then you can compete head to head with every other trucking company and broker service in the land.

 

Really??? I thought the point of my post was to show that you should THINK before you take a job. You want to cry and whine about being paid HHG miles, yet you are the one who went to work there knowing that is how they paid you. It is not their fault you took the position. You are the one to blame for working there. What are you going ot fight anyways, your decision to work for a HHG company....

Like I said, if you don't like it, then you are the only one that can change it. Maybe you cannot get a job paying practical miles, or you just are too stubborn to change jobs but that is not anyone else's problem but yours.

Life is about the choices you've made, not about how you got someone to change things to your point of view on how it should be.

 

Who are you fighting against? Anybody who has an idea that never occurred to you?

Just because you let the industry take you to the woodshed for umpteen years doesn't mean you have to let it happen tomorrow. I think there is plenty each of us can do besides running away. Lots of folks talk about shutting down. It seems unlikely, but people - courageous people - pull it off every now and then. Some guys in Seattle are shut down right now. Lots of drivers in China shut down about a year ago. China! This is where people are jailed for things you only get beat down for in the US. Yet they managed to shut down.

I think that a shut down is unlikely. But that isn't the end of the story. We could move a motor carrier to stop paying short miles by calling for a boycott. If a shipper faces the choice between losing money or finding a new motor carrier, that shipper would probably find a new motor carrier.

There are probably plenty more ideas. Every time folks start talking about doing something for themselves, people like you ride in on your white ponies and make appeals for everybody to either learn to like taking it with no grease or run away. We have other options.

 

Full of assumptions. How do you know so much?

How do you know I took the job "knowing that [HHG] is how they paid"? What if they hid this fact? Why does their hiding such important information fall back on me? I'll tell you why, because you will defend the bosses no matter the situation. You are a one trick pony. Maybe one of the boss men will see your trick some day and reward you. Maybe not.

 

You guys really chap me with your "We are brave, we are cool" BS. You actually think you're the only ones who have thought this?

As a Canadian trucker who has actually been through a couple of shutdowns let me tell you exactly who will not honor it.

1. Teamsters

2. Good ol AMERICAN TRUCKERS.

That's right.... while WE got tickets and fines, jail , losing trucks,etc, etc.... these fine examples of "brotherhood" drove straight through laughing.

So excuse the hell out of me if I doubt your veracity. Best of luck though.

 

I don't know how you do things in Canada, but around here we use them there quotation marks whenever somebody said the words within them. Who said, "We are brave, we are cool"?

 

The industry hasn't taken anyone to the woodshed as you put it. Carriers have changed their pay structures over the years to remain competitive and recruit better drivers.

I have said it before and I will say it again; "It is up to each and every driver to do their research when considering a particular company to work for."

As a driver you have no say over whether a shipper or broker chooses company A over company B to haul their freight. The shippers make those decisions based on freight rates, past reliability/reputation, contracts and now CSA scores.

The ONLY power YOU have as a driver is to either drive for a company or not to drive for a company. YOU don't set freight rates. YOU don't set up freight lanes. Heck unless YOU actually own a truck, a trailer, and your own authority YOU don't have any say about the business at all.

Focus on your job and drive the truck. If you can't do that then I suggest you turn in the keys and find something else to do.

Don't worry so much about what others are getting paid and focus on what YOU are getting paid. If YOU don't like it then YOU do something about it by finding a company that better suits your needs.