Shortage of Drivers?

I think that was very well written & very true. You guys are some very tough cookies to go at it alone. If it weren't for having the company of my husband, I just couldn't do it.

Sorry to stray from the subject of this thread but the point you made about not really being able to eat healthy otr is something I'm presently trying to improve upon. It amazes me how homogenized America has become. Wendy's, McDonalds, Subway, etc. There are not any really healthy options for food besides cooking whole foods @ home. I would love to see whole foods, sans the salt, sugar, oil, available to us. We don't always have the time to make it to a market to load up on a variety of fresh fruits/veggies, etc. When we do make it to stock up, I get lots of sweet potatoes, root veggies & fruits that will keep the longest. I try my best to stay away from processed foods but it's not always possible. I would much rather nuke a sweet potato than get fries @ wendy's. I would much rather eat a piece of fruit than a candy bar, etc. I try to make bags of trail mix when I'm at a market that has bulk food, etc. Every little bit helps save our health & our pocket book. Someone mentioned, on another thread, that they carry frozen leftovers from home in their truck freezer. That's a great idea but, for us, we don't even have a freezer on our truck (looking into getting one), but I know it would only carry a small amt. & we've gone for 3 months before getting back home. It would be nice if we had easier access to fresh, healthy food. Being sedentary, which is a big downfall to being a driver, is so unhealthy. We make sure we start most every day off with a trot. Exercise is also so very important. Salute to all you tough cookies.

As for a shortage of truck drivers, I really have no clue. Empirically, it seems that if there were a real shortage that companies would do whatever it took to keep America supplied. How often have you seen supermarkets, fast food joints, etc., lacking supplies? America's stores, etc., seem pretty well stocked which means the supplies are getting there. That is thanks to you tough ##### cookies getting the job done. I have a lot of respect for all you drivers who get the job done. It amazes me how many people stigmatize truck drivers who are doing a very difficult job that keeps America going. Salute

 

Stop running them over with your truck then!

 

yeah,..you need a wheel chock.napa sells them.

 

Big difference there.

Your wife - she is either being paid cash per diem (standard per diem starts at $123.00, non taxable for meals, lodging and incidentals), or her meals, lodging and incidentals are being reimbursed by the company. Those expenses are not reimbursed by the trucking companies. Yes you have a bed, but that doesn't compare to a hotel room complete with shower, bathroom facilities that don't require a long walk in the rain / snow / cold, and climate control (no idling, remember?).

As an airline pilot, I'm sure you received meal per diem along with paid hotel and ground transportation. And I doubt you spent all of your meal per diem on food.

 

Not a big difference. No difference at all in fact. My point was lots of career fields require travel and almost none of them pay wages for time spent 'off duty' while traveling. Her company provides her with accommodations while on trips. So do trucking companies. Whether a hotel room is better than a condo sleeper isn't relevant to my point. Niether of them are your own home and you aren't being paid a wage while you're stuck there in either case.

As for meals and other expenses, that varies, its common in some fields, less common in others. But there is no point in arguing whether one deal is better than the other as that is a matter of opinion. If you feel the deal my wife has is better than trucking, then quit complaining and go get a masters degree then spend about 20 years working your way up the corporate ladder like she did. She made a choice, you made a choice. Complaining is pointless.

Who said I was an airline pilot? Who said I ever got per diem? There are lots of ways to be a professional pilot without working for an airline. Per Diem is rare in lots of those jobs. Hotel rooms are rare in some of them. They tell you to bring a sleeping bag and find a corner in the hangar. Kind of makes trucking seem downright civilized by comparison.

 

I wouldn't say that until you see the airport terminals I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the airports you go to when you're flying to Florida to take the kids to Disney. I'm talking about the airports you go to when your wife buys you a biplane ride or a tandem parachute jump or the place you take the kids to see the little airplanes take off and land. At those airports, the 'terminal' is often nothing more than an office trailer and the 'pilot lounge' will be a small section of it with some beat up second hand furniture and a hand full of ten year old issues of Flying magazine. There might be a soda machine and if you're lucky it might work.

 

No, there is not a driver shortage. If there was a driver shortage, shippers would have freight sitting on the docks, retail stores would be suffering from shortages, and freight rates along with driver pay would rise.

The mega carriers each want to add 300 trucks and drivers so they can show potential shippers/customers they can "service" the customer and enter into long term contracts in hopes of increasing market share.

The only shortage out there is a shortage of people who are willing to be drivers for career. While there are some decent driving jobs out there, for the most part truck drivers are paid like crap and treated like crap. Who in there right mind wants a career of crap?

 

One solution to a driver shortage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2W4_84c8w68