Strike?

O/O's aren't particularly in need to strike, they are free to sign onto or out of whichever company they choose and take their equipment with them. The point of this is more to secure a livable wadge for company based drivers, put a stop to the claims that recruiters are able to make to perspective drivers before they are hired.

IE: How much they can actually expect to make in a year.
Ship them a bus ticket and THEN tell them they have to sign a contract, or they will be left with no way back home, except out of their own pocket.
Minimum guidelines for breakdown pay, detention pay, in essence a litany of things that need to be addressed by carriers of all sizes.

That isn't to say that all drivers that sign on with these companies are blameless. Just like the housing market in California crumbled, it crumbled because people were taking out mortgages that they simply didn't have the means to support. However, the lenders that lied through their teeth, and actually let those people sign into them are just as guilty, if not more so due to the fact that they are actually required to take an oath of honesty before they enter the lending/brokerage market.

If a majority of drivers went on strike in a coordinated effort, at the same time the economy wouldn't crumble any further than it already has, however the publicity of the stunt being on the front page would put pressure on government and in turn government would pressure carriers to change the situation.
It may also just boil down to the carriers doing something about it to remedy the situation on their own, to avoid the light of the media.

Don't think for a second that these carriers that offer (truly) good wages to their drivers are going to suffer, these carriers are bringing in billions, and riding on the backs of people who are already strapped. Like was once said the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

One last thing:

June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Chilean trucking companies ended a three-day nationwide strike that sparked shortages of food and cut copper production, after the government agreed to cut their tax payments on diesel.

More than 30,000 trucking companies are resuming work today for the first time since the strike began on June 3 after the government said it will discount 80 percent of their diesel-tax payments as of July, said Diego Ramirez, a spokesman for the National Guild Confederation of Chilean Truck Owners.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajAiPenofCWU&refer=news

 

To Reptj:

Yes, there is always a choice. If people did stop working for these crooks (Not specifically CRST), then they would flounder and die. However the mega-carriers advertise heavily.

Newspapers, Internet, Truck Stops, Billboards... Are just a few ways, when someone has been laid off, and their unemployment benefits are running out who do they run to? The company that is most prominent in their minds, the one that has the most signage, the biggest numbers and the brightest colors.

Add to that recruiters that literally coerce people with inflated claims like guaranteeing miles per week, guaranteed home time, guaranteed $/wk or /mo... All of the sudden a weight on these peoples shoulders has been lifted, and they see a way to provide for their family's again.

Then they get there, find out its a bunch of smoke and mirrors, they find out that they can't quit or they will be sued for 4500.00. Or they get to orientation and suddenly they are in Iowa or Nebraska, 1200 miles from home, and they find out that the recruiter lied about the background check that was supposedly done, and they are now disqualified, with no money to get themselves home.

Preying on the weak to make a quick buck isn't admirable, however unfortunately such practices aren't against the law, so the cdl mills keep churning. At one time or another we were all newbies here, and though research was done... We didn't fully understand what we were getting into until we were already there and in the thick of it, so who is going to speak up for those that aren't weak, but simply too meek to speak up for themselves?

 

Also, for those that are worried about the economy crumbling due to a strike, here's some math for you as to where your taxpayer dollars are going.

Lets for a second assume just CRST, CR England, Swift, Knight, JB Hunt, Covenant, Schneider, Central Ref, USA Truck and Werner stopped getting 10k for each student they trained in a new line of work. This wont even go into the unscrupulous lending practices played on contract students and their loan repayments.

That's 10 companies. Say they each bring 50 new students into orientation per week. Say that 15 of them make it through and they get paid for it. That's 10 companies x 15 students x 10,000.00 per week, if the cycle propagated itself continually for 52 weeks in a year... = 78,000,000.00 per year.

Seventy eight million dollars per year of pure profit from the government, that comes out of our pockets. Each company is banking 7.8 million dollars per year in profit, tax free.

How much better could the textbooks be in our public classrooms be if we dumped 78 million a year into them? How many new schools could we build? How many new teachers could be hired? How many new small business loans be given out? How much better would it be if we could stick that money back into our ailing, brittle economy?

 

Yes, the industry is heavily diversified, and yes it would be hard to pull off, however the benefits to the future of the industry would be well worth it.

Perhaps those 10 companies would be all that would be required as well, to make something of sufficient magnitude. The only thing that would be required, would be government regulation. As for better or worse, I'm sure a lot of us can agree that this industry is like the wild west.

As far as pay, benefits, truthful statements made before hire, and the way our tax dollars are used goes. How much better would it make it for the companies that actually wish to stay honest? Small companies that can't come in and undercut everyone else on freight negotiations?

 

The key here is to get the mega carriers to cut into their profits, to hold up the wage increases. ConWay is a good example of this, they are nowhere near floundering. However their teams are paid 44cpm to the truck, yet they are still profitable, still train drivers at Crowder, and everyone wins.

Happy workers = efficient and safe workers, that in turn = happy and profitable company. I'm not pointing fingers here and saying that ConWay is the pinacle of a company to work for, as every company has their issues. However, they are proof that a company of great size can pay their drivers a decent livable wadge, and still remain profitable.