"Sweatshops on Wheels"

I have not read the book, do you know were i can pick it up?
As far as justufying it, No one can.. As far as your starting point of $1000
a week, you would not even think about driving, if you knew how much
the company makes from that truck... As far as the experience, It is not right, i do the same job you do, you should be payed the same as i am ...
There are a few companies that think this way..
I have been driving for seven years, i have drove for my dads company, He starts drivers right out of school at the same rate as the drivers that have been driving for him for 20 year.
I started out at making the max pay at the company i work for now...
If i worked at a company that payed for experience, i would be on the lower scale of the drivers, In my seven years of driving i have around 200,000 miles....

 

I have read the book, and the upshot is that the author is a former union driver who has the basic contention that all would be well with the trucking industry if the unions were back in power. Despite the fact that the freight system we have now (truckload vice LTL) is not really adaptable to the union model, and the fact that a great many truckers are not union minded, this author is certain that if we all join a union and work under union rules that all will become fine.

In days when freight was hauled from one terminal to another and then reloaded onto other trailers at break bulk type terminals, the union model worked well. But once it became common for freight to travel long distances in truckload quantities, the system changed forever. Unions work well for people who drive shorter distances and live in a specific area, returning home almost every night. But once the driver is away from that kodel, the union is of little value to him. If a driver from Virginia is out on the road and has a problem in Nebraska, calling his union steward in Va is of very little use to him. Unions work in smaller areas, and they are still working okay as a system in many LTL businesses, but the clarion call in the book to have unions back in charge is not going to happen.

I also have doubts about the accuracy and conclusions of his book, because it is very clear that he had a set agenda before he ever started writing. When you write with the end already in sight, it's hard to take an independent look at the data, and instead you tend to focus only on the things that prove your already reached conclusion.

it's worth the time to read, but take it for what it's worth. And in an ever changine industry, books like that and the information and figures within them get out of date very quickly.

 

Do you know where, i can pick it up?

 

i don't read books.

i wait till the movie comes out...............

but then again, i and many others are living the experience each and every day..............

maybe i'll save my money, and wait till the movie comes out on TV...........

or, maybe i'll just watch another marathon of "Gilligan's Island"..............

 

This book is worth the read. I admire Michael Belzer for what he's done, even though the book's conclusions may be a bit unreachable. The guy became a truck driver, joined a union, worked his tail off, went to college, got a Ph.D., became a professor at Wayne State, and then wrote this book. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Get the book and read it. Amazon has some cheap copies, I'm sure. I go there all the time for my books.

 

I just reread chapter seven in Belzer's book, the chapter titled "What if the rest of the economy looked like trucking?".

It's the best chapter in the whole book. What he talks about in that chapter is why I haven't gotten my CDL back and probably won't ever get it back.

 

Sweatshops on Wheels, are we talking about JB Hunt or Cimmaron

 

Gotta check that out... sounds like a good read, but I sure don't think unions are coming to trucking any time soon in an industry wide way. Maybe that is good or bad, but glad someone has taken some time to write an articulated view on it. Will have to keep it in the "Emergency Kit" for break downs.

 

Almost a 10 year old post and I bet things haven't changed much. Will have to buy this book and give it a few reads.