the impact a $15 per hour minimum wage on the trucking industry

Look what happened in 2008 when home prices went down. People owed more than the house is worth so it isn't stupid to mail the bank the keys and walk away. Now if all the lenders take big enough losses, who will the lender be? The taxpayer? If I were to take a large loss in my small business, why don't I get a piece of that government bailout? Oh. Because I don't fit the definition of "too big to fail". Remember that one? Or should we only work in cash and no lending? That sure would be difficult to buy anything. And this whole 0% for keeping your money in a bank account then pay fees on top of it. What would happen if the bank said the interest rate is now a negative %? People would want all their money to put it in their mattresses because even the dumbest people would know that it's either do that or watch your money erode away right before your eyes. At least the way it is now people buy lots of junk they don't need to fill their homes....the result is the same. Entertain yourself while you're here...I guess.

People that are poor money managers are perpetually poor. How many people on here claim to make over 100k a year then they are still broke when a crash like 2008 happens. Or the people who it doesn't matter if they make 40k or 200k they spend every dollar. All the same when the rainy day comes. And we all know people that fit this exact description..

 

Actually, that's quite stupid...not much different than buying high and selling low in the stock market. So what if stock prices drop a little? You haven't "lost" anything until you give up the asset. Sure, the "value" of the asset has decreased, but something like a house or land you can be sure eventually it'll come back up...especially if it's just a market fluctuation. Now if a nuke plant melted down and the yard was radioactive, then I wouldn't count on it rebounding...but short of a massive change like that, hang onto it and ride it out. Otherwise, what are you going to do? Quit paying the $1200 mortgage because "we owe more than the house is worth" only to pay $1200 to rent a smaller house you have NO ownership of? Not to mention, the mortgage company is STILL going to hound you for the difference between what was owed and what they received selling it off.

 

It was a bubble and the value was NOT coming back.

 

I agree with you PB. In reality it isn't what most people do. The end result is the lender now paid out more than they can sell the asset for. Mortgage company can hound all they want. Can't get blood from a stone.

Perhaps the housing crisis wasn't the best example. People walked away probably because the sub prime mortgage issues more than the value of the asset declining. Sure if it's locked in for 1200 that's fine and dandy and the value is likely to recover over time, but the payments balloon and they can't pay it. Put them together and look what the result was.

The point I was trying to make is why deflation can't work over the long term. How do you grow your money in a deflationary economy? Keep it in your mattress. Which means it isn't invested. When it's invested it creates jobs and you expect a return on it. Or flee the dollar altogether and buy gold or silver bars or whatever you see will hold value. Any way you look at it, deflation can never be good.

 

...except that it has.

 

Yeah, those adjustable rates can bite you when you're only looking at "how much per month" you can afford instead of "how much". Get it all worked out to the penny for what you can afford "per month" and then the adjustable rate kicks in and you're in over your head because you weren't expecting it and therefore had no plan. Could've been avoided simple enough by reading the documents before you signed. I remember real estate agents, loan managers, etc...getting annoyed at the time I spent reading things over. "I already explained it to you..." yeah, but I'd still like to read it for myself.

 

You're forgetting some crucial aspects of OTR driving (ones that everyone else here seems to grasp)

1. Your job is dangerous (OTR trucking is in the Top 5 dangerous jobs). That means, aside from holding a steering wheel and pointing an 80k lb machine, you have to make sure your product (and the driver) make it to their destination without killing anyone. HELL, Airline pilots have easier jobs...but they get paid a lot more money than you! (maybe you don't deserve to be paid More because your life isn't worth much)
   
2. You're in jail; Stuck in a 6x8 room for your sleeping/living quarters (maybe you don't deserve to live in a home).
3. You're sitting all day. Means you are destroying your body (maybe your health isn't worth much)
4. Your treated like s### by receivers, shippers, other drivers, etc. (maybe you don't deserve respect...after-all, all you do is sit and point a Truck)
5. You have s### choices for meals (maybe you don't deserve to eat better)
6. You're in A Truck 70hrs a week, while other people get to go OUT and have lunch, and at the end of the day, go to a nice Home. If you're grossing $20/hr, you'll gross $1400 for the week,...but most drivers get half of that. (You don't deserve more than $10/hr-MAX)
7. Harassed by the DOT. DOT is breathing down your neck and its for sure, you got something wrong with your vehicle or something wrong with YOU, (So no, you don't deserve more than Min. Wage)
8. 4 Wheeler's hate you because you are in the way (you don't deserve to be on the road)
9. You need a Legal Plan because when you make a mistake (and you will), some lawyer is going to sue the living s### out of you and your company will "surely roll over" on you. (You don't deserve more than min.wage).
10. Your company dispatch will push you to your physical and mental limits (You're lucky to be driving a Rig, let alone making more than Min.Wage...you don't deserve it).

Well...now that you put it that way, i guess you don't deserve more than Min.Wage (if that).

;(

 

I took a local job and made 2k last week. I only worked 3 days though because holidays and weather negated my need to go to work. Nobody is forcing you to drive OTR. Your job is at will employment. You work for the rate you and the company agreed to. Quit and get another job. One thing that a cdl holder has that a person working at Walmart doesn’t is that they can quit and have a new job tomorrow. Suck it up. You’re worth 10 bucks an hour as long as you continue to work for that. That’s what the market has decided to pay you.

 

Inflation and devaluing the currency is theft. Take that Marxist nonsense and use it to wipe your ###. That’s what his collected works are worth.

 

You said the above and i responded. What's this C##P about making 2k last week???

Stay with the point. Why would you put down a min.wage increase?

(ehh...never-mind).....LOL.