They need to mandate hourly w/ OT after 40

I would say 99% of local drivers just want to go home for the day and get the job/day done as soon as possible. The thought process of local drivers wanting to milk the clock is very overblown, in my opinion. When I did LTL P&D at Estes, at least at the terminal that I was out of we were required to ask dispatch if it was okay to go home, instead of just leaving. A lot of drivers (especially the old timers on "unnoficial but official dedicated P&D runs") would just go home without asking permission from dispatch first. I never saw a single person milk the clock when I did local, but I saw a TON of guys sneaking out reguarly because they wanted to go home and didn't want to work more than 8-10 hours in a day (which is 100% understandable).

 

The problem with the "find a better job" mentality is that that mentality does not protect new CDL workers from being heavily exploited. Yes paying your dues is fair, but no getting bent over backwards where you're averaging minimum wage when clocking in a 70 hour work week and considering overtime after 40 is not okay. I'm pretty sure plumbers, HVAC guys, and most other blue collared professions are at least paying newbies with no experience at least $20 per hour just starting out.

There's a HUGE difference between paying your dues and being unfairly exploited. New OTR CDL drivers need WAY more protection than what they currently have.

As for drivers with experience, yes that's true you should be able to find a better paying job if you want to, but that still doesn't mean we shouldn't be fighting to include workers rights and conditions for all of us.

 

With the CPM payscale, I don't even think they necessarily need to go to an hourly rate. It would help out a lot if these Truckload OTR companies started doing what a lot of LTL companies do for their CPM employees (linehaul drivers), which is paying drivers a certain dollar amount for everytime they fuel, drop and hook, breakdown/roadside pay starting immediately, etc. etc.

Or if they did go to an hourly pay, minimum wage in most states is still just $7.25. Why can't OTR/Regional Truckload companies pay their employees CPM, but for ALL logged on duty time, pay drivers $7.25 per hour? That $7.25 would really add up. At LTL companies a lot of them pay I think $9 for their equivalent of dropping and hooking (breaking down and building sets). Pretty sure they pay about $9 everytime their linehaul CPM drivers fuel up too.

Why can't OTR Truckload companies do this?

I think it's a great idea and I applaud LTL companies for paying their linehaul guys for on duty activities. I hope OTR/Regional Truckload companies follow suite in the future.

 

What they need to do is get rid of the stupid HOS system that actually forces drivers to drive when they’re tired rather than let them decide. Just this past week I was wide awake, listening to music, cruising down the road when my 70 hour clock told me I had to stop. Had to sit there all day and force myself to try and sleep which of course didn’t happen because it was the middle of the day. I had to wait till midnight. For some hours to come back so I could finish 200 miles of my load. Since the government knows best you know? Finally midnight rolls around and I can drive all night. After being awake all day I was ready to go to sleep by then. Had to drink a huge cup of coffee and force myself to stay awake. Instead of just continuing when it would’ve been easy, got to the receiver, went to sleep and did the delivery in the morning. But no that makes too much sense.

 

One thing that you guys may or may not be made aware of, whether or not you agree with an hourly mandate for truck drivers, is that it's straight up THEFT that dock workers at trucking companies can legally not be paid a single hour of OT after 40, despite being classified as an "hourly" employee and not a "salaried" employee.

I'm not even talking about "combo drivers", I'm talking dock workers that don't even have their CDL's. When I worked at Estes, the hourly P&D guys got OT after 52 hours (lol). I was SHOCKED when I spoke with the dock workers and found out that they too only got OT after 52 hours, despite being paid by the hour and not being paid as a "salaried" employee. That is straight up robbery and wrong, I felt awful for those guys.

 

No, the HOS system and ELD's (so that drivers can't cheat anymore with paper logs) is 100% needed and I personally applaud it. It is needed so that companies do not exploit newer CDL drivers who have fewer options and in many cases cannot just up and leave a company that is exploiting them. I'm talking the CR England's and Western Expresses of the world, they would 100% exploit their drivers if the HOS and ELD's mandates were not in effect.

EVERY single driver, including CR England and Western Express drivers, deserves to not be exploited. You cannot tell me that apprentices or trainees in the plumbing, HVAC and other blue collared fields can be exploited as much as brand new OTR drivers could if we didn't have ELD's and the HOS mandates in effect.

I personally find the current HOS rules extremely flexible since they updated them around 2020, especially with the spliter sleeper birth rules that we have now. I have 0 problems with the HOS rules and ELD's but anyways that's probably a whole other topic other than this thread.

 

Apprentices in plumbing and HVAC make $35-40k a year according to Indeed.

Nobody is forced to work for a mega. Nobody is forced to let a mega pay for their schooling. People do it because it’s easy and they learn that easy isn’t always the best way. If working for a mega was the only way to get into the industry then I’d be more apt to share your point of view. But it’s not. And people have to live with the choices they have made.

 

I doubt anyone forced them to take such a job in the first place. Which means they made the decision to work under those conditions, meaning they're OK with it. Not saying I agree with it, but if the employer can continuously find people willing to do it, then it works for them and the employee.

 

I dont know what its like in MO but where I live, there are approximately zero attractive women willing to sleep with a garbage man that makes 20 bucks an hour.
Young men today dont just know this, they feel it in their bones.
Can you blame them for not taking that job?