Truck driver shortage, other troubles could push up prices for consumers

I'm out for 11 days at a time. Weather my down time is at a shipper or a truck stop makes little difference to me.
Maybe some of have limited job opportunities based on geography. But if I was treated as badly as your example, I would move and get a better job.

Recently, pay has been increasing most places except the oil fields. Carriers are also getting more flexible. I can work a day cab 5,6 or 7 days a week; I can stay with my 11 on, 3 off schedule or I can just run 7 days/week and get paid more. While I think that is pretty cool, I don't think it particularly exceptional. Carriers need to keep their drivers and a different schedule may be available if one just asks or negotiates for it.

I drive for K&B in Illinois. They have openings for their Hillshire/ Sara Lee account and it is a pretty good job. These are daily salary positions that are not very demanding and way better than chasing miles and stressing over down time. Now, I am glad to have short miles and happy to spend 6 hours at Wal Mart!

 

K&B? Id like to see the government shut their butts down if its the K&B I saw on 20/20. If you like working or being tied down to that truck for 70+ hours a week for a salary thats fine. That's you, if you average 12.50 an hour and are happy about it, once again thats you. I never said I worked for a company like I stated about, but the industry is ate up with carriers that dump all over drivers. Included the one your with if its the one I think it is.

 

I average $23-24/hr. I work 45-50 hrs/week. This is one of the better K&B jobs and there are openings for it. Last 2 weeks I worked less than 40 hrs and made about $30/hr for my time. Per mile, I get close to $0.50. This is a mid west regional job.

My experience with dispatch has been nothing but courteous, responsive and professional. Though I do feel overly monitored sometimes and they don't pay for truck washes: those are my only complaints about this company.

And I think Abe is a whiny, wussy attention seeker.

 

So by saying that about Abe, do you condone in that kind of carrier practices? Or do you believe carriers should be called out for their wrong doings? And if you dont condone those type of carrier practices, then just how do you bring it to the attention to those that can make a difference in the industry? And is your name Marty Richards by chance? Just curious.

 

I have been in the same position a few times but never wussed out. I would get a nap before I started or stop for a nap if I really had to. After 20 hrs off, Abe claims he couldn't drive at all and didn't even try taking a nap for a couple hrs and then rolling. I think he was just annoyed that his schedule got jammed up was retaliating.

This guy was a complainer and dispatch was fed up with him. Regardless, that particular dispatcher lost his cool and put inappropriate pressure on Abe.

The question I ask myself when hearing people make dramatic complaints is: "why do I never have these problems?"
Because of 2 things: 1) I have the discipline to rest at the right times and 2) I am not lazy and out of shape and so have better stamina.

 

You've never had one of those sleep all night, wait to be dispatched all day then they expect you to run 600 miles by morning with it being now 8 o'clock at night and you need to be there by 0600? Your one of the lucky ones I guess and the reason the Industry is so out of control and only getting worse is because for over 30 years no one has said anything and everyone has just taken it. Carriers will screw your life up if you let them. I don't think you've been with K&B long enough to know. It has nothing to do with lazy, its about safety.. Period. Good luck man I hope you the best!

 

thats why i got away and stay away from anyone that hauls for tyson /ibp ... wasnt all the time but to much of that sit all day drive all nite program ....will say it has improved since tyson bought ibp tho ...but not enough for me .

 

Hey, it has a lot to do with laziness and poor self control. How many truckers exercise and maintain healthy diets? 'nuff said?

When we toughen up we can handle these occasional stresses much better.

And how many are "too tired" because they spent time that should have been resting doing something else.

And if it's really too much, which it has been for me on a few occasions, this is what I do:

1) send a q-comm informing (not asking) dispatch that I am taking a 90 min or 2 hour nap.
2) turn off my phone so no can argue with me about it and go to sleep
3) get up and finish my job

Works every time and with zero drama.

 

I don't mean to be overly argumentative with anyone here. When all we have is text, the tone can seem more strident than it actually is.

I want to give encouragement to those who feel overly pressured that they are more in control of the situation than they may realize.
The main thing is to take better care of our health so we can handle stress better. The second thing is not to get dramatic with dispatch; there doesn't need to be an argument. On the rare occasions when we must get extra sleep, we simply inform our employer and do it. No one is at all likely to get fired for that but if they do get fired, so what? Just get another (better) job.

 

How do you handle fatigue? By being in good health? In Abe's case he would have been up almost 36 hours straight.
I didn't here Abe get out of line with dispatch, but we all know what K&B dispatchers are capable of, we all heard those clowns.
No one person out there is a machine and after sleeping all night just to be up all day to be dispatched, then be expected to run all night till morning to deliver a load,that's just outright bad planning on K&B's part. Its a practice that is done by allot of carriers.
Abe was pressured into the load when he should have refused it for safety reasons, then he would have been then nailed for refusing dispatch, right? But he did the right thing and K&B didn't. Safety was not a priority to them from what we heard and the law says anytime a driver becomes ill or fatigued they are to stop at the nearest safe place as soon as possible. There's nothing in the rule that says all fatsos need to keep driving.