Wake-Up for Carriers

So last night my nephew came over to the house after a few months of being MIA. He was in a pretty rough situation last time I saw him after being dismissed from a seasonal job packing at a local warehouse. He decided to take advantage of a Workforce federal grant which allowed him to take training in a field of his choice. At the time he started, I told him to look into taking the CDL program they offered but driving tractor trailers isn't his thing. So he decided to take a forklift traning where now he's certified in pretty much every type of machine you'll find in logistics. He came out of school and immediately was hired at a local company making $17p/h. After 3 months, they gave him an extra $1 putting him at 18. He works 4 days 12hr shifts with a 5th day being voluntary. He's also been doing a 6th day of 8hrs putting his total hrs p/w at 68. After 40hrs his pay is time + half ($27p/h). Showing me his last paycheck, he grossed just over $1400. Mind you, he's allowed to peak out at $21p/h in 5yrs. Now, I have yet to start my trucking career as I am handling some personal matters. But 2 of my fellow graduates who have already finished training and are on their own truck both come up quite short of that figure. One grossed just short of $1300 and the other $1100 last week. Both are OTR drivers. Not saying that I'm looking to be a forklift driver because trucking is something Ive always wanted to do. But the point in this post is to show one of the reasons why theirs such a shortage of drivers. The vets in the forum can easily vouch for how difficult the industry has become. DOT, micro managing, Elogs... we can literally come up with a list longer than this post. Compare that to my nephews work we he goes in, gets his list of job duties for the day, and hasn't spoke to a manager since his 3rd week working when he accidently let a pallet of water bottles fall using a high reach forklift. And even then he just got a "it happens to everybody" response. With the stresses of the trucking industry, I find it absurd that a forklift driver who's home everyday is grossing more than any truck driver, whether local or OTR. This is all food for thought and something that literally needs to be addressed. Even the recent jump in pay increases hasnt closed the gap in salary as compared to 20yrs ago + inflation. Its up to all of us out there to help do something about it. Even you owner ops are affected and should take a stand. Maybe a national freeze day where no freight is moved until demands are met. These companies claim that truckers keep America moving but when the person who's loading our trailer gets paid more than we do, its a big problem.

 

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Many folks know this already. Some drivers like working for free. Your idea is not new. But many agree with you.

 

I usually net 1100-1300 or so. Id rather just drive with my radio, heating and AC than fooling around in some warehouse all day... Putting up with everyone else's problems.

 

i wish i had worked in a warehouse, for that money...air-conditioned or high velocity fans, home every day, regular lunch, coffee breaks, most likely a full complement of benefits, all the hours you want to work, with out restrictions or resetting one's work clock, summertime cookouts, most likely not working in bad weather, most likely not being held up by construction, DOT scales, erant 4 wheelers and newbie truck drivers, not sitting at a truck stop waiting countless hours for a load, not waiting at a loading dock for several hours to get unloaded, or loaded, cuz i'm already working on the dock....not having to take a DOT physical or hazmat endorsement tests, or fingerprinting, or TWIC card.......or having to stand in line at the truck stop to have my laundry done, or wait for a shower to open, or wait to be seated at the dining room...

yup...wish i had that job, i'd work more years doing that than this crap......and make MORE MONEY doing so too

 

Very nice he found a good job that pays well. Trucking is an aquired taste, you will see drivers come and go. I enjoy the money, freedom and lack of a boss breathing down my neck. I get paid to go on vacation, the way I look at it. Alot don't see it that way.

Trucking will always be an industry with ups and downs.

 

Where I live general forklift tops out at $19 an hour, local driving starts at $20.25.

 

There is no way I'd change what I do now to become a forklift driver, what a boring job. I tried working in the corporate structure for a year, air-condtioned office, nice salary & benefits package, expense account, etc. I couldn't stand it! I've been a roofer, framer, hole digger and host of other types of jobs in over 45 years of working. I wouldn't trade what I do now for any of those jobs. Well, except if I were offered a job as a gigolo

 

I figure if trucks drive themselves and I lose my job I would either get a job fixing them, or I'd go back to school and finish my bachelor's and get a job teaching algebra to a room full of kids that aren't listening. Lol

I cant do warehouse busy work and I didnt like the corporate realm either with all the brown nosing, meetings about literally nothing, and political posturing.

 

I remember being in meetings and my manager would complain that I never offered my opinion on anything. So I started doing that, me and a few other guys, then we found ourselves in additional meetings discussing how to improve the delivery of our message to be less abrasive. Smh