What Changes Are Needed in trucking?

rickg
These problems don't exist at many carriers and your "solutions" would create problems .
What carriers don't these problems exist at?
Go on line 4 while waiting to load/unload and you're burning up hours .
Several times I have been off duty or in the sleeper and still collected detention time . ******* The point is why should you not be paid while waiting? And if you are being paid why not log it line 4?
Weekly inspections eliminating DOT inspections ? You could go 10 minutes down the road and have something break .
Yes you could go 10 minutes down the road and have something break however if someone (a licensed professional repair facility for instance) else deems the truck is safe doesn't that eliminate the burden from the driver? And doesn't it prevent the driver from have to crawl around on someones sewage to do the inspection?
Governed trucks do NOT cause drivers to log illegally . That is a driver's choice . Responsible carriers have no tolerance for HOS violations .
The cdl drivers manual says " Any vehicle traveling the highways and byways of our nation that is incapable of maintaining a speed of three to four MPH off (slower than) the speed of traffic is a hazard to the motoring public, and a danger to the driver". It doesn't save fuel to cut a truck back to 62 mph and a truck particularly in a hill climb that has been castrated can't get out of the way and poses a danger to everyone including the driver.
Free showers ? Got 6 hours to wait for an available shower ?
Are you one of those stinky drivers? I get a shower daily whether I have to pay for it or not. It is not acceptable to me not to do so. It shouldn't be for anyone IMHO!
2 hours for meals and restroom besides the 10 hour break ?
Are you one of those drivers that drives 11 straight and pees in a bottle as you are driving down the road? I need sanitary facilities where I can wash my hands afterwards with soap and warm water. Anything less is inhumane IMHO. Midday break ?
Do you not eat a meal in the middle of your shift? Are you one of those fast food as you drive drivers? I don't eat while I am working. No-one should have to eat while they work. How many times have you pulled of the big road to grab a bite and it took you a half hour to park because you had to wait for carrier x's driver to get in a spot? Or are you one of those guys that parks at the fuel island and get his #1 supersized to go?
50 m.p.h. ?
50mph avg spped is pretty normal if you are not cooking your books allowing for rush hour traffic and other delays. It is 550 miles a day and over 3000 a week.
And you expect to get enough miles to make a decent living ?
If We got paid for all the time we put in at the same rate we would all be making a decent living not wondering whether the bank is gonna get the house or the car this week.

I expect to be treated like a human being. I expect to be compensated for work. IMO Anything having me at a Shipper, Receiver, Port of Entry or Carriers Property is work. I can not get a shower, hot meal, do laundry or anything I want to do not related to the truck while there. So why should I say this is line 1?
IMHO line 1 belongs to me not the company that owns the truck I drive.

Also I like to add even if you are an owner operator this would help you because it would increase rates. Somebody would have to pay for it.

 

WOW!
Would have guessed there would be a more spirited debate.

Maybe I am wrong and the drivers of today deserve this kind of treatment. Or is it that everyone is so afraid of losing what they have they won't say anything?
Most of this would be solved by making the American Truck Driver fall under the FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT.

Just consider this for a moment: If you were paid for everything you do for a living at a fair wage, you wouldn't have to "draw lies in a comic book". You could get a real nights sleep. You would have a real paycheck whether your company had miles or not. It would be more of an incentive for them to get legal runs with adequate time to get the shipments on time to keep you running and their trucks earning.

 

As Rick stated, this isn't a problem at a lot of carriers, move on. If you are applying to crappy companies, you get what you ask for. As for free showers, I have waited an hour or longer many times to get a shower cause I hit the truckstop at a bad time. Many guys would rather live in their filth then pay a couple bucks, which means I don't have to wait for them, too. And thats fine by me.

 

Well , while drivers may not deserve that kind of treatment they are pretty much asking for it going to work for and staying with carriers that treat them that way . Have the drivers even stood firm and said "NO" ? I have worked for carriers that were abusive and let them know I ran legal and that was it . No problem . They had plenty of drivers they could push . Did I make less working under 70 hours than drivers working over 80 ? Of course . But no attorney was going to pull my records and get me put in jail if some idiot used my truck to commit suicide by truck . You don't have to be the one it happens to either . This is something drivers have to think about with CSA 2010 . If ANY driver has a serious accident FMCSA will come in and do an audit . Then you'll get nailed if you have been cheating on your logs .

 

You are right! Even if the accident was in no way the big trucks fault if it can be proven that the big truck did ANYTHING wrong or was not 100% legal, these ambulance-chasing sharks will tear your a new orifice!
Regarding poor treatment of drivers, you are right again! Imagine how this industry would look if all the drivers for a bottom feeder just decided at once they were done.
Shoot! If more newbies came to this website, did the appropiate research, and actually took the great advice that is offered here, how much better off would we all be???

 

I don't agree with the point that goverend trucks are a hazard, I drive slower than the limit all the time and I do save fuel and I do not impede traffic, and when I have drivers they will never get a truck that is not govered because they will drive as fast as they want and get tickets and increase the chance of an accident, you don't need to drive fast to make money.

Weekly mandatory inspections at the carriers expense means that it would cost me money every week for my trucks, just so the driver doesn't have to do his job to make sure the truck is fit for the road.

I don't agree that showers have to be free, there are some places that choose to give free showers to drivers, but showers cost money, for water, paying someone to clean it etc, so if the establishment choses to charge for it I see no problem, and truck stops don't make money on fuel anymore and since most drivers just park and sleep, they don't spend money in stores or restaurants

 

Ok, now that you,ve shot down most of the OP's ideas, let's hear something CONSTRUCTIVE! What are some changes in trucking that YOU think are needed?

 

I'd like to see more drivers realise that this job isn't what it used to be, and it's never going back to the good old days. Cold hard fact.
Also, do a little research into what the industry is before you jump in and then become unhappy. Is OTR all wine and roses? Of course not. Does it absolutely suck at times? You bet it does. But if you do a little research before you come into it, and you see it without the rose colored glasses that the recruiters sell you on, at least you won't be so jaded when reality takes a big dump in your lap.
In my experience, drivers create or allow others to create the majority of the problems that they encounter. Don't let your dispatcher push you to run illegally, don't run down the road with an unsafe truck that the company doesn't want to fix, etc.
But I will say this, I can't think of another job out there that I'd be happy with. I've met a lot of great people, seen a lot of awesome sights, and I'm doing what I like to do. If that's not the case for you, then I'm sorry. But don't set back and point your finger at all the problems that the industry has. Be honest and admit to yourself that maybe some of those problems are you.

 

So are you saying that there is NOTHING about the business of trucking that needs to be changed?