What happened to wages in the industry?

Mid 80’s I was grossing $75k plus tax free per diem with a private carrier. I received serious perks however most in my area were earning .30 to .35 per mile.
Wages started to stagnate end of ‘80’s as competition opened up and the influx of competition arrived. Low rent companies were begging for drivers in the 80’s. Dig up old truck rag and you’ll see the ads
Lots of larger union companies in Canada closed their doors,
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I also saw this in the US where companies were paying driver buttons to train them, and guys would line up for low paying driving jobs as well many of those lining up we’re not truck driver material by any stretch

 

The exchange rate was what? $1.50? So .30 Canadian would be .20 US... 75k would be 50k US...

 

Duffy mentioned that the problem started in the early 2000s... so that would've happened during the Bush administration. What did Trump do to stop the problem aside from giving Elaine Choa the authorization to begin development autonomous trucks? Trump was down for making trucking automated while the drivers find enemies amongst themselves.

Trump’s DOT Sec. Speaks In Favor Of Self-Driving Vehicles - TruckersReport.com

 

How did robot trucks drive down today's pay? There are not enough robot trucks in operation to have any influence outside of the city they operate. Do you have data for that? Maybe the pay for human truck drivers is stagnant or declining because of all of the flying cars in the sky? I prefer that fantasy to the one you mentioned.
If the NFL suddenly started hiring lots of men and women without the typical NFL player quality they would not be paying them NFL star pay. You cannot flood any market with LOTS of new producers or consumers without changing the current price of that product. Labor is a product.

 

Yes, and a good OTR driver can make 80k in 2025. I don't exactly call that low wages. In other sectors of trucking, more money than that can be made.

You're question shouldn't be why wages are so low. You're question should be why do get into trucking and act like they've become billionaires overnight.

 

Supply and demand. Trucking is one of the easiest things to do especially if you’re pulling a box down the road.

Comparing anything to 1980 and earlier is like comparing oranges and pineapples. Trucking was regulated. It was difficult and next to impossible to get operating authority. And the government set the rates. Drivers were paid well and didn’t have to live in their trucks. Deregulation in 1980 started the downhill slide.

That said, if you want paid more then figure where you can gain skills or endorsements to get paid more. There’s plenty of money to be made with a CDL.

 

You're not going to like it, but unions. Unions get you money. That's why companies break them. Less money for the driver. More money for the company owner.

 

Which are they?

 

My Dad started as a casual at a Teamster Job in 1980. The contract allowed using 10% casuals. No health insurance, but retirement was paid into the pension fund weekly. They had to pay top rate to casuals. They ran him hard, open board. Pulling doubles in a raggedy Freightliner cab over. Running terminal to terminal sleeping in motels. Gone 2-5 days at a time. remember seeing one check for $990 for 3300 miles. Must have been .30 com. After a few months he was hired full time. Then he became what they called a 70%er, making 70% of top pay, about .21cpm. with health insurance. After 6 months it went up to 85%, at 18mo. he reached full parity. Top pay. By then it had probably gone up to .31cpm. Steady runs were bid on by seniority, every 3 months. In 1990 they went out of business. I believe he was at .37cpm.

 

Just pointing out why “average” in 1980 would be considered world class in 2025, from drivers to driver pay. Want more? Be more.

Six back quiet.