Why aren't truckers in the driver's seat?

We partially did it to ourselves. Back when you could run your ### off to make extra money, and covered it up in our log books, the companies got used to it and our time became cheap and we became expendable. Now the unofficial industry standard is to treat us like trained monkeys, expect us to work days and weeks on end without getting home, give us less benefits than the office jerks, and pay us as little as possible. As long as they can fill the seats with people out of truck driving schools or who have only driven a few years that think $45,000 a year is big money...it's not going to change.
With almost every company I have worked for, once you get up to the higher pay range, you're in danger. Some bean counter will make sure the cheaper paid drivers get more miles.

 

That's like ever since I got my pay raise my miles have been decent but I've been home more. I'm not complaining though, if our companies way of cutting our miles is to give me more hometime, I'm fine with that.

Ethan

 

Make no mistake, there is a driver shortage. And a big one at that. But it is not for the reasons that so many companies give.

My questions to drivers is "what, are you new and can you comprehend the english language"?

There is a driver shortage and there should be one. Sadly, the constant influx of new drivers allow these companies to keep on doing what they have always done. We have no one to blame but the drivers themselves. That is just the truth, like it or not.


Look at how most drivers are paid. Mileage. Funny that they don't get paid for the miles the actually they drove. Iv'e got to know, which driver in their right mind finds it acceptable to work for free? Please don't tell me that's the it has always been. Your wrong and you know it. Those that work for free chose that way to be paid. Period!


Since they are paid mileage, all other on-duty time is given away for free. Pre/post trip, fuel, scales, traffic delays, breakdowns, washes etc. Feel free to incert any other delay. It doesn't matter since your not getting paid for it.


Now when you arrive at your shipper/receiver, you get the pleasure of giving up a certain amount of time for free before you start receiving the companies mediocre pay for sitting there.

As for benefits, look at the amount of pay taken out of your check for benefits received. Most people need health, dental and vision coverage. Do companies even provide all three? Some of you even have a family. How much out of pocket expense do they take to provide those benefits? What is your deductible? Is it worth it or is your company gouging you and your family? I think they are.

Time off? How many days do you have to be away from your family to earn a day or two off? Probably too many.

Paid time off. You probably get some type of vacation. Is it based on your last years gross or is it a flat rate rate? If it is not based on last years gross, you loose again.

Do you get sick days? I'm betting your not. Enough said!

How about holidays? We all get them. Some get more than others. Are you paid a mere pentance for that day? Do you get paid well if you work on that holiday? I'm guessing not.

How much does it cost a driver daily to live on the road given the fact that their pay is shorted from the beginning?

I need to eat dinner. I'm home so I will resume my comments after I get home tomorrow.

 

Logic would dictate that these two sentences are opposed to one another and your post doesn't contain any kind of explanation that would make both of these sentences true. I'm curious to hear the rest of the story.

This has been hashed out about a zillion times already. The job is what it is and the compensation package is what it is. If you receive a paycheck for doing a job, then no part of that job is ever done for free. You produce X and you get paid Y for it. This applies to every job there is, so lets be clear on one thing right away. Trucking is not at all unique in having required tasks which do not get a line item on a pay stub. There are MANY jobs out there which involve required tasks that are not directly tied to the compensation metric. I worked for a time as a professional musician. I never once got a paycheck that included a line item for my time and effort involved in loading in or loading out. I also worked as a professional pilot for many years. For most of my pilot career, I was paid for flight time only. Time spent flight planning, checking weather, preflighting the plane etc was not computed in my paycheck. That was most of my pilot career. For the remainder of my pilot career, I was paid salary. So I got the same check every week whether I showed up for 80 hours or 0 hours. And all of these experiences have taught me well that in every job, you do X and you get paid Y.

In the case of trucking, X is getting the loads delivered. So your pay (Y) is for EVERYTHING involved with getting the load delivered (producing X). It doesn't matter whether your gross pay is based on every task involved in making X happen or just certain tasks. What matters is whether you end up with what you feel is a fair paycheck for sum total of what you've done to earn that paycheck.

So this is one of those situations where you really should be careful what you wish for. If you want to get paid specifically for fueling, pre/post trips and all time spent sitting at shippers or receivers you can certainly do that. But unless you're a union driver or UPS, you'll likely find that your CPM rate ends up dropping quite a bit in the process. Because whether you want to believe it or not, your current CPM rate is calculated on taking those other tasks into consideration. If you want to be paid specifically for those other tasks then you better expect your CPM to drop accordingly. Like I said, be careful what you wish for.

So the bottom line is in trucking as in every other job, you do the job, you work the week, and you look at the check you get. If you think its enough considering your caliber and experience, so be it. If you think its not enough considering your caliber and experience, you either find a better gig in this profession or you find a better profession. Screwing around with all this boo hoo I don't get paid for fueling only bestows you with the label of someone who cannot see the big picture.

 

Let's be clear on one point. There is NO driver shortage. Let me say that again, THERE IS NO DRIVER SHORTAGE!!! Capacity (available trucks) is up and available freight to haul is down, as are the rates to haul those loads. Excess capacity means that there are more trucks available looking for loads than there are to haul. Rates are down which means that there are more people willing to haul the cheaper loads and that means that there is excess capacity. Since trucks must have drivers to operate them, that means that there are actually too many drivers than are needed.

Let me explain to you how this business operates. We live in a competitive environment. Our rates mirror what is going on in the marketplace. When there are more trucks (with drivers in them) to haul fewer loads than the available trucks, you have an over capacity situation. In other words, rather than having a driver shortage, we actually have more drivers than we need. The driver shortage is manufactured by those who benefit from that mentality, such as those carriers who constantly hire drivers to train at taxpayer expense. Pushing this idea helps keep the federal dollars coming in to line their pockets. The only shortage is quality drivers. We need more who are willing to do their best and get the job done who know how to protect their CDL (not get tickets) and keep their CSA scores low (do proper pre trips and keep logs up to date).

Since we are subject to market conditions, you should understand that shippers are only willing to pay a certain amount of money to ship their products. Companies calculate rates based upon their costs of operations and making a profit. If those costs exceed what shippers are willing to pay, then the carrier loses business. You cannot continue to pass along all increased costs of operations. A time comes when the customers (shippers) cannot or will not pay more to move their products. Fuel and labor are the two most expensive costs of operating a trucking company. If you pay too much for either and your costs of operations is too high, then you will either need to cut costs or cease to exist as a viable company.

Carriers could break down driver pay to include bumping a dock, tarping, doing a pre trip or fueling. In order to pay for all those things, it would be necessary to lower the mileage rate you are paid or a smaller percentage, if you are paid percentage. The gross pay would not change, but it might make you feel better to have the illusion you are being paid for each thing you do.

I find it almost comical when some complain about $40-50,000 being "chump change" and that they could make more "flipping burgers" at McDonald's. Even at $30,000, which is around where most start, you are making more money than most other careers. That is more than some college graduates start. In a couple of years you can be making over $40,000/yr. That is more than a 30% pay raise in only a couple of years. And it could be as high as a 50% pay raise in a couple of years if you can reach $45,000/year. You won't find that much of a pay increase with most any other career.

If you could indeed make $40,000 flipping burgers at McDonald's, they would not be able to sell product for the price they do. Unless you are a college graduate with a number of years experience and a manager, you won't make that much money with McDonald's or any other fast food restaurant. Nor will you be able to work enough hours to come close to that wage, since most pay minimum or barely above that for workers. Try being thankful for what you have. There are few jobs in this country that will pay a worker over $40,000/yr, without at least a Bachelor's degree. Yet, you can be in that earnings range with only a few weeks training.

Whatever you are being paid, you need to also consider any benefits, such as insurance, 401k, etc., Employers also pay 1/2 of employee's social security tax. You get to see this great country and are paid for doing so. You don't have a boss constantly looking over your shoulder to make sure you are doing your job. You control your income by how well you perform. While I understand that drivers are subject to available loads and how well a dispatcher keeps you rolling, you are still in control by how quickly you pick up and deliver your freight.

Rather than complain about being under paid, perhaps you need to spend some time to see where you are spending your money. Make a budget. There is no reason that you should not have a good standard of living and solid retirement as long as you plan properly. I have known some people who are always broke, no matter how much money they make. I have also known some who do very well and have a nice savings and investments with much less. For the most part, it isn't how much you make, but how you manage what you do make.

 

Once again, G/MAN hits it right on the head! People can believe there is a "driver shortage" when you go to the store and the owner says "we couldn't get a trucker to bring it." Ever seen that happen?? The so called shortage is from shippers not willing to pay fairly to get a product moved. If a shipper starts at 1.00 per mile to move it and everyone says they will not haul it for that, they cry driver shortage. They up the price to 1.50 per mile, maybe a huge carrier comes in and will haul it for that. The service isn't good enough so they have to pay more again for a decent carrier. The term "driver shortage" should more accurately be called "driver not willing to work for next to nothing, - shortage."