Why CSA 2010 and E-Logs are a good thing.

The mentality of 'makin extra money by running illegal' has got to go! The reason pay has stagnated in trucking for decades is because of this attitude. Truckers who cheat are undercutting the whole brotherhood of truckers trying to make a living. It just got to the point the only way to make more money was to cheat.

Now with elogs the companies will be forced to re-evaluate their operations to ensure customer satisfaction sans counting on drivers cheating. When the old time cheater drivers are pushed out and we new breed elogger 'by the book' drivers get done taking over the industry, you will see pay go up across the board. We will show you old timers how it is really done. There's a new sheriff in town.

 

Popcorn anyone?

 

No salt please !!!!

 

What makes you think pay will go up? Big fleets will simply have to repower more loads more often or put long distance runs on trains while smaller carriers if we are lucky will still be able to bid for shorthaul regional runs. We will be lucky if rates don't DROP.

 

Here ya go!

 

We'll see . Five old timers will be replaced by eight super compliant newbies . Gee , they have to buy 3 more trucks . Can't afford pay raises with that expense .
The real reason pay has stagnated is newbies have the "any job is better than no job " and "a truck sleeper is warmer than a cardboard box " mentality . Starter companies are called that because new people are always starting . They accept bottom feeder wages until they are starving and losing everything then they leave and let someone else start . They allow BFI's to offer cutthroat rates to private fleets and convince them to put their reasonably paid drivers on the street to be replaced by dedicated BFI temp drivers .

 

He learned all this being a trucker for one whole year? Sounds more like an ATA executive or a new sheriff wannabee

 

You newbies make me laugh yea I bet pay will go up lol you guys take any job you can get drive for no money,drive 60 mph rolling roadblocks,love elogs cause you don't want to work hell most of you don't even want to be driving your what's wrong with trucking you'll take any job that's giving to you no matter what they pay your whats wrong with this industry btw elogs punishes you for pulling over and taking a nap if your tired so how's that safe keep working for the werners swifts jb hunts see if you make any more money years from now you newbees need to get a clue also 800- 1000 per week isn't no money for running the road I wouldn't even think I've running for that little money making more than that now running local driving a peterbilt with a 550 no governer I can actually get out of my own way time you guys wake up and stand up for yourselves instead of taking any low paying job that's given to you

 

thanks for speaking the truth it had to be said. As for new drivers a kid my boy went to high school with got a truck driving school education and he is one of the worst drivers on the road very arrogant and nasty. He got on with Transport America about a year ago he is about 23 or24 years old.He has been parked at the Hancock Md truck stop for over a week now. Not hooked to a trailer but taking up a whole parking spot that some one working could use. I asked him the other night to move and not tie a spot up like he is. His reply was F---- those other drivers my truck is staying where I put it. I said what are you gonna do if someone takes a pair of bolt cutters and cuts the valve stems off on all your wheels . His reply Its not my FN truck I don"t care. The thing is he is in there every night in his pickup trying to romance the girl at the register. I was gonna call TA but figured what good would that do? Anyway this is the professional drivers we have today and I am very glad not to be one of them.That tractor he runs is a disgrace also I have no Idea of how much
stuff that kid has run into or over he tells my boy about hitting things and tearing half of the bumper off and backing into posts and so on but it is never his fault these are the people ruining the trucking industry,oh I forgot to mention his flip flops and shorts and 3 times too large Tee shirts with the swear words on them so we can all see how tough he is.What do you guys think Is it me being too old or what

 

Scottied67... I am trying to figure out how the trucking companies, if EOBR becomes the norm, would be able to raise the pay for drivers to an appreciable degree. Equipment safety mandates, equipment emission mandates, equipment fuel economy mandates, and an ever growing list of regulatory requirements that any carrier, large or small, must contend with. Increasing maintenance costs associated with increasingly complicated trucks due to those mandates. Rising insurance costs, even for the safest carriers. Rates will still have to be negotiated like they are now, and there will be competition just like there is now.

Are you even remotely aware of the problems and costs it takes to run a truck down the road? I have been at this for over 3 decades, I use an EOBR and like it, but I also breath oxygen and live in reality. EOBR's, across the board, will cause far more problems than any perceived rewards associated with their use. The concept is great, but the application is wrought with complications and problems. In certain operations, like mine, they actually work quite well for regulatory compliance and save me a lot of time and hassle since I am not dealing with paper and its associated issues. But trucking has so much diversity, that any "one size fits all" solution is ludicrous.

And you can take your "brotherhood of truckers" crap and shove it. I run a business and am not at all interested in some "brotherhood" concept like I am a teamster. I am only interested in keeping my customers and keeping uncle sugar off my back. I may share information back and forth with other truckers, help out another trucker in need, etc but my ultimate responsibility is to my business and family. And I have a distain for anyone who isn't willing to adjust their operation to make it work or those that love having government come to their supposed "rescue" and pile on more and more nonsense just to substantiate government budgets and job position security for government workers. Just like seatbelt mandates that also pile on the points with CSA scores, an EOBR mandate is nothing more that a revenue collection scam and a way to feather the next of companies that make the stuff and have enough lobbying clout in DC. Same for the latest sleep apnea scam working its way thru. In the final analysis, only the government benefits from this kind of stuff at a cost to everyone else.

I guess what saddens me, especially on the Memorial day weekend, is that I and others didn't put on a uniform and tote a weapon to defend this kind of stuff. I served during the "cold war" (didn't seem very cold to me at times) where the big threat was Communism and the stranglehold that kind of system has on peoples lives. I reflect on those that gave all in defending against that kind of freedom destroying government, just to have people here in the US have a desire and even promote ever increasing government intrusion into everyone's life. What a waste.

Cliff