Will Wage and Hour Rumbles... Affect You?

Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

Brought over to start next page...

rearview said: ↑

Maybe we need to look at how drivers are paid a different way.

Drivers are paid HHG type predetermined miles like pro miles or mcnally. Some are paid actual hub miles. Some drivers are paid percentage.

The disagreement seems to be that the HHG driver agrees to be paid HHG wages and does not deserve more pay because they accept that as "the contract". Truth is this type of work is not really a mileage job but a percentage job. The mileage pay is predetermined. Point A to B is in the computer as paying X to the driver. Driver mileage cost is always X, which is a flat Y% of gross no matter what driver makes the trip. The arguement for this is fixed driver expense or percent of cost.

If one argues against being paid to fuel, a logical extension is no one should be paid to fuel because it is not a job. The cost of the local gas jockey in Oregon to the station owner is now taken away, which of course means the owner will no longer have a gas jockey because because most normal citizens don't work for free. The only arguement to back up free labor is the driver working for a percentage of the load.

This 2 hour rule comes from some wagon wheel driver being desperate for a load. He got the load and we have all been paying for it ever since. You can bet the warehouse guy was thinking to himself what a Melvin Dumas that driver was to work for free. Most of us get the sense the warehouse worker is thinking the same thing today. Not very many jobs out there where you are expected to represent the company to the customer for free. Unless you are paid a percentage which brings us back to the last paragraph.

People in almost every job in the country get paid for two 10 minute breaks a day. To say that this concept is outside of normalcy raise the question have drivers divorced themselves from society so much that the normal world is alien to them?

Gmans approach, which I understand from the business viewpoint, is to maximize profit to the business. That is a healthy way to think to grow a business. His thinking is you get your percentage of the load.

The other side of the coin is drivers should be paid for all work.

Is percentage, even if it is called mileage sufficient pay for work? It probably depends on how much a driver earns. If your being paid for 1500 miles a week and spending 20 plus hours on the dock your feeling you are getting screwed over.

So what is fair pay. If you drive 1500 miles and spend 20 hours on the dock but earn $1000 a week is that fair pay?

I don't know anymore.

I remember in the 70s I was earning $600 a week driving truck. In the 80's I was earning $1200. The 90s were $1200 along with the 2000s. Now in the 2010s I am fighting to stay above $1000.
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Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

Diesel, rearview asks a number of good questions.

You say you intend to stick on this thread, so let's put you to work.

Let's discuss:

People in almost every job in the country get paid for two 10 minute breaks a day. To say that this concept is outside of normalcy raise the question have drivers divorced themselves from society so much that the normal world is alien to them?
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We're not just talking about you in your job here. We're talking drivers overall. How 'divorced [from] society [are we] so much that the normal is alien' to us??

Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

When I drove for Gordon, I could take breaks. Not paid, of course. And when I'd pull over and come to a stop, the QualComm always sounded off. DM always wanted me to stop right there, interrupt my break and study a PrePlan, update my ETA, yada, yada. Always something.

Usually this would consume all of my break time and to take my break jeopardized my ETA. This is normal at Gordon. Was then and I'm sure it is now. QualComm set, triggered to go off when the wheels stop turning and DEMAND.

You think that's normal, Diesel? How far from 'normal' are you??

DrtyDiesel · Nov 8, 2014

Victor_V said: ↑

Diesel, rearview asks a number of good questions.

You say you intend to stick on this thread, so let's put you to work.

Let's discuss:

We're not just talking about you in your job here. We're talking drivers overall. How 'divorced [from] society [are we] so much that the normal is alien' to us??
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I've never had a job where I was paid for breaks. I always had to clock out for breaks.

So paid breaks would be alien to me. My dad was in a union working for Georgia Pacific for 32 years, never once got paid for breaks.

Victor_V said: ↑

Diesel, rearview asks a number of good questions.

You say you intend to stick on this thread, so let's put you to work.

Let's discuss:

We're not just talking about you in your job here. We're talking drivers overall. How 'divorced [from] society [are we] so much that the normal is alien' to us??
Click to expand...

Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

You mean that since you weren't and aren't paid for breaks, other drivers shouldn't either?

People in almost every job in the country get paid for two 10 minute breaks a day. To say that this concept is outside of normalcy raise the question have drivers divorced themselves from society so much that the normal world is alien to them?
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rearview says 'almost every job in the country get paid for two 10 minute breaks a day'. Do you disagree with that? Again, we're not talking about you.

Question is, what's normal...

DrtyDiesel · Nov 8, 2014

Victor_V said: ↑

When I drove for Gordon, I could take breaks. Not paid, of course. And when I'd pull over and come to a stop, the QualComm always sounded off. DM always wanted me to stop right there, interrupt my break and study a PrePlan, update my ETA, yada, yada. Always something.

Usually this would consume all of my break time and to take my break jeopardized my ETA. This is normal at Gordon. Was then and I'm sure it is now. QualComm set, triggered to go off when the wheels stop turning and DEMAND.

You think that's normal, Diesel? How far from 'normal' are you??
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How would that interrupt your break? Are you unable to check a pre plan while on break?

DrtyDiesel · Nov 8, 2014

Victor_V said: ↑

You mean that since you weren't and aren't paid for breaks, other drivers shouldn't either?
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You aren't working, I don't care what industry you work in, no one should be paid for breaks. It's non productive and in my mind, a waste of money on the employers part.

Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

So the FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, is not normal, eh?

It's wrong... is that your position?

ezover · Nov 8, 2014

DrtyDiesel said: ↑

How would that interrupt your break? Are you unable to check a pre plan while on break?
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unpaid break time is your time, when the company directs you to do something it is company time. fine line yes. i do a lot of things for the company on my time, but that is my choice they can not force me or theaten my job. it boils down to this, the company dose not pay you for hours / or miles not driven, why dose the company except you to work for free.

Victor_V · Nov 8, 2014

This is what 130 million Americans consider 'normal', Diesel. 8-hour day, overtime after 40, two ten-minute PAID breaks/day.

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
(Revised July 2009) (PDF)
Fact Sheet #14: Coverage Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
This fact sheet provides general information concerning coverage under the FLSA.
The FLSA is the Federal law which sets minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards.
The minimum wage for covered nonexempt workers is not less than $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. With only some exceptions, overtime ("time and one-half") must be paid for work over forty hours a week. Child labor regulations prohibit persons younger than eighteen years old from working in certain jobs and additionally sets rules concerning the hours and times employees under sixteen years of age may work.
More than 130 million American workers are protected (or "covered") by the FLSA, which is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.
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