Although I do appreciate the, don't just abandon the truck and move on with your life pay, such as breakdown pay, detention pay (if your lucky), layover pay...


I want the company not to insulate itself against the countless foreseeable and unforeseeable loss of productivity issues that it shields itself from by not putting a value on my time

In till that happens this industry will be filled with, well, the undesirables.

Guys that drink on job or in the truck, ask for drugs or prostitutes on the CB, job hop, have very low standards of health and hygiene, have mental health issues, and some that are sociopaths. ( the other day I saw a driver at the rest stop with a dash full of doll heads leering at ALL the females, kids too)


There are companies in this industry that keep the standards and pay very low- comparative to liability, work hardships, hours...- by they're labor trafficking. How people think they will make a decent living at 26 cents a mile, HHG nonetheless, is beyond me.


All anyone has to do is look at the difference in the way local truck drivers are payed compared to the way irregular route carriers do, to know which employee is valued more.


At 80 hrs a week most people could average $15 dollars a hr doing all but the lowest forms of work, without the liability issues. This is an industry where companies under 75% turnover can boast. I guess the former employees made it big in the trucking biz and retired.

Unless things change, companies will get what they pay for. I see them everyday at the T/S.

 

Excellent post str.whl.hldr!

 

Higher pay will not change someones work ethic. Either someone has a good work ethic or they don't. If a driver, or anyone else for that matter, has a good work ethic, they will advance in pay and opportunities with most companies. Drivers are their own worst enemies. They expect top pay starting out without proving their worth to the company. Most will not stick around long enough to receive the higher pay. It isn't always the fault of the carrier. Drivers need to take responsibility for their own career path. The better companies will steer clear of those who don't stick around long. Job hoppers will never get the top pay. We don't talk much about work ethics. I have seen janitors and others on the bottom of the economic scale who take pride in their work. These people have a good work ethic. Some will gain an education while doing a good job at minimum wage. These people have something to offer an employer. I have also seen others who will barely do what they must to keep their job. They find all sorts of excuses as to why they should not stay with their employer or do a good job. They may say something to the effect that if they were paid more that they would do a better job. That is simply not the truth. These people will not do a job at any price. If you want to make more money as a company driver then you need to have a good work ethic. Plan on staying with an employer for at least a year or two. I have seen many new drivers come on this forum and talk about going with a "starter company." They will only stick around long enough and then go to another carrier. They don't look at the big picture. I have met people with these so called "starter" companies who are earning big paychecks. But they stuck around after they got their training and proved their worth to their carrier. There is no need to pay someone top pay who is only going to be with you for a few months only to go somewhere else for a few months. I think that if new drivers had a different attitude about starting out they would find the pay increase. Starting pay with these starter companies is low. If you look at it as someone paying you to learn a job, then the pay isn't so bad. Carriers assume a lot of risk when they put an inexperienced driver in a big truck.

 

Alright, GMAN, here I go again . .

I was issued a new truck last Thursday. I had "taken the day off" to get everything moved from old to new and to get myself situated. I didn't get paid for it though I should have been as it was certainly in the companies interest. Oh well.

I got up Friday morning and didn't have any fuel. I requested some, got some and began my 14 hour clock with the fill up at 0700. Ready, willing and able to go and, in the eyes of the DOT, on line 4, supposedly. I waited a little while and got a preplan with a wide open pick up window, 1000 - 1800.

Stop right there. You know what that means. If I get there and there's no one waiting, I'm in, loaded and on my way. If there are a few trucks waiting I have to give up my two hour grace period. If there's a pantload of trucks waiting, I give up my two hours and with the grace of God, detention might kick in. There is no expectation of efficiency because the odds are pretty good the driver won't get paid. The incentive is reflected proportionately to the benefit or consequences. Don't get me wrong. The forklift driver will be running his ass off as long as there are trucks to load. His employer is paying him and needs him to be efficient.

It was a live load and it required an empty, obviously. This terminal assigns empties on the basis of pick up time and I was told not to expect one until the back end of the pick up window.

Stop right there. The company was ready and willing to have me sit for 9 - 10 - 11 hours because it was convenient though not at all necessary. I wasn't costing them anything, right? I explained that my 14 hour clock was ticking and under this scenario, I wouldn't be able to run the load. The response? What about a split sleeper?

How do you like that? Not "Then we'll get right on it!" The default response was to further inconvenience me and to perpertrate a felony while we're at it. Do you think that would have happened if I was getting paid and that the schmuck had someone breathing down his neck to see that he was working efficiently as opposed to conveniently?

I've been at this for awhile and was able to get around it thanks only to my experience and managed to lose only a couple of unpaid hours.

The problem is that these frauds and felonies are perpertraded on the new and inexperienced and experienced but ignorant Drivers, everyday. They don't know any better. All they know is that it means miles and what difference does it make if I start this load at noon or midnight.

You and I both know that these shanannigans go on everyday. It happens at every company and it represents an enormous amount of money. If that crap was converted to cost and that cost was reflected in freight rates, there would be no such thing as cheap freight.

In my world, whether the Driver was brand spanking new, or me, if we were being paid, the appropriate and efficient solution would always be the default. If all the individual cogs are working efficiently then the whole machine works more efficiently. In the business world, that means more money.

In your world, there will always be bad apples conspiring to subvert the interests of the employer and you conclude it could never work. Better aka fairer pay will NOT attract and retain better employees and, in the long run it's in everyone's interest to hang on to the lowest common denominator at the expense of the top performers.

The ignorant stay, the disgruntled regurgitate themselves and the fools like me try to get things changed.

 

I won't disagree with you about some shippers wasting the drivers time. I rarely sit for very long without letting the shipper know that I am on the clock. I don't want my drivers sitting waiting to get loaded or unloaded, either. I think in a perfect world we would collect detention from a shipper or consignee for sitting for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, there aren't enough carriers and owner operators who are willing to stand their ground on this issue. Unless a carrier collects detention from the shipper or consignee he cannot afford to pay the drivers. It is basic economics. You cannot pay out more than you collect in. Margins are very slim in most segments of this industry. The way I usually handle it is that if a shipper keeps me waiting for an unreasonable time and refuses to compensate me for my time, then I won't haul for them again.

There are ways to split your sleep berth and make it work, but when you sit for extended periods of time you are not going to feel like running very long. I won't run when I am too tired. I also don't expect any of my drivers to drive beyond what they feel is safe. I would rather lose a load than take a chance of having an accident and someone getting hurt.

I think most drivers want to do a good job. They know that if they are not running they are not making money. The problem comes in with the minority of those who waste time, abuse their equipment, etc., Unfortunately, we all pay a price for their inefficiency and abuse. The one area that we can agree is that there are those who waste our time and we should be compensated for that waste. On the other hand, with the slackers that will not happen in most cases.

There are some things which are part of the job description, such as doing logs, fueling your truck, checking oil, tires, etc., We could break it down into smaller increments where the driver would be paid for doing those things, but the total pay would likely not increase. From the employers point of view, there is no way to know for sure that the driver checks the oil, tires, etc., until you see the evidence such as irregular tire wear.

We all want to make more money. If the driver wants more equitable pay, then he should seek a company who would pay him a percentage of the line-haul rate. I keep coming back to this method of compensation, but if a driver thinks the company is making too much money or he isn't getting a fair share of the profits, then he would find out very quickly what they are making and he would be getting his FAIR share of the revenue by taking a percentage rather than running by mileage. The more the company makes, the greater his compensation.

 

I completely agree. But I was referring to the low pay equals lowly employees and high turnover.

Or just have more miles if on mileage pay.

One of the few reasons I haven't left the industry. BUT most company drivers end up working hrs that are uncompensated. That alone shifts even more of the true cost of doing business on the driver. Working six hours for $5 will make any one question their employment. Happens all the time. And for someone with many choices it stings the pride.

 

If you hang in there and learn your craft you will see the bigger paychecks. There will always be those who want to start out at the top even though they have little or no skills. This is a profession where proficiency comes with doing. You can't learn how to drive a truck out of a book. You can learn how to pass the written test out of a book. The only way to learn how to drive is to get behind the wheel and practice. The longer you practice the better you will become at your job.

 

It's that way with anything you do, really. You will never take the next step up the ladder if you are constantly returning to the bottom rung. I have seen that in my life, anyway. I have waffled between two careers and have never excelled (financially) in either as I would have if I had stayed with one.

 

There are too many people who expect to be paid top pay when they first start out. They have little or no education, little or no experience, yet expect top pay. It takes time to learn a craft or trade. Any job you do requires a learning curve. Some professions take longer than others. It isn't difficult to learn the basics of this business, but it does take time to hone your driving skills. Anyone who drives the roads can attest to that.

 

GMAN and BlooMoose are right you have to earn the right to be able to demand, and get, the higher paying jobs. You also have to be able to handle what that high paying job entails ! When I started I was in a cab over (that was older than I was) and a 40 foot flat and worked my way up. Very often today I drive along thinking "what if they had put me in something like this way back then ?" I would probably have killed a lot of people including me
With any job you have to start at the bottom and work your way thru the lumps.
If I was to apply to Swift or Werner or ???????? now they wouldn't offer me the .28 CPM (or whatever their starting is) (not that I am going to ) it would be "based on experience".
Stick with it and build that experience and then you can get the better paying possitions.