I'm glad to see you know what you're talking about.
I tried telling that guy twice already but he knows everything and still thinks they're on the clock stealing time.
Maybe he'll believe you?

 

The non-union companies have to come close or equal the pay packages of the union companies. It's one of the only ways to keep that cancer out of your business these days. I guarantee you I could find dependable workers all day long that would put out higher production and the same or better quality for less than half the pay package as the standard UAW worker. Remember, it's not just the hourly wage, it's the legacy benefits as well as meeting all the other BS like matching social security, paying unemployment and worker's comp. Either way, I bet I could find folks all day long that would love to have a nice cushy automotive plant job at $15 an hour instead of at the $73 they cost GM in 2006. See the following chart:

http://www.heritage.org/static/repor...6EC7B976F6.gif

from this article:

UAW Workers Actually Cost the Big Three Automakers $70 an Hour | The Heritage Foundation

 

I don't know that ANYONE here actually "believes" me. But, I try to make sure that they HEAR me! :lol:

The trucking business is more DIVERSE than any industry I know of! We don't ALL just stand in line and process something for our employer. We aren't ALL "solo" drivers, and we don't ALL spend weeks on the road without getting home. And we don't ALL get "screwed" on our pay the way YOU (and a few others) claim.

But, one thing I've noticed is that.... MOST drivers see the business through THEIR "looking glass," and make their "judgements" accordingly.

When I see an "oversized load" struggling up a hill, I LOOK for the narrow bridges that will cause him to stray into MY lane. I GIVE him the space he needs, EVEN if it means I have to slow down for a few minutes! :roll:

IF I have the speed to pass him, I WILL (quickly!) at the first SAFE chance I get. But... if not... I will YIELD for now! If a "LIGHTER" but "SLOWER" truck is passing me on a hill, and I have the speed to "hang him out" in the fast lane? I BACK OFF! I let him IN so that the string of cars behind him can "clear" the area... and THEN, I can pass him again and regain my TOP speed (if it is higher than his.)

Okay... the point is.... I look at EVERY truck out there and "quantify" his situation compared to MINE. I KNOW most of the speed "constraints" by company, and I even think about load weights.

I don't "judge" the driver... (unless he is ON THE PHONE and swerving all over the road!)... I try to get ALL of us thru this maze of traffic everyday.

I don't know what OTHERS are taught.... but, that is part of what I was taught as part of being a "Professional Driver."

There MAY be ALOT of "union workers" in some factory that are slackers. But, I just don't SEE it out here on the road... as far as truckers go. I interact with UNION drivers every day... and they are NO different than other drivers... except MAYBE a bit MORE gracious! MOST of them KNOW they are "governed" at a lower speed, and they GIVE ME THE LANE!

 

And I bet I could find plenty of folks that would love to get out of the fields and into a nice, air-conditioned sleeper truck for .15 cpm instead of the +.25 cpm and benefits that you cost your company.

That's a Big 10-4 there, Hobo!

 

Okay, I have never had the honor of working for the Teamsters, so somebody please tell me why is it when I google the topic, all I find articles about hourly wages? Could it be that Teamsters don’t do linehaul at all since you all seem so say that line haul drivers do not get paid hourly?

I did find an article where Teamsters are striking because they are only being compensated $45.57 per hour (wages and benefits). See article here: Teamsters OK strike

Here, on the Teamsters own page, compensation is only discussed as an “hourly wage” under the “How much will I pay in dues?” section. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)

Here’s a Teamsters handout talking about how rough things were in 2009 and how slowly things are recovering. Look at page two and chuckle as I did when you see that they list a bunch of the big companies and show that they all posted losses except Old Dominion… which they fail to point out is NOT A UNION COMPANY. http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamst...010handout.pdf

I don’t think I ever said ANYTHING about linehaul… all I said is I see a lot of guys sleeping in daycabs and many of those companies are union. I have no idea how they are compensated, besides I once talked to a couple ABF drivers and they talked about clocking in and out and getting hourly pay.

I DO KNOW, after being in a couple unions and having family members be lifelong members of other unions, that they are evil. As a long time business owner I know I would never let a union get a toe hold in any company I operate. I’d shut it down or sell it off first. I’m the guy who has the knowledge, the capital, and the idea. I’m also the guy who bears the ultimate responsibility if my company fails, and yet I’m supposed to let my employees dictate to ME how I’m going run my business or compensate them? It is shear insanity and every business owner knows it.

 

Actually, for the driving end of what I do, I pay myself $1.00 plus surcharge per mile, if you really need to know, but I don't pay myself bennies because I'm leased on to my own LLC and pay myself on a 1099.

 

hehe... calm down dude! I thought you were doing just FINE! :lol2:

Maybe NOW you know how I feel sometimes! I haven't seen YOU come to MY defense on any political issue! But, that's okay... it's not your fight!

For the record... I didn't think they LAID A HAND on you! And I was glad to see you still hangin' around! I would LOVE to make what YOU are making for doing ... pretty much the same job... but, I just can't STAND the color BROWN!! :eek2: I look SO much better in my blue and purple!

But, yeah.... I'd pay $59/mo for the opportunity to make about $250 more a WEEK!

It's HARD for me to engage in this argument about Unions, because I don't really have a "dogmatic" opinon. As far as this WHOLE thread goes... I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of difference!

As I've said so many times before.... there are chitty jobs in this industry that SOME people have to start out with. But, there are much BETTER paying jobs, with better benefits, that can be achieved IF you are on a path to BETTER yourself (by being a GOOD employee) AND apply yourself.

But.... "everybody's got to pay their dues!" NO "newbie" has a right to make what I make after 5 years! And I HOPE to make what others are making after I've been doing this for 10 or 15 years!

 

That will seem like a king's ransom 10-20 years from now.
$1.00/mile + FSC...my uncle made more than that as an O/O in 1975.
Ask Gman, he'll tell you.

 

Man... if I understand your gig right, you deliiver to restaurants. I realize that you probably feel "pressured" to get OUT of the parking lot and let the customers have a clear path. But, I ALSO am not sure you are hauling a 53 footer. Maybe you are... no offense intended. But.... IF you bring your own lunch, why not eat it while you are THERE? Oh, I know... YOU are doing the offload. Fine. Pull out of the way and eat your lunch in the Walmart parking lot adjacent.

But, MY post didn't say anything about what YOU might do... eating your lunch in a rest area. But... YOU are more familiar with the area than any OTR OR linehaul driver "passing thru" might be. YOU would know if there was a vacant lot next to Denny's that you could take a break and eat your lunch in. WHY would YOU need to take up a space in an INTERSTATE rest area?

Okay, I understand the lack of truckstops in your area. However.... MANY of those drivers COULD complete their trip TO the receiver and sleep in THEIR parking lot! OR... and this, I'm sure is a RADICAL IDEA to many of you... they could stop at the LAST Truckstop BEFORE Pittsburgh, and leave early enough to drive straight TO their delivery!

But, regardless... I am not talking about a SINGLE example of why things go wrong. I am telling you what I've seen in EVERY rest area across the entire NATION!

I feel there must be a disconnect here. What if "I" needed a short nap after pizzing? You want me to block the ENTIRE entrance and "thruway" of a Rest Area.. (you know... the ones with trucks on a straight line on both sides of the passage THRU! )

 

Im not going to search the internet for you to prove something I already know to be true. I am a teamster and I am a road driver (linehaul) for UPS Freight and I get paid mileage for the run and hourly for non driving duties. A city P&D driver would get hourly. This is pretty standard in the LTL sector for both union and non union companies. The union companies are obviously us, Holland, ABF, New Penn, Yellow Freight (which includes the former Roadway). The non union companies in this sector would include Old Dominion, Estes, Conway Freight, Fedex Freight and some others. They all pay very well in order to keep the union out. These guys all pay an average of say +/-.50 cpm. Which BTW is true hub miles, not some BS the company comes up with. The work rules at the non union places even mirror that of the union job, including seniority. So I guess everyone likes the union way even if they dont like the union itself. Interesting isnt it? I would take a job with any of these places. It doesnt have to be union. UPS Freight is the former Overnite which was not union. When I took this job it was non union. But I also knew the high wages I recieved were because of the union presence in our competitors. As I have stated before, I'm not for or against unions but I am for fair compensation. I have done OTR as a steel hauler and I can tell you the difference between that type of compensation and LTL is night and day. I cant imagine another career field that abuses the employeee's paid time more than the typical OTR driver job. Driving 3000 miles to get paid for 2500? Unproductive and unpaid waiting for hours? But everyone just looks the other way. They bitch about it but they really dont want to do anything about it.

I dont disagree with you on this but I"m NOT the business owner. I'm the employee. I only care about him about as much as he cares about me. If I was gone tomorrow he'd replace me and If he was gone tomorrow well then I'd replace him. I do what I'm supposed to and he does what he's supposed to. Its just business. If you were a driver I'd ask you who's side are you on anyway? But I see you are an O/O so now I know. If I were an O/O then I'd feel the same way. I especially like this quote from you: "It is shear insanity and every business owner knows it." When describing how the typical OTR driver gets told to wait for hours for free one could say "It is shear insanity and every driver knows it". Everyone in this industry knows what its like to lose a whole day's pay waiting, but that's OK? In my mind thats shear insanity.