I don't see employers conspiring to pay drivers less due to slowing down the truck. They still pay the driver the same amount of money if they pay mileage or percentage. Personally, I think all vehicles on our highways need to be able to travel at the posted speed limit in any state in which they run. Having said that, it is the decision of the company or individual who owns the truck as to whether they want to govern their trucks and at what speed. The primary reason companies slow their trucks down is to save fuel. With record high fuel costs and employee's demanding more and more benefits, they have to save where they can. There are only so many dollars to go around.

I do agree that freight rates are too low for today's operational costs. Rates haven't gone up significantly in many years, although our cost of operations have gone up. Today's drivers earn about triple what they did 30 or so years ago. Fuel costs have gone up about 3,000% over that same time period. The price of buying a new truck has gone up about 500%. Freight rates have remained about the same, for the most part. Carriers have been asked to absorb more and more of these price increases without being able to pass the extra costs along to the shippers. That seems to be changing to some extent.

Companies cannot stay in business without making a profit. Many carriers are in trouble. I spoke with an individual who was with one of the major carriers yesterday who told me that they were having serious problems.

I have been a company driver, owner operator and as a carrier. I understand that there are inequities in this business. I could make a list. The thing is that carriers are primarily paid based upon the miles they run. They pay drivers the same way that they are compensated. Shippers are not going to pay carrier by the hour to haul their freight. It isn't going to happen. Carriers are not going to start paying drivers by the hour when they are paid by the mile. It simply isn't going to happen. If carriers started paying drivers by the mile when they are paid mileage they would soon go out of business.

Anyone who goes to work for a carrier knows up front how they are going to be paid. If they don't like the way the compensation is set up they should not take the job. No job is perfect. You need to decide whether you want to accept the job and over look those things you don't particularly like.

The main reason rates have been so low is that there are too many carriers and owner operators who are willing to haul cheap freight. Until they decide to stop hauling cheap freight, rates will stay below where they should. Part of that problem is the drivers themselves. Most drivers don't want to sit. If they are paid by the mile, I can understand their position. It is also a two edged sword. It can take longer to find better paying freight. When drivers demand to keep moving, carriers will often take cheap freight just to keep the driver happy. That is good for the driver in the short term, but not so long term. Cheap rates mean that carriers may not be able to pay drivers more money. The driver makes more today but may not get the higher rate of pay they want as quickly as they would like because the carrier is taking the cheaper freight to keep the driver rolling.

A couple of years ago I had a driver in California. He could not stand sitting. I paid him percentage of what the truck makes. In order to keep moving he would rather have me take a load which paid the truck $0.90/mile than wait a day to get a load which paid $2/mile. He was willing to run for half the pay just to keep moving. California is a difficult area to get decent paying freight heading back East. You can get decent rates if you are patient. However, it may take a day or so to get the better paying loads. While that may be the carrier's problem, it is also one shared by the driver.

The thing is that carriers are not likely to change the way they compensate drivers until shippers pay differently. If you are not happy with the way you are compensated and want to stay in the business, then you can always save your money, buy your own truck, get your authority and you can then charge what you want. You can decide how you will be compensated. You can decide how fast you want to run your truck and how much you want to idle since you will be the one buying the fuel. When you own the truck and pay the bills, you can do whatever you want. When you work for someone else and they pay the bills, you will need to either accept things as they are or find a new career.

 

Hey, I got one of you pointer types at home. I don't see the benefit of getting yet another one.

:-D

 

Sometimes when we are slow i work for the blacktop plant hauling hot rock. My truck gets paid on tonnage. But i am still getting paid by the hr.
I know another trucking out fit that their trucks get paid by the load but their drivers are also hourly.

When my boss has a good day with his truck $1,000.00+ i still get my 18/hr. When he has a bad day like around 4-500. I still get my 18/hr.

But when he has good days do you think he give me more??? HELL NO. When he has bad days do you think he takes money from me??? HELL NO. Why should i have to suffer for his bad days??

 

It isn't uncommon for dump trucks to pay drivers by the load or ton. This is also a way to pay drivers on their production. There are many who pay them by the hour. It is difficult to compare otr with local driving. There are different animals. When it comes down to it, each company needs to decide the best way to compensate their drivers. If you want to be paid by the hour then it would probably be best to find a local carrier. If you want to do otr then you will likely be working by the mile or percentage. If you run otr then you will most likely not be paid for sitting while the garage decides to change a light. You could probably change it yourself in about 5 minutes or wait 4 hours for the garage to do it for you. Most will wait on the garage. You will also not be paid to sit while the forklift driver unloads or loads your truck. You will not be paid to sit in heavy traffic. You will be paid for the miles you run. Drivers are paid to drive. When you drive you make money. When you sit you don't. I still agree that a lot of shippers waste driver's time. If there were compensation for sitting that would likely change. That has changed somewhat in recent years. I would like to see shippers held accountable for wasting drivers time. However, for the most part, as an otr driver you know that your compensation will come from driving.

 

YAHOO! YAHOO! YAHOO!

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_ne.../062308-01.htm

It's only a lawsuit and it might be an uphill battle, but it's a start.

YAHOO!

I am thrilled! . . and it just so happens that I was based out of WA from 2003 - 2007.

YAHOO!

 

I don't think this has a chance of succeeding in court. But then that is Washington State. It could be devastating to the trucking industry if these people are successful. This guy took a job paying by the mile and now wants to retire on the back of his employer. I hope this carrier fights it and doesn't settle out of court. All it will do is encourage others to follow suit. The driver should be ashamed of himself. Some people don't have any concept of how to honor an agreement. His lawyer should understand that otr truck drivers are exempt from the Federal Labor Laws.

 

I cannot get the link to work!

But since GMAN has already trashed it, I can readily assume that it could possibly be good news for the driver?

 

I hope he wins. If he/we get paid for working excessive hours it will help us get compensate for working on the road.
As for retiring on the back of a company...Hmm....That's the way 99% of working folks do . As for devastating to the trucking industry...The consumers picks up the tab, just like any other business in America..The turn over rate will go down significantly and the road would have the safest and reliable work force.

OTR drivers, don"t sell your life so cheap. You are human and you deserve equal working rights.


Do you think BIG OIL thinks about the economy when increases the price of oil, NO they know the consumers will pay, trucking should do the same.



Trucker sues Interstate for overtime wages A former driver for Interstate Distributor Co. has filed a lawsuit against the Tacoma, WA-based company, claiming it failed to pay him and other drivers legally required overtime wages.

The lawsuit was filed recently by former Interstate driver Larry Westberry of Jesup, GA, in Pierce County Superior Court in Washington state. According to the lawsuit, Westberry drove for Interstate for four years, from 2003 to 2007.

The suit, which includes a request for class-action status to include a number of drivers in addition to Westberry, claims that Washington law as interpreted in a 2007 state Supreme Court case requires that drivers be paid overtime for time worked in excess of 40 hours, even if that time is logged out of state “at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.” The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal, which allowed the state Supreme Court ruling to stand as law.

The lawsuit states that Westberry worked between 60 and 70 hours per week and was compensated on the same per-mile basis regardless of how many hours he worked.

Renee Trueblood, Interstate’s senior vice president of human resources and corporate counsel, was not available for comment on the pending lawsuit. Interstate, which is owned by the McLean family, has more than 3,200 employees and provides truckload services to the lower 48 states and Canada.

The suit was filed by the Seattle-based law firm of Bendich, Stobaugh & Strong, which specializes in employment-related cases.

– By Clarissa Kell-Holland, staff writer

 

I'm sorry, but there is something fundamentally wrong with that statement.
:shock:


Actually, no. Companies would likely switch to regulating the hours a driver is driving and on duty, likely around the 8 hours in 5 days model, because they are not going to pay overtime. Either that, or they would severely adjust the hourly rate or CPM rate downward, so that the driver would still be making what they're making today working over the standard 40 hours.

In addition, long haul freight would completely disappear and drivers would be bored silly, sitting in their truck all week and during weekends, when it wasn't economically feasible for the company to concern themselves about getting the driver home.

OTR drivers are in an industry where they can make good money, depending on the carrier they are with. I'm not going to argue the whole hourly LTL work vs. the CPM OTR work, because they are 2 different animals. Both have their positives and negatives, all depending on the individual driver. But the bottom line is, if this guy were to somehow luck out and win his lawsuit (he hasn't a snowball's chance in hell, by the way), all other drivers would suffer.

There's an old saying...be careful what you wish for. You may just get it.

:roll:

 

Thanks Evinrude. Just as I thought. GMAN to the industry rescue. Blahhh!!

The CPM scam under scrutiny yet again. It's a house of cards folks........
I feel a stiff breeze from the west.....

I'm watching you also TF. :wink: