double post

 

Hobo style, coolie long haul trucking would disappear. Ever hear of feeder systems TF? There's a company with brown trucks all over the place. I hear they are making a pretty good go of it out there without coolie labor? I don't see too many of those brown trucks sitting around...................

 

I just tried the link again . . it's working. If not for you, GOOGLE "interstate overtime" under the news tab.

GMAN . . The WA state law has already been challenged and the U.S. Supreme court refused to hear it. In fact, the challenge arose out of another Driver's lawsuit for pretty much the same reason and he won. These lawyers aren't morons and I can't believe that they'd risk the expense if they didn't believe they could win it. I think, considering the background, it could be a slam dunk.

Other states will be watching this and the potential boost to income tax collections won't be overlooked. This could be the start of something big. As more and more Drivers get exposed to this you can bet the phones will light up in legislatures nationwide.

Why you believe this could be devastating is beyond me. Equal footing with every other wage earner in the country, including a whole bunch of other Drivers is a bad thing? I see it as a great reason for a lot of former Drivers to consider getting back in the seat. Better, experienced Drivers, a few less trainees and closing the door to illegals sounds pretty good to me. If it forces carriers to bump the rates up a little, you stand to see a direct economic benefit. What's the problem with that?

 

Gman and others here has great atitududes for life, but companies prey and guys like this...aka the CR England .

 

I dont have a problem with CPM pay. I'm a union LTL road driver and I get paid CPM. But my non driving duties are paid hourly. I agree you cant compare LTL/local driving pay with OTR pay but something has to be improved. I think 50-65k a year to drive OTR is probably fair. As an OTR driver it's probably fair to assume you'll have some delays or interuptions. Part of the job. What's not fair is working 15-18 hour days to make that 50-65k. The pay needs to be adjusted to allow a driver to make a fair check while working say 50-60 hours a week. Then the driver's hours need to be monitered, possibly with electronic logging and gps. The monitoring is for the driver's own good to make sure guys dont cheat. I see drivers still trying to run too hard and too hot in order to take advantage of their higher pay plan. Some of you guys are hurting yourself and your industry. If you would demand to be paid a fair wage and refuse to work 80 hours then you would see change. But too many of you are willing to put up with it. Unfortunately it wont change because you wont demand it and they wont just offer it because they feel sorry for you. It'll change when more of you start quitting for other employment and they cant hire drivers. Until then, there's not much you can do.

 

I don't think that states will receive any more tax revenue regardless of how drivers are compensated.

The reason this could be devastating to the industry is because if this guy is successful then under a class action lawsuit they could come back on the company for compensation that the company simply doesn't have. They could go back several years. It would put them out of business. Other greedy lawyers and drivers could go after other carriers with the same result. If they are successful you will see a lot of carriers go out of business. That would put thousands of drivers out of a job. I am sure that Congress would become involved at some point just to save the industry. Trucking is probably the most critical segment of this country. Virtually every other industry relies on trucking for their existence. The government will not allow trucking to shut down. It is too vital for our existence.

The market will only absorb so much cost. When prices go too high then the economy suffers. Just look at the current fuel prices. This has slowed the entire economy. Already people are beginning to purchase more products made locally. When prices reach a certain level it no longer becomes profitable for them to ship their wares across the country. It sounds like a simple thing to change from mileage pay to hourly. What you over look is the added cost to monitor those drivers. It will necessitate adding GPS and other monitoring equipment to every truck. That could cost thousands of dollars for each truck. It will also require additional personnel to do the monitoring. No company will allow hourly workers to be independent without over sight. Drivers would likely need to do more paperwork to document their work day. Additional costs will be incurred due to the extra time required to deliver products. Some drivers will no longer feel the need to be as productive since it isn't in their best interest to work any harder. They receive the same pay whether they are productive or not. Just look at most of the union companies. These people are usually less productive than those that are non-union.

I think Twilight Flyer is right in his assessment. Carriers will simply limit the hours a driver can work. They may also go back to slip seating to maximize their equipment. Most companies will limit overtime as much as possible. Trucking is no different. Drivers could also be given a quota of miles that they must drive each day. If they continually fail to meet their quota, they will be history. This could also encourage carriers to look at importing labor to lower costs.

The reason a lot of experienced drivers have gotten out of the business is due to over regulations by the government, not compensation. If you want to see higher wages then drivers will need to become more responsible. There are many who take their jobs seriously, are honest, and take care of their equipment. There are also those who will trash the equipment they are assigned. Some will steal from their employers. This type of behavior costs everyone. As I stated earlier, I have been on every side of this business. I would not want to work by the hour. Doing so would limit my income. I prefer working on percentage. Next to percentage I would rather be paid by the mile. The reason is that I can usually give myself a raise by driving a few more miles.

 

That right there is supertrucker mentality at it's finest. You're not getting a raise running more miles. You're just doing more work. A raise is getting more pay for the same amount of work.

As far as overtime goes, yes an employer will try to limit your hours to 40. In such case, overtime is doing what it's intended to do: provide a disincentive to work a man round the clock. Figure a 24 hour day = 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, and 8 hours of home/personal time. When an employer works you past 8 hours, he is cutting into your time and rightfully should pay a penalty for doing so.

I'll never work for mileage pay again. Been there, done that. I remember when my boss sent me on a local shag run to the University of Chicago bookstore. 3 hours to unload, 2 hours stuck in Chi-town rush-hour traffic, 2 hours to drive across town to pick up a paper load...7 hours working and I made $40.00...I could have made more flipping burgers.

Hourly with overtime after 8/40 is the only way to truck. That way, I get paid for everything and I don't spend the weekend at the Carney Point hook. :lol: :lol:

 

Lebron, you are confusing local with otr driving. Hourly pay works well for local drivers but doesn't work for otr. By the way, if you are otr you won't be able to take 8 hours at home. :roll: We used to want to work harder for more money. Many worked more than one job to provide for their families. That is no longer the case. For the last several decades there seems to have been a move to work less for more money. Many feel that they no longer need to be productive for their paycheck. That is a primary reason why so many good paying American jobs have gone abroad.

Percentage pay is the most fair for everyone. It provides an incentive for the driver. The company pays more for the driver, but has a fixed percentage for driver compensation which makes it easier to do financial forecasting. There is an incentive for the driver to get the load delivered so that he will get a bigger paycheck. The company has an incentive to go after the better paying loads so that they can make more money. It is a win for everyone involved.

 

Do you not recieve HOURLY pay when detained at a dock after the obligatory 2 freebie hours?

And while we're on the subject of detention, let me ask you this: why are the first 2 hours worth less than the others? And why do you allow another business to idle your expensive equipment for no money? Heck, my uncle runs a plumbing company and they charge 2 hours MINIMUM for one of their $100,000 sewer vac trucks to show up at a jobsite.

Well, your "home" is an 8X10 sleeper berth and you take a 10 hour break in your "home" and a 34-hour reset at the Carney Point Hook. :lol: :lol:

Primary reason for good-paying American jobs going abroad is that companies can pay sweatshop wages to workers, dump pollutants into the air/water, and recieve tax-funded incentives for putting blue-collar American men and women out of work - union AND non-union. :evil:

There is also an incentive to speed, falsify the logbook, and underreport actual working hours in an attempt to deliver more loads/run more miles.

Except for the family that gets plowed over by one of you head-bobbing supertruckers trying to get that "raise". :roll:

 

I hear ya, man. I already have a second job . . the other 30 hours.