I Hope all of you are paying close attention

[Black_Ice]

To the growing OccupyWallstreet, Occupy Canada movement which mirrors what I've been warning you about since last year.

Workers are fed up with being treated with disrespect and low wages from the likes of those here who believe drivers are still a dime a dozen and easily replaced.

And it is not confined to just the trucking industry.

Solidarity amongst the working class is fed up with the CEO's and management getting rich off the backs of the increasingly working poor.

To borrow the response of someone associated with the Occupy movement:

Trucking is one of the most exploited labor environments and an excellent example of greed at profit at any cost to the employee. As this movement branches out, it's my hope that the trucking industry...all trucking companies large and small become a poster child for one example of what's wrong in our society at the labor level.

Failure to ignore this and start paying drivers a proper, living wage for all of their time will guarantee that you WILL pay later.

Peaceful beginnings often end up with violent endings when peaceful is ignored.

 

[alx]

Barking up the wrong tree

Black ice ,

I believe you are barking up the wrong tree and you have got to look really hard to find high levels of corruption and abuse regarding drivers.
This is not one of the industries where abuse is rampant.

I think what is happening is great and is really due. It is about time that the population gets out and shows it's displeasure with the current economic state of affairs.

What needs to be regulated, is the in appropriate greed of the multinational corporations , mainly the banks and the oil companies, food producers and pharmaceuticals.

The population no longer believes the spin that customer relations firms have been dishing out , over the last few years.
Enormous bank bailouts, the price of various fuels and the huge government grants these multinationals are getting. Little if no tax that these companies are paying.

All this debt that is being created to soften things over now, will simply eradicate our children's chance of a reasonably healthy future.

The problem certainly does not arise from the few trucking companies out there that are presently just trying to get by.

As for driving positions, there is clearly a large demand for professional productive drivers at the present, these jobs come with appropriate pay and benefits.

The trick is to find the employer that has the type of work that suits you!!

 

[Black_Ice]

alx, do you think it acceptable that a driver should be paid the sum of $25 for 12 hours of vehicle breakdown time?

Challenger Motor Freight certainly does.

Why should drivers be forced to sit, unpaid for hours because carriers have no load for them to come home with. It's not the driver's fault.

Again, why does this industry still insist on paying drivers rates from the 1980's.

Stick your head in the sand if you wish and back this industry's parasites if you wish but rest assured that there will be an Arab Spring for this industry if it continues with its ignorant ways.
Violent revolt by drivers is not far off.

 

[jsprat]

Black Ice; you are looking at one very very small component of a very large economic machine.

The entire climatic shift is due to consumer greed, or rather, the desires of the individuals exceed the capacity of personal productivity. Everybody perceives their personal needs as having the greatest priority, human nature prevails.

Dragging a particular carrier with one situation into the fray has negligible merit.

Have wages stagnated? Certainly. Is it going to change soon? Not likely, and I hope not soon anyway. The inflationary pressure it would bare on the market would be more then this fragile economy could tolerate.

 

[PackRat]

If it is so easy Black Ice why don't you start a trucking company and show everyone how it is done? There are so many carriers out there (both union and non union) that are so close to bankruptcy they are just trying to survive. There are no perfect scenarios and probably never will be, but I can tell you this: There has never been a time for a professional driver to earn more than right now and going forward it is only going to get better. As this board has proved time and again, good, courteous, clean and professional drivers are snapped up in seconds and are a commodity unto themselves these days.

 

[chica123]

We are a very small company. But I can tell you that from our perspective, our owner-operators are very valuable to the success of our business. We pay them what we feel is fair and competitive for the market. I am pretty sure the majority of companies large and small out there are paying the best wage they can afford to recruit AND retain drivers. Having said that, I would love to pay them more. I feel a great driver is worth every penny. Heck, I would love to pay myself what I think I am worth as well! But you can bet that it's just not going to happen if I want my business to survive. We are not the problem; I'm pretty sure of that... But even if you feel we ARE the problem, attacking us on this website will get you nowhere. Why don't you take a more positive approach and put forth some possible solutions, Black-Ice?

 

[Manitoba Moose]

Another take on this...

My question is: How much is enough?

I don't want to sound cynical and I apologize if I do but, will there ever be a driver that says outright that he is happy and his company isn't screwing him out of something?

The lowest paid O/O in our company only works 3 or 4 days a week, is home every weekend, and in 2010 grossed $180,000.00. He complains that he isn't paid enough but wants to be home every weekend...

Again, when will the bitching and whinning stop and drivers do what they agreed on which is to drive?

 

[Rob]

Black Ice will never be satisfied he constantly is on web sites about his employer.. and wages want everyone to be a Teamster.

 

[whatiship]

Hey Mr. Hoffa, we have been in business 8 years. My junior driver has 7 years seniority. Most weeks they make more than me, that is if cash flow permits me to deposit my cheque. As someone else said before me, a good clean english speaking driver who respects his employer and thier customers is hard to find and will not have trouble finding a good job. Any one who says that all of their previous employers have been dicks will probably have future ones exactly the same. Good luck!

 

[alx]

Black Ice

You cannot have everything.

As I said , the driver must chose a position that suits him, with multiple variables of his choosing.

Most drivers will look at wages as a priority, then home time , and equipment in this order.

Any good driver , can work anywhere he chooses. It is as simple as that.

Why a good driver would want to work for a large firm such as Challenger , Schneider or in our case BOB ( Robert Transport) is beyond me.
When they can work with a smaller company where there is more direct contact with the management and much more flexibility.

My opinion is clearly skewed, seeing that all these companies do manage to retain some senior drivers!!!

As for the present wage, you have to look at the whole picture and not simply unpaid waiting time on one or several occasions. Which I do not condone, I pay waiting time after 1 hr. , most of the time the costs are absorbed and never forwarded to the client.

I was not driving in the 1980's so I cannot comment on the wage at the time.
I do think that $60,000 after taxes would certainly have been a very high salary indeed as I was a professional at the time and earned close to half of that.

As I mention to many drivers , I know quite a few professionals , engineers , administrators that presently do not clear that amount after taxes.

Also , I am not so sure the revolution will be going your way if the mexican based carriers come into the USA in force , as they eventually will.

 

[Loadlooker]

You seem to have a very negative attitude about your Job and wage.
I do not know how long you have been driving and what your experience is, but you need to wake up and smell the keurig.
It will never return to the way it was. Those days are long gone.
If you are a good driver and you show that to your employer and their customers, keep your nose clean, you can make a good living. If you can't, or don't want to, you should find a new career that can change your attitude and increase your wage....and good luck with that one.