mmm...
Isn’t truck driving one of those jobs where the earnings have actually gone down (compared to inflation) in the last 20 years?
The Feds have ruined trucking with their hours of service regulations. They fully intend for Mexicans to take over the industry.
Which also means you regularly have a situation where you can not drive enough to make it worth doing.
Skyrocketing trucking costs in fuel and maintenance and requirements to NOT work as many hours = crappy job and pay.
So you are away from home, can’t drive when you want to be driving and aren’t completing as many hauls as you need to be.
Yeah, sounds like a great career.
The self driving vehicle will soon rectify that.
“The new rules require that drivers take 34 hours off between work weeks, including two full nights of rest, and cannot work more than 70 hours in any given week.”
Who do I have to *BLEEP* to get that ‘vacation-like’ schedule? LOL!
I have to agree with these rules, especially since I share the roads with trucks. I'm exhausted after working 40 (hard) hours a week. I can't imagine being surrounded by idiot car drivers and being responsible for a large, powerful machine for almost twice that much time.
I suspect that part of the shortage isn't just due to these new rules, though. I suspect that a lot of it is that people have made fun of truckers to the point that "truck driver" is the punch line to a lot of jokes. Combine that with the hours and being away from your family, and it's not hard to understand the shortage.
6.3% ?? Where, how do they get this number? A few days ago right here on Freep I was reading how there is 93 million unemployed. The entire population is 320 million, do the math.
No....just do net income after fuel, maintenance, insurance, fees, capital, etc. over the road vs superload? I know guys who make 200k, and I've seen how owner-operators live, and it's not the same.
Spokeshave has one of those jobs....if you drive local you don’t need to keep a detailed log book
Well, as much as I can use a job, at my age and physical condition (late 50s, bad knees), I somehow don’t think this is one position I’d be interested in, much less qualify for.
I think there are a lot of us in the 6.1% (not to mention the 15% or so in the U-6 numbers) in my situation. Nice pay, more or less, but a bit too much to handle.
If I was a young man again I would invest in pilot school. The shortage of pilots will be immense in the next 10 years.
The main “Help Wanted” in the United Staes of America, is to help all politicians running for office in November to CONVINCINGLY defeat all Democrats who have voted for any and all of B. Hussein’s Laws and Regulations - - - - .
Until then, the Obama Depression will continue to spread like the malignant cancer that our sorry Doormat Republicans in the House have so cowardly and willingly permitted.
Who pays for their fuel?
Author Rich Smith: I know it must be a coincidence, but Richard Smith used to be President of Smith & Soloman Truck Driving School in North Brunswick, NJ
There are a ton more jobs amiable out there. The unemployment rate should be zero by all the “help wanted” signs I see. I think people are enjoying the monthly check right now. Not sure what the ones who lost their bennies are doing...they should be applying for some of these jobs advertised.
When I drove in 1984 the going pay was about $.10 a mile for team and $.20 I think for a single driver. No runs from dispatch? No Pay! I wonder what the pay is now?
The biggest problem is that long-haul truck driving is a job where the compensation is usually based on mileage, not time -- so a driver is paid a fixed rate for a route regardless of how long it takes to deliver the load. Between increasing congestion and increasingly onerous Federal hours of service rules, the actual compensation for long-haul truckers has declined over time even if the per-mile rates have gotten higher.
My wife and I spend 3 or 4 months a year working as oilfield gate guards down in south Texas.
The oil companies and contractors are begging for drivers. There are billboards along the Interstates advertising for them.
Drivers delivering water or diesel are making $80,000 - $100,000 a year and are home every night.
I’ve been told that one of the big problems is finding drivers who can pass and keep passing the drug tests.
Operating Costs have definitely squeezed a number of truckers but the demand is certainly there. Some people also say it’s one of the more dangerous jobs out there. Line Hauling Petro probably gives it that reputation.
If the job were really "High Paying", driving schools wouldn't have to lie to get people into their schools, companies wouldn't have to lie to get drivers to drive, and drivers wouldn't be quitting by the truckload every day.