Trucking Industry Safety Issues: Drivers working long hours for little pay

Knight-ridder ^ | 12/27/01 | Judy L. Thomas

[Demidog]

If only we could give more power to the Unions. It's for our own safety after all. And certainly this fellow couldn't chose a different profession. He's stuck forever as a truck driver. Poor guy. My heart bleeds.

[Jhoffa_]

I stopped reading about here:

They drive hard, putting in long hours day and night, often for not much more than minimum wage. And they have to drive tired, pushing mile after mile on a few hours of sleep, sometimes just to break even.

What a pantload.. I have a buddy who drove a concrete truck.. Locally.. about 7 months a year and he made like 40 grand.

OTR drivers make (or can make) considerably more. So stop whining already.

..more truckers die in accidents each year than workers in any other profession.

Sure they do..

Many of them are paid by the mile, so they: Take stimulants to stay awake, falsify their log books, drive heavy (especially construction trucks) and drive entirely too fast.

Alot of these guy's are nothing but a menace (and I know a bunch of them) fortunately the CDL weeded a bunch of them out.

[Jesse]

Well, he can say that, but it just ain't so. If the industry is short of drivers, then there is more competition for drivers. More competition means that employers must offer incentives to hire drivers. Unless they are offering some incentive I am not aware of, that would be money.

If they aren't offering more money, then poorman might like you to believe there is a shortage of drivers, but there isn't, really, if the real wages are stagnant or going down.

The laws of economics and supply and demand are not suspended because of what people "think" to be the case.

[sharkdiver]

Let's see. You say "we do have to drive over the speed limit and over our log books through no fault of our own. We put up with four wheelers cutting us off, slowing us down and deliberately harrassing us." Well as a federally lisc. Boat captain who obeys the law to keep my lisc. I say your attitude is sh*t. You get four of five of your 18 wheelers lined up nose to tail doing 70 or 80 in the far left lane and than have the nerve to tailgate so close to my bumper that all I see in my rearview mirror is a great big grill. My kids are scared because they know that if I have to hit the brakes you are going to ass end us and kill them in the back seat. All because I drive the speed limit and obey the law. You see traffic laws are to keep people safe from people who dirve over the speed limit, lie in their log books, drive without enough sleep. In a collision with a 4 wheeler and an 18 wheeler the 4 wheeler will always lose. Sheer mass over metal. I pray you find another line of work. 4 wheelers are not your enemy. We buy the goods that you haul so that you can have that job you seem to hate.

[spectre]

I believe every word of your post. I know two people that tried trucking - both intelligent, achieving people. One guy bought his own rig and lasted a year. He went out of business because he couldn't make enough money to pay his expenses while waiting for warehouses, etc. to load goods on "their schedule" while he sat for up to five hours not getting paid. When a major storm hit up north, for example, he had to pay his own per diem and face penalties waiting out the storm. He said that is one on the major reasons you see truckers driving in unsafe winter storms with the related multi - vehicle truck - car - accidents. The trucker may be delivering a load of Chinese crap, toys, etc to a Kmart in Laramie Wyoming.

The driver MUST deliver the goods or face an economic penalty.

It is not a good situation. I (and probably you) do not want the govt to step in and dictate salaries. Having said that, the govt will NOT allow airline pilots to fly more than about 80 hours/month. They know the pilots have to prepare, plan, etc, more than that.

There needs to be a similar oversight that works for you guys - a mandated 200 hour/month driving/loading limit or some such.

When the industry is wanting to hire ex-cons and eighteen year olds to truck an eighty-thousand pound rig at 70mph on a crowded interstate with only three hours sleep in the last 36 hours it may impact on MY life.

Best wishes and I appreciate what you do.

[MoJoWork_n]

I don't believe the word "union" appeared once in the article. According to Cartouche, there are some trade-offs in benefits/costs to being union/non-union, but that's not the main issue. It sounds to me like an absolutely essential job is being relegated to less and less qualifed drivers.

The trucking industry is reaching into the pre-adult ranks and parolee work force, to help keep the trucks rolling and the price paid per-mile low, and they're still short of drivers. It's not inconceivable to think that someday soon, it might be all Central and South Americans driving those trucks, and the per-mile rate might be lower than it was in the 70's.

[Demidog]

This article is a propaganda piece which tries to convince the reader that government regulation is the answer to all of the "problems" that are occurring in the trucking industry.

The only real problem is that the industry has been regulated so heavily that the independent operator is about to go the way of the DoDo bird.

[MoJoWork_n]

>..."I drive the speed limit and obey the law."

Speaking solely for myself, I say your attitude sounds kind of selfish. If I find a convoy of trucks all going 70 to 80 MPH on the interstate I'm over-joyed. That's the speed range that the overwhelming majority of drivers in this country find most comfortable, for safe weather conditions. All those tight-sphinctered types ("can't get the pin out with a D-9 Cat") who insist on slowing everyone else down are just as dangerous, in their own way, as the speeders who impede other drivers by going too fast. When it comes to traffic, I say, "go with the flow". Wide variations in speeds driven are dangerous, not a few extra mph. (Within reason, I mean, the up-to-10-miles an hour over that most jurisdictions allow.)

[CARTOUCHE]

That is not entirely correct, the eight hour break doesn't have to be continuous. The break can be broken into two separate periods with each period being no less than 2 hrs in length. So if you get 2 hrs of r&r you can combine it with another period to equal the 8 hrs. required to be legal. If you are a driver, you know that anything goes in that eight hour break and much of it may not be related to actual sleep: shower, slop, shop work on truck, drug trafficking, soliciting "commercial company" or coin-ioperated buffalo (just kidding about drug trafficking).

[Demidog]

P.S. Did you read this article? The word Union appears several times.

Most truckers must drive long and hard to make money because they're paid by the mile - not by the hour. And unlike almost all other industries, trucking is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the law that established a 40-hour workweek. That means truckers don't have to be paid minimum wage - $5.15 an hour - or overtime unless they're in a union. Union drivers often are paid by the hour, but fewer than one-fourth of truckers belong. As a result, truckers routinely work more than the 60 hours a week and 10 hours at a stretch that federal law allows.

I find it absurd to think that the Federal government believes it has the ability to tell me how many hours I can work.

[CARTOUCHE]

You are correct. In many places in the US licences are being granted to those who have to take the Commercial Driver's License exam with an interpreter inspite of the Federal Regs that say a driver must be able to communicate in English. But until there is wholesale carnage caused by tired truckers of whatever native tongue there will be little change because everyone wants their consummables at the lowest possible price in the fastest posssible way. Right now our society will tolerate the occasional horrific accident if it means getting their stuff. I introduced the union aspect into the conversation because it has frequently been suggested by many of my fellow truckers as the solution to all our problems. Stiffling competition and innovation through unionism is hardly the corrrect solution regardless of what Ford and the UAW claim to the contrary.

[CARTOUCHE]

As for the KC Star article and the reporter. She could have saved the Star a bundle of expense money by writing the article from memory. She had already been a driver at one time. Visiting any truckstop in the Kansas City area would have given her ample quotes from drivers on their perception of the problem of fatigued driving practices.

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

When the supply of truck drivers willing to work for these wages decreases, their pay will increase.

I agree with this statement.

[sharkdiver]

Absolutely, 10-4, When all of the vehicles are driving with the flow, (whatever the speed) than its smooth sailing and driving. I'm talking about the truckers that scream up behind you as you drive with the flow in the second lane and tailgate you. scare the hell out of you. You move over to the first lane of three and than these truckers speed up and tailgate the guy who was in front of you. have you ever tried to merge onto the interstate with four or five of these guys in the first lane in a convoy? Good luck. I feel like painting a big target on the rear of my truck just to give them a spot to aim for.

[conservative cat]

I find it absurd to think that the Federal government believes it has the ability to tell me how many hours I can work.

My husband is a (local) driver. I don't think it is absurd to limit the hours someone can drive. As mentioned above, it is done with pilots, so why not drivers? Fatigue does have an effect on your work. I am not thrilled when my husband drives if he is sick or has worked long hours. It makes it more likely he could cause an accident. My dad was a military pilot and was grounded if in less than excellent physical condition for any reason (even mild illness.) When it's a safety issue that can impact me- heck yeah I want some govt. regulation. I don't think surgeons should work extremely long hours (under normal circumstances,) either.

[Demidog]

Fatigue does have an effect on your work.

So what. It's not the government's responsibility to decide when I'm fatiqued. I'm perfectly capable of doing that for myself. The government is not your mommy.

[conservative cat]

It's not for your well-being. (Like make sure you eat three square meals a day and take your vitamins.) It's for the life of the others on the road. I don't think they should limit someone to 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, but come on. And even if you know your limit, does everyone who drives? And what about those who know they're fatigued and meth themselves up to keep them awake? I would also be willing to bet that your perception of not showing the signs of fatigue are different than the reality.

[Demidog]

It's for the life of the others on the road.

That's the excuse given yes. But it doesn't make anyone any safer and a man has the right to decide for himself when he is or isn't fatigued. The government is not your mommy.

[conservative cat]

That's the excuse given yes.

So, if that is the excuse given, then what is the REAL agenda?

But it doesn't make anyone any safer and a man has the right to decide for himself when he is or isn't fatigued. The government is not your mommy.

By this argument, then the government would never pass any laws for public safety.

I could give a rip what someone does when they are tired as long as it doesn't endanger me.

The problem with fatigue is that it's a pretty subjective thing and you may not notice it creeping up on you. One reason I am against gun-cotrol is because I trust most humans to not shoot me. Shooting a gun is a conscious choice. Most people aren't going to pull that trigger unless they have a good reason to do so. However, despite best intentions, we are all prone to fatigue. Can we control it (without drugs masking it)? No. Are we always aware of it? No. Are we more dangerous on the road because of it? Yes.

As much as I dislike this argument, driving really is a priviledge, not a right. That's why there are laws regarding turn signals, brake lights, headlights, speed limits, etc. I have seen more than a few fatal accidents caused by semi-trucks in my commuting time. Only one of those actually killed the driver at fault. All the others were in other vehicles.

[eastforker]

I drove for over 15 years before seeing the light and changing carreers.What used to piss me off was the gubmint told me how many hours I could or couldn't drive but drivers weren't paid time and a half over 40.One more thing,driver pay is an industry standard,unless you are lucky enough to work for some local construction company that getting paid T&M and the driver isn't bound by the time restraint over the road drivers are,the pay is almost identicle nation wide. yeah, Tankers get paid the best probably, but dry frieght and flat beds realy suffer.Glad I got out of the bussiness,I now get paid 1 1/2 times my base after 40 and if I put in 60 I take home a grand.If I was still trucking I would still be broke.There is alot to say about this subject,can't cover it all in a couple paragraphs,but my heart goes out to all knights of the road puting up with all the chicken coops,swindle sheets,lot lizards,log books,high dollar fuel,lying dispatchers,and above all when something goes wrong, it's always the drivers fault.Been there done that,no more.