Interested to know what opinions other people have, in or out of the business. Under NAFTA rules, the cream of the Mexican trucking industry is going to be free to migrate North, to compete under the same conditions, pretty darned soon. Are there going to be cross-border (and/or state-to-state) overlapping regulations/safety codes?
Don't get me wrong, I think enforcement of current rest regulations should be stepped up, along with a few more regs, but tied to research on circadian rhythms, not union opportunists.
To stay within current regulations they would log a weeks worth of travel while doing it in 4 days to take 3 days off. While I cannot say this is true, this is what the story conveyed to me, and that was what one truck driver in the story said in a round about way (you have to read the entire expose).
As far as the pay is concerned, the article is also accurate. I am out about 150 hours a week. That is six days on the road a week. That includes the driving, unloading, loading and sleeping times. On a good week I make $1000. On a bad week, I make $300 to $500. So you might say that is a lot of money. Well, lets put it into perspective. An average person making $12 an hour working 40 hours a week will make about $480 a week. Now have that same person work the same hours as a truck driver. I can drive a maximum of 70 hours a week. Plus the loading and unloading time that I log as sleeping time. Together, I am actually working about 110 hours a week. That is the number of hours I am awake and doing something that makes my company money. So If the average person out there making $12 an hour were to work the same number of hours that I do, they would make about $1320 a week. Now you see that we don’t really make that much money. As I was saying before, the driver is responsible for the equipment and freight the whole time he is out. So If you figure that is worth something, then you see that over the 150 hours a driver is away from home, he is only making $6 an hour. Pretty sad paycheck for what we are doing.
Now consider the fact that we have road expenses. We buy two to three meals a day if we are lucky. We have to keep a home away from home in the truck. The company does not cover the cost of the our living expenses. Sometimes we have to pay up to $10 for a simple shower. The food in truckstops is way overpriced and god forbid we have to buy anything from the store at the truckstop. Most things are marked up 3 to 5 hundred percent. I can usually get by on one meal a day and try to shower only when I can get a free coupon. Most things I bring from home and if I need something else, I try to do without. Even doing this, I still end up spending about $100 a week on the road just to get by. That is lost money. It would be like anyone else having to give up a portion of their paycheck just for the privilege of working.
Just remember, the next time you four-wheelers are tempted to cut us off, speed up when we try to pass, or are just being a total pain in the butt, we are tired and just want to be left alone to do our job. Please read the article. It is very true. Those of you that have smart remarks to make, all I can say is your ignorance is showing.
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.
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.
While I was there, working my backside off, I got to know a lot of truck drivers.
College was a joke to them because they knew that they were making more than I would see after decades in engineering.
After just a few years they were pulling in much more than I make now after 7 years of experience. And I am at the top of my pay grade.
The same goes for workers on the line in most aircraft plants. I knew an engineer that was being hassled by some hourly guys over something. He finally told them "hey, just because you guys make twice as much as me doesn't mean you can just blow me off." I guess their jaws dropped. It was probably the first time they realized how good they had it.
The union employees love to whine but they fail to realize that the corporate landscape changed a long time ago.
They, the blue collar workers are the elite. Everyone else is dirt.