Lets see, driving 11 hrs a day and working 14 hrs/day and maybe somedays making less than minimum wage....gone for weeks on end, bathing in public showers, and eating garbgage for weeks............ gee... I wonder why???????
Its a manufactured shortage if it exists at all. If not it’s an attempt to manufacture a shortage.
Over the past two years my mother’s pay has been cut by almost $20,000 due to being short routed. Kept in service but off the road for hours every day. In other words she gets paid by the mile but is being sent 100 miles to sit for a day before being sent another 50 miles to sit some more.
I work for Schneider National, and what you just described simply isn't true. Truckers start at least $35,000 a year, and if they're able to get a dedicated route, they can easily make more and be home every weekend.
Eating garbage for weeks? Truckers have full access to area truck stops and Road America places which offer full dine-in services and public facilities. Also when you're young and just want to make some quick cash, who cares what your eating? I've hired drivers fresh out of high school who signed up for team loads with their girlfriends and the two of them made over $100,000 cash each year. If you do this for a few years that's a house & a car payment squared away.
What's hurting the trucking industry is the DOT rules and regulations. A lof of applicants have at least one or two speeding tickets which can kill an application. You have to have a near spotless driving record in order to be a truck driver. But there's a lot of money in trucking though, it's probably the most recession-proof job out there.