Truckers WifeToo
Active Member
One doesn't need to take just my word as these are only MY personal experiences.
I'd highly suggest doing lots and lots of homework before just jumping in and believing false promises.
I have personally witnessed nearly everything that Allen Smith has talked about in his articles.
He talks about the "70 hour work week", but that equates to a 10 day work day. MANY drivers do indeed "work" the entire 14 hour period.
They keep the hours down to 70 on the log book to be in compliance with the Hours of Service rule.
Just do the math and break the pay down yourself! Beit 10 hour days or the much more common 14 hour days.
MANY do NOT want to give up their entire lives and family life to live on the road for what equates to be LESS than minimum wage for MANY.
http://askthetrucker.com/empty-seats-a-trucker-strike-of-a-different-kind/
Empty seats - a trucker strike of a different kind.
By: Allen Smith
"The greatest problem today is that truck driving does not appeal to a younger generation who are saying “No, Thank you” to long hours, low pay and the never-ending signs of disrespect and abuse. The days of learning about potential vocations through the daily newspaper are over, as a tech-savvy generation can learn all they need to know about a carrier via trucking social mediaoutlets within minutes.
Furthermore, as some carriers are “stepping up” with increases in wages, can one really see a two or three cents-per-mile increase as a “raise?” According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, average CPM starting wages are between $0.28 and $0.40; the near very same as 20-25 years ago. Motor carriers advertising a raise increase to $0.38 cpm, I ask: where exactly is the raise?
Even as a few carriers report a wage increase to $0.48 to $0.51 cpm, this can still not be seen as a raise for the simple fact of adjusting for inflation and cost-of-living expenses from the previous 2-3 decades; this is simply bringing drivers up-to-date to where their wages should have already been in regards to the past 25 to 30 years. Perhaps a 2015 starting mileage rate of $0.65 to $0.70 for company drivers and $2.00 to $2.50 for lease owner operators could be seen as a real raise?
The trucking industry now finds itself faced with a new, upcoming generation which has a more human mindset of where they would rather “have a life” instead of “spending a life”in a truck, away from home and family for weeks or months at a time. Even if the OTR industry were to change to a complete regional mode of operation, allowing drivers to make it home every 2-3 days or every weekend, this new generation still disregards trucking as a viable career and only sees it as just another job."
http://askthetrucker.com/breaking-down-barriers-to-the-truck-driver-shortage/
"Breaking down the barriers to the truck driver shortage"
By: Allen Smith
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) states that the United States is headed for a truck driver shortage of 200,000 to 400,000 drivers within the next couple of years.
Yet as of August 31, 2006, the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) had 12.9 million CDL driver records, growing at an average rate of nearly 40,000 new CDL licenses per month.
Out of these, an estimated 50% are just CDL holders, not using their license within a truck driving employment position.
With 40,000 new CDL licenses issued per month, how can there be a truck driver shortage?
Although this is a fabricated “crisis”, the headline continues to gain attention by major news outlets. There has never been a truck driver shortage in the United States and to fully understand the reasons for this so-called crisis, one must look at several aspects relating to the truck transportation industry.
Where are the truck drivers?
With an impending 200,000 to 400,000 shortage of CDL drivers, why are so many recession-worn, out of work employees failing to enter a career in professional truck driving? As drivers face stricter governmental safety regulations and a higher demand by carriers for professionalism, the wages for the CDL driver remains low. Truck driver wages have virtually remained the same for at least thirty years. An ad for hiring drivers in 1978 showed a starting pay rate of .36 cents per mile which is still close to the average pay today, in 2012, thirty four years later.
Professional CDL truck drivers are unskilled labor.
Classifying working adults as “unskilled labor” has to do with global economics, as currently 70% of American workers fall within this classification. By classifying workers as “unskilled,” pay wages are kept at minimum which obviously is a big plus for the truck transportation industry that is the largest sector of private industry in North America.
Professional truck drivers are expected to work 70 hours per week and try to run as many miles as possible at a cents-per-mile basis. The standard mileage per week is established at 2500 miles, which for many drivers are still not yet attainable. A new driver to the industry can drive 2500 miles per week at .27 cents per mile and gross a weekly pay check of $675.00 for a so-called 70 hours of work. This figures to be $9.64 per hour gross pay. A veteran driver at 2500 miles per week at a rate of .36 cents per mile, 70 hour work week will gross $900 for the week, averaging $12.86 per hour gross.
Should the motor carrier begin the “starving out” process against the driver and only give them 1800 miles for the week as an example, the gross weekly hourly rate falls to $6.94 per hour and $9.26 per hour respectively. Add to the equation the living out on the road for weeks, months at a time, sleeping in adverse weather conditions without an APU, cost of meals out, isolation from friends and family, contending with strict DOT regulations and risk of CSA violations . . . a new driver would have to wonder why they would go through all of this for what often times, will lead to an hourly pay scale that is below the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Furthermore, why would a veteran truck driver adhere to such a lifestyle at such a low pay scale?
Why are new CDL graduates not being retained in the industry?
The motor carrier operating their own CDL training programs, largely the ones I call the “starter companies,” receive government subsidies for training new hires. These subsidies can range from several thousand dollars to as high as $50,000 to $222,000 such as the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Training Grants, for example. My last research showed there to be about 16 such programs offered to these CDL training facilities.
The training school motor carrier can actually make more money by constantly turning over drivers than working to retain them. Newer drivers hired at a much lower cents-per-mile rate can be used as a form of cheap labor, while starving out the more experienced driver who commands a higher pay scale while the constant CDL training program continues to bring in the governmental subsidies.
Recent CDL truck driving school graduates are expected to come out being safe and productive professional drivers and they expect to stay within the industry, yet currently there is a 200% turnover rate among first year CDL graduates. Often within their first year of professional truck driving, they end up disillusioned, financially broke and even sometimes, destitute.
If the U. S. trucking industry really was facing a truck driver shortage, then can anyone in the industry explain to me why this happens? A “shortage” of workers of any kind, would logically lead to steps that would end the shortage, yet drivers are still facing this type of ending to their “career” and have been for decades.
Trucking industry could end the truck driver shortage.
With the 200% turnover rate among recent CDL graduates, why are they not staying within the driving career after spending 3-4 weeks in CDL training and going in debt for several thousands of dollars? Furthermore, why are veteran drivers, with years of experience and millions of safe miles, leaving the industry? The answers to these questions are also the steps that could be taken by the industry in order to put an end to this so-called and fabricated crisis called the “driver shortage.”
Step 1 : Honesty
Motor carriers and their recruiters need to deal in honesty toward the driver when it comes to factual expectations for a long-haul truck driving career. Too many ads which advertise $50,000 to $60,000 per year income are used to reel-in new hires and sway experienced drivers to change carriers. Large sign-on bonuses that are seldom issued to drivers because the carrier knows that they will probably leave employment before the bonus is due, is another example of false enticement. Promising a higher cents-per-mile rate and 2500 miles per week and only giving the driver 1800 miles per week, using the excuse, “Well freight is slow,” is another example."
I'd highly suggest doing lots and lots of homework before just jumping in and believing false promises.
I have personally witnessed nearly everything that Allen Smith has talked about in his articles.
He talks about the "70 hour work week", but that equates to a 10 day work day. MANY drivers do indeed "work" the entire 14 hour period.
They keep the hours down to 70 on the log book to be in compliance with the Hours of Service rule.
Just do the math and break the pay down yourself! Beit 10 hour days or the much more common 14 hour days.
MANY do NOT want to give up their entire lives and family life to live on the road for what equates to be LESS than minimum wage for MANY.
http://askthetrucker.com/empty-seats-a-trucker-strike-of-a-different-kind/
Empty seats - a trucker strike of a different kind.
By: Allen Smith
"The greatest problem today is that truck driving does not appeal to a younger generation who are saying “No, Thank you” to long hours, low pay and the never-ending signs of disrespect and abuse. The days of learning about potential vocations through the daily newspaper are over, as a tech-savvy generation can learn all they need to know about a carrier via trucking social mediaoutlets within minutes.
Furthermore, as some carriers are “stepping up” with increases in wages, can one really see a two or three cents-per-mile increase as a “raise?” According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, average CPM starting wages are between $0.28 and $0.40; the near very same as 20-25 years ago. Motor carriers advertising a raise increase to $0.38 cpm, I ask: where exactly is the raise?
Even as a few carriers report a wage increase to $0.48 to $0.51 cpm, this can still not be seen as a raise for the simple fact of adjusting for inflation and cost-of-living expenses from the previous 2-3 decades; this is simply bringing drivers up-to-date to where their wages should have already been in regards to the past 25 to 30 years. Perhaps a 2015 starting mileage rate of $0.65 to $0.70 for company drivers and $2.00 to $2.50 for lease owner operators could be seen as a real raise?
The trucking industry now finds itself faced with a new, upcoming generation which has a more human mindset of where they would rather “have a life” instead of “spending a life”in a truck, away from home and family for weeks or months at a time. Even if the OTR industry were to change to a complete regional mode of operation, allowing drivers to make it home every 2-3 days or every weekend, this new generation still disregards trucking as a viable career and only sees it as just another job."
http://askthetrucker.com/breaking-down-barriers-to-the-truck-driver-shortage/
"Breaking down the barriers to the truck driver shortage"
By: Allen Smith
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) states that the United States is headed for a truck driver shortage of 200,000 to 400,000 drivers within the next couple of years.
Yet as of August 31, 2006, the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) had 12.9 million CDL driver records, growing at an average rate of nearly 40,000 new CDL licenses per month.
Out of these, an estimated 50% are just CDL holders, not using their license within a truck driving employment position.
With 40,000 new CDL licenses issued per month, how can there be a truck driver shortage?
Although this is a fabricated “crisis”, the headline continues to gain attention by major news outlets. There has never been a truck driver shortage in the United States and to fully understand the reasons for this so-called crisis, one must look at several aspects relating to the truck transportation industry.
Where are the truck drivers?
With an impending 200,000 to 400,000 shortage of CDL drivers, why are so many recession-worn, out of work employees failing to enter a career in professional truck driving? As drivers face stricter governmental safety regulations and a higher demand by carriers for professionalism, the wages for the CDL driver remains low. Truck driver wages have virtually remained the same for at least thirty years. An ad for hiring drivers in 1978 showed a starting pay rate of .36 cents per mile which is still close to the average pay today, in 2012, thirty four years later.
Professional CDL truck drivers are unskilled labor.
Classifying working adults as “unskilled labor” has to do with global economics, as currently 70% of American workers fall within this classification. By classifying workers as “unskilled,” pay wages are kept at minimum which obviously is a big plus for the truck transportation industry that is the largest sector of private industry in North America.
Professional truck drivers are expected to work 70 hours per week and try to run as many miles as possible at a cents-per-mile basis. The standard mileage per week is established at 2500 miles, which for many drivers are still not yet attainable. A new driver to the industry can drive 2500 miles per week at .27 cents per mile and gross a weekly pay check of $675.00 for a so-called 70 hours of work. This figures to be $9.64 per hour gross pay. A veteran driver at 2500 miles per week at a rate of .36 cents per mile, 70 hour work week will gross $900 for the week, averaging $12.86 per hour gross.
Should the motor carrier begin the “starving out” process against the driver and only give them 1800 miles for the week as an example, the gross weekly hourly rate falls to $6.94 per hour and $9.26 per hour respectively. Add to the equation the living out on the road for weeks, months at a time, sleeping in adverse weather conditions without an APU, cost of meals out, isolation from friends and family, contending with strict DOT regulations and risk of CSA violations . . . a new driver would have to wonder why they would go through all of this for what often times, will lead to an hourly pay scale that is below the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Furthermore, why would a veteran truck driver adhere to such a lifestyle at such a low pay scale?
Why are new CDL graduates not being retained in the industry?
The motor carrier operating their own CDL training programs, largely the ones I call the “starter companies,” receive government subsidies for training new hires. These subsidies can range from several thousand dollars to as high as $50,000 to $222,000 such as the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Training Grants, for example. My last research showed there to be about 16 such programs offered to these CDL training facilities.
The training school motor carrier can actually make more money by constantly turning over drivers than working to retain them. Newer drivers hired at a much lower cents-per-mile rate can be used as a form of cheap labor, while starving out the more experienced driver who commands a higher pay scale while the constant CDL training program continues to bring in the governmental subsidies.
Recent CDL truck driving school graduates are expected to come out being safe and productive professional drivers and they expect to stay within the industry, yet currently there is a 200% turnover rate among first year CDL graduates. Often within their first year of professional truck driving, they end up disillusioned, financially broke and even sometimes, destitute.
If the U. S. trucking industry really was facing a truck driver shortage, then can anyone in the industry explain to me why this happens? A “shortage” of workers of any kind, would logically lead to steps that would end the shortage, yet drivers are still facing this type of ending to their “career” and have been for decades.
Trucking industry could end the truck driver shortage.
With the 200% turnover rate among recent CDL graduates, why are they not staying within the driving career after spending 3-4 weeks in CDL training and going in debt for several thousands of dollars? Furthermore, why are veteran drivers, with years of experience and millions of safe miles, leaving the industry? The answers to these questions are also the steps that could be taken by the industry in order to put an end to this so-called and fabricated crisis called the “driver shortage.”
Step 1 : Honesty
Motor carriers and their recruiters need to deal in honesty toward the driver when it comes to factual expectations for a long-haul truck driving career. Too many ads which advertise $50,000 to $60,000 per year income are used to reel-in new hires and sway experienced drivers to change carriers. Large sign-on bonuses that are seldom issued to drivers because the carrier knows that they will probably leave employment before the bonus is due, is another example of false enticement. Promising a higher cents-per-mile rate and 2500 miles per week and only giving the driver 1800 miles per week, using the excuse, “Well freight is slow,” is another example."
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