Walmart challenges $61M jury verdict in driver wage lawsuit

[Mike]

That's not greed; they're smart. ,,,, Finally, my prayers were answered.

I hauled their freight power-only in WA state for 3 months. ,,, They abused me like there was no tomorrow. ,,, I quit their broker and prayed to see big pay back time for them!

"Wamart-paid-through-the-nose-day" should be a national holiday for truckers

Your situation has nothing to do with their company employees.

 

[Airbourne]

Your situation has nothing to do with their company employees.

That may be so. ,,,,,, Still,, I sure was glad when I read your news bulletin regarding the case and verdict..

As a retailer, Walmart may have an excellent customer goodwill. ,,,, As an employer,, however,, it's a different story altogether. ,,,, As a customer of other businesses,, there is no worse on the planet. ,,,, Especially if the manufacturer or supplier,, for example,, is American.

CBS 60 Minutes,, Winter 2015,, exposed them and flushed them out like the Sun rising over a cockroach-infested crevasse on a stifling, hot, humid summer daybreak.

 

[ironpony]

Wait!!! With flaming cockroaches and all, this isn't CR England we're talking about???

 

[Airbourne]

Wait!!! With flaming cockroaches and all, this isn't CR England we're talking about???

Point well taken. ,,,, But let's pose for a second to clarify that no offensive language was employed in my metaphor. ,,,, Literal imagery provides strength and cast out doubts, that's all. I was also objective and gave them credit where credit was due.

The main point, as I explained to Mike, was: while the entire escapade may have nothing to do with my specific grievance,, I wount lose a wink of sleep over seeing them pay through the nose.

The second, and more important, point that we're ignoring is,, this case, targeting a major player in the trucking business,, Wil definitely and decisively force the rest of the culprits to shape up when charting the course of driver wage and work policy.

That,, by the way,, is the foundation of class action suits. ,,,, These huge sums of money handed down through verdicts serve as deterrents and as warnings.

 

[ironpony]

Point well taken. ,,,, But let's pose for a second to clarify that no offensive language was employed in my metaphor. ,,,, Literal imagery provides strength and cast out doubts, that's all. I was also objective and gave them credit where credit was due.

The main point, as I explained to Mike, was: while the entire escapade may have nothing to do with my specific grievance,, I wount lose a wink of sleep over seeing them pay through the nose.

The second, and more important, point that we're ignoring is,, this case, targeting a major player in the trucking business,, Wil definitely and decisively force the rest of the culprits to shape up when charting the course of driver wage and work policy.

That,, by the way,, is the foundation of class action suits. ,,,, These huge sums of money handed down through verdicts serve as deterrents and as warnings.

Doubt that it will last on appeal. Notice the recent ideological overhaul of the courts? We have a guy sitting on SCOTUS who opined that it was outrageous that a driver walked away from a freezing, disabled megafleet truck in sub-zero weather, after waiting for several hours on a road service truck that hadn't showed.

 

[Airbourne]

Thoughts to ponder over truck drivers' predicament
*****************************************************

Not long ago, I attended a 3-day workshop in Florida (expensive bugger) on how to successfully broker your own loads. ,,,, One topic that was given lavish attention was big fleet driver hiring policy. They can't survive with smart, competent drivers. They hire anyone who is smart enough to know how to breath on his/her own! ,,,, Once these drivers wake up, they fire them and replace them with others who need help to master the high skill of breathing.

Question:
Why aren't driver forums like this one crowded with drivers?

Answer:
It takes only very smart few to take the initiative, and other smart ones to populate the topics with lively engagements. Very few with inferiority complexes feel inadequate and dedicate their participation to vending venom. But the 99.9% others, who are not on these forums, probably didn't make it beyond 9th grade, and don't have the wherewithal to uplift themselves.

Airline Pilots do exactly wht you do. The skill level is a major difference. And as a result, only smart people can become airline pilots. Being smart, They know that Wall Street own them and is hell bent on sucking their blood,, so they form alliances, professional associations, syndications and unions,, and invest them with powers and responsibilities to protect and safeguard their interests. ,,,,, Regional pilots, in stark contrast, are not so lucky because they are prohibited from forming unions and professional associations.

If you compare salaries and "benefits" of Legacy Pilots ( major carriers) to Regional carrier pilots you get a conservative disparity of 10/1 ,,,, ....!

Can we expect truck drivers to, all of a sudden, flock to colleges and universities and earn batchelors and master degrees so that they could make as much money and benefits as Pilots? ,,,, Of course not, and it would be ridiculous to assume that this is the theme of these letters.

The irony is that the smart drivers populating these forums, who know that their strength lie in their unity, have never even thought, much less supported, the idea of building a national body or regional bodies and invest them with powers to represent them on the theatre of hiring, wages and benefits.

No wonder then, we have CREngland(s) running 21st century slavery gigs in 21st century American broad-day-light.

 

[Airbourne]

Doubt that it will last on appeal. Notice the recent ideological overhaul of the courts? We have a guy sitting on SCOTUS who opined that it was outrageous that a driver walked away from a freezing, disabled megafleet truck in sub-zero weather, after waiting for several hours on a road service truck that hadn't showed.

Of course ,,,, good point. The Supreme court is but a pseudo justice arm to the ideology of the POTUS who happens to be in power at the time of appointment.

The solution is far fetched, but I went very quickly over its crust in a post a few minutes ago.

 

[Electric Chicken]

My issue stems from trying to tell me what I can and cannot do while Off Duty, running contrary to the law. Don't pay me for Off Duty time, I don't care. But you're not gonna treat me like some kind of discount security service. Especially when you also have a company policy prohibiting me from being armed.

 

[Ontario Outlaw]

Thoughts to ponder over truck drivers' predicament
*****************************************************

Not long ago, I attended a 3-day workshop in Florida (expensive bugger) on how to successfully broker your own loads. ,,,, One topic that was given lavish attention was big fleet driver hiring policy. They can't survive with smart, competent drivers. They hire anyone who is smart enough to know how to breath on his/her own! ,,,, Once these drivers wake up, they fire them and replace them with others who need help to master the high skill of breathing.

Question:
Why aren't driver forums like this one crowded with drivers?

Answer:
It takes only very smart few to take the initiative, and other smart ones to populate the topics with lively engagements. Very few with inferiority complexes feel inadequate and dedicate their participation to vending venom. But the 99.9% others probably didn't make it beyond 9th grade.

Airline Pilots do exactly wht you do. The skill level is a major difference. And as a result, only smart people can become airline pilots. Being smart, They know that Wall Street own them and is hell bent on sucking their blood,, so they form alliances, professional associations, syndications and unions,, and invest them with powers and responsibilities to protect and safeguard their interests. ,,,,, Regional pilots, in stark contrast, are not so lucky because they are prohibited from forming unions and professional associations.

If you compare salaries and "benefits" of Legacy Pilots ( major carriers) to Regional carrier pilots you get a conservative disparity of 10/1 ,,,, ....!

Can we expect truck drivers to, all of a sudden, flock to colleges and universities and earn batchelors and master degrees so that they could make as much money and benefits as Pilots? ,,,, Of course not, and it would be ridiculous to assume that this is the theme of these letters.

The irony is that the smart drivers populating these forums, who know that their strength lie in their unity, have never even thought, much less supported, the idea of building a national body or regional bodies and invest them with powers to represent them on the theatre of hiring, wages and benefits.

No wonder then, we have CREngland(s) running 21st century slavery gigs in 21st century American broad-day-light.

The largest problem is you get 20 “drivers” in a room, ask them what colour the sky is, and you’ll get 20 different answers

The correct answer is violet, of course

Asking 100,000 drivers to share the same opinion and group together is like herding a group of cats gone catterwampus.

You’re correct in your views on mega carriers though

 

[ironpony]

Wal-Mart isn't a megacarrier - they're a private carrier.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Wal-Mart isn't a megacarrier - they're a private carrier.

They're mega private!

 

[Airbourne]

The largest problem is you get 20 “drivers” in a room, ask them what colour the sky is, and you’ll get 20 different answers

The correct answer is violet, of course

Asking 100,000 drivers to share the same opinion and group together is like herding a group of cats gone catterwampus.

You’re correct in your views on mega carriers though

You are correct, and It is unfortunate. ,,,,, Some day, however, the few smart drivers who built and kept these forums alive, may rise to leadership and take on the challenge. ,,,,, The rest are followers by nature, and will file down the line.

Question that bothers me, though, is why a smart man like Mike would go thus far in advocating, even championing the cause of known corporate greed entity like Walmart against his fellow drivers, well paid or not!?

 

[Airbourne]

Wal-Mart isn't a megacarrier - they're a private carrier.

PRIVATE and MEGA are not acronyms! ,,,,

Walmart is traded on every major stock exchange. That makes it a bonafide Public corporation, not private one. ,,,,,,,,,,

Walmart has a fleet of 7000 tractors and 75,,000 trailers and 10,000 drivers on direct payroll, and 5000 contracted.

If that does not constitute a mega carrier, then Big Bertha is a Danish princess, and not a Russian Comrade.

 

[Sinister]

And that's why they pay every walmart driver a set fee for their 10 hour break. For the California drivers, that just isn't enough.

They also want to get paid for pre trips.

 

[Sinister]

PRIVATE and MEGA are not acronyms! ,,,,

Walmart is traded on every major stock exchange. That makes it a bonafide Public corporation, not private one. ,,,,,,,,,,

Walmart has a fleet of 7000 tractors and 75,,000 trailers and 10,000 drivers on direct payroll, and 5000 contracted.

If that does not constitute a mega carrier, then Big Bertha is a Danish princess, and not a Russian Comrade.

The fleet is an LLC, and treated as a separate company.

The fleet actually bills the stores for things.

Take money from your left pocket and put it into your right...that sorta thing.

 

[Sinister]

You are correct, and It is unfortunate. ,,,,, Some day, however, the few smart drivers who built and kept these forums alive, may rise to leadership and take on the challenge. ,,,,, The rest are followers by nature, and will file down the line.

Question that bothers me, though, is why a smart man like Mike would go thus far in advocating, even championing the cause of known corporate greed entity like Walmart against his fellow drivers, well paid or not!?

Because he’s a business owner and may someday have employees and realizes how expensive it is.

 

[Airbourne]

They also want to get paid for pre trips.

We must,, repeat,, MUST,, address this as Americans. America and Free Capitalism are synonyms,,,,,,,,,, and indivisible.

The drivers have every right to exercise their inalienable right to fair wages as they see fit. ,,,, The capital venture (Walmart) has a corresponding right to contest and haggle. ,,,,, (The Theory of Employment in Free Market Economics)

 

[Sinister]

We must,, repeat,, MUST,, address this as Americans. America and Free Capitalism are synonyms,,,,,,,,,, and indivisible.

The drivers have every right to exercise their inalienable right to fair wages as they see fit. ,,,, The capital venture (Walmart) has a corresponding right to contest and haggle. ,,,,, (The Theory of Employment in Free Market Economics)

...which will be handled in the courts, as were seeing here.

Being sued isn’t as personal as people seem to think.

Barring pistols at noon or fisticuffs it’s about the only way to get anything done these days.

 

[Airbourne]

The fleet is an LLC, and treated as a separate company.

The fleet actually bills the stores for things.

Take money from your left pocket and put it into your right...that sorta thing.

You are Correct,,,,, Several companies within a principal Holding Company. This is a very smart global corporate structure designed to maximize tax savings and minimize business liabilities.

 

[Airbourne]

...which will be handled in the courts, as were seeing here.

Being sued isn’t as personal as people seem to think.

Barring pistols at noon or fisticuffs it’s about the only way to get anything done these days.