A scarcity of truck drivers is biting into profits

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Originally Posted By: Chris142
Most trucking companies do not pay well. Not too many people will work 11 hrs a day plus live out of truckstops for less than min wage.


This.

Nobody wants to pay a living wage because it cuts into their profits, and they wonder why they can't hire anyone. This is why we have "steering wheel holders" driving the trucks on the road and creating dangerous situations.

The same story happens in a lot of industries though. I work in the technology industry. One area of my company has a very high rate of turn over and they can't seem to figure out why, even though the reasons are obvious. High work loads, demanding hours, and lower pay than the rest of the industry. It's not rocket science.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Most trucking companies do not pay well. Not too many people will work 11 hrs a day plus live out of truckstops for less than min wage.


Yup, drivers will be more abundant as companies increase wages.
No different then any other business. Good news for the workers.
 
We got an increase last year from $.43 per mile to .50 per mile dry bulk. Liquid went from .50 to .55 per mile. Plus paid for other work while unloading, 25 bucks for each night you sleep in truck, etc. I'm part time now, but wish we were making the big bucks 10 years ago so I could have put even more into retirement. Wal-Mart was stealing our drivers so our company had to pay more to compete with them. Richmond, VA is a good place to live if you drive because there are a lot of hubs there.
 
One more thing I hope they don't change the e-log requirement. That helps keep wages up as drivers will need to be paid for all those hours because it cuts into their legal work time. Companies would force drivers to run illegally (thank God I work for good people who didn't do this) and forcing drivers to run teams (wonder why there are so many wrecked FedEx trucks?) and this was driving down wages.
 
I've read many of these types of articles. The mention of "shortage" is usually followed by the need for an increase in H1-B visas for the industry. This article does not mention it, so I give them credit for that. They simply see the need to increase wages in this industry, or go to rail.
 
A friend of mine on FB became a truck driver after he retired from the military. I read about his adventures every few days and think, no thanks. He's always in some of the [censored] cities with the worst traffic. When not actually driving, he mostly plays the waiting game with places that were supposed to have a load ready and didn't.
 
My SIL drives for Gordon Food Service. I can tell that this company is family oriented and takes care of their employees in both pay and other important aspects. He is expected to work hard but they seem to meet his needs beyond just the paycheck. I know that most on this site despise unions, but the employee gains made last century are eroding away as companies worry most about the bottom line and don't consider the entire picture. Unhappy employees just leads to a domino effect of increased costs (health, training, etc.).
 
I wouldn't say most are anti-union. But many of us are are anti-mandatory union membership in a shop.

A balance is needed. If union membership is an automatic requirement, the union can be bad, but survive because workers are forced to belong.

Unions that are both responsive to workers needs and responsive to the employer when there is a bad apple amongst the ranks is what is needed.

The perception is that unions protect non-performers beyond the reasonable due process.

If a local doesn't provide value, why should workers be forced into membership?

That's all most of us are asking.
 
Originally Posted By: javacontour
I wouldn't say most are anti-union. But many of us are are anti-mandatory union membership in a shop.

A balance is needed. If union membership is an automatic requirement, the union can be bad, but survive because workers are forced to belong.

Unions that are both responsive to workers needs and responsive to the employer when there is a bad apple amongst the ranks is what is needed.

The perception is that unions protect non-performers beyond the reasonable due process.

If a local doesn't provide value, why should workers be forced into membership?

That's all most of us are asking.


I agree, and what I bolded is mostly what seems to be the problem. I worked as a contractor for a state agency and the things I saw were ridiculous. So much waste that would never happen at the corporate, non-union level. There were many state employees who felt they were untouchable and acted as such.
 
I work for a school transportation service. The single biggest problem we face is getting drivers. Background check,physical,CDL and crummy hours not to mention the kids. We regularly turn work away.
We also have a problem with mechanic recruitment, we used to require at least 5 certifications and some experience. Now we just hired a guy with no certs, very little experience and I will train him. Our pay is not the highest starting out but 20 years ago we had no problem filling spots.
 
What they are not saying is that the young potential Truck drivers are being turned away because a high (no pun intended) percentage can't pass the drug testing required to start the job training. The casual pot user needs to be clean for about 4 weeks in order to pass! This is a big issue and won't get better with the increased legalization of pot.
 
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Originally Posted By: KGMtech
What they are not saying is that the young potential Truck drivers are being turned away because a high (no pun intended) percentage can't pass the drug testing required to start the job training. The casual pot user needs to be clean for about 4 weeks in order to pass! This is a big issue and won't get better with the increased legalization of pot.


Yeah, defiantly too many pot heads out there. They're smoking all the time now, you can smell it just walking down practically any city street.
 
For what trucking companies are paying, there are a lot of other good paying jobs that don't involve being on the road for long periods of time and living out of a truck.

Add on top of that the issues faced just trying to find clean drivers who haven't smoked pot (or other things) in a long enough period of time is also becoming a huge problem, particularly at the wages being offered.

Add on top of that Elogs cutting capacity by finally ending the cheating that was possible under the old manual logs. For all the complaining about the E-logs, the reality is it shouldn't be a big deal to implement - the same rules apply on hours of service. If you can't do it now under E-logs, odds are you weren't legal to begin with. Yes, there are some issues with say needing to move at a truck stop or shipper, etc... but that doesn't change much.

Add the capacity cut on top of a lack of drivers, and just maybe shipping rates will finally go up to pay the drivers a better wage.
 
The trick here to driving a truck and making a good living is not doing over the road stuff. You want to work for a business that ownes a truck and delivers their own product.

Stuff like beverage delivery to stores, paint company that delivers the finished product to local paint stores, roof trusses,Honey truck etc.

All pay much better than otr stuff.
 
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.50/mile sounds good. So how many miles average does one driver drive a day, 400? 500? $200 to 250 a day. On the road you have expenses, showers, laundry, food, recreation, mail stop, internet access. Motels may not be reimbursed if you have a sleeper cab, Uber if you want to see something other than a truck stop. So actual net 100 a day?for 11 hours.
 
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
 
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