Swift Transportation has been accused of firing two more truck drivers

[dobry4u]

Swift fires more drivers in union dispute - The Daily Breeze (http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_13456987)


Hmmm... I thought Dave Berry was freelancing these days ;)

[belpre122]

I almost skipped this thread as a matter of due course as it is about coolie carrier truck driving. More specifically Swift Transportation.

What a mistake that would have been! An excellent article indeed! Everything that I and a few others have been saying for years. All wrapped up in one well written article. Folks, this is why truck driving is in the terrible shape that it is today for the driver.

Pause.............3, 2, 1............until GMAN and some other piece-rate apologists come running in. (or not?)

[bentstrider]

I almost skipped this thread as a matter of due course as it is about coolie carrier truck driving. More specifically Swift Transportation.

What a mistake that would have been! An excellent article indeed! Everything that I and a few others have been saying for years. All wrapped up in one well written article. Folks, this is why truck driving is in the terrible shape that it is today for the driver.

Pause.............3, 2, 1............until GMAN and some other piece-rate apologists come running in. (or not?)

To each their own.
You keep being indie, I'll continue to get back on with the big boys.

As far as ports and rail-container yards go, dealt with that for 7 months and never want to venture to the San Gabriel Valley again.

[cdswans]

From the article Ms 4U posted . .

"In some cases, Swift has had to add to drivers' paychecks to ensure they are paid at least $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage, according to Ricardo Hidalgo, a Teamsters organizer."

How many times have I posted similar remarks only to have others respond I was nuts? The difference here is that Swift has the union breathing down it's neck and therefor, they're paying it. In the meantime, there are hundreds of thousands of Drivers out there who have no idea that this law exists (or worse, refuse to believe it when they are told that it exists!) and thousands of employers who are in no rush to tell them.

So, here I go again . . If you're getting plenty of miles or paid by the hour, this probably won't apply to you because you're probably covering the minimum wage requirement already. If, on the other hand, you find yourself . .

Sitting a lot
Stuck in traffic a lot
Hooked to a loading dock a lot
Creating, responding or reading a post on CAD
Snowbound, fogbound or upside down in a tornado
At home on your couch awaiting dispatch (no beer in hand)
Stuck at a terminal waiting for repairs or a truck or a trainer, etc.
Or any combination . .

and your gross pay is less than $508/week, the Federal Minimum wage for a 70 hour week, your employer owes you the difference. The only requirement is that you were working or you were available to work . . in a state of readiness, as the law says.

I don't believe you need to log your availability on line 4 but even if you do, you can still log 10 hours a day and never run out of hours. This does not average so every week is unique. If you make $200 one week and $1000 the next, you did not average $600/week for 2 weeks. In the eyes of the law, your employer owes you the Federal minimum for the first week and you don't owe it back for the second.

As for the original topic, I hope these guys understand that Jerry could shut down that whole operation overnight and absorb or dispose of the equipment just as fast. I'm sure he doesn't want to do that for any number of reasons but my sense is that if he thought the union was gaining ground, he would. I say, rescind the Truck Driver's exemption to the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Until then, Jerry is only playing by the rules. It's the rules that need to be changed.

[palidian]

From the article Ms 4U posted . .


I don't believe you need to log your availability on line 4 but even if you do, you can still log 10 hours a day and never run out of hours.

That would be 80 hrs or 70 hrs on a 8 day/7 day week.

[Orangetxguy]

From the article Ms 4U posted . .

"In some cases, Swift has had to add to drivers' paychecks to ensure they are paid at least $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage, according to Ricardo Hidalgo, a Teamsters organizer."

How many times have I posted similar remarks only to have others respond I was nuts? The difference here is that Swift has the union breathing down it's neck and therefor, they're paying it. In the meantime, there are hundreds of thousands of Drivers out there who have no idea that this law exists (or worse, refuse to believe it when they are told that it exists!) and thousands of employers who are in no rush to tell them.

So, here I go again . . If you're getting plenty of miles or paid by the hour, this probably won't apply to you because you're probably covering the minimum wage requirement already. If, on the other hand, you find yourself . .

Sitting a lot
Stuck in traffic a lot
Hooked to a loading dock a lot
Creating, responding or reading a post on CAD
Snowbound, fogbound or upside down in a tornado
At home on your couch awaiting dispatch (no beer in hand)
Stuck at a terminal waiting for repairs or a truck or a trainer, etc.
Or any combination . .

and your gross pay is less than $508/week, the Federal Minimum wage for a 70 hour week, your employer owes you the difference. The only requirement is that you were working or you were available to work . . in a state of readiness, as the law says.

I don't believe you need to log your availability on line 4 but even if you do, you can still log 10 hours a day and never run out of hours. This does not average so every week is unique. If you make $200 one week and $1000 the next, you did not average $600/week for 2 weeks. In the eyes of the law, your employer owes you the Federal minimum for the first week and you don't owe it back for the second.

As for the original topic, I hope these guys understand that Jerry could shut down that whole operation overnight and absorb or dispose of the equipment just as fast. I'm sure he doesn't want to do that for any number of reasons but my sense is that if he thought the union was gaining ground, he would. I say, rescind the Truck Driver's exemption to the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Until then, Jerry is only playing by the rules. It's the rules that need to be changed.

Thats the key right there!!!

[wimpy]

I never knew it until I got into the bulk milk hauling industry that they pay by the load and seems that a lot of the fuel haulers here in Phoenix do too. Of course I'm talking about local work, OTR is obviously paid by mile or some other way. So basically what I'm saying is that it seems that paying by the load now a days whether you haul milk/fuel or just work for good ole' Swift seems to be the way companies are paying, which really sucks because I know I've worked a 20 hr. day for a measly $210, a whopping 3 loads at $70 a load. The companies that actually do pay by the hour......ha good luck getting into those companies.

[belpre122]

Edit....

[cdswans]

Pause.............3, 2, 1............until GMAN and some other piece-rate apologists come running in. (or not?)

Just a little bump so the PRA's can get a better look at the thread . .

[Rev.Vassago]

I don't believe you need to log your availability on line 4 but even if you do, you can still log 10 hours a day and never run out of hours.

Trucker's math.

[belpre122]

Just a little bump so the PRA's can get a better look at the thread . .


I tell ya cd. Between that excellent and objective article written by a third party, combined with your astute anyalysis...........the PRAs are on the ropes this time I think.

It's one thing to banter back and forth between each other on this board about these issues. Yet, when faced with a third-party report that flies in the face of everything that they have been apologizing about like a broken record............they run like ants.

Typical I say. They'll just continue to collect their 25CPM with no benefits, job security etc, and be satisfied with bitching amongst themselves anonymously on Channel 19 and getting nothing done about it. "It's a lifestyle." Remember?:pissedoff:

No surprises here cd. Status quo. What a damn shame...........

Apologists.

[cdswans]

No surprises here cd. Status quo. What a damn shame...........

Apologists.

You know what's amazing? Everyone of us can see this everyday but how many of us have actually stopped to think about it . . Look at Flying J . . have you thought about why they're closing restaurants? Or the TA with their absurd "all you can eat" deal? Or Subway? They stopped their $5 foot-long deal for about 3 days. Sales tanked!

(FJ's) Bankruptcy notwithstanding, their costs to run a restaurant go up, just like everyone else's, including mine. They have had to raise their prices to the point where their captive audience, us, can no longer afford to eat there. You can't get away from a sit-down meal for less than $15 bucks with a tip. I used to eat in these places 4 or 5 times a week . . not anymore. I'm down to 1, maybe 2 and that's only if the place is spotless.

Real wages for Drivers haven't changed since deregulation . . going on 30 years. The lure of CPM keeps sucking 'em in and the reality of CPM keeps blowing 'em out.

Here is a very small sample of something I'd like to see a lot more of . . a union (Teamsters) putting it's people out front instead of more rhetoric:

Union pickets at Chrysler over non-union trucker pay - WREX.com ? Rockford?s News Leader (http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=11244472)

[feederfred]

I second all your opinions...In my later years, I kind of stopped "raising the union flag". But, I look around and I see the extremely terrible working conditions/pay that drivers endure because now the economy sucks, so what do the coolie carriers do ? Of course, take it out on the people that do the work and can stand it the least, the driver. I'm grateful to my union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for at least making sure I'm not exploited. I'm grateful for my pension and my health-care and for decent working conditions. All drivers deserve a life for their hard work and lately, things just seem to continue to deteriorate on the backs of the drivers. I applaud the Swift drivers for having the courage to stand up for themselves and hope they are successful. It's not a "lifestyle", it's just a modern day version of the sweatshops of old. There is an excellent book on Amazon called "Sweatshops on Wheels" written by a former truck driver who is now an economics professor in Michigan.

[jonp]

Yeah, how did that new union thug at Saturn help them out? Saturn going bye-bye. I do hope you folks know that this is all about the unions trying to keep out outside truck companies to form a monopoly in the ports?

[geargrinder]

I second all your opinions...In my later years, I kind of stopped "raising the union flag". But, I look around and I see the extremely terrible working conditions/pay that drivers endure because now the economy sucks, so what do the coolie carriers do ? Of course, take it out on the people that do the work and can stand it the least, the driver. I'm grateful to my union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for at least making sure I'm not exploited. I'm grateful for my pension and my health-care and for decent working conditions. All drivers deserve a life for their hard work and lately, things just seem to continue to deteriorate on the backs of the drivers. I applaud the Swift drivers for having the courage to stand up for themselves and hope they are successful. It's not a "lifestyle", it's just a modern day version of the sweatshops of old. There is an excellent book on Amazon called "Sweatshops on Wheels" written by a former truck driver who is now an economics professor in Michigan.

I've written to my Congressional Rep and Senators numerous times. Explaining the abhorrent working conditions in the transportation industry - the sweatshop on wheels, the time away from home, how only the trucking industry could spin per diem on it's ear and use it as another way to suck money from drivers, the uncompensated work, that HOS rules essentially makes us hourly employees but we get shafted with CPM shenanigans.

We have too many truckers making $35K a year and voting Republican because he think a Democrat is going to come confiscate his guns.

[geargrinder]

Yeah, how did that new union thug at Saturn help them out? Saturn going bye-bye. I do hope you folks know that this is all about the unions trying to keep out outside truck companies to form a monopoly in the ports?


So what went wrong? (with Saturn)

GM started running out of money a long time before the current depression. As the 21st century approached, GM's board apparently chose Saturn to suffer most from the downturn.

Saturn dealers started selling cars and trucks not built in Spring Hill and available in other GM stores under other names, and those cars were not covered with what had become a Saturn trademark --- plastic body panels to ward off parking lot dings.

Though the dealers stayed loyal to Saturn's original concept of treating the customer like they'd never been treated at a car dealer, since 2000, new product barely trickled into the stores (this is how a carmaker can punish dealers or an entire division) and not-so-slowly Saturn appeared destined for some sort of failure.

[geeshock]

Actualy I've seen this kind of activity with both Driving and non driving jobs. I've seen ppl fired over the most trivial reasons.

[feederfred]

I think a lot of the automakers issues stem from the fact that they don't sell cars people really want. Plus the quality issues etc. And in this instance I do think the UAW got too cozy as long as they got theirs..But, truck drivers and autoworkers working conditions and pay are different worlds..apples to apples and all that..

[jonp]

So what went wrong? (with Saturn)

GM started running out of money a long time before the current depression. As the 21st century approached, GM's board apparently chose Saturn to suffer most from the downturn.

Saturn dealers started selling cars and trucks not built in Spring Hill and available in other GM stores under other names, and those cars were not covered with what had become a Saturn trademark --- plastic body panels to ward off parking lot dings.

Though the dealers stayed loyal to Saturn's original concept of treating the customer like they'd never been treated at a car dealer, since 2000, new product barely trickled into the stores (this is how a carmaker can punish dealers or an entire division) and not-so-slowly Saturn appeared destined for some sort of failure.

Paul Ingrassia: GM and the UAW Share the Blame for Saturn's Demise - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574447122719252350.html)

[b00m]

I'm curious where this goes.Probably nowhere!Swift can pay their way around the law. If something would have been done about working hours,pay and other benefits to the truck driver, it would have been accomplished in the past.

Who knows really,maybe it would be a wake up call in this industry so wages can be raised a little,keeping in mind that we us drivers sacrifice a lot for being on the road,compared to a union car worker, or something else.

[cdswans]

Yeah, how did that new union thug at Saturn help them out? Saturn going bye-bye. I do hope you folks know that this is all about the unions trying to keep out outside truck companies to form a monopoly in the ports?

From the article . .

On Sept. 14, Swift dropped the $18-an-hour wage in favor of a pay-by-the-load system, similar to that used by most other port trucking companies. Drivers are now paid $21 to $70 per load.

Given the heavy congestion at the port, drivers are often able to complete only one load per day. In some cases, Swift has had to add to drivers' paychecks to ensure they are paid at least $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage, according to Ricardo Hidalgo, a Teamsters organizer.

In NLRB testimony, Swift officials have said that traffic at the port has been much lower than expected, due to the recession. In its first four months of operations under the Clean Trucks Program, Swift lost $4 million.

Never mind Saturn. Do you think the union did any good here? Can you imagine you're the guy who picked up the $21 load and had to sit on it for 8 or 9 hours? Do you think these guys are being told this is what they can expect when they hired on? Do you think Swift would make up the federal minimum if they didn't have the union breathing down it's neck? Personally, I don't give a rats rear end if Swift lost $40 million. That is a risk they fully understood and willfully undertook. The guys driving these trucks have committed there time and skills to do a job and they deserve equitable compensation. It is up to Swift to manage their business, provide the loads and get the wheels rolling, not the drivers.

I am not pro union by any stretch. I say put everyone on the clock at $18 an hour and pay them time and a half after 40. I don't see that happening any time soon. If the Teamsters are the only organization in a position to address the realities of port business and balance that with the law and the needs of working people, I say give them a shot. You would propose that some independent with an antique truck who will pick off a turd load for crack money is the answer?

[bentstrider]

All this time I thought belpre's animosity toward "coolie-carrier" was a company driver vs. O/O Indie argument.
Since this really about poor pay, I guess I'll err on the side of caution to be prevented from being thrown into the "ignore-pile".

BTW, where did the term "coolie-carrier" originate from anyway?
All I know is that it was/is a term for cheap labor from the Asiatic countries.

[Flying W]

A great post folks. The line that hits home is the part about adding to a drivers wage to bring it up to minimum wage. Cdswans...good input on the matching minimum wage.

Has anyone heard what happened to that case about overtime laws applying to drivers? I heard it was an Interstate Dist. driver in WA that was fired that brought a lawsuit against them claiming he was due overtime pay for all hours in excess of 8 a day or 40 a week. I'm assuming it failed as it would have had a huge impact on the industry, but I never did hear for sure.

[cdswans]

Has anyone heard what happened to that case about overtime laws applying to drivers?

I was looking to answer this question when I stumbled upon this article (within the new thread):

http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/anything-everything/38852-some-historical-perspective.html#post464801

It's an eye opener and it's kind of scary when you think about it.

The answer to your question lies within this thread:

http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/anything-everything/31015-pass-information.html

Read through it and the follow the links within . . you'll find all the threads have a lot in common and maybe a few surprises?

They didn't say if those drivers are paid hourly or by the mile/percentage. It'd be nice to get paid for the 30+ hours overtime we put in week after week.

[Flying W]

Well I got the company wrong, but the overtime part right:). Some interesting reading, and the comments pretending to know the law more than the Supreme Court gave me a good chuckle. Thanks for the response cdswans as I always wondered what happened with that case.