Whats Wrong with this Industry?

[Orangetxguy]

As for you Gman, I understand your well respected around here, but you really need to come out of hiding and talk to some drivers @ trucks stop.. Drivers fight for pay all the time, It"s neither here nor there what they do with they're money. If s/he chooses to play video games with it then that's their choice, but i'm not speaking of the ladder, I'm talking about the hard working drivers that run and choose to support their family (We all know some good drivers that have been or are getting screwed). Those are the drivers I'm talking about.... But as always we choose to pick the bad litter to make our points valid, Hilarious.. Regardless of what a person does with their money $1000 a week (before taxes) is not good money when you spend 7 nights a week away from home.

I've run under a companies authority, found it to be one of the worst decisions ever. Grew tired of losing money to them over BS and now I'm Independent and at time it not better but manageable.. Cutting out the Middle man was a major factor in me staying in trucking.

See......You run under your own authority.....so.....you are exactly like Gman.....YOU are officially a "Motor Carrier". You have to right to haul directly for the company paying the freight bill, as well as for brokers.

It seems to me, you are pissed off because you have found a lying cheating broker. So....what can you do about that? You're not likely to change the broker, unless you convince his truck customers to stop hauling for him....but that is not likely to happen....because he will always find someone to haul his freight.

[firebird_1252]

what i see the problem is: people do not want to work for their money. the money is still there YOU need to find it. you say you want to cut the middle man out? so do it.

[GMAN]

As for you Gman, I understand your well respected around here, but you really need to come out of hiding and talk to some drivers @ trucks stop.. Drivers fight for pay all the time, It"s neither here nor there what they do with they're money. If s/he chooses to play video games with it then that's their choice, but i'm not speaking of the ladder, I'm talking about the hard working drivers that run and choose to support their family (We all know some good drivers that have been or are getting screwed). Those are the drivers I'm talking about.... But as always we choose to pick the bad litter to make our points valid, Hilarious.. Regardless of what a person does with their money $1000 a week (before taxes) is not good money when you spend 7 nights a week away from home.

I've run under a companies authority, found it to be one of the worst decisions ever. Grew tired of losing money to them over BS and now I'm Independent and at time it not better but manageable.. Cutting out the Middle man was a major factor in me staying in trucking.

I haven't been hiding. I talk to drivers all the time. I don't hear many of them complaining about their wages. I do hear independents and owner operators sometimes complain about rates.
Let me explain a little about the free enterprise system. As long as I can remember, people have wanted to better themselves. The way most would better themselves would be to save their money, get a good education or learn their craft and start their own business. Getting ahead is a very simple concept. The problem is that most people are not willing to put themselves out or do what is necessary to get ahead. Minimum wage was never intended to be the permanent wage for most Americans. It was a starting point. Millions of people started working at minimum wage so that they could learn, save and better themselves. If you are not earning the money you want or think you deserve, it is noone else fault but your own. We all make life decisions. Some are good and others are not. There have been countless individuals who have come out of poverty to achieve greatness in their lifetime. I remember hearing a story about Aristotle Onasis. He came from a very poor background. He began, as I recall, by selling cigars as a boy. He reinvested his earnings and built one of the great shipping empires. He didn't whine about not earning enough money, he saved and invested his money and put forth the effort to achieve his goals. You talk like $50,000 is minimum wage. It isn't. Many people would give anything to be able to earn that amount of money. It is a good living for most people.

As an owner of a business you are not required to pay employees a percentage of the earnings. An employee has nothing invested in that business and is not entitled to share in the profits. The only thing an employee is entitled to is a fair paycheck. If you don't think that $50,000 is a fair paycheck, then you need to find something else to do. If you want to be paid a fair share of the profits then you need to buy stock in the company and put your own capital at risk. An employee can walk away if their company fails. If you own the company, everything you own could be at risk. If you own a business, as you state, then I am surprised that you don't already know this. You don't have to employ a lot of people to have a company. A company can consist of one person.

[rank]

I'm confused. The OP was about how companies rip off drivers and how the drivers should be paid north of $65K. Now we find out you're a carrier....I am still waiting for your business model that shows how you can afford to put a driver in your truck and pay him $65 large. It's easy to talk about what other people should do, but if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

[Tobytob]

I made a statement about Driver wages in this industry, I never said $50,000 was bad money, I said $1000 a week is bad money and your assuming that this driver is going to work 50 of the 52 weeks a year. How realistic is this? Drivers have families and lives at home, after taxes $50,000 becomes $35,000 to $40,000 all depending on you situation at home (MAYBE EVEN LESS). Once again I stated that the wages could go up in this industry, especially for the time spent on the road away from home, But I see that you think $35,000 after taxes or even $50,000 before taxes is good money for a man or woman spending weeks away from the house.. What's wrong with improving driver welfare. I see the rate and companies can afford to pay a driver $65,000. Conway truckload (CFI), Abilene Motor Express, they profit big time and they pay drivers respected wages..

It's not my fault you assumed I was a driver. I simply made a statement and you guys went in a totally different direction. Everyone whose frustrated is not always at the bottom of the totem pole. As for my situation, I'm tired of arguing with brokers and companies about my money. Even as an O/O leased to a carrier i had issues with the money being paid out after I pulled or even before I pulled the load. You say companies assume all the risk well what about the O/O that has his truck and trailer leased to you.. There is always going to be risk in everything, doesn't mean you pay as little as possible to get something move. This is exactly why companies and brokers continue to rip drivers and O/O off because we think like this.

Doctors/ lawyers and even the plumber won't preform work for you unless you give them the money they ask for. Set the rates don't settle for what they want to give you...

[RostyC]

Toby, are you the guy that runs out of the Baltimore area?

[Bigmon]

..



Doctors/ lawyers and even the plumber won't preform work for you unless you give them the money they ask for. Set the rates don't settle for what they want to give you...

Depends on how bad they want your business.

[Tobytob]

RostyC, Nope not me. I used to pull for a company that ran to that area.

Bigmon, you are exactly right but please believe it a one time deal and it won't occur often. They have set rates and if you don't wanna pay the premium, then take your business else where. But that not the case in trucking the whole industry is on board for low wages/ Rates. Move it for as cheap as possible... To some this is the best way of doing things because of Capitalism LMAO....

I appreciate all the feed back from this board. I will go back quiet now and continue reading the great post from members. I just wanted to rant about an experience....

[rank]

Not every driver is out weeks on end. We are home 3-5 nights/days a week. There are plenty of employees in the world---I dare say most--- that only get 2 weeks vacation a year. This attitude is exactly why civilizations decline.... later generations think for some reason that they shouldn't have to work as hard as their parents.

[repete]

[QUOTE=Tobytob;497831 doesn't mean you pay as little as possible to get something move.

QUOTE]

Your wrong right there. Ever hear of minimize risk/expense and maximize profits? Thats kinda the whole idea behind capitolism.

[Tobytob]

All my statements are wrong, My point well never be attained in this discussion, therefore I plead the fifth. Have a nice day!!1

[xcarsalesman]

I just figured it out.. he is arguing and yelling at himself, for paying himself low wages.

[LOAD IT]

Tobytob, the majority of the workers in Transportation are underpaid and overworked. Once you start to grow your trucking company, you will under pay your employees also (they will make the same statements youve made). Have you cut out the middle man yet? No you havent because youre complaining about a broker making a $800 commission off of you. You accepted the rate. How much should he have made? How many direct customers are you servicing? The majority of the company drivers that I have known have little to no desire to make $50-$65K++ per year. I have had a small amount of company drivers to make $75K+ but they didnt do it running a bunch of miles. They did it by working in the trailer, but "steering wheel holders" dont want to get in the trailer and some want to be home every weekend. I understand your argument, but i have also been on the other side of your argument. It is what it is and we cant change it. You wont change it. When drivers and O/Os start fattening your pockets, you will be on the other side of this argument. You will see and it wont take long.

[allan5oh]

I see a lot of drivers complaining about how the market doesn't want to pay them their fair share. They blame the free market. I say turn it around and use what you can against the free market. The biggest factor in this is which carrier you choose to drive for. It's as simple as that. I'm not talking about jumping to a new carrier every few months because the grass is greener. Research needs to be done on any potential new carrier (or your own gig).

This free market excersize is simply the #1 way we can influence wages and our treatment. How do I know? It worked splendidly at our company. When fuel prices started to go up last year, our surcharge was way behind. Around 15% of our drivers(our company is mostly o/o) quit. All of a sudden our FSC is fixed, and even a small raise in January.

[solo379]

This topic is hilarious! Totybob, the sooner you'll realize, that "world" owns you nothing, the better you'll be.

[Mackman]

I see what he is saying.

A buddy of mine just bought a brand new Case 590 backhoe. Paid 90,000 for it and when he rents it out he gets 700/day. A brand new tri/axle dump is 145,000 and when you rent it out your lucky to get 640/day. These are 8hr days. Plus a back hoe you dont have to pay no insurance on it and it isnt a high wear item like the dump trucks are. Tires last forever on a backhoe and in an 8hr day a backhoe might burn 15gal of fuel. It should be the other way around but it isnt.

[heavyhaulerss]

Maybe he is just trying to vent his frustrations, & being out on the road with not many to listen to ya, other than other operators who may feel the same way, he vented here.