Was trucking always like this?

[Sage9]

I know that there were not all the strict regulations that there are now, but I do not recall anything even close. I was married to a truckdriver & I know he did not even attend a training school, just got the job. And made about as much as now I believe, 30 yrs. ago. What happened??

[Malaki86]

I know that there were not all the strict regulations that there are now, but I do not recall anything even close. I was married to a truckdriver & I know he did not even attend a training school, just got the job. And made about as much as now I believe, 30 yrs. ago. What happened??

It's all Bush's fault!!!

Hey, he gets the blame for everything else, why not this?

[Uturn2001]

There is no one answer to your question. Part of it is due to deregulation, part of it is due to truckers running false log books left and right, the handful who took all sorts of pills to stay awake and then more to go to sleep, and it goes on and on.

Then finally you have 9/11.

[Shawnee]

No trucking was not alway like this, there are way more restrictions than ever and it it going to get worse, they want to make these "black boxes" mandatory in all trucks, the HOS are so ridiculous that they almost force you to cheat on your logs because they are so ridiculous to follow, and you have to spend more time on the road away from home because of them, the government does not want us to make a decent living anymore, the big companies want to put us little guys out of business,

My father started trucking back in the heyday of trucking in the 70's, He made a lot more money as an o/o than I am today as an o/o, 20 years ago he was making a dollar a mile and the cost of fuel and everything else was much lower back then too, you could make a very good living back then driving a truck

[yoopr]

Deregulation is what happened and after that everybody and his brother got into the trucking Biz and the bidding war on Rates began.

There were Regs back then but unless a driver REALLY screwed up DOT didn't mess with you. Drivers got along and if someone needed help they got it

[Sage9]

Yes that is more the way I remember it, I did not drive but sometimes rode with my husband. I am sure there may have been a little tweaking of logs occasionally but I do not think it was that bad. Now I hear if you are out of hours you have to stop in the middle of nowhere, regardless.
That is just stupid.
And I know truckers that were Hell's Angels, ect. I know some of thier records were not that clean, surely. As for taking the pills, do not get me wrong, I am against taking anything & do not even smoke or drink myself. But that would seem to make the trucking safer - it is your own body being damaged to stay awake.
He had a Teamsters job which I am sure paid as much as now - I do not remember but he was makeing over 10.00 on the dock working nights & was excited to get the driving job as it paid quite a bit better & was days.
His father & uncle were also Teamsters. They managed to support families. This was in the 70's. I guess he is still driving but do not know.

I used to work for the airlines as a flight attendant & now I cannot even stand to fly because of the hassle. I do not see how these industries survive.

[GMAN]

Regulations are killing American industry. Things were much different 30 years ago. I find it ironic when we talk about trucking being deregulated. The only thing that was deregulated were the rates. Since that time, we have seen rates remain flat and more and more mindless regulations being imposed on us by the federal and state governments. We didn't have trucking schools. We learned by doing. As long as you didn't get too far out of line, the cops and/or DOT didn't bother you. Fines were reasonable, made a little money for the locals without killing the drivers, and I think we had fewer accidents. People did help one another. We used to even stop and help 4 wheelers who were broken down on the side of the roadway. You can no longer take a chance to stop because of the danger of being robbed or worse. There were hijackings and other crimes. We had lot lizards, although we called them something different. We called each other good buddy, which has since turned in to mean something much different. The Teamsters were probably the most powerful union in the nation. They shut the country down at one point. Shortly after, the Feds decided that they would break the back of the Teamsters. The union hasn't recovered since. You still have a few small pockets of members, but for the most part, the union is pretty impotent. During the strike, the trucks stopped rolling and the country literally came to a screeching halt. Today, you can't get two truckers to agree on what to have for dinner, much less to strike.

I miss some things about the way things used to be. I miss the camaraderie and manners. I miss the fact we didn't have so many regulations. The equipment is more comfortable and components are more reliable. It was common for engines to need rebuilding at around 200M miles. Today it isn't uncommon to see some go more than 1MM miles. Fuel mileage was measured in gallons per mile. :wink: Some engines would get as little as about 2-3 mpg. Fuel was around $0.15/gallon when I first started driving. I wish rates had gone up by the same percent.

Truckers gained a reputation as being independent thinkers and doing their own thing, at least those who didn't belong to the unions. We were more self reliant. If something broke on your truck, you fixed it yourself. Some were considered outlaws, which had a much different meaning than it would today.

[jnk2001]

well, back in the day when all you needed was a chauffer's license, it was easy, then drivers drove with umpteen logbooks, took cross-tops(anyone know what those are?...lol), and drove 90mph, they started cracking down...and the rest, as they say, is evolutionary history :?

[Useless]

Deregulation is what happened and after that everybody and his brother got into the trucking Biz and the bidding war on Rates began.

There were Regs back then but unless a driver REALLY screwed up DOT didn't mess with you. Drivers got along and if someone needed help they got it

Yooper!!!

When was it that the Fed's outlawed a driver holding a license in more than one state?? Seems IIRC, it was back in the early days of The Reagan Administration.

Can you re-freshen my memory???

[stranger]

Way back when, most companies in my area had their own trucks. You left on Sunday or Monday, were usually home one evening and night during the week. You left out the next evening and were usually home Friday evening or night.

Most times I left around 2:00PM Sunday, was home Tuesday just after lunch. I left again Wednesday afternoon, and was home late Thursday night or Friday morning.

Most of our loads were one stop at our warehouse. Unload, slam the doors, and come home. Almost new trucks and trailers.

I averaged 2900-3000 miles per week most weeks. Others around 2000(these were milti-stop loads that the stop pay made up for the mileage). I left out loaded, came home empty. I was paid for every mile put on the truck according to the hubometer. The ending mileage of one trip was the starting of the next.

If a mechanic drove the truck, or someone moved a trailer with it to another plant, the driver got paid the mileage. We were also paid for all stops after the first.

If I had trips that required a layover, the company always paid all motel bills with no questions asked. This included having to stop because of snow or ice.

If we wanted to take off, just ask. I once stayed with a driver for three days whose truck was broke down, just in case the shop did not get his truck repaired in time for him to come home for the weekend.

When I called in, the dispatcher said to just be back in time to leave by Monday. The company paid for our motel and food.

We had no appointment times. The trucks were serviced at our own shop, and washed as often as we wanted, sometimes every trip if the weather was bad.

We got lots of tickets because of the 55 MPH speed limits. They did not go against our license. We paid the fine and went on.

We logged sometimes, sometimes we didn't. The company didn't care.

If you did not like the company you were with, there were 30 or 40 more hiring just down the road a couple of miles.

With stop pay, holiday and vacation pay, a driver could take some time off and still earn 18-20k a year. This may not sound like much today, but it was a lot in 1976.

People respected you as a person and looked up to drivers as decent, well paid, knights of the road.

Man I had it made back then.


This is how it was for me before deregulation and all the other junk that has come along with it.

[merrick4]

I've been wondering this myself. You know I'm only in this for a few months, and I love driving but this is really bs. I mean I know they didn't always have company training and such and I didn't really have to go through that, but I've been driving around New England for the last couple of weeks and I know they charge a premium for that yet I'm being paid 28 cents a mile. Held up at a shipper no money, they just sent a fleet message that they want us to get stamps on lumper services or no money back. I am not standing there fighting with these people for better receipts, I'm not paid for that. I'm not standing on docks counting freight either, I'm paid to drive and that's what I'm going to do. Now when I have my own company or I'm being fairly compensated then I will work commensurate with what I'm being paid.

Change must come from without. It's like that book I think it was called "The Jungle" about the meat industry in the early part of last century; as soon as that came out it changed everything. As long as drivers accept this sh*t then companies are going to do it.

I'm sure drivers weren't paid for shipper time and such back then but was it different? I mean have drivers been complaining about this since day one or was the better pay back then so it wasn't so bad? I know people are always going to complain regardless but this is ridiculous.

One final thing, you know I understand some of the things that these companies do. Even with the lumper receipts, maybe some drivers buy receipt books and charge the company or something. And down time maybe some drivers will milk the clock, well they need to pay more money and get better qualified drivers that's all there is to it. It's like the saying, " you want to pay peanuts and are going to get monkeys"

The answer isn't to abuse the monkey, it is to pay more money and hire human beings.

By the way, I was wondering too, did they always have so many woman drivers?

[yoopr]

Deregulation is what happened and after that everybody and his brother got into the trucking Biz and the bidding war on Rates began.

There were Regs back then but unless a driver REALLY screwed up DOT didn't mess with you. Drivers got along and if someone needed help they got it

Yooper!!!

When was it that the Fed's outlawed a driver holding a license in more than one state?? Seems IIRC, it was back in the early days of The Reagan Administration.

Can you re-freshen my memory???

Each state called their truck driving licenses differently-In Michigan we had what was called a C2 and I don't remember what year we went to Federal CDL

[traveler15301]

Yooper!!!

When was it that the Fed's outlawed a driver holding a license in more than one state?? Seems IIRC, it was back in the early days of The Reagan Administration.

Can you re-freshen my memory???

Each state called their truck driving licenses differently-In Michigan we had what was called a C2 and I don't remember what year we went to Federal CDL

In PA it was class I, II, or III corresponding to current CDL C, B, A in that order.

When the feds mandated the "universal" CDL thing, can't recall exactly, but it was in the mid 90's when we got "grand-fathered"...we all went down, took the "new" written test...and that was it!

[Maniac]

I got my CDL in the early 90's, I think 1991.

Before that is was a Class 1.

[heavyhaulerss]

well i live on the tn/ al line. the dot here are all over, but they dont harrass drivers. they dont look for something to write you up on unless your in violation. we have had several trucks turn over. just going too fast around curves & load not properly tied down. most have been drivers with 15 years exp or better. and the unions yes.. my brother is a union negotiator for the teamsters in chicago il. the teamsters are not the powerhouse they used to be though.

[Blacksheep]

Yooper!!!

When was it that the Fed's outlawed a driver holding a license in more than one state?? Seems IIRC, it was back in the early days of The Reagan Administration.

Can you re-freshen my memory???

Each state called their truck driving licenses differently-In Michigan we had what was called a C2 and I don't remember what year we went to Federal CDL

In PA it was class I, II, or III corresponding to current CDL C, B, A in that order.

When the feds mandated the "universal" CDL thing, can't recall exactly, but it was in the mid 90's when we got "grand-fathered"...we all went down, took the "new" written test...and that was it!

I didn't take a written test, they just exchanged my old one for a fancy new CDL.
Another revenue scam for the good of the people, bullsh*t we still have idiots, fixed nothing. :shock:

[coastie]

Before the deregulation my Father worked for a trucking company as a shipping Clerk. This was a Flatbed company that hauled Granite markers and tombstones out of Elberton, Ga. Granite Capital of the World type of place. The Owner kept Brand new Cabover Macks Trucks painted Mack Green, and Red Flatbed Trailers. Argo Trucking.

Back then I dreamed of Driving for them..

If a truck broke down the would send another with the Lowboy with a spare truck and bring back the broke down truck or send the machanics if they were close by

They would load the truck down to the max and some. and be back for a second load about mid week

But long before I had a chance the Owner sold out and it was closed down.

The COmpany that bought it only bought it for the rights it had.

[kreeper01]

Wow, what a topic.

Deregulation, Pres. Bush A*& hung from a flag pole, D.O.T. regulations, top named companies want you to run run run with very little to no sleep.

When will all this BS end :?: When will us drivers here in American stand as 1 and take on this countries "so-called fair govnerment" :?:

[ronjon619]

Didn't Barbara Walters have a special on T.V. exposing the downside of the industry? (drug use, false logs, guns and so forth)

I was had a conversation with a retired driver. He said it all went downhill after that special aired.