There will never be an industry wide union. It just isn't going to happen, even though there are many who wish there would be.

It has nothing to do with Obama, chicago, or thugs. It has everything to do with weeding out those who are hindering the rest of us from earning more money. But hey - if you're in favor of the guy who is going to run cross country without sleep, killing a family of four having a job, then more power to you.

Personally, I'd like to see him out of a job. Making trucking an industry that requires legitimate skill to enter would do wonders for increasing rates. Spend a month on this board reading the horror stories of those who have countless DUI's, felonies, drug convictions, etc. wanting to get into the industry, and you'll possibly understand why I feel the way I do. I'd love to see every one of them out of a job, and the idea of trucking as a "last resort" to become a thing of the past.

 

Can I partially agree? I tend to look at things in terms of weight instead of miles.

My truck is licensed at 100,000 lbs in ND. If you're grossing 80k with toilet paper and I'm grossing 100k with toilet paper and we're going the same miles, I feel I should get paid more since I'm hauling more.

- OR -

If you are hauling a 53' van completely full of ping-pong balls and you still weigh only a little more than you did when you were empty, and I'm hauling a coil grossing 80k, I should get paid more as I'm heavier.

More weight = higher risk/more wear & tear = higher $.

 

There would be a national union if truckers organized one before the Mexicans take every job there is.

Forums like this one need to start standing up to get professionals organized, if every trucker would strike there could be a national union within one month.

 

I dont think it would. You will always have people willing to work for close to nothing. Theres always some one out there that is willing to do it alittle bit cheaper then you.

 

Yes, the Mexicans that I mentioned, and if drivers do not organize and conduct a national strike ASAP this industry is going to be like working at Taco Bell.

 

unless it's hazmat ping-pong balls, then it should pay more

 

There is some debate as to whether we actually were suffering from an actual driver shortage or churn. Churn is where you have drivers leaving one carrier for another but staying in the industry. The turnover numbers are calculated in the total which may give a skewed view of actual turnover for those leaving the industry. A union simply won't work for otr drivers or owner operators. Both are paid based upon their performance. A union worker is usually paid an hourly wage and doesn't necessarily need to perform to receive his paycheck. Any time you pay workers by their performance you will have some turnover from those who either can't or don't perform. There is little need for a carrier to pay top wages to a driver who may only stick around for a few months. Recruiting is done to replace those who decide to leave for one reason or another. Over the last decade or so some of the larger trucking companies have put their own driving schools together and collected money from the government. It has been very profitable for them. Previously, we didn't have any sort of formal training. Carriers and companies who had their own trucks put drivers in a truck and they pretty much learned what they needed to know on the job. Rarely did we go with another driver to learn the business. They would never have thought about the government paying them to train a driver. I think that is another reason for the turnover and difference in wages. Good drivers will always earn more than those who don't put forth the effort, regardless of how they are compensated.

 

Unions worked for decades until they were broken up by deregulation, they would also increase the rates paid to all drivers, including OO's, they would also force the government to make work rules favorable to drivers.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5648932.html

Drivers are allowing conditions to worsen by not unionizing and in the long run the Mexicans will take over the industry.

 

I don't think that it was deregulation of freight rates that caused the demise of the Teamsters. The Teamsters went on strike and virtually shut down this country at one point. That was when Jimmy Hoffa was still in charge. I believe that it was at that point that the federal government decided to break up the union. They didn't want them to have that much power. There was also a lot of corruption and mismanagement of union pension funds that came to light around this time. There were connections to organized crime and the union that also came out in the media. I think the membership became disenfranchised with all the corruption that really did them in. I am also aware of instances where the union has threatened and coerced drivers to join the Teamsters. I figure if you need to threaten and beat someone up to get them to join that it isn't such an organization that I would want to join.

I am not sure that having all drivers unionized would make much difference in compensation for owner operators. Carriers would likely use more owner operators and pay them less to offset the cost of employing union drivers. No amount of unionization or regulations will take the place of common sense and sound business practices. There are simply some people who should not be in business for themselves. That is much of the problem we see today. We have too many people who get into a truck as a lease or owner operator and they have no business sense. They lose their shirts and want to blame someone other than themselves for getting into such a situation. I don't like the leases that are offered by carriers. It is not in the best interest of the driver who becomes involved with them. It does seem to be a profit center for the carriers who offer them.

 

I've been in this industry for over 12 years. In 12 years, I've heard a call for a strike every single year. You know what good they've done? None. Zero. Zip. Even the one last year for high fuel prices did absolutely nothing.