What Would You Say and Do?
 

My career at JB Hunt has been short and turbulent. On Thursday the following occurred.

I was sent into the yard in Atlanta to drop off a load for another driver and given a load that was there which delivered 10 miles away the next morning which would be followed by another load. That is, I did some local work which most of us have done. I went to the customer the next morning and got into line with 6 other trucks and waited until 0730 and sent a message:

"Good Morning, how will I be paid for this? Shuttle (hourly) or Shorthaul (straight $45)?

Message back "Mileage"

Uh-Huh. $3.40 for 4 hours of work? I dont think so.

Me "I don't think so. I'm not working for $.75 and hour. I'll bring this back to the terminal and you can have a local driver bring it over and deliver it".

No reply so after 15 minutes I sent another message "Bringing it back to the yard"

Immediate reply " Hey Jon, Your a SouthEast Regional Shorthaul Driver...... If you dont want to do this then you should go OTR or get out of our truck and we will put someone in it that will".

Before I tell you what I said and what happened What Would You Do or Say?

Start looking for a new job. Then tell JB to stick it where the sun don't shine:D

Uh huh!:lol2:

Simple...I tell them I'm delivering the load I'm under ,and request permission (VIA QC) to return truck to the terminal after delivery ... No F-N way would I be able earn a living running 10mi trips for mileage pay at .34 CPM and no accesory pay for dock time running these local trips these S.H.I.T. bag outfits can only out bid good companies b/c they cut out the overhead of paying the driver ...Do you think the dispatcher that replied to you would show up to work if he only earned $6.80 for an 8hr day .

USA Truck Co. does the same thing. They told me when I complained " it's all part of the job". Needless to say, I quit. They would give you like a 800 mile run to Chicago or something and the once you drop it off you would get a short load going from Chicago to Chicago. That is a big city, and the time it could take to find a shipper, pick up or load trailer, find the receiver, and drop or unload the trailer could be substantial. And of course they only paid mileage form the city limits to city limits so you would make exactly nothing. Believe me, I know how you feel. It is weird when you try to explain it to them. The dispatchers and fleet managers act as though they are doing you a favor.

LOL......possibly a new all time CAD low..........and that's pretty damn low folks. Yeah, JB Hunt is only an option if you find yourself about to be put out on the street. Working for that type of chump change will only allow you to become a proud member of the "mobile homeless" community that is irregular-route coolie carrier OTR trucking. Problem is, this is just so typical of these cut-rate, bottom feeder OTR companies.

Jon, I really am sorry to hear about your experience with this continuing criminal enterprise called JB Hunt. Please don't confuse my disgust with coolie carriers with the sympathy that I do indeed have for your situation.
The OTR apologists like to chime in that my numbers are the work of fantasy. Then they get shooed back to their corner with an honest and forthright post such as yours. They usually back off fairly quickly as most of them are very aware that I have walked a few miles in your shoes. It sucks!

Drive that POS back to them. Turn in the keys and be on your way. Standing on a city street corner with a sign around your neck is a better career than the mess that you have unfortunately found yourself in.

Canned like tuna?
 

I was in the wrong end of NJ a few weeks ago and got a preplan for a live load, then 150 miles to someplace in CT and a live unload on the other end. An 8 hour minimum proposition for mileage pay. I messaged my home terminal with "You might want to get right on this. Looks like it was intended for a local Driver and I don't think any of them are here, yet." The next sound I heard was the beep of the preplan being withdrawn. No argument, no hard feelings.

Now, to the issue at hand. Were you fired? If you were fired, do you feel somehow morally superior? You shouldn't. You were wrong. Period. The problem is not your unscrupulous employer or it's vile henchmen. The problem is your misunderstanding of how you are paid.

The following statements apply only to company drivers who think or, in their own minds at least, know that their pay is mileage based or cents per mile or words to that effect.

Company drivers: Raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I ______________________________________ (state your name) receive a W-2 form from the company I work for. I drive their equipment and conduct my workday activities at their direction and discretion. I believe that I am being paid per mile but I think I am about to be told otherwise.

Mileage pay is tantamount to piece work and piece work is against the law in the United States. There are FARM labor exemptions. There are no DRIVER exemptions. Point your finger . . not that one . . at me and ask "Is this guy nuts?" What about all the pretty brochures at the truck stops? They ALL claim cents per mile. What about the websites and the recruiters? Cents per mile is all they talk about! This guy is nuts! What about my paycheck? Even my paycheck says cents per mile! Wag your finger in my direction and scream "CDSwans, you're not just nuts, your freakin' crazy, dude!"

Feel better? You're still wrong. Quick recess. If you work for CPM and you are happy with your miles and/or paycheck, you don't have to stay. The rest of you, Recess is over.

In the eyes of the law and in the absence of a superior wage and hour arrangement*, your company owes you minimum wage for all hours logged on lines 3 + 4. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is entirely possible that your employer can and will pay you more than minimum wage assuming your "CPM" is high enough or you drive enough miles, regardless of what your "CPM" is.

Jonp:
Do you have a recent weeks worth of logs and a corresponding pay stub? Go ahead, we'll wait.

OK, good. What state do you live in and what is your states minimum wage?

How many hours (lines 3 + 4) did you log for the week?

What was your gross . . he - he . . mileage (in the voice of Austin Powers) pay for that week, absent any reimbursements for tolls and scales and things of that nature?

Did you learn your guzzintas?

Figure out how many times your hours guzzinta your gross pay . . (que the theme from Jeopardy!) . .

(que it up, again) No! Really! Take your time.

OK. What's your states mimum wage again? Is the number you calculated higher or lower than the minimum wage?

It better be equal to or higher or guess what? If it's lower, Hunt owes you money! Yahoo! They owe you minimum wage for each and every hour you report on lines 3 + 4. Let's assume it's higher.

Now, add the 4 hours you would have burned on the shag load to your original hours. See how . . wait, let me do it . . we'll see how many times the new hours guzzinta the old wages.

Is the new figure higher or lower than your states minimum wage? Still higher? Man! You messed up!

Why on earth would they send a local driver out to do a job you've already been paid to do?

Hunt only owes you minimum wage! You could have legally run that load but refused? No wonder they canned your axx!

Am I gittin' through to ya, son? (F. Leghorn)

Next lesson.

Do you know who Wayne Garrison is? (que the . . ) I'll just go ahead and tell you. Wayne has a great big office down in Lowell, AR that says CEO on it. I don't know the man but I'll bet he speaks well of me.



*Your local driver has one, even though it may be unwritten!

cdswans: no, I was not canned. I thought I was clear on how we are supposed to get paid but realize that was on another post so let me say it again. Every driver, not including those who are local and paid by the hour and dedicated drivers, that is the rest of us are paid on a sliding scale. If the load is 75 miles or less and pick-up in a yard and go's to a customer or picks up at a shipper and is dropped at a yard we are supposed to be paid "shuttle" which is hourly. This is the time we are dispatched and accept the load to when we drop it - logged time. If its longer than that then we are paid mileage plus extra based on the distance of the load. Example: if the load mt to mt (dh to get it, pick it up and drive it somewhere and do an mt call) is 100 miles then we are paid our mileage rate for 100 miles plus $35. This go's out to 300 miles where we get an extra $15 then is straight mileage after that.

When I got the load I was not clear how they were going to pay me. Either $45 shorthaul which was fine or shuttle for the time I was there at $10.50/hour which also was ok. I was just going to sit on my butt at the yard and wait to get my next load so I figured some extra work was ok with me. When I was given the answer "miles" my reaction wasn't very good as I figured I just had been had and after 17 yrs on the road I don't work for free. I am also quite forceful when my paycheck and my job are on the line. I don't take no for an answer and rudeness or threatening me with my job just does not work on me. They would have paid a local guy whatever they pay them per hour and they wanted to pay me $3.40? No, No, No. I was at the customer 4 hours so this is where that number comes from.

How I was paid was unclear to me as It was not explained adequately and the drivers manual was clear as mud on regional drivers as it said "regional drivers should ask their fleet managers how they are paid" . Also, my fleet manager didnt answer my questions clearly on this subject and was fired last week so I had nothing to go on. Sometimes I got shorthaul, sometimes not and I cant figure out why.

I took this job because it was the only one that I could find. I wasnt happy with it and was under no illusions as to how I was going to be treated by a mega carrier but I thought this beyond the pale for even JBHunt.

By the way: OTR drivers are specifically exempt from minimum wage laws in the US. You should know this cdswans. And i do indeed know my guzzintas having a BS in Biology with an Organic Chemistry Minor my math go's up through The Calculas.

as soon as i had hooked to the load and found out that it was a short haul, that's when you ask the qualifying questions. if you're already at the consignee you've committed to the load and basically it's too late. the key to salvaging the situation with them is to suck this one up, and never let it go that far again.

back to the game :)