froisty is almost as smart as cluggy, make up some numbers, use some big words, and appear to be smart. and why do you fell we should get paid to sleep and watch tv in the bunk, no one else in the world gets paid to sleep and eat and watch tv. just because you are big, dumb, lazy, POS, does not mean the world of trucking is broken...just you.

[inmate1577]

Well "who should go into trucking"?
Somebody has to do something like either work at McDonalds (which pays more for management) or trucking.

Personally, its just a job. Its not a hard job, almost akin to working for the govt. Just sittin' on your butt 90% of the time.

[Evinrude]

Originally Posted by jedfxg

froisty is almost as smart as cluggy, make up some numbers, use some big words, and appear to be smart. and why do you fell we should get paid to sleep and watch tv in the bunk, no one else in the world gets paid to sleep and eat and watch tv. just because you are big, dumb, lazy, POS, does not mean the world of trucking is broken...just you.

I don't mind not getting paid for sleeper berth, but if something happens that I need to go on duty for 15 minutes 9 hours in to my reset, makes me wonder why I should take the loss of anther 10 hour off duty.

Do you think we should get paid to load and unload, paperwork, boarder crossing, fuel, company meetings, waiting for you truck at the shop while under repair, and waiting for a dispatch?

well be smart, don't log the 15 min interuption to your 10 hour break. work smarter,not harder. and while on this point, i disagree with running illegal logs but sometimes there may be a time to fudge 15 min here and there, if you are not prepared to do so then this otr life will not be for you and the company will see the same. if you get woke up and asked to move your truck and it takes 10 min, then don't log it. this is not hard to figure out.

[repete]

yep, smarter not harder! Manageing your time is the key to makeing money OTR. Some people are better than others and some go LTL :lol:
read all the info you can find but only believe 1/2 of it!

[unclehotte]

Quick funny story about OTR. After I quit Celadon because of making no money, just sitting in Laredo at the Mexican border for days for free, I had to decide between Gainey and Shaffer. I went to Gainey for orientation. Here we are about 10 drivers. ONE had this IDEA, how great trucking must be, glorious and shiny. When I told him something about ugly truck stops, morons as dispatchers, fines which go on your record which were given to you NOT BECAUSE YOU DID SOMETHING WRONG BUT THE CITY YOU DROVE TROUGH OR SLEPT USES TRUCKERS AS AN EXTRA INCOME SOURCE, Shippers and receivers and all the other nice OTR stuff most drivers have to deal with I got told from him I MUST JUST BE BURNED OUT!!!. I told him, ask all the guys in this room, who is doing it because they LOVE THIS JOB or they are happy being a driver, NONE said YES. He was shocked now, and other drivers agreed to my complains about OTR, making him speechless. I really dont know why many people think this is such an awesome job. B.T.W, I DIDNT drive for Gainey, after many statements in orientation like, BAD SAFETY RATING or THEY PULL OUR TRUCK ALWAYS OVER ON SCALES IN SOME STATES, or YOU WILL PICK UP AND DELIVER IN NY FOR FREE I left Gaineys orientation and went somewhere else. I drive Linehaul now, be home every day, make on average MORE money compared to OTR and have my WEEKENDS OFF. OTR IS UNDERPAID. I will not argue why or who is at fault, cluggy said in one of his statements how much you SHOULD earn OTR and he is right. If the BIG companies PAID good there would be no DRIVER SHORTAGE. Lets say i work for one of the big companies and I HATED it, I still would have stayed if the PRICE IS RIGHT. I drove OTR almost 3 years before I went to local and I will NEVER go OTR again. Rather flip burgers or starve.
Just my two cents.

yeah, better to starve than go get employment. glad you found a good linehaul gig.

Originally Posted by yoopr

and most OTR drivers earn less than half of pre-regulation wages

Where and the World did you come up with that one? I drove "Pre-Deregulation" up until '04 and that is hardly the Facts.

My uncle made $40,000 driving truck OTR in 1980. I'll bet you're thinking that you pull down like $55,000 today and so you're much better off then he was. But what you don't understand is that overall inflation has more than doubled in that time frame. So in order to equal what my uncle made in 1982, you would have to be earning around $88,000.

By choosing to drive truck OTR, you are working harder and longer for less money as the years roll by. That's why I tell people to stay away from that business. Never met a bunch who were so happy with penny raises every year.

yeah, better to starve than go get employment.

If nobody took these crappy mega-carrier jobs, then there would be a real SHORTAGE and then wages would HAVE to rise. There is no "driver shortage" like the industry tries to spin it. Do you see freight piling up on the docks? Empty store shelves? No, it's all a ploy to get illegals and foreigners behind the wheel. And you know what? They'll GET EM'. So have fun. I hope you habla espanol.

[trux]

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

In the last decade more Americans died in truck accidents than in the Vietnam War...225 per week and rising...the equivalent of an airline crash every seven days.

That's the facts, Jack.

225 Americans die per week in accidents involving large trucks?

No. Those aren't the facts. I think if you go to google and type in "truck wreck fatalities statistics" you'll find several sources that state about 5000 people die per year in the USA in accidents involving large trucks.

Now if you divide 5000 by the number of weeks in a year, i.e. 52, you'll find that the actual number of people that die in accidents involving large trucks is much closer to 96 per week.

Originally Posted by trux

Now if you divide 5000 by the number of weeks in a year, i.e. 52, you'll find that the actual number of people that die in accidents involving large trucks is much closer to 96 per week.

96 kills per week...oh gee what an improvement. That makes me feel so much better. Thanks! :roll:

Yes, I accidentally typed in the wrong number 225. But the facts are still the same because approx 50,000 servicemen died in Vietnam. 96 kills X 52 weeks X 10 years = 49920.

Which brings up another point. Long-haul truckers are SEVEN TIMES more likely than workers in other professions to be killed on the job. Why? Intense competition, an endless supply of tax-funded labor, and an unregulated market with low barriers to entry have fueled long hours, low pay, and cheating on logbooks which have contributed to needless highway deaths. Why does this country need to save $.05 off a box of Tide when long-haul truckers are working 80-100+ hours per week and mowing over innocent victims?

The song remains the same. Stay away from this job. Your life and those of others may depend on it.