Quote:
Originally Posted by One
heres the bottom line...with the decline of the teamster, so declined driver wages, increased working hours and decreased company accountability.. Truck driving is a very dangerous and demanding job, it should pay a good middle class wage. If freight rates are higher because of unions...so WHAT? O/Os rates go up too....
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You hit the nail on the head there, One!
Unions raise the wages for non-union drivers, too...something alot of folks don't understand.
It's the same thing in LTL...drivers for FedEx Freight, Conway, etc get similar wages as their Teamster driver counterparts.
Reason being...the non-union companies pay their workers better to keep from being organized.
Same deal for the domestic autoworkers at Toyota, Honda, etc who get similar UAW wages.
But this will NEVER EVER happen in truckload...too much competition.
The barriers of entry are too low.
Drivers are too dumb.
Add in all the Mexican-based carriers that are going to flood the market from south of the border per NAFTA cross-border trucking...
plus all the illegals who will be granted CDL's to ease the "driver shortage"...
and the rates/wages of today will seem like a king's ransom compared to what they will be 10-20 years from now.
That's why if you're smart, you'll stay the hell away from this business.
If you're currently in it, you'd do well to find an exit strategy ASAP.