Xcarsalesman,
I dont see how I proved your point just because I stated a belief of my father's. My father feels that respect is earned not given. Please go back and reread my response to you as I clearly stated I gave Obama respect at first based on how he carried himself and what he had accomplished, so if you would sit back and think about your theroy of children listening to their parents then I went against what my father taught me....
So tell me again how I proved youre point?

Jimmy

 

You are comparing truck driving to people with day jobs.
Apples and oranges.
An OTR trucker will put in 80-100+ hours per week on the job.
No overtime.
Not seeing his family for weeks.
Not getting home on time for birthdays, anniverseries, etc.
7th most dangerous US occupation.
Irregular shifts, poor diet, sitting for long periods of time, diesel fumes = shorter lifespan

And you are going to say $35-$40k is alot of money for this?!??!
It works out to like 8-9 bucks an hour.

Heck, my uncle made $43,000 driving a truck OTR....in 1982!!!! :eek2:

 

:thumbsup: :clap: :smokin:

 

And a union will make the company love you so much they will come out and piss on you!
Todays unions do one thing and one thing only, protect the lazy non productive shiete bag that other wise couldn't hold a job on his own!

 

I think you missed the whole point. No one wants the company's love, whatever that means :roll: , and lazy people exist everywhere. I'm curious why you would focus on one thing, which BTW is far from reality. I guess you like getting kicked around by the likes of Werner. Unions may not be perfect but its a helluva lot better than what drivers got now. If we had a decent system in place I could understand resisting a union, but we dont. Drivers get used and abused all the time. Pay gets cut, wait for free, drive tired and illegal, cant idle the truck, cant get home on time...on and on and on. I cannot imagine any driver who wouldnt prefer better pay and working conditions. Oh nevermind. You can go back to rubbing GMAN's nuts now.

 

I see where you're coming from but, those drivers make a choice to stay at these companies. The first two times I tried trucking, once in 1993 and again in 1999, I wound up leaving because of the way they treated drivers. I had other choices to make a living.

 

I'm not fond of unions just like I'm not fond of working for any company. I like having my own business because it allows me the ability to choose between the people I associate with in this world. I like having a choice of how, when and where I make money.

I personally don't want anyone to speak for me, I can do that for myself, and have a few times where it made for a good story. I can also save my own money for retirement or whatever else the union promises. I can do it myself, that's just my attitude. It works for me, that's all. It's not always pretty but it works.

If you like unions that's fine. If it works for you great.

 

We can debate the merits and problems with unions until the cows come home, but in today's economy, we're simply pi$$in' in the wind. With NAFTA, what were once good paying blue collar jobs are being handed over to Mexicans who will work for peanuts.

Look at what has happened to the construction business; time was when a capable, reliable carpenter or tile mason made a decent living. Now, all too many of them are working for less than what they made 30 years ago. Same with the trucking industry; if unions could manage to get a foot in the door of the mega-carriers, or even the mid sized companies, the union members would wind up losing their jobs to Mexican drivers.

 

I don't drive for Warner and never have, I don't drive illegal and I've demonstrated that to my Co. by shutting down 45 min away from my drop. A union wouldn't give better working conditions unless they can change the weather! Idling is no problem with me as I'm home every night and have less than 3% idle time(Co luvs that) Pay ? I'd love to get paid more but I already can't believe I get paid as much as I do for doing so little! I know some drivers get kicked around and abused and out right ripped off but have you ever looked at other industries and jobs? I have worked much much harder and gotten paid a lot less.
A union would do little to no good for me and more than likely be nothing but a thorn in my side, I have a lot of freedom to do my run how I see fit and if a union came in would oversee it to death. To sum it up so you can understand I DON"T WANT A UNION your expressed your opinion and I mine. As far as rubbin Gmans nuts comment That was way out of line, if you want to go down that road your gonna be by yourself cuz I'm not gonna lower myself to your level

 

Why didnt you say that in the first place?

Instead you said "Todays unions do one thing and one thing only, protect the lazy non productive shiete bag that other wise couldn't hold a job on his own!" Thats right out of GMAN's way of thinking. Generalize everybody who is in a union. I work for Big Brown and I guarantee you people dont last long there being lazy. Having said that, I've been to auto plants and well, lets say things are a little different there. Look, I'm not for or against unions as a whole, I am FOR proper treatment and compensation to drivers, no matter how they get it. If you can find it without a union I think thats awesome. Bottom line is Kevin is obviously looking for something better than what he has. Thats not too surprising because IMO 80% of the driving jobs out there suck. But drivers just continue to take it up the wazoo and bounce from one dirtbag carrier to another and the only thing that ever changes is the name on the trailer. This industry as a whole needs to be revamped and unionizing is one way of doing it. Not the only way, but one way. But then every time this topic comes up drivers get on here saying how much they like the lifestyle and defending the industry so I guess I'm the only one who thinks it could be better. Funny because there are 1000's of threads on here about driver's getting shafted but yet they dont really want to do anything about it. I guess they just like to hear themselves complain. If I try and tell them about a better job, or more specifically my job, it comes off as either bragging, or putting them down. OH well, I try to offer help. These guys can keep on doing what they're doing.