1.) There is a current shortage of OTR drivers for the amount of freight. More and more of our consumer goods are being manufactured overseas, not locally or regionally.
2.) No better jobs are being created.
3.) Only around 4 weeks training before earning income and paying back into the Medicare, Social Security and Welfare system.
4.) Taxpayer subsidy for corporations moving overseas. Then the corporations don’t have to spend money retraining American workers.
5.) The Mexicans have better paying jobs already and they wish to be in their new American “homes” on a regular basis.

The politicians that gave you this waste of taxpayer money gets lobbied by the ATA (American Trucking Ass.) and gets lots of money to work 4 them. The fact is when labor is easily available, wages drop - which happens to be the prime variable expense the Trucking cos. can influence.

Driver shortage is a myth put out by the ATA also for that same purpose. I know I can run many more miles than I do, and Im sure all the truckers sitting at the truckstop right now waiting on a load can too.

supply and demand? that is your answer? do yu really have any idea what you are talking about?

"]supply and demand? that is your answer? do yu really have any idea what you are talking about?[/quote]

Why don't you tell us how wages are set?

i beleive there are set ina contract between the company(shipper) and the company(transprtation). "we will haul good for this rate, this detention pay if needed, this surcharge, etc". how does the driver in a large company have any control over that. you wanna affect rates. buy your own truck and refuse to haul cheap frieght, stick to your guns.

If I am a big company, with a endless supply of drivers, I ain't paying overtime, pension, sick pay, detention , snowstorm pay, breakdown, and so on. I gona keep all the money and my drivers peanuts.

But if there is Lack of drivers, well I will give them a bigger piece of the pie, because I will have no choice.

Prices are basically set by the marketplace. The contract between the shipper and carrier has little to do with driver pay. If the carrier cannot hire or retain drivers at a wage that is initially offered, the price or benefits go up until they do. The carrier isn't going to lose money hauling freight, nor is he going to keep an incompetent driver on a critical account. If there were more experienced drivers with good work and driving records, wages would go up. Drivers could make more money by not moving around so much. Those who achieve a higher level of success in this business stay with one employer for several years and prove themselves. Frankly, I think wages are pretty good in most companies.

Yes, I do know what I'm talking about...

I'm very talented and experienced at what I do, very hard to replace...

High demand for drivers like me, low supply of drivers to replace me... = More $ for me...

Supply and demand, if there were lots of drivers to replace me, they wouldn't have to treat me so well to keep me... Get it yet ? :roll:

oh, ok...got it. you should wear a big s.t. on your shirt so i knew ya.

Unless you have an oversupply of labor, in which case every driver that quits because of low pay and lousy working conditions is replaced by another at a cheaper rate.

That explains why wages don't go up. Because drivers with experience and good driving records leave for better gigs: private fleets, LTL, fuel-hauling, etc where they can make better money and sleep in their own beds everynight.

I made .35 cpm after 1 year with a .01 cpm raise every year thereafter at the last OTR company I worked at. When I run line-haul in LTL, I get .53 cpm (paid for every mile) and I don't have to live in the truck or deal with shippers, receivers, lumpers, etc. I just drop my set (paid extra for this), hook to another (paid extra for this as well), and boogie on down the line towards home.

OTR wages are a joke for the amount of time on the job and all the BS you've got to put up with.