Since deregulation it seems the income of a truck driver has not moved much calculating for inflation adjusted dollars.....
In order to even stay at current income level year after year, wages have to go up but the inflation rate every year..so if u didnt get a raise this year u actually made less depending on the inflation rate.....
So how do we bring the wages up? Tightening standards on drivers to reduce the workforce?? Csa2010 disqualifying drivers?? Unionization? refusing to go work for cheap so those companies cant deliver their freight unless they pay more?

Just some random thoughts to try and spur a discussion, i havent been active here in a long time...

The other night I was sitting at a Petro listening to a bunch of old-timers. They were talking about how things "used" to be. A young, new driver, asked one of the older drivers about the wages he made when he first started driving.

The older driver started driving in 1968 for 17cpm. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, when you consider that you could buy a NEW house for $10,000, a NEW car for $1,000, etc, it puts things into perspective. I'd say the average pay for a company driver now is in the 34cpm range. That'd be fine if a new house was $20,000 and a new car was $2,000.

In 2006, I drove for Celadon for a few months before I had to change jobs for personal reasons. At that time, I was making 32cpm. I rehired at Celadon in March of this year for the EXACT same pay, even though I drove for another OTR (regional) carrier the entire lapse away from them. I've also got 7.5 years verifiable driving OTR experience.

Does the average pay need to increase? Yes, it definitely does. Will it? I doubt it. Why won't it? Truck drivers aren't covered by the fair-wage laws. That in itself will keep the average pay from increasing.

Before trucking was deregulated rates were pretty much fixed for lanes Two things happened when trucking was deregulated. Deregulation made it much easier for anyone to get their authority and rates were no longer regulated. Wages are tied to freight rates. Rates are not much higher than they were 30 years ago. Until rates come up significantly wages are not going to rise much. There just isn't enough money to go around to have much of a wage increase. Even if drivers were put under the fair wage laws I don't see wages rising. It would have little or no effect. It would be difficult to put drivers under the fair wage laws due to the way they are compensated. Most drivers are paid mileage or percentage unless they drive locally. It is fair to pay drivers based on mileage or percentage. Drivers work mostly unsupervised and don't punch a time clock. Some people have a good work ethic and will do their best whether their boss is around or not. Others will do only the minimum and when the boss isn't around they will find a way to milk the clock. That is the main reason drivers are paid based upon performance. It is fair to both the driver and carrier. No matter how the driver is compensated, his pay is tied to the freight rates that are paid by the shippers and brokers. Lower capacity will force rates up, but as soon as that happens companies expand, hire more drivers and the cycle begins again. You cannot force people to demand higher rates. Unfortunately, there are too many people running companies who should not be in that position. There are too many carriers, too many owner operators and too many drivers. That thinking goes against what was recently reported on the media. According to the report we have a driver shortage in this country. Shortages create demand. Demand pushes rates and wages up. If there was really a driver shortage then rates and wages would be higher.

Maybe Csa 2010 will weed out some of the cheap freight haules and raise the rates!

If it's so bad why is the old timer still doing it.

Maybe in his old age he's grown accustomed to the finer things in life like eating, electricity, heating the house in the winter,etc? 8)

I wish that would be the case. If these people who are hauling these cheap rates cannot afford to repair their equipment then they could be put out of business....eventually. The less capacity the more demand that will be placed on those left standing.

Perhaps he doesn't know anything else to do. Maybe he just enjoys being out on the open road. Or, it could be like coalregion suggested about enjoying eating, etc.,

Back in the 'good ole days' the wages were less than they are now, but folks didn't need much then. Fuel costs weren't sky high, the cost of living wasn't outrageous.
My dad and his brothers picked/chopped cotton for 50 cents a day, when they were growing up. But just think about the cost of living, and the cost of fuel/autos were in the 50's.

We still don't need much. We just WANT more. If you don't have any debt and resist buying a lot of junk you don't really need, you can live much cheaper than if you go out and buy a lot of stuff that you don't need. I think most people simply don't know how to manage money and don't have the discipline to resist buying things they cannot afford. One reason so many people have such high debt is because they don't have any will power. They are like children who want everything that they see. We need to rethink our priorities in this country.