If you could change one thing......
 

If you could change one thing in the trucking industry.....what would it be??

Unlimited driving hours. :P :? :lol: :P

I would change the way we log. It would be a 2 line book you are either on duty or off duty. You would have a 14 hour on duty time with a 800 mile limit per day. I think if you are a truck driver you know when you need to stop and when you can drive. But I would have the 14 hour limit just in case their are to many super truckers out there that want to push to hard

I would make it a law requiring trucking companies to pay for all hours worked. If you work 14 hours a day you would get paid for 14. Time and a half after forty.

This cold ass weather

shock collars for dispatch that can be used threw qual com when they lie to you

a transporter in truck to use on dispatch to transport then to you so you can slap them silly then send them back.

parking everywhere and if you cant find any,a big fat fine on DOT! and they cant leave tell they pay it!

all mom's are allowed to go to truck stops and show those people how to cook real food!

my wife can go also and show them how to burn it!

This post and jackrabbit wanting unlimited driving hours.

What is it with so many drivers wanting to work for nothing. Figure a guy making 20 bucks an hour and working 70 hrs with time and a half over forty that equals 1700.00 a week.

Plus trucking is the only industry where it is required that an employee travels and is not given a food allowance in ADDITION to salary.


so what do I want .....pay that is truly reflective of what the job requires.

I would make it mandatory for everyone to wear company uniforms! I would not let any of the slobs I see these days work as a trucker. Also have it that anyone that parks on the fuel island and goes in to the truckstop for 30-45 minutes tying up everything should be allowed to be shot and killed upon exiting the truckstop.

Im with you Buddy....lol

Go back to Old HOS

I would hold COMPANIES AND RECRUITERS to the promises they make. Let them pay for the lies they tell.



And of course, not all companies or recruiters tell lies. This is my disclaimer.

Apply the FLSA to trucking.


A lot of the crappy outfits that waste your time to save their money would have to evolve or die.

I totally agree with Ian Williams. Time to repeal the exemptions from the Fair Labor and Standards Act of 1930. Time to bring driver's working lives into the 21st Century. A little ironic that the guy that "picks the lettuce" has MORE labor rights than the people who deliver it. NO free ANYTHING, for ANY company.

The previous two posters hit the nail on the head. Professional drivers need to be recognized as skilled labor!

hmmm...can you make the windshield washers on Volvos not splash all over the side view mirror?

ooohh!!! That is a real good one...lol...they better not have lied to me!!!

If you're going to dream, dream BIG! :wink:

hmmm...big...how bout my own personal lane everywhere I go.

Sorry, no stealing others' dreams. :P :lol:

To tell you the truth, the only real complaint i have is the damn noise and vibration. Especially when sleeping.

Think how much more fun this job would be if we drove around extended cab pickups all day.

I would agree to that with one stipulation....If a driver lied to the recruiter and gets kicked out of orientation.....or he gets sent home from orientation for any other reason like failed drug test, bad references, failed driving test...ect, He has to pay my commission.

Oh I HATED that. I just waited and slowed down before I hit the washer. Even if it meant taking an off ramp, then getting back on the interstate. Good time to wash the side windows too.

All driving jobs should get paid by the hr. Ot after 40 hrs. and getting paid what you are worth.

You know....we have been at odds for a long time.

But, I agree....all except the bad references....you should check that out before he/she goes to orientation.

Actually, you are allowed to deduct $52/day on your taxes for food and whatever else would qualify under "per diem expenses". So, while you aren't actually being PAID an allowance for the food, at least you do get the deduction.

Ban cars from the moterways :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, change.....
 

I think a few other drivers have the right angle; change the country's perception of truck driving, especially the powers 'that be'.....

The trucking industry leaders call drivers "professional".....................

but....................................

The Department of Labor calls the drivers unskilled......

So, drivers are professional, unskilled workers...........

If these two group can't get together to determine where the drivers fit....how is anyone else in the public going to give the drivers the respect they are asking for and should get?

PS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I LOVE MY WIFE!

But then how do we get anywhere when we're off duty? :shock:

I agree with Yoop. Bring back the old HOS. Or better yet, abolish HOS altogether. I don't run according to the HOS, I run according to when I'm tired. I know when I'm tired and how much sleep I need to function. :roll:

That everyone who works with a driver, be on a performance based pay system!

on the other hand, if the compnay did a better job of qualifying the driver BEFORE orientation, that wouldnt happen, they should verify everything before, not after he (or she) gets there. just my opinion, but it's a good one :D

Re: If you could change one thing......
 

Well changing just one thing is very hard. With all the answers I've just read....and LMAO....I would simple say.......
The real working "EASY BUTTON"..... that way it takes care of everything. *smiling*

The best answers I've heard were from;
Cluggy619
sharon198292
knightwolf71477

Keep on truckin!

Oh dear, I know the feeling. Having come from across the pond to try to carve a living over here, I find myself in a dilema. I came over on the assumption that i was not going to take jobs away from the locals here and i find it false. I was not brought up that way and it made me sick.
I then find that mileage is paid, well fair enough but to me that entails the miles i drive. it does not include my time for planning, my time for paperwork that is extra, especially as it is my own unpaid time.
I would suggest that haulage firms are govt regulated as is over in the uk. This makes them responsible for all paperwork not the poor driver who gets creamed at the border the first time he crosses. Secondly u work too many driving hours and get little or no pay. Your job isnt worth it. Back home I worked 4 days, maybe 12 hours a day with only, by law a total of 9 hours driving and i made more money than here, was home every night and am still married, which i find a lot of drivers aren't...divorced i mean.
So now im stuck having sank everything into my venture and stuck in s*&%%Y manitoba, canada. If only the truth be told, is there no honesty anymore or are we just putting our heads in the sand for a life we like.

just a few Q who do u work for in Canada how long have u been out there and do u think that tacho would work over there with the size of north america..........the reason l ask is that l had a job offer from siemans in saskatoon and one from kbr to goto Iraq and l picked Iraq and put off the canada thing for a yr or so oh pluss how finding the move over there...........

that is what per diem is for bonhead

as a recruiter I wish they would verify it before orientation too, However I understand why a lot of companies dont. Basically, It comes down to money. Only about 50% of drivers you schedule for orientation actually show up. And it costs money to run all of those before hand. More than it costs to send them there first and then run it. A person who is truthful about everything on his app really doesnt have to worry one way or another whether they verify it before orientation or after.
Truth be told, most drivers that are kicked out of orientation know before hand if there is going to be a problem. People know if they have a felony, people know that if they are going to fail a drug test. People know if their last 4 or 5 jobs are going to give them a bad refference. People know how many tickets they have. People know if they got fired from their last job for abandoning a load.
Like I said, I hate when I waste my time with a driver and he gets sent home. I dont make a cent. However if a driver gets sent to orientation, fails the drug test and then gets sent home, I dont feel bad for the driver. He was the one who chose to do drugs. If a lot of those drivers didnt lie on their applications, very few drivers would be sent home from orientation. Ive said this before, the 4 main reasons drivers get sent home from orientation are as follows.
Bad driving record
failed drug test
bad job refferences ( fired from their last job)
Failed road test.
Like I said....3 of those you couldnt do before orientation....and the one (fired from their last job) could be checked before hand, but why should we? Why wouldnt a driver know if he was fired from his last job?

Now with that said, A driver is more than welcome to ask the investigator to run everything first. But I have to tell you....when Im talking to a driver and he asks me to do that, the first thing I think is "I wonder whats on his record that he is worried about"

the things ppl worry about is these things are out of their control. sure 99% of the time it works out the way it should, but you don't always know whats on your record, your last job could tell you you were the best thing since sliced bread(kinda like what recruiters say.. :lol: ) and slam you on your reference, thats out of your control. I get nervous on an airplane because it's out of my control, but it doesn't mean we're gonna crash. why shouldn't things be more up front?

the absolute truth. Had that happen with one employer.

Number one, name calling is uncalled for. Number two, most OTR companies don't pay any per diem. They may label a portion of your pay as per diem in order to lower your taxes but they aren't giving you any additional money for food and road expenses. Number three, if you're going to badmouth somebody make sure you know how to spell the word, doh! :roll:

Sheepdancer is right, we as drivers have to take responsibility for ourselves. 95% of the people that I have been in orientation with that have been sent home is because they knew they had a poor driving record and they had accidents that they thought were no big deal. One guy I had in orientation had 4 accidents on his record and he swore up and down he did not know about them and he was bad mouthing the company for sending him home. Talk about a crack head.