Just because a company can legally do something, doesn't mean that they should do it! Companies want employees to be loyal and do the best job they can for the company, right? Doesn't it work both ways? Employees expect the same from the company, to be treated fairly and to be recognized when they've done a good job and given the company your loyalty.
I know from personal experience this company doesn't know the first thing about right and wrong. If they can screw an employee (mainly the drivers) out of something they will in a heart beat, and say they have every legal right to do it. Even if it won't hurt them not to do it, even if that employee has been their for years, even if that employee has went above and beyond to get a job done. Nope, they don't care, as long as they can continue to buy new vehicles, build their new pool houses and live the lifestyle they want. They don't care if a driver sits and waits for days on end until they find a back-haul that will pay the company well, but the driver will be lucky to make much of anything after sitting and spending his own money for those extra days (on food, laundry and showers).
The person that does that "back-hauls" in the office sucks at it, but she won't hear of the drivers finding their own (even though her husband tells the drivers that they encourage their drivers to find their own back-hauls, when he hires them). They would rather have a driver sit for two, three, four days until the bosses wife finds a back-haul that usually only pays the driver $300! Now before you think that's a lot of money, remember these types of loads are what a driver who has taken a load to California or New Mexico brings back. ALL THE WAY BACK from CA, NM, OR.. somewhere in the West, and brings it back to NY, SC, FL.. you get the picture.. and oh boy, he gets to make a whopping $300 for 2500 miles AND five to seven days of waiting and work. Now tell me, can you support your family on $300 a week? Well most people cannot!
Now this trucking company isn't alone in being ran unethically, (what I've said above is just a drop in the bucket of the things they have done - and PA DOT really should pay them a visit) There are plenty of trucking companies out there that have crappy equipment and blame the drivers when something goes wrong, even through it's their own mechanics that won't fix what's wrong, or can't because the company ties their hands financially, but it's the driver that gets the extra stress of the blame, on top of dealing with :
- Idiot 4-wheelers on the road every day, who seem to think that a big truck is in their way or can stop on a dime, etc... Come on people, how do you think that computer your reading on at this very moment made it to the store you bought it at? A Truck Brought It!
- Macho DOT officers that seem to forget putting a driver out of service - just to make a point- is costing that driver and his whole family money that they can't afford, after all the driver is not making much on that load in the first place! But now he has to sit for however many hours the DOT trooper decides, which makes him late for his appointment, which makes him have to wait that much longer, which means his dispatcher AND boss is going to be on him screaming, plus the broker (if there is one - my opinion brokering should be illegal-but I'll save that for another post). Even though it's not the driver's fault he gets the blame, the mark and it affects his paycheck!
- Dispatchers that think you can make it 100 miles away in an hour, as well as take every single load they come up with and make every appointment even though the driver had to wait an extra five hours in a loading dock because the company didn't have his load there yet, and the driver wasn't told what the wait was so he couldn't take a nap, so he's now exhausted, but has to go because he's already going to be late for his appointment that is ten driving hours away (in a car on a good day) but he only has nine hours to get there in a big truck in one of the worst snow storms we've seen this season! The driver calls to get his appointment changed, is questioned why he's so behind - he explains, then his boss calls to find out why he's so behind - again he repeats the same explanation and his boss almost calls him a liar, except for the fact that he has a time stamp his paper work to prove it.
- His Family who wishes he was home for more than one or two days a week, a month or every few months. People seem to forget that truck drivers' jobs are murder on their families too. Truck drivers miss out on so much of their family. They miss date night with the wife, they miss seeing their children grow up, they miss weddings and birthdays and anniversaries and often they miss funerals. It's not that they want to miss these things, but they have to in order to make a paycheck to keep their family going.
- Finances: Truck drivers (on average) make 24% of a load or .34 cents per mile. Sounds like a lot of money to some? Well it could be better. When a driver makes a percentage of the load you can be sure that the company isn't paying the driver on what they actually made on the load! Some companies take out the cost of running the truck and even their fuel surcharge and THEN they pay the driver their percentage from that much smaller amount! And mileage... for those of you that don't know it's not the miles that a driver drove, it's the miles that the company says are "practical miles" that the driver gets paid on. Although they are sometimes close, more often than not the company has ran the miles with a program that says it is "practical" to take the toll road, however the company does not allow the drivers to use the toll road (except in extreme cases) therefore the driver must drive the extra miles, and extra hours, for FREE. We're not talking ten miles or five minutes, it's more like one hundred miles and two hours (hours that driver could use for sleep!) Drivers aren't making nearly what they should considering the time, effort and money they themselves put into their jobs.
- Finances Continued: Drivers must spend money to live on their road, let's face it there's only so much you can pack into a big truck, not matter how big your "condo" is. Once a driver runs out of something they can't just stop at any store (because most places throw a hissy-fit over a truck pulling into their parking lock) they must go to a truck stop where the items are cheap, but cost a fortune! One saving grace, if you're lucky enough to be in the vicinity of one, is SOME Wal-mart's will allow trucks to park in a certain area so they can shop. This is a life saver, but rare to find. (You'd think more stores would be smart and offer it- don't worry over night parking shouldn't be an issue since most drivers have to get fuel, take showers and do laundry so they'll find a Truck Stop for the night.)
This is just a small bit of what truck driver's have to deal with, wouldn't you think that their employers would treat them better?
Most people think that truck drivers just drive a big truck. This is so not true! Yes, they drive, most without any accidents at all, and the percentage that do have accidents probably have a 4-wheeler to thank for causing it (but blaming the truck!)
- Keep current with DOT Rules and Regulations
- Keep their log book up to date and make sure they have hours to drive legally, etc...
- Manage their time as well as possible so they don't run out of hours, still get sleep, still get time out of the truck, still get a shower, get their laundry done, etc...
- Stay in contact with their family
- Call their dispatcher (sometimes every single day even on days off!)
You get the idea...
You're probably asking, "Well if they don't make enough, why do they stay with it?" Good question! My answer is this: Many truck drivers have been doing it for years, not four or six years, but twenty-five and forty-years. That's a career! They've dedicated their lives to this career, which some of you may have done with yours, do you want to change after twenty-five years on the job? Most people would not want to change careers that far in, especially when you don't make enough to pay for training in another field. It's just not feasible.
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