Drivers vs. Freight

Posted on 30-03-2006

I’m tired of reading about the “driver shortage”, but I just wrote about freight slowing down and now I see this which is really only a press release from the ATA who is the industry’s mouthpiece and has proven they don’t give a rat’s butt about drivers. If there is a freight slow down (for whatever reason) too many drivers means some drivers sit around waiting for a load. What others forget is even company drivers don’t get paid to sit around for freight. Enough drivers get tired of sitting and not making money, they leave and the balance of drivers and freight evens out (at least in my perfect world, that’s how it should work!)

Keep on truckin’ - please! Shortage of long-haul drivers seen

By JOHN JARVIS
The Marion Star

The trucking industry faces a growing shortage of long-haul drivers, says the American Trucking Associations. If the current pattern continues, the industry will need 111,000 additional drivers by 2014.

Blah, blah, blah

“The trucking industry is like the oil in the
wheels of the economy. If the trucking industry is in trouble, it has
repercussions on the whole economy.”

Noting that he expects that
a driver shortage would increase the cost of trucking, Aly said, “There
would be an inflationary pressure on the economy that might lead to
higher prices in the future.”

Look out! We’re in dire straits, if we have to pay truckers more, the rest of the economy will suffer, but

He said, however, that he is optimistic that the shortage will be alleviated as the industry deals with the issue.

Don’t worry, we’ll deal with it. If these people had half a brain they’d be putting out the biggest and scariest stories they can come up with. Between the driver shortage and fuel costs, they could make a pretty scary story. That way, when a broker asks me how much I want for a load, I can say $2.50 a mile (or more) without them going,”What?”, when they should be saying, “that’s a bargain! Here you go!”

I’m just a big, dumb, white guy, but why’d they have to put this in their story?

The ATA says to increase the nation’s driver
pool the industry must draw upon a larger percentage of women and
minorities; currently women comprise 5 percent of truck drivers, blacks
11.7 percent of long-haul drivers and Latinos 9.7 percent of long-haul
drivers.

Hire anyone and everyone that qualify, but don’t exploit anyone.

Comments

Perry Forsyth on 31 March, 2006 at 3:47 pm #

I am quite concerned how the major trucking industries can say how many drivers we are short of. I believe they are way OFF TRACK!

By looking at the quality of SOME of the “drivers” we have today, the number is actually substantially higher. Get rid of the bad apples we have and you would have a safer trucking industry. There would be less trucks on the road, but, there would be MORE freight delivered since there would be less trucks laying on their sides in a ditch somewhere because of simple human error, or in other words, doing something stupid to cause the accident in the first place.

Try to compete with the stupidity of being the only “driver” in a truck, wrecking the truck at 60 MPH with the cruise control set because of the “driver” being in the sleeper changing his clothes. That is a classic and actually happened in Ohio last year. Not only was that “driver” dumb enough to do it, but, to tell the investigating highway patrol officer of this?

Stop and think, if all of the seats were filled and there were no “driver shortage” as they claim, instead of driving for the wages we do now, what would happen to the wages then? I make you a bet, $.30 cents per mile would be considered high.

They are tired of paying us the money we are entitled to. This is why they hire most anybody, from anywhere, at most any time.

Why are they advertising the opportunities by being in a truck? Why is it the big companies telling their driver-applicants the “big” money to be made never inform them of what it costs to be on the road to begin with? Truckstops are not cheap. If they were cheap, would you see so many truckstops nationwide? Why is it they pay the big dollars associated with hiring people and pushing them through schools hoping someday the same trainees will learn how to drive once they are out of school?

One of my friends is a Safety Manager for a small trucking company. He has said so many times, “I didn’t hire him because I liked what I seen in him. I hired him because I need to get the parked truck moving.” The big companies are faced with the same problem, to get their trucks moving.

This is why so many of the “drivers” we have today is so very interesting. We have so many drivers on the road in a truck thinking they are truck drivers. By having these thoughts in their heads they are now truckdrivers once they are out of school is getting them into trouble, and because of this, all of us are in trouble with the Federal Government, DOT, and the panel of “experts” who have never seen the inside of a truck and have absolute no knowledge of what they are pushing on us. But, don’t worry, they have a strong voice in Washington and we don’t, so no matter what we say, we have to live with their stupid new laws and policies approved by people so very equally dumb as to the way of life driving a truck. What a deal?

As a direct result, we are now faced with the problem of these newer drivers being in a profession which is way over their heads and they are (not all of them) too stupid to admit it.

These Johnny-come-lately Billy Bob Big Rigger, cowboy buckeroo, inconsiderate stupid SOB’s we have to contend with are really putting our long sought reputation down. The efforts we have made for so many years in the past is quickly being undone by the small, and growing, percentage of “drivers” who don’t care what they do, the problems they create, and then leave the trucking industry, leaving us with holding “”the bag,” causiing our image to the general public and the high ranking government offices to look down on us. What a deal?

So now I ask, what is the solution? Sadly to say, there is no solution.

I am not condemning all the drivers, just the ones who are a detrimate to the industry, to themselves, and to the general public.

I hope the big companies consider the same issues I have mentioned and consider what they are doing by announcing how short of “drivers” they are to find warm bodies to make their trucks move.

I also hope the big companies emphasize the need for their trainees to consider what they are doing and what they can do to help retain our previous reputation we have had and enjoyed with the general public for so many years.

After reading this post, I know a lot of my fellow drivers will agree with what I said and there will be other “drivers” who will hate what I said. I wasn’t trying to make any of you mad, just bring out certain issues I believe that needs to be dealt with and dealt with right away before it is too late.

All of you have a good day and truck safe.

Alberto Magno A. L. on 17 July, 2008 at 9:05 am #

Sou Rigger e estou a procura de vagas…
Espero retorno p trabalho.
Tel:7199622740