The Source for Trucking News, Opinions and Trucking Jobs | Sweatshops on Wheels

Michael H. Belzer’s Sweatshops on Wheels book, I admit, it was tough for me to get through. And not because of the big words and boring statistics. The author drove for a truck for 10 years then became a professor.

The big issue he blames for trucking’s demise is of course deregulation in the late 70’s. That’s when everything went downhill for trucking. I’m sure the airlines and AT&T say the same thing. There have been thousands of trucking companies that have gone under since then, but look at the airline and telecommunications industries now. They look nothing like they did before deregulation.

As told by the author, before deregulation the union had a monopoly and controlled wages around the country for truck drivers. That was then, this is now. Before I started trucking I worked for a major airline in their telecommunications department. I dealt with airline and AT&T and Bell people all the time. My neighbors were union mechanics at the airline, my grandfather was very pro union. My cousins are in the Communications Workers union. There are good points and bad points to unions. Nowadays I feel that unions have outlived their purpose, have taken advantage of their positions and have contributed to their own demise. I can listen to war stories till my head explodes (which isn’t long), but I’m looking for answers TODAY!

He goes on about how drivers are taken advantage of for free labor loading and unloading and the many undocumented and uncompensated hours that drivers endure. Then goes on to wonder what if the rest of the country’s workforce looked like the trucking industry. I hate to burst the professor’s bubble, but there are a lot of people that put in 60 to 80 hours a week and only get paid for 40. Take the tech industry, people are on call, work overtime and work from home for a decent 40 hour salary, but there’s usually no overtime pay. Hopefully you can get some days off to make up for all your extra work. And now tech jobs are either being shipped overseas or companies are importing workers to fill positions and there are tons of foreign students that get the American university education and stay in country because of the great job opportunities. The once in demand and extravagantly paid computer people are now a dime a dozen and are paid like it. The point is that trucking doesn’t have an exclusive on sweatshops.

For truck drivers, either you put up with being taken advantage of and make a few cents an hour or give up and quit. If you give up, you help the rest of us by taking your sorry stupid butt off the market. There are a lot of owner operators that should go back to being a company driver. They can’t balance their checkbook, let alone run a business. But they have a shiny chrome platted big rig they’re driving around in, so they’re happy complaining to each other at the truckstop counter. Or you find a company, broker or customer that treats you fairly.

Successful tech people work smarter, are better entrepreneurs (even within a corporation) and know how their markets work and control their expenses better then the guy next to them. Successful truckers are the same way. They work smarter, not harder and know how to keep more of the money they make.

Professor Belzer’s answer to all this? More government intervention (thanks, but no thanks), collective bargaining and unions (ain’t gonna happen), and a change in the Hours of Service, which did happen but may not happen depending on when you’re reading this. And I believe no amount of HOS regulations are going to fix the problem of free dock labor by themselves without enforcement and that leads to more regulations that can’t or won’t be enforced.

No one asked for my two cents, but since it’s my blog, here it is – My solution is that the market in a capitalistic system tends to fix things on it’s own. I don’t need the government in my business any more than it already is. Unions are another form of regulation. One person has the control over the industry wages and productivity. Besides the whole seniority system disgusts me. You’re working for and depending on one entity for your entire livelyhood for you entire career. There’s no incentive to do better or work smarter then the worthless schlub next to you. The only government intervention I want is for them not to intervene. By not allowing companies to go overseas to import and hire cheap labor. Let the market work without flooding the industry with drivers that put the companies back in control.

Right now there’s a “driver shortage”. Companies are screaming for drivers in order to keep their rates and wages low in order to compete with the other idiot company across the street. In order to attract (good) drivers they will have to raise wages in order to compete for those drivers. To stay in business and pay those drivers, you either have to cut other expenses or raise rates to your customers. Shippers are on the short end of the stick for a change. Instead of looking for the lowest bid, trucks now go to the highest bidder. The Internet Truckstop load board now has a system where shippers can bid for your truck. Carriers don’t get swamped with calls, they now make one or two calls to the highest bidders. That’s the market at work.

Companies will have to pay drivers and treat drivers better then the company next to them in order to stay in business. That goes for shippers too. In order to get their stuff shipped they will have to attact carriers by paying well and not forcing them to wait uncompensated hours on their docks then working for free by either loading or unloading or standing next to the dock counting freight as it gets loaded. Which is utterly worthless. With all the computers and barcodes that shippers use now, why trust the count to the driver? Take responsibility for your own product.

Trucking is cyclical. There will be good times, but the bad times will come around again. Hopefully the good carriers and drivers can make it through the bad times to be around for the next cycle of good times by being smarter then the guy next to them. Eventually bad carriers and bad drivers get weeded out either by law enforcement or stupidity. For some, it takes longer than others. But I believe the dangerous drivers and the drivers taking loads for a pennies profit will eventually go out of business one way or another. The bad news is there’s always another idiot in line behind them that thinks they can cut corners to make a nickel.

Bottom line… My fix is a true driver shortage. Worthless drivers and companies leave the market or can’t be hired, leaving the cream to rise to the top. Which would also make the industry more attractive to high quality people to start driving. But I’ve said this before.