At present, you can work (on the dock, for example) 14 hours a day and inclusive in that time period, you can also drive 11 – then you must be off for ten consecutive hours. A driver used to be able to “split” the off time, take a nap for 2 hours, continue to drive, then finish the “break” later in the day. That is now illegal to the chagrin of many drivers who dislike the one continuous 10 hours off.
“Our” government, in their need to regulate all aspects of our lives from our weight to when and how we eat and sleep, is on the seesaw between keeping the hours of service the way they are, or changing them to, let’s say driving 10 hours, a 13 hour work day along with, perhaps, a 30 minute break after 7 hours. I do not agree with any of this.
As you know, I spend a lot of time monitoring, researching and writing about the truck industry. I haven’t been offered a job by the mainstream trucking press because I am “too” controversial. The ATA hates me, so does OOIDA, Evan – Kevin Lockridge is threatened by me and the bureaucrats over at the FMSCA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – have banned me from calling them. Along with my unwanted and unappreciated honesty, the one thing I always write about, is the one thing none of “them” want to discuss – driver pay and its relation to the HOS.
Let’s talk about that. The vast majority of OTR – over the road – truckers get paid per mile. Some get a percentage of the load. Owner – operators get mileage too, but it’s typically 2/3rd’s more than what a company driver gets. It factors in business expenses, fuel for example, that a company driver is not responsible for. The company driver is doing a job whether on mileage or a percentage, the owner – operator is running a business, but for both groups of professionals, it’s all about the miles.
But, whether you accept it or not, the OTR truck driver, in the “legalese” of “our” government, is a “job” that is done by unskilled labor. I’m not a labor lawyer, I’m a driver advocate, and that “unskilled” status translates into why “your” government can allow you to work 14 hours a day with no overtime, no benefits – being paid by the mile. Obviously, there are exceptions, like UPS – United Parcel Service – where their P&D (local pick-up and delivery) drivers, operating under a union contract get paid similar to most other hourly wage earners in the U.S. One thing is for sure, unlike OTR truckers, UPS drivers don’t work unless they’re on the clock getting paid.
You’ve heard me before saying that if a truck driver took his typical weekly paycheck – being paid, let’s say .$40 per mile – add up how many hours and he or she actually worked – their “hourly” wage would be at, close to or below the minimum wage - in Florida $7.35 per hour. The typical job pays overtime after 8 hours, OTR trucking does not. We all know that truck drivers wait for hours on end at shippers, customs, consignees and other places for a variety of reasons, and do not get paid. Sure they’re getting paid miles to transfer the freight from one place to the other, but usually nothing else. And the ATA, FMSCA, OOIDA and the mainstream trucking media do nothing and say nothing, because the trucking company owners maintain a strict hold over every aspect of the industry.
“Our” government, the FMSCA, right now, is very busy trying to figure out how to placate the trucking company owners over not making any “uncomfortable” waves as far as modifications in the HOS. Passing new legislation that would require truck drivers to drive and work less hours and have increased downtime is tantamount to Congress saying they’re going to increase taxes on the owners and executives of the trucking companies. It’s bad enough the trucking industry is faced with increased regulatory demands because of Obama-care.
The trucking industry is run as a monopoly on the golf courses of America. Their mouthpiece is the ATA. The mainstream trucking media says whatever the ATA wants. What about safety? More tomorrow.
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