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ABF | Cable news reports trucker shortage

foxman042 said:
this report says trucking companies are offering:
More pay
more vacation time
better benefits

ABF is offering:

.Less pay

Less vacation time [or none for the first 2 years]
benefits that are stagnant or greater copays

Does this explain why we cannot attract good drivers?
Listen to the link:
U.S. dealing with nationwide shortage of truck drivers| Latest News Videos | Fox News
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Pay a driver by the hour for everything he does related to the business, wait times, break down, scales, dock time, fueling tractor etc, etc, & your driver shortage will go away. After you convince a 24 year old to stay out for 2 to 3 weeks @ a time & also tell him it will cost him 150.00 after taxes each week to live out there, and then you might reduce or remove the shortage. Yep, good luck with that one. Oh yea, one more thing. Pay overtime after 40 like the rest of the work force.
 
Paying overtime after 40 would mean that you would have to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to include truck driving,.........and if we do that,...we might as well give overtime after 40 to tree sap gatherers, motion picture operators, salesmen, and fishermen,....which are the only other occupations exempt from the overtime provisions of the Act,.....oh,..and private contractors,too,.....which seems to be the next biggest scam on working people that the corporate world is cooking up. Might as well raise the minimum wage to $13.00 an hour,....I mean, while we're ****** the billionaires by forcing them to pay overtime.....We should all be lucky they're allowing us to use their trucks and terminals to move that freight around,..........Maybe,....Just maybe,....If the non-Union carriers are forced to pay overtime,...and the compensation rate for truckload carriers rises to average at least $15.00 an hour for all hours worked,....(...currently, it's $11.00 an hour...).......maybe, since they're paying such an ungodly amount of compensation,...they might punish us by limiting the amount of hours we work,...and not allow us 60 hour weeks in the city, and 84 hours,...with a 34 hour re-start,.....on the road......Lord knows we can't have that........(......Read the above with a heavy layer of sarcasm,...followed by a soupcon of disgust....).....
 
Truck Drivers,...as an occupation,...are 10 years older, demographically,...than any other occupation in the U.S. The carriers brought this down on themselves, with their hiring practices, and abuse of new-hires,...and two-tier wage systems. Near as I can tell, our company has 75% of their Teamster employees within 5 years of retirement, and about 50% of their workforce over 55 years of age. I asked for confirmation of these figures on Inforoundtable,....and got a circuituous affirmation. My guess is that ABF has much more to fear from a spontaneous and sudden decision of a thousand, or so, drivers to retire on the same day,....than they do from a labor strike. All it would take is one more insult,....one more proposal to cut pensions,...a request to start paying for health care,.......Just one more.................I guess the brain-trust in Fort Smith thought we were all immortal,.....we'd make them money forever,......I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sure feeling older........Skill and the (growing feeble) Will,...eh?
 
canaryinthemine said:
Truck Drivers,...as an occupation,...are 10 years older, demographically,...than any other occupation in the U.S. The carriers brought this down on themselves, with their hiring practices, and abuse of new-hires,...and two-tier wage systems. Near as I can tell, our company has 75% of their Teamster employees within 5 years of retirement, and about 50% of their workforce over 55 years of age. I asked for confirmation of these figures on Inforoundtable,....and got a circuituous affirmation. My guess is that ABF has much more to fear from a spontaneous and sudden decision of a thousand, or so, drivers to retire on the same day,....than they do from a labor strike. All it would take is one more insult,....one more proposal to cut pensions,...a request to start paying for health care,.......Just one more.................I guess the brain-trust in Fort Smith thought we were all immortal,.....we'd make them money forever,......I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sure feeling older........Skill and the (growing feeble) Will,...eh?
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i have 5 years, 2 months and 11 days until I retire, not that im counting or anything...and theres 80+ guys ahead of me that can retire sooner than that. i think Im going to start posting pics from the bahamas and such at the terminal with the caption"Why wait? Retire NOW" lol
 
no, some of us didn"t agree to a pay cut, it was taken from us. Now they can"t convince anyone with experience to work here due to this contract. Karma,
 
7 months, 1 week and one day..And I am so done. I want to "smell the roses" for at least a year before I go the way most long time drivers do. Prematurely. There never is nor never was a "driver shortage". Just a lack of jobs that made it worth going to work. This industry will be thrilled with the new driver-less trucks that are coming. All along, all they really wanted was slaves. If anyone really gave a damn about truck drivers, they would have repealed the exemptions in the Fair Labor and Standards Act a long time ago. But, oh no, we can't give those drivers any "rights", like all the "regular" workers. Bitter ? You bet ! We destroy our health, our backs and in a lot of cases, our personal lives and we get nothing in return.
 
I am old enough to remember that when we were all union there was never a problem like whats going on these days . I think that drivers are not happy working for nonunion companies . Some might differ with my opinion but can those who disagree with me explain whats so good about working nonunion Your only an employee at will ,more times than not ya don't get time and a half,ya got to pay crazy premiums for family insurance if its even offered . They say that being union will drive the weak ones out of business . Hey that might not be such a bad thing maybe if they can't pay well then maybe they shouldn't be in business. . That would open the door for the strong companies to compete .
 
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