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ABF | Question on linehaul

Stoney said:
Yup you did, now do you have a realistic solution?
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Certainly,....Place all truck drivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Put in place caps on the monthly hours of service like locomotive engineers and airline pilots have. Start making all road runs turns. This would involve drivers domiciled at both ends,....but I'm trying to make it better for drivers,...healthier. It might cost the carriers a little out of their profits......but what price safety? And,...I can't think of anything safer than a healthy driver. Require a 15 minute break every two hours. Driver must leave the seat. Re-design the cabs ergonomically to prevent cramping and stiffening of joints. Re-design suspensions to recognize the atrocious conditions of the highways. Pay drivers more, and by the hour......so they don't have to spend so much time in the cab trying to make a living wage. Make "Truck Only" designated highways to run parellel to the major interstates,.........If we aren't going to have high-speed rail in this country, we might as well have truck dedicated highways..........Any of these realistic enough for you? I got more,.....a whole list. How about one they shot down years ago? Make a driver cab protection device anchored to the frame. This was proposed years ago,....something as simple as adding two pieces of angle iron to the firewall in front of the dash,......Trucking management shot it down because it would add about 200 pounds of weight to the cab,...........unproductive weight, in management's eyes. Your life is worth 200 pounds of potential freight....How about mandatory airbags and side curtain bags in the cab? How come there's still no airbags in tractors? Surviving a crash is a healthy idea..........Any of this Unrealistic,....because it would cost management money?,.....and they just raised the greens fees at the country club,....and the price of a new Mercedes went up about 10%,......There is no incentive to make a drivers' lifestyle healthy,...or safe. In the past,...there were turnover rates as high as 90% - 100% at trucking companies,....so why bother to make the lifestyle healthier? Now,.......because the jobs were perceived as bottom-end, unhealthy, low-paid "temporary" employment by the younger workforce,....there is a growing qualified driver shortage. We are 10% older than the average age of the working population of this country,......and there's no apprentice program to replace us......and trucking employers are in competition with plumbers, electricians, welders,.....all of whom make more than we do, now,.....and live a much healthier lifestyle. Realistic enough?
 
canaryinthemine said:
Certainly,....Place all truck drivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Put in place caps on the monthly hours of service like locomotive engineers and airline pilots have. Start making all road runs turns. This would involve drivers domiciled at both ends,....but I'm trying to make it better for drivers,...healthier. It might cost the carriers a little out of their profits......but what price safety? And,...I can't think of anything safer than a healthy driver. Require a 15 minute break every two hours. Driver must leave the seat. Re-design the cabs ergonomically to prevent cramping and stiffening of joints. Re-design suspensions to recognize the atrocious conditions of the highways. Pay drivers more, and by the hour......so they don't have to spend so much time in the cab trying to make a living wage. Make "Truck Only" designated highways to run parellel to the major interstates,.........If we aren't going to have high-speed rail in this country, we might as well have truck dedicated highways..........Any of these realistic enough for you? I got more,.....a whole list. How about one they shot down years ago? Make a driver cab protection device anchored to the frame. This was proposed years ago,....something as simple as adding two pieces of angle iron to the firewall in front of the dash,......Trucking management shot it down because it would add about 200 pounds of weight to the cab,...........unproductive weight, in management's eyes. Your life is worth 200 pounds of potential freight....How about mandatory airbags and side curtain bags in the cab? How come there's still no airbags in tractors? Surviving a crash is a healthy idea..........Any of this Unrealistic,....because it would cost management money?,.....and they just raised the greens fees at the country club,....and the price of a new Mercedes went up about 10%,......There is no incentive to make a drivers' lifestyle healthy,...or safe. In the past,...there were turnover rates as high as 90% - 100% at trucking companies,....so why bother to make the lifestyle healthier? Now,.......because the jobs were perceived as bottom-end, unhealthy, low-paid "temporary" employment by the younger workforce,....there is a growing qualified driver shortage. We are 10% older than the average age of the working population of this country,......and there's no apprentice program to replace us......and trucking employers are in competition with plumbers, electricians, welders,.....all of whom make more than we do, now,.....and live a much healthier lifestyle. Realistic enough?
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That's just not money management. Thats a lot of money having to be spent. And your only answer to raise country club fees and the price of high end cars? You don't think these trucking companies having to pay more for all these changes in the trucks and logistic changes won't pass the cost on to the consumer and employees? They'll just take less profit? Ya right. 200 lbs of freight can result into the millions of loss revenue for a typical 2000 truck trucking company. Trust me these trucking companies will find a away to make up that loss revenue. They just won't eat the cost.

So who will set the price of the country clubs and high end cars bought by the wealthy? The government? More government controlb over our lives?

I disagree, there's been plenty of changes in the trucking industry to make our lives better. Trucks being built today offer much to the driver. They're safer than 20-50 years ago. Thet drive and handle much better than previous years.
 
I like the last 2 posts of Canary & Stoney. There are a lot of Companies who have tractors sitting in their yards with nobody to fill the seats. To see a major increase of pay & benefits (hourly pay and or road expenses etc) for the drivers, I believe a recruiting war for drivers will break out. Just like a gas war on the corner with 4 gas stations. But not for another 2 to 4 years. The same old adage, supply & demand. On the other side of this economic picture, hire a bunch of foreign help & the driver shortage & better benefits go south in a heartbeat. By then the only trucking I will be doing is in my pick up.
 
Stoney said:
That's just not money management. Thats a lot of money having to be spent. And your only answer to raise country club fees and the price of high end cars? You don't think these trucking companies having to pay more for all these changes in the trucks and logistic changes won't pass the cost on to the consumer and employees? They'll just take less profit? Ya right. 200 lbs of freight can result into the millions of loss revenue for a typical 2000 truck trucking company. Trust me these trucking companies will find a away to make up that loss revenue. They just won't eat the cost.

So who will set the price of the country clubs and high end cars bought by the wealthy? The government? More government controlb over our lives?

I disagree, there's been plenty of changes in the trucking industry to make our lives better. Trucks being built today offer much to the driver. They're safer than 20-50 years ago. Thet drive and handle much better than previous years.
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Of course they'll make up the lost revenue,.....right where they always do. The Labor costs. You didn't think they'd take less of a profit, did you? I didn't say "raise the country club fees",....I was making a snarky comment on how the wealthy always seem to be able to pass along their costs,....and increases,....without affecting their own bottom line. Gosh....., I wish I could do that,....but I'm just the person that provides the actual revenue,....does the actual work,....so there are no breaks for me......No way to "pass along" my costs. If you've noticed,...the first quarter results for ABF are out. Our revenue is flat,......but they've seemed able to find a way to award bonuses to the top management people. $550,000 to Ms. McReynolds, alone. So much for negotiated "shared sacrifice".........Of course ABF has to pay bonuses,.. to ....."Keep the best people". Why, I don't know........If an earthquake would swallow the headquarters building in Fort Smith,......I bet we still would be delivering freight the next day......And the day after,....and so on.....I'll have to agree that trucks are better than they were when I first started to drive in 1976,.....and, no ....it's not because they replaced the wooden wheels.....Trucks were extremely basic,....stark,.....very uncomfortable,....and as automobiles got more comfortable and user-friendly,...trucking had to adjust,...and not because they wanted to. I remember a big flap about Yellow removing front shocks, and replacing them with rubber blocks,....to save maintenance costs. I remember Helms Express removing the outside rear tandem tires on twin screws,...to save money,....until the Government stepped in and forced them to comply with manufacturer's specifications. Speaking of that,.........I would rather have Government control,....as opposed to Corporate control over my life. I can vote Government officials out of office. No one has ever asked me to vote for a CEO. If we could vote for CEO's,.....how long do you think Donald Trump would remain employed?
 
vongrimmenstein said:
I like the last 2 posts of Canary & Stoney. There are a lot of Companies who have tractors sitting in their yards with nobody to fill the seats. To see a major increase of pay & benefits (hourly pay and or road expenses etc) for the drivers, I believe a recruiting war for drivers will break out. Just like a gas war on the corner with 4 gas stations. But not for another 2 to 4 years. The same old adage, supply & demand. On the other side of this economic picture, hire a bunch of foreign help & the driver shortage & better benefits go south in a heartbeat. By then the only trucking I will be doing is in my pick up.
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Thank you, Brother Von,.....But I think the shortage is on now,...Insurance companies are calling the shots and lobbying Congress for all the CDL laws that have come out in the past ten years. They are making it as restrictive as possible to lessen the risk of an unqualified person driving equipment that they've insured. Carriers hate that......But there's nothing they can do,.....legally, anyway. Here in W. Penna., .....there's a wage war for drivers, as the Fracking industry is hiring as fast as they can. $25 to $30 an hour starting for Frack tanker. Pitt Ohio,...a local non-Union LTL carrier, has given out two 50 cent an hour raises in a year,....just to keep drivers. FedEx can't hire, UPS Freight can't hire, We just hired two,....but it was long and involved,...and both of these guys are only here for the pension. CLS tankers, for Sheetz convenience stores, is starting guys at $25 an hour. If you are a young man with a clean CDL in W. Pa.,......you've got a smorgasbord of choices,......many of which pays you better than LTL freight. Once all the hollering and BS is done about the Affordable Care Act,....sometime next year,... many guys like me,....not quite 65,...but have the pension time.,.....are going to realize they don't have to wait for Medicare age to afford health care,.......and then you will see the King Hell Mother of all driver shortages. ABF alone realizes that more than half of their drivers are over 60. Do you think they could replace half their workforce within a year? And still operate competitively? This is one of the major reasons Corporate America hates the Affordable Care Act. Cheapest way to lower wages is to keep guys working longer and longer. Keep that Labor pool high. We're about to pull the plug on that Labor pool,....and watch it swirl away......
 
Drivers

canaryinthemine said:
Thank you, Brother Von,.....But I think the shortage is on now,...Insurance companies are calling the shots and lobbying Congress for all the CDL laws that have come out in the past ten years. They are making it as restrictive as possible to lessen the risk of an unqualified person driving equipment that they've insured. Carriers hate that......But there's nothing they can do,.....legally, anyway. Here in W. Penna., .....there's a wage war for drivers, as the Fracking industry is hiring as fast as they can. $25 to $30 an hour starting for Frack tanker. Pitt Ohio,...a local non-Union LTL carrier, has given out two 50 cent an hour raises in a year,....just to keep drivers. FedEx can't hire, UPS Freight can't hire, We just hired two,....but it was long and involved,...and both of these guys are only here for the pension. CLS tankers, for Sheetz convenience stores, is starting guys at $25 an hour. If you are a young man with a clean CDL in W. Pa.,......you've got a smorgasbord of choices,......many of which pays you better than LTL freight. Once all the hollering and BS is done about the Affordable Care Act,....sometime next year,... many guys like me,....not quite 65,...but have the pension time.,.....are going to realize they don't have to wait for Medicare age to afford health care,.......and then you will see the King Hell Mother of all driver shortages. ABF alone realizes that more than half of their drivers are over 60. Do you think they could replace half their workforce within a year? And still operate competitively? This is one of the major reasons Corporate America hates the Affordable Care Act. Cheapest way to lower wages is to keep guys working longer and longer. Keep that Labor pool high. We're about to pull the plug on that Labor pool,....and watch it swirl away......
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I had no idea half was over 60. Case in point I will be 61 come July 19th. Never thought of Affordable Care affecting driver shortage. But combined with age & retirement in the next couple of years & having access to health care between 62 & 65 I bet a lot of ABF Labor pool will pull the plug @ 62. I am headed in that direction now. Just a little to early to decide. 65 man city board in Indy 050 & since Jan 1, 2014 thru May we will have 5 retire with another 4 thinking about it. The only 2 qualified we could hire in the past 6 months came from Holland or Yellow to get the better pension. No one right off the street. The 2 came with the Local's blessing which ABF asked about. Man just gave up 26 years @ Holland & came to ABF to get the full pension contribution. Go figure. von
 
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