give european drivers a fair shot

[convoy 450]

a lot of drivers in europe would jump at the chance to drive big truck in the states the prospect of big conventional tractors and the open road among other interests since 9/11 it seems the us goverment has put a block on drivers coming in from europe not everyone in europe wants to blow up the usa sure security needed to be tightend but i have found out through a bit of research that companies once sought drivers from europe i cant see that changing in the future now that mexico has a grip on the usa i can see the trucking industry slowly go down the drain as more men and women will seek jobs in othere fields of employment

[heyns57]

My opinions are based on what I have read on other forums and in the trade journals. Canadian trucking companies have been recruiting in Europe. Some drivers have taken their vacations in Canada to check out the working conditions and pay. Some have decided to stay in Europe because of the extensive time away from home for drivers serving western Canada. Of course, drivers from Western Europe had their wages undercut when the Common Market opened the borders to Eastern European drivers. I was interested in this because of my Dutch ancestors and the fact that only a few years ago, Dutch drivers had an edge in border crossing with their ability to speak several languages.

By the way, the U.S. trucking industry has gone down the drain since deregulation in the 1980s. NAFTA had nothing to do with it.

[drmike]

My Father-in-Law lives in Ukraine and drives to different countries in Europe to make a living.
The work conditions there in Ukraine are terrible.
When he gets home he might get his time off and he might not.
He stays out for a month at a time and when he does get home he might get paid and he might not.
Sometimes they pay him with products transported instead of money....It might be oranges, coca cola,etc or money, but what can he do? He can't come to America unless he is granted a work visa and forget about applying for a green card...It is a 10 year wait to get a chance at that and then there are only so many granted.
We in America sometimes don't realize just how lucky we are.
Common wages in Ukraine is about 2,000 USD per year.