Comments By Sam C.

Very true. A lot of 1% lost money in businesses. Yet another reason they keep costs down so they can afford to loose and keep themselves where they are.

I've got a question for all of you rich wealthy haters out there. Now be honest!! If you won a 50 million lottery, would you be willing start a company, risk millions of your money, for a net return of a few thousand? You have to do all of the work to get the business off the ground. You have to risk your money. You have to hire people whom you've never met at double the cost of your competitors and hope they are worth it because it costs so much in training to replace. Now after the end of the year, you made 20000 more than your employees. Not worth it! Hell, a savings account will net you a few percent gain a year, yet most people don't even think that's worth it.

Now in the story above, you started your own restaurant. Then you paid your employees high. Now you work as a truck driver. What happened to your employees when you lost everything? Did they all come to you and offer to cut their pays in half so you could save your restaurant or did they walk away? Look at Mc Hammer, paid his dancer's so well it cost him everything. Think his dancers gave some money back? Hell no!

Here's something everyone knows but are afraid to admit. Everyone in this country is greedy! Everyone wants more money. From the bottom to the top. There's never enough! We've been debating back and forth about the same thing yet people feel they should have more and others less. Why is it OK for the poor to say but wrong for the rich? It's the same thing. Everyone wants more. There are a few documentaries out there that discuss this in detail. They interview people making minimum wage and ask them how much money is enough. They answer "there's no such thing as enough" then they laugh. Then they turn to the kinkos guy, a 1%, and ask him the same question. He responds the exact same way, laugh and all. We are all greedy. We all want more for less, which is the exact reason why stores like Walmart pushed all the mom and pop shots out. Once they popped up everyone stopped shopping at the mom and pops. Not because they couldn't afford the mom and pops but because they wanted to get more and pay less. Now that Walmart has taken over everyone says they hate them. Well quit shopping there then. Find a mom and pop and pay more.

And your story is the exact reason they won't. They aren't going to put their money on the line in case the company goes bust. Then they would be right where you are and having to find a job. They make enough by keeping costs low to afford going bust.

BTW, I really hate the auto spell crap on my phone!

That's only partially true. Boomtown, as you refer to it, are short term. Especially in the oil industry. It works like this, when the price per barrel is high, business is booming and the companies are willing to pay higher in order to make more money. The reason they pay higher is simplesimple, they want people to rush to them and get to work. Now when the price per barrel drops and the companies are no longer making millions they cut the employees and shut down. Sure they were still making thousands when the price dropped but they aren't in the business to make thousands. They want millions! It's not worth it if they aren't making millions. There is enough oil in the US to cover our needs but with what they would have to pay for employees, testing the land for regulations, the publicist cost so they can counter the tree huggers, and many more expenses. It's just not worth it. Look at how many fraking companies have closed up shop or not even got off the ground. People want cheap goods but high pays and it just doesn't work like that. There is no incentive for a millionare to open a company that only nets him a hundred thousand a year. It's not worth the headache. This is why they are all going over seas where labor costs are minimal, no Oshawa regulations, and no medical costs. Businesses are in the business to make money. They don't care about what goods they are selling as long as you're buying.

Now for the rest of us, we want the opposite. We want companies to make less and pay us more. To keep the price of the product as low as possible so we can afford it. Sounds good in theory but isn't reality.

Yes Brett I am saying that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When we sent a man to the moon we still hadn't figured out how to make automated machines as efficient as they are today. Back in the day of the manufacturing boom it took 1 person for each job in the factory. Now it takes 1 person to look over 5 machines that do 15 people's jobs faster and more efficient than 30 people. Look, I get that it sucks, but it's the reality that we live in. I used to work for a company that made computer chips. I soldered capacitors onto computer chips every day for about 9 months. There were 15 of us that soldered and another 10 who checked for mistakes. About 9 months into the job, the owner purchased a wave solder machine. Guess what, 23 people were let go the week after it was up and running. 1 older Chinese lady had been working for that company since it opened 5 years earlier. This is business. People are expendable. Machines are the future. Now if you want a machine to take over for the ceo, that's fine, but it would have to have artificial intelligence. Our job as workers is to do 1 simple thing day in and day out. No real mind power needed. Ceos have to use their heads.

Sorry Dan if I stepped on your toes about driving being a low skill job but it is. Most people don't make it as a trucker, once they have their cdl, not because the job takes to much skill. They quit because they miss having a life. This job used to be a lot harder but technology has dumbed it down.

I've already answered that question. There is no such thing as higher pay across the board for truckers in general. We live in a society today that has more low skilled workers then jobs available. Companies have no incentive to raise wages because people can be replaced relatively easy. Instead of trying to keep employees they are simply dealing with the constant turn around as they search and invest into ideas on how to replace them permanently. If you haven't already seen the self driving truck videos that they are testing, you should. Business is business. The future of low skill jobs has been on the decline for a long time. The better technology gets, the worse it looks for blue collar.

Why do you keep switching your arguments when it comes time to shine some logic on them? Please explain away, my feelings will not be hurt.

How am I flip flopping? Being efficient is part of being a good worker. A hard worker. Being a hard worker means that you don't waste time or cut corners. You come in every day and do the best job that you can.

How has every business made work easier? Technology! Like I said, at 1 point in mcds existence, they actually had people flip burgers and make patties. Then the figured out a way to replace people with faster machines. Pre-made frozen patties replaced the guy who had to make them. A top and bottom grill replaced the need more multiple people to flip burgers. Every business has been affected by technology. It is easier today than it was 25 years ago to do anything.

Why do close deserve huge paychecks? Because the owners of the companies want the best people running them. How do you get the best? You pay them well... Think of it the same as Walmart drivers. Walmart doesn't want the shlub who has a bad record or some newbie out of school. They want the best. They don't need to run a cdl mill like the others because people are dying to work for them. Why? Because they pay top dollar.

How do I know you can't manage your truck? That's pretty easy, 1 because anytime someone talks lease everyone here freaks out about how they will loose their ass. 2 I drive these roads, same as you, and see people blow by me speeding non stop in their trucks. You can't even follow the simplest of rules on the roadways. Why are you in such a hurry? You have more than enough time to get to your 90 if you plan it right.

Sam C.

So you cleverly answer the first part of Brett's question about truck drivers not working as hard as 25 years ago, but you conveniently ignore the second part about executive compensation. But fear not, as you did answer it by saying the following;

"Truckers today don't work as hard as they did then. The same goes for every business."

So by every business you must also be including executive compensation as they derive their income from every business. Then by this reasoning you agree that executives are also working 'less hard' ... but their incomes have still increased exponentially.

As you so aptly stated that you are the 'smartest one here', please explain how in your world it can be that everyone is working less hard, but somehow one group is able to capture a bigger share of the income pie than the other. Wouldn't everyones income decline in such a scenario?

How do I explain this without hurting your feelings. There are 2 major things involved here.

1. The majority of drivers have proven they cannot run their own truck efficiently, hence now needing monitored and micromanaged. That's why all the fancy new gadgets are installed. Yet an executive is running the entire fleet very efficient, hence why he and the owners are making bank instead of going bankrupt.

2. This is what I've been preaching the whole time that you refuse to understand. He busted his butt to get there! Why do you think people get business degrees, mathematics degrees, law degrees, and so on. Do you think they just love school? No! They do it for the money! He deserves every penny. He saved the company millions by suggesting to install cameras. Now they can fire slackers and have proof to show to deny unemployment. He brought in new business which made the company millions. By refusing to give raises to you and I, he kept costs down and was able to under bid the competition.

This is business! I know I am replaceable. I am a grunt. I work a low skill job. I chose this life. I wasn't forced into this truck and if I want to leave I can. But that's the thing, I don't want to. I don't want to have to work and go to college. I don't want to have to work that hard. Sure I wish and dream that I was rich but that's all they are. Wishes and Dreams. I have done nothing to deserve it. I can honestly say that if I ran the company that I would do exactly the same thing. It's good business. The whole point of starting a business is to make money. I'd probably cut the drivers wages even more because I know there are always people looking to work. Someone will take the job. Supply and demand

Let me break down how mcds works for you. First they open a box full of frozen patties. Shocker, I know. Then they lay said patties on a grill. Ooooo it's getting tough. Once the patties are on the grill they lower the top grill and push a button. Ding! Done. End of there Patty flipping job