Profile For Raymond S.

very well said rick

Viscelli blames the decline of trucker fortunes on the rise of independent contracting—an arrangement wherein trucking companies outsource many of the risks and costs of trucking to truckers themselves while declining to pay for benefits, all while advertising the arrangement as one that empowers truckers as small business owners. But the reality can be anything but empowering. Viscelli notes that some contracts in which truckers lease their vehicles from companies bind them in an kind of indentured servitude until the full cost of the lease is paid. In some cases, a trucker who wants to switch companies or leave the job might be hit with a bill of as much as $65,000.

Yeah - agreed. But I wouldn't blame the ENTIRE DOWNFALL of the driver in the equation, on leasing. Though it is the same indictment of the reasons why leases aren't recommended here at TT.

Another part of the equation - at least for most folks here.

If you're young, and this is your first "career type job" - $40K a year for an ENTRY LEVEL POSITION, isn't bad - considering that many entry level jobs pay in the low $20's, even with a college degree (we're not talking lawyer or doctor here).

The downside to the decent starting pay is - it doesn't get that much better. The laws of physics (and HOS) limit your miles to around 3K a week (give or take), and topping out at the $0.55 (+/- - also factoring in bonus's for fuel/safety/etc.) doesn't give much room for upward mobility in the finance area of the career.

Many of us older folks - are looking at a second career, after much of a lifetime in another career. So $$ is a factor - but not a HUGE ONE (as compared to other young folks with kids at home/school, large overheads to carry, etc.).

It's not a whole lot of $$ for the LIFESTYLE (keeping in mind OTR trucking IS A LIFESTYLE - not just A JOB), but it becomes a LOVE for most that stay in it. So the "lifestyle" isn't considered "suffering", but actually a BENEFIT of the job.

The main body of the article in The Atlantic magazine - is more an indictment of the leasing model - than of the industry itself.

Do we get paid LESS for MORE HOURS of work than the average "hourly wage" employee? Obviously.

Would most drivers that are HAPPY with OTR Trucking as a lifestyle, trade it to be (possibly) PAID MORE for flipping burgers or something else? Highly unlikely. Would drivers that are doing this as a second/retirement career be happier doing "something else"? MOST LIKELY NOT - since what they are doing is ABOUT THE LIFESTYLE and NOT ABOUT THE MONEY.

Rick