Unfairness Of Pay By The Hour And The Fair Labor Act

Ashley states:

I believe that this needs to stop and that companies need to consider becoming included on the Fair Labor Act and paying drivers by the hour rather than by the mile.

Old School, you can tell by Ashley's statement that she is not exactly unbiased. Besides, we have hashed this question out here recently. So, true, we didn't rise up in exploited indignation.

This is why I keep coming back - beyond a few immature types, most TT members shoot straight.

The hourly pay would obviously hinge on what that hourly pay would be. At perhaps $10 an hour, the math would simply not work. But $10 is pathetic for the level of responsibility this job entails. $20 might be more in-line, but this is just my opinion.

As you see, this is quite a contentious issue, with solid arguments on both sides. I myself would prefer hourly just like in every other job.

That's crazy.

I had no idea that the pay was so low for somebody driving trucks.

I had no idea that the pay was so low for somebody driving trucks.

Well, considering you only have to go to school for a few weeks, you can often times get it nearly for free, you do a month or two of on the job training, and you're making $35,000 your first year. WIthin three years you should be at $45,000-$50,000. Not bad for a few weeks of schooling that cost at the most a few thousand bucks.

Plus you get to travel the country in someone else's $100,000+ brand new big rig.

Hate to throw ice water on some fires here but drivers are exempt from having to be paid overtime. It does not have to be classified as salary. I get paid by the hour and do not get overtime pay. Yeah I looked into it to be sure but as a truck driver you are not required to be paid overtime. It is one of the few jobs that are exempt.

Now for me, getting paid by the hour works out better than mileage. I can drive 100 miles or 600 in a day. Most of my time during the day is spent loading, unloading and securing. Take the load yesterday for an example: I ran a total of 300 miles but it took 12.5 hours to do that. With an hour to secure and 4 to get unloaded that was a lot of time not turning the wheels.

I have a company I could apply to when I have my CDL , where my friend work. It's local, home every night and weekends, delivering goods to shopping malls. My friend tells me boxes are no heavier than 40 pounds (you do handle the freight) Paid by the hour ($20 something), overtime on a daily basis (not weekly basis) and a few other things. He says rookies bring home at least $800/week AFTER deductions.

I have a company I could apply to when I have my CDL , where my friend work. It's local, home every night and weekends, delivering goods to shopping malls. My friend tells me boxes are no heavier than 40 pounds (you do handle the freight) Paid by the hour ($20 something), overtime on a daily basis (not weekly basis) and a few other things. He says rookies bring home at least $800/week AFTER deductions.

Sounds like what you were looking for!

Just beware, others on this forum will tell you that local hands-on delivery work is no joke. Crowded city driving, crazy backing maneuvers, tight schedules, long days, tons of physical labor... Well I'm sure they can tell you all about it. It's not really very "rookie-friendly" work either. But that doesn't mean it can't be done...

I have a company I could apply to when I have my CDL , where my friend work. It's local, home every night and weekends, delivering goods to shopping malls. My friend tells me boxes are no heavier than 40 pounds (you do handle the freight) Paid by the hour ($20 something), overtime on a daily basis (not weekly basis) and a few other things. He says rookies bring home at least $800/week AFTER deductions.

Sounds like what you were looking for!

Just beware, others on this forum will tell you that local hands-on delivery work is no joke. Crowded city driving, crazy backing maneuvers, tight schedules, long days, tons of physical labor... Well I'm sure they can tell you all about it. It's not really very "rookie-friendly" work either. But that doesn't mean it can't be done...

And THAT is exactly my fear.....and knowing you can't afford making mistakes or it can end your career real fast, this is why I was giving up on the idea of going to work for the company... :(

Search for Mountain Girl. I think her rookie/first job was city LTL P&D. Pretty detailed diary.

Search for Mountain Girl. I think her rookie/first job was city LTL P&D. Pretty detailed diary.

6 String works for Old Dominion, and could offer some good advice, too.

Trucking is a skilled profession. It isn't classified that way, but we know it is. It can take years to master just backing, let alone everything else. So let's put this in perspective here. Americans tend to work on average wayyyyy more than most countries. If you went to any other country and told them you worked 70 hours a week at a skilled profession and made less than a living wage (17 or 18 an hour on average, depends on your state) with minimal benefits, they would think you were crazy. The reason truckers get paid by the mile is because that looks better to someone who doesn't know the industry. Do you think people would be so excited to pay thousands of dollars to work a 10 an hour job if they knew that's what it was? We'd have much less people going to CDL school, and driver pay would go up. Once you have your CDL, your in the pond so to speak, so you swim. CPM puts incentive on speed too. Bad idea in the winter time. (the faster your mph; the more miles; the more $); quite unsafe. Of course none of this will change until a protest or strike happens, which is unlikely since most drivers are used to cpm and unfortunately aren't the best at math. 70 hours a week at $20 an hr WITH overtime (why do we NOT deserve overtime?) equals $$$$$$1700$$$$$$. Did you make that last week?