How Do Trucking Companies Get Away With It?

I have posted on here some things that have happened to me since starting my career with my current company. But something happened the other day that really tops the list.

Yeah, I have sat at shippers/receivers for long periods of time getting loaded and unloaded. (Getting loaded???? Yeah I wish)

I have been sent to places closed on holidays. Just the normal day in trucking. Right?

But I have two things I really can't understand how trucking gets away with. At least what my company is doing.

Let's start at the top. Mileage pay. I know 98% of truckers are paid by the mile. But what I am unsure of is how each companies system works. Here we are paid, what I have been told, is from zip code to zip code.

Now, in saying that, I have also been told by other drivers, that no, that system is illegal. They stopped doing that long ago.

A few days ago, I started keeping my odometer mileage. And today I compared it to my "trip mileage". In just 4 trips I have "lost" 215 miles.

At my pay, that is 60 dollars. Now, 60 dollars might not sound like much. But as I said, that was only on 4 trips. That is like telling a worker to come in at 8am and start working, but don't clock in till 8:30. How is that legal?

My next point.

Last Sunday, yes, I know, weekend dispatch. Anyway, I was dispatched on a load. Pick up in Columbus OH. My drop was in Zanesville earlier that morning. So I made my delivery and headed back to Columbus. I got there. Pick up time was from 1600 on Saturday till 1400 on Sunday. Or so my order said. I got there just before 1100am.

The guard looked at me and asked me what I was doing there. I was there to get a load. Not this morning you aren't. We are doing inventory. We won't start loading till sometime after 1500. Go find a place to wait and call back.

I should have known this was not going to turn out well right then.

1500 rolled around. I called. Still doing inventory. I called back at 1600. Finally they are loading.

I head back. I get to the guard shack. Something is wrong with the paperwork. They send me to the office. I get there. Still they can't find the paperwork. They send me back to the guard shack to get weighed. They didn't weigh me the first time through. They thought it was a drop and hook.

The sequence of numbers on my sheet made it a live load, but they still couldn't find the paperwork.

So I head back and get weighed. I go back to the office. He is still looking. He asked if I had any other numbers. I gave him all I had.

Now he finds the problem. The load I was sent there to pick up wasn't even ready yet. Not to be picked up for two more days.

I waited for over 8 hours for a load that wasn't even there.

My company is refusing to pay me. Said there wasn't a load. All they said, "Oh sorry about that".

How is that not illegal??

I really love what I do. I am really beginning to hate who I do it for. I just hope that the whole trucking industry is not this screwed up. Please someone tell me, I have better things to look for with other companies.

Keep it safe out here, the life you save might be your own. Joe S.

What company do you work for? I'm planning on going OTR in a couple months, and hope I get on with a good company. I do the same routes every week but they do pay me for every mile I drive. I want to avoid the zip code to zip code milage pay. I hope that's not standard practice.

As far as the miles go unless your company pays practical milea you will get shorted on what you actually drive. As far as this particular load issue.. Not all companies are like this.. Not saying I dont do my fair share of sitting but I get paid $12/hr to do it. Thats what sucks about working for most big companies.

This company that your working for wouldn't happen to be Swift would it Joe??? That's who I work for.

Most companies still use the pay system Rang McNally household movers guide miles. It's zip code to zip code. And no its not illegal. Cause I can almost bet that somewhere in the orientation Paperwork ,Weather Or Not It Was Gone over, it said how you were going to get paid. I know with Werner it stated what they use. If you go exactly by the companies routing you will drive roughly 10% more miles than you are actually being paid for. That is how it always has been.

It's been talked about for years about the government stepping in and making everyone change to practical miles but the one thing that has stopped them was companies threatened to start charging drivers for ALL out of route miles PLUS all the fuel being used during those out of route miles.

Now with all that being said you can't just look at the drivers side of things. You have to look at both sides. It's fine and great to be paid for every single mile you turn but what about the drivers that would take advantage of this and run extra miles to make more money?

2 years ago when I 40 was shut down due to a landslide in Tennessee and the work around was 70 miles long out of route for most drivers what do you think would happen if the drivers got charge for the out of route miles they had to drive Plus the fuel used during that bypass? Drivers would be ready to take up arms if that happened.

So basically it's a catch 22 type of thing. No solution is perfect but it would be even less unfair if you had to take another route beyond your control and get charged for it.

As far as the miles go unless your company pays practical milea you will get shorted on what you actually drive. As far as this particular load issue.. Not all companies are like this.. Not saying I dont do my fair share of sitting but I get paid $12/hr to do it. Thats what sucks about working for most big companies.

Dang, I want a deal like that. Where did you find that at?

Blue Angel, what you're going to find in the trucking industry is that every company out there has their pay and benefits setup just a little different than the others but in the end it all works out close to the same.

Take 10 experienced drivers running OTR for 10 different major companies and they'll all have slightly different equipment, pay, & benefits. But look at their tax returns at the end of the year and you'll find they'll all very close to the same in the end.

Some companies like WEL that Redgator works for will pay detention pay without hesitation. Most companies won't. They'll try to get out of it. But I promise you there are things at WEL that are a disadvantage to their drivers and most drivers at other companies wouldn't have that issue.

What I used to do was decide what I expected to make each year based upon my experience, the company I worked for, and the division I was in. Then I watched over a period of weeks and months to make sure I was getting the miles and pay I expected. And it always worked out like I expected. Sure, you're going to have lousy days where you sit for 24 hours and don't make a dime. Then there will be times you'll be running so hard you feel like you're hanging on by a thread and you're almost considering asking for a break but the money is just rolling in. In the end you'll wind up where you should be.

Listen, there are a million things about the trucking industry that could be done better than they are. No question about it. But trucking has hardly changed at all in decades and I don't see any catalyst for change on the horizon. I was just having an email exchange with Ellen Voie who is the founder of Women In Trucking and I had mentioned that I've never taken the role of an activist in the trucking industry because trucking never changes. It is what it is. It's not that it can't change, but I don't know how you would do it without sweeping legislation because the industry is just too fragmented. 96% of all trucking companies have fewer than 20 trucks and 93% have fewer than 6 trucks. There are 1.1 million trucking companies listed in the U.S. How would you ever get them to change their policies together voluntarily? It will never happen. So it would take legislation to do it and I don't want any part of that process. So my approach is to teach people how the trucking industry really works and prepare them to do well and enjoy themselves just the way things are now. Because they're not going to change.

The fact that drivers get paid by the mile is one of the reasons I say driving a truck is more like being a business owner than an employee. Because if you're not turning revenues for the company then you're not generating income for yourself. That's how it is when you're in business and I think that's the best way to pay someone - by the amount of revenues they can generate. That way when you're making money the company is making money. If you're not making money, neither is your company. That way the companies and the employees have the same goal - keep those wheels turning and make money together.

So set an expectation for what you'd like to make this year based upon your mileage pay and the average weekly mileage you're shooting for. Then just keep a long-term view. Don't sweat the slow days or weeks. You'll make up for em at some point. Just run whenever the opportunity is there and when things are slow try to take advantage of it and enjoy the downtime.

If you are worried about Zip to Zip miles (what is commonly referred to as House Hold Goods (HHG)). I know that at Barr Nunn (the company I am going to in the next couple of weeks) pays practical miles. Now, with that said, am I going to drive more miles than I am going to be paid for, I am sure I will.

So there are companies out there that pay other than HHG miles. You just have to keep a look out for them.

Ernie

I'm not CDL driver. After I got lay off from other industry in 2001, I got a job at intermodal trucking company. I had no clue what is going on. I knew truck move cargo from point A to point B. but, I did not know how much is involve in transportation business and Safety. Drivers work irregular hours depends on trip distance, dispatchers response moment to moment emergency truck problems, customer service response to complaint from customers with no satisfactory answers. Few months after I started, one of our driver got involved in unimaginable multiple truck accident made me to walk away from this industry. I could not handle the pressure and chaos in trucking industry. truckers are at the bottom of the barrel in transportation with no respect. some times dissatisfied customers responded look down on you saying "you're just Trucker!!. Just do as I said!!!"

I walked away from this industry because I'm not cut out for this. Then I was out of job again. about a year later, I got a job offer from start up trucking company. I don't like the industry but, I took the offer, and you know the reason. It has been 12 years in this trucking industry. I agree with many drivers pain and suffering. irregular work hours, physical problems, low pay, unexpected condition on the road everyday, no health insurance, no retirement benefit, family issues, and list goes on and on. There is no respect for truck drivers and seniority is very rare. There are many more younger drivers keep coming in this industry and new trucking companies keep forming. surplus supply of trucker makes impossible to increase driver's wage. demand of transportation cost is so competitive, there is no room to make more money. it is difficult to be a truck driver.

However, unlike many other industry, job is always available for truck driver. Everyone knows transportation industry will grow every year. but, what is impact on drivers for transportation industry growth?

There are still some positive perspective in transportation. Compare to some jobs requires years of education back ground, you can find job with relatively short training time. Trucking office work such as customer service, dispatch, accounting are available with minimum back ground training and advancement is available based on individual skill and capability. Depends on your ability, your skill is easily transferable to other company as well. However, as driver, pay increase is difficult to expect due to profit on transportation is fixed. your years of knowledge and street smart is difficult to proof. therefore, increase in compensation is not easy.

I can't recommend anyone to become trucker for life. but, I often refer to become truck driver to young people looking for job. Not just driver for life but, for understand and be part of growing industry. For young people, they can start building career in transportation either from warehouse forklift driver or van driver handling hot shots. then get CDL A to other advancement after years on the road. I believe there is plenty of opportunity in transportation for younger people with no education background and needs income right away to support family. but, stay focused and lead successful career in transportation is challenging. They need mentor and guidance for many years.

By industry nature, many people in this industry don't have higher education. Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, engineers, and truck driver need continuing education. However, to advance in career, trucker needs more education while they have trucking job. Determination, and focus on future is needed. one of most important part as trucker is STAY HEALTHY. I can't emphasize enough for all drivers unhealthy eating habit and irregular work hours and lack of self training on physical and mental is must. you can't see dream of your life if you loose your health at 50.

This is good website to share and assist and find trust worthy of people in Transportation. Thank you for sharing

Joe, sometimes perspective means everything in how you see things. I don't ever really feel that the trucking companies are getting away with anything or are getting one over on me. Household Good miles have been the standard for years, and by the same logic these trucking companies could be saying they don't understand how the customer gets away with it. Even though their truck has to drive 600 miles to a destination they may only be getting to bill the customer for 540 miles because that's what the Household Goods miles were. Now if Celadon were billing the customer for the actual miles and then paying you for HHG miles then you might have an argument, but that's not the way it's done in the industry.

I generally look at each load assignment as a contract between me and the company. They send me the load information and they let me know how many miles it gets paid. Once I've committed to that load I'm agreeing to do it for the price it pays. To start measuring all my trips with my odometer and checking to see just how many miles I'm getting cheated would only serve to discourage me. Lord knows there are plenty of other things to cause you discouragement in this job, so it's best not to go looking for extras. Focus on the things you love about this job, focus on learning and putting into practice the things that will help you excel at this career. I'm not just saying to think positively, what I'm talking about is focusing your energy onto making and proving yourself a true professional at what you're doing. In that process you will find that you will start to get more done, gain your dispatchers trust, and start earning a better paycheck. Joe, we're both rookies at this, and if there is one thing I've figured out about this profession it is that it takes considerably more time than just a few months in the saddle to begin to get a feel for how to make it in this job. Commit yourself to this for the long run and you will be much happier about the whole process.

Oh, and one more thing Joe, be careful about what you hear from those drivers hanging out at the truck stops, or the terminals, or even on the radio. Unfortunately you can pick up a lot of worthless information from truck drivers. I'm not sure why but this industry is full of experts that barely ever seem to get anything right, but they love nothing more than to spew out their ignorance when ever they can find a pair of willing ears to put their trash in.