VOICES SHARING KNOWLEDGE
What advice would
you give a new
owner-operator?
S
ucceeding as an owner-operator
requires a basic mastery of equipment and business fundamentals. In addition to the tips from these three owneroperators, check OverdriveOnline.com/
SharingKnowledge for more reader advice.
"
Do all your pre-trip inspections. Fix what
is broken. Remember that other drivers are
not professional drivers like you.
" Leshinky
David
Company driver, Charter
"
Managing decisions on the road like rest and drive
times is the key. Remember it's not one shot
this time but many trips ahead for which you
have to remain alert and fit.
"
Mohammed Syed Husain
Company driver, Everest Transportation Inc.
Voices: Sharing Knowledge brought to you by:
SEPTEMBER JACKET WINNER
What's your best practice for staying
physically or mentally fit on the
road? Submit your idea at
OverdriveOnline.com/Sharing
Knowledge. You could receive
a Mobil Delvac jacket for
participating.
"
Never quit learning. Listen
to the ones who have the least to say. Usually when
advice is given, the person doesn't have you
and your ways in mind. Save all you can get
your hands on, and don't forget to tip
your waitress.
"
Rick Woodcox
Technician/mechanic,
Rick's Tire Maintenance
OVERTIME PAY
ISSUE SPREADS
BEYOND TRUCKING
I've written about the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938's exemption
of company drivers from overtime
pay and the reasons it was put into
place. It was argued that it was
impossible to prove the total hours
worked by drivers far from home,
hence an hourly pay system wouldn't
work well. Paying overtime not only
would be hard to compute but also
would discourage prompt deliveries.
The 1930s were a long time ago.
Some in the industry feel that the
in-process mandate for electronic
onboard recorders negates the need
for the FLSA exemption. Workers in
other industries also are up in arms
about their own exemption from the
possibility of overtime pay.
California domestic workers – in
the same class of exemption as drivers under the FLSA, with no right
Visit Senior Editor Todd Dills' CHANNEL 19 BLOG at OverdriveOnline.com/channel19
to overtime – recently have backed a
state bill that would legislate overtime
benefits for them. In turn, Hawaii on
July 1 became the second state, following New York, to offer in-house
domestics wage protections under
state law, underscoring a state-bystate approach to the issue.
For further discussion of the issue
and to tell us where you stand, see the
July 11 post on the Channel 19 blog.
Write him at tdills@randallreilly.com.
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