Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/25194
FEEDBACK Quit Wasting My Time ’m a new driver in the trucking industry, so I’m not going to pre- tend to be an expert. But I already see a lot of things that work against drivers that are BS. I There have been several times even after having 10 hours off that I couldn’t move because of the 70-hour rule. I think this rule needs to be done away with. If a driver has 10 hours off, there should be no rea- son he shouldn’t be able to drive. Another thing working against drivers is shippers and receivers tak- ing their sweet time loading and unloading, getting your paperwork, making drivers wait hours or even a day or longer. They should have to compensate drivers for their time. Even truck companies waste driv- ers’ time, with not keeping them loaded, short runs, going out of route to swap trailers with other drivers and going to a fuel stop only to have it canceled on them. Then you have states like Ore- gon or California that make drivers chain up when there is very little or no snow on the roads. Then there is the pay, which is a joke. Trucking right now is a minimum-wage job. The hours I put in and what I get paid comes to making maybe just over minimum wage. If companies want people to become drivers and stay drivers, and shippers and receivers want their goods trucked, they need to pay us better and not waste our time needlessly. I like the job, but if things don’t change, I don’t know if I’ll stay with it. Jim Daugherty Nampa, Idaho RUN RIGHT AND GET LABELED ‘JOB HOPPER’ I need help. I am a truck driver with more than 20 years’ experi- ence. I have perfect safety and legal compliance records. My problem is that I am “unemployable” because I’ve had too many jobs in the past 10 years. I don’t lie, cheat or steal, and I don’t associate with people that do. However, when a company lies to me, cheats me or steals from me I quit. I quit a very large flooring com- pany because they would not main- tain/repair their equipment prop- erly. Every day they would bring me a trailer with bald tires, lights out, wheel seals leaking, brakes out of adjustment, etc. When one of the drivers was nearly killed as a result of their refusal to comply, I quit. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSAL TO END THE CROSS-BORDER TRUCKING DISPUTE WITH MEXICO? Via Facebook: Have you seen how those idiots drive? I picked up a load in Laredo two weeks ago to go to Cali, and from a woman truck driver’s point of view, they scare me. They look at me like I’m a “man toy.” I don’t think so! I’ve been to Mexico, and I don’t like how they treat their women. I damn sure don’t like the way they look at me! I say Obama needs to keep them on their side of the border and us on ours! — Lisa M. 8 TRUCKERS NEWS MARCH 2011 Obama … talks about needing to bring more jobs to the U.S. Yet we’re gonna let these sorry drivers bring loads across our border in their broken-down trucks and take jobs away from U.S. drivers. I say Obama needs to shape up or ship out. — David G. I don’t want to take loads in or out of Mexico. It’s too dangerous. Also, I don’t think we need the competition for freight and driving jobs from Mexicans. — Bill R. I see it as a big mistake. … More drugs will cross the border. And soon the Ameri- can trucker will cease to make a good living, and … it won’t take long before they start crossing the Canadian border too. Once again a politician throws Americans under the bus for their political gain. — David E. Hey, Mexico, simple solution: Follow NAFTA, and you get entry into the Good Ol’ USA. Until then, shut up and take your tariffs and move them to the cartels. — Anthony V. CSA is supposed to remove up to 170,000 drivers from the ranks. Solution? Mexican truckers who, by the way, will haul that freight a whole lot cheaper then those 170,000 American drivers put out of work. You guys should be rioting over this. — Kev H.