Michiganders, check in

[Dinsdale]

They'll often do it going up a hill

Where did you find a hill?

A friend of mine was a long-haul trucker. According to him, somewhere between 80-85% of all truck driver have no business driving a truck.

Drove over the Santiam Pass a few years ago with a friend for work. Extremely twisty road over the top. Complete freaking whiteout. Couldn't see 10 feet. And oddly enough, we never cracked about 10MPH. Neither did any of the other vehicles on the highway. Ain't fucking rocket surgery.

[mvscal]

A friend of mine was a long-haul trucker. According to him, somewhere between 80-85% of all truck driver have no business driving a truck.

I'm not a trucker but we employ them. I'll second that. If you have two hands, two feet and can make your mark on a piece of paper, you can get a CDL.

[BSmack]

A friend of mine was a long-haul trucker. According to him, somewhere between 80-85% of all truck driver have no business driving a truck.

You're welcome

~J.B. Hunt

[War Wagon]

A friend of mine was a long-haul trucker. According to him, somewhere between 80-85% of all truck driver have no business driving a truck.

Well that settles it then, you have a "friend" who says something derogatory about 80-85% of truckers so it must be true. A few others chime in and agree.

We might as well shutdown the interstate commerce system because w/o truckers this country would come to a screeching halt.

I won't debate the merits or lack thereof of long haul truckers. I know a few who are good people but I'm not on the road with them. I have driven enough around truckers though to say that your 80-85% number is ass backwards. 90% of them are safe and courteous drivers who don't get near the appreciation they deserve, nor the pay. It's a difficult, thankless job and these guys spend days or weeks away from their homes and families to get product on shelves that you apparently take for granted.

I schedule freight (thru a broker) all over this country. We use most every carrier out there, big and small, full loads and LTL's. We and our customers absolutely rely on these guys to get product to a destination on time and almost w/o fail they do just that.

[Goober McTuber]

I schedule freight (thru a broker) all over this country. We use most every carrier out there, big and small, full loads and LTL's. We and our customers absolutely rely on these guys to get product to a destination on time and almost w/o fail they do just that.

And to hell with anyone that gets in their way. Fuck your fucking truckers.

[BSmack]

It's a difficult, thankless job and these guys spend days or weeks away from their homes and families to get product on shelves that you apparently take for granted.

Not exactly creating a climate where the best and brightest would want to do the job. Think about it.

[Diego in Seattle]

It's a difficult, thankless job and these guys spend days or weeks away from their homes and families to get product on shelves that you apparently take for granted.

Not exactly creating a climate where the best and brightest would want to do the job. Think about it.

From what I've heard & read the pay for long haul drivers is absolutely abysmal (like around $25-30k). Wouldn't surprise me that the pool of drivers these days is scraping the driver (although I haven't had a problem with a CDL in quite a while).

[mvscal]

From what I've heard & read the pay for long haul drivers is absolutely abysmal (like around $25-30k).

I would seriously doubt that. They probably make twice that at the least.

[Diego in Seattle]

From what I've heard & read the pay for long haul drivers is absolutely abysmal (like around $25-30k).

I would seriously doubt that. They probably make twice that at the least.

Wrong again, mouthbreather.

[BSmack]

Trucking wages have been in either decline or stagnant for years. Like more than 20 years. Most of the guys I knew way back when I was in Highway Maintenance and later managing a scrap yard were former over the road guys who were sick of being fucked over by trucking companies. In plain English, shipping rates have declined since 1979 and fuel prices have risen. Do the math. The only way to run a hauling firm and stay profitable is to fuck the truckers.

[Goober McTuber]

From what I've heard & read the pay for long haul drivers is absolutely abysmal (like around $25-30k).

I would seriously doubt that. They probably make twice that at the least.

Wrong again, mouthbreather.

One thing to consider - that article talks about commercial drivers. In Wisconsin, that includes retirees who drive those little local delivery trucks. Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

[Diego in Seattle]

Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

They're advertising that, but that's not what the drivers will actually get. In order to get pay like that they would have to get a consistent amount of loads, and that's not even close to happening.

[Dinsdale]

they would have to get a consistent amount of loads

Sin,
**Insert T1B Screenname Here**

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

they would have to get a consistent amount of loads

Sin,
**Insert T1B Screenname Here**

Don't do this, Dins...you are better than this...

[BSmack]

Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

So are telemarketing centers. That doesn't mean the money is there.

[War Wagon]

Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

They're advertising that, but that's not what the drivers will actually get. In order to get pay like that they would have to get a consistent amount of loads, and that's not even close to happening.

Wrong.

There's a shortage of drivers, not a shortage of loads. And the reason for that shortage isn't because of low pay, it's because the job sucks. You couldn't pay me enough to have to put up with all the bullshit they do.

[mvscal]

Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

They're advertising that, but that's not what the drivers will actually get. In order to get pay like that they would have to get a consistent amount of loads, and that's not even close to happening.

Wrong.

There's a shortage of drivers, not a shortage of loads. And the reason for that shortage isn't because of low pay, it's because the job sucks. You couldn't pay me enough to have to put up with all the bullshit they do.

Yeah, it's a not very enviable schedule. Diego has a 'soda straw view' of the profession from his truck stop glory hole. Of course they would lie to him about how much they make.

[Roger_the_Shrubber]

I rarely drive in it (and it rarely snows here) here, though, as the dumbasses around here are absolutely clueless on how to handle it...

I am living proof of this.

Back on 12-24-89(yeah I am old-ish) it snowed here in Tallahassee then became an ice storm that went down to Miami. I drove from here to Vero, taking US 27 to go south as quick as possible, and every pine needle was an inch around in ice, and the roads were worse. Bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of BFE, and I got up to about 4 mph, touched the brakes, and wound up doing a 180, still in my lane, looking at the guy behind me. I just waved, he waved back then I touched...touched the gas pedal about three timeswith the wheels pointed around, till I was pointed in the right direction. Cars were crashing off the side of the road EVERYWHERE!

Us Southerners don't know doodly about ice on roads.

I have no idea how you northern guys and gals deal with it, let alone Canada.

[poptart]

not a shortage of loads

[Diego in Seattle]

Companies advertising for over-the-road drivers are usually quoting $50-70,000 per year.

They're advertising that, but that's not what the drivers will actually get. In order to get pay like that they would have to get a consistent amount of loads, and that's not even close to happening.

Wrong.

There's a shortage of drivers, not a shortage of loads. And the reason for that shortage isn't because of low pay, it's because the job sucks. You couldn't pay me enough to have to put up with all the bullshit they do.

If you say so, Wags.

Care to share with us how the lifestyle of a long haul driver has changed from say, forty years ago?

[mvscal]

I have no idea how you northern guys and gals deal with it, let alone Canada.

[War Wagon]

Care to share with us how the lifestyle of a long haul driver has changed from say, forty years ago?

No.

What's that have to do with the price of diesel or the demands of being a trucker today?

[BSmack]

So there's a shortage of truckers? And how do you suppose trucking companies handle this? By carefully training only the best applicants? Or by hiring a shitload of dregs, giving them the minimum amount of training allowed by law and then putting them on the road?

Oh yea, and paying them less.

http://www1.salary.com/Truck-Driver-Heavy-salary.html

[BSmack]

If you have two hands, two feet and can make your mark on a piece of paper, you can get a CDL.

This deserves a rack. I've met more than a few illiterate truckers in my day. Even managed a few. It was a real wake up call for me the first time one of my scrap haulers signed off on his manifest with a big fat X.