Trucking...a ghost rider...

Know this about trucking

No matter how you stack it up, trucking is a very exploitive trade, whether an owner operator or company driver, you, your labor, your time, your energy, will be exploited to the umph most degree.

Sorry, but any job that asks you to stay out on the road for 2-6 weeks at a time, is exploitive.

Or any job (as a owner operator) where slimy brokers, shim 40-70% of your profit off the top from you, is exploitive.

Trucking is a very exploitive trade...even the companies get exploited by mandated Government fees, licenses, taxes, fuel, insurances ect ect.

Then the companies turn around and have to exploit their drivers in order to recover some of those costs.

As a truck driver, whether city or OTR or dump or anything in between, you will work harder, longer, than any athlete, politician, or Government employee, but will be paid less than them all.

You will run your butt off, and aside from driving, you'll have to do logs, hook to, unhook from trailers, in all types of weather. (if you think it's easy try it.)

Some drivers, after driving 10+ hours, then have to unload freight...40,000 lbs worth of freight, and stack and count. (if you think it's easy, try it)...



And then after words, when tired and exhausted and dirty, no place to shower.

Must leave Consinee/Warehouse, must find place to park, to rest, all rest areas cram packed...

(no parking signs plastered all over the snobbish NE areas)

And the few spots that are available, stupid 4 wheelers decide to park in truck area, instead of their own side, now fatigued driver must continue own down the road, cause some stupid Volkswagen thought it would be 'cute' to park in 40' long truck driver spot.

You will work, drive, be on duty, (unofficial duty) longer than any other job you've ever worked in your life, but won't get paid for it, just to have to hear snobbish talk radio host types tell you...'the poor are poor cause they don't work long and hard enough'...duh
(the working poor are poor cause their labor is exploited, and they have no voice)(and cause GOP likes to destroy unions and collective bargaining where workers can unite and bargain for better, favorable working conditions...to wealthy GOP types that's baaaaaad.)


You've put in an 18 hour day...gone beyond the call of duty, and some talk radio host is telling their audience that 'The working poor are poor cause they don't work hard enough'...ye...ok.

Trucking is no cake walk...you have to love it in order to last...but sadly many do it, cause they have no income alternative, and so have to put up with being exploited.

Trucking is the only industry where a driver can bust his butt for 7 days a week, and get a check for $40.00

Stay away from Leases, unless you know what you're doing.

Lot's more to share, there's no rush.

Mileage pay vs % pay...

Mileage pay is a rip off, at least in my opinion...

Typical add reads as follows...'Oh we garuntee you 2500 miles per week!'....so what...

Lets break that down...

2500/7= 357 miles per day.

You're slamming miles on your truck, body, for mileage pay, driving 1000's of miles, putting body, health at risk.

It's a rip off to the driver...when some drivers can haul a load 10 miles under % pay, and make what another driver has to drive 1000 miles to earn.

Mileage pay is a rip off!

I know drivers who drive 20 miles round trip who earn $240 bucks...cause they get % pay...not rip you off, wear down your body, equiptment, and bore the hell out of you mileage pay.

I will not promote this post, cause this post is written more on my behalf, and won't be very helpful to others, and in fact, some might take offense to what I must express and get off of my mind concerning many or some truckers.

Begin.

Most truckers these days annoy they hell out of me, just by sight.

In a store you can always pick out the truck driver, cause he's older, and looks like he's been living in the mountains for 20 years.

And dresses like its' still 1970.

Stupid truckers or drivers come in all races and colors.

But many I encounter just seem mind numbed and dense.

And many today drive like cut throats...no manners, no grace, just behave like piranha fish.

And trucker bathrooms smell like sewers, always trashy, waters always on counter, paper towel's thrown on ground next to garbage can, nasty scribbling on stall walls.

It's all just gross.

Port drivers, Over the road drivers, it don't matter.

Older drivers today are not to be confused with 'Old Timers'...there's a big difference.

'Old Timers' are a totally different breed of trucker that you don't really see out there today, most have retired or gone the way of the sunset.

Older drivers today are not 'old timers'...never confuse the two.

Older drivers today are just older drivers, who started driving late in life but no nothing about old time customs and ways.

It's very rare to see any 'white' driver under the age of 30 anymore...not sure why that is.

But you do and will see younger black and Hispanic and Asian drivers, just not white ones...most white male drivers are well over 40 or 50, and short...with that Yosematie Sam look.

You'll hardly ever ever actually see a young white trucker that looks like a model, that looks GQ.

And because most drivers, at least white ones, are so old, there's nothing fresh in the industry, no new fresh ideas, instead you just have old males driving around killing time I guess.

Many truckers liter, and are nasty, primitive behaving, not sure why driving a truck seems to attract the most socially base types, primitaves.

Truck stops are some of the most depressing places you can go, to see an accumulation of some of the most lonely, bitter, introverted, people in the work force.

Nothing worse than seeing a nice truck pull up, nice brand new semi truck, million dollar truck, just to see some old fat wrinkle bearded something crawl out the door.

For some reason though...Log truck drivers tend to be healthier, younger, as a whole, than other types of drivers.

Not sure why truckers feel they must grow beards, and get rough skin and turn into 'Orcs' on 'Lord of the rings'...



But at least Orcs had personality, loyalty and a purpose, where as todays truck driver is a isolationist.

There is no unity within the trucking communities anymore, none that benefits drivers anyways.

I have a lot more to say...this is not your normal commercial friendly truckers blog.

Ahh, the good ole days of trucking, when drivers were really characters, each had own distinct personality, style and dress.

Back then drivers resembled WWF wrestling characters, or even bikers, back when independents ruled the roadway.

And that's probably when it all started changing, when the independents started getting flushed out by the big mega carriers.

Ahh, the good ole days, back when the CB radio ruled.



Back in the day, you just weren't a driver unless you owned a CB radio and had it tuned and 'tweeked' to perfection.

You would constantly here 'Break 19, could I get a radio check?', which meant driver wanted to know how his radio was getting out, know about his FWR's, how much he could move other drivers needles, power.

Back then drivers lived and died by the CB radio, back then all things trucking came from CB radio, weather reports; traffic reports; bear reports (speed traps); items for sale (truck stop auctions), fish tales (exaggerated stories of grandeur), romance, commercial, 911 or help, CB was everything, a life line.

Not anymore, now most don't even know how to use it, and instead use cell phones to dial home.

Back in the day no one called home, had to use pay phone or calling cards.
Back then drivers dove into the moment of being away, enjoyed each others company.

Modern drivers are kind of geeks, in that they're constantly phoning home to 'my wife', instead of paying attention to the environment around them.

Geeks I tell ya geeks.

Now days drivers drive trucks like cars, actually honk horns in truck stops, back in the day all drivers had CB on so if you wanted to communicate you used CB...

'Hey driver, that's my spot', or 'Hey driver, you're about to back into post or my hood ect'.

Now days drivers beep their horns the same way a 4 wheeler would, which reflects the new mentality of drivers.

The brotherhood has been forever shattered, now there's language barriers, cultural barriers, age, generational barriers, it's like every driver for themselves.

Accept maybe in more rural areas.

So many legends of the past that are now gone, back when everyone had a CB handle.

Truck stops once felt like Carnivals, today they feel more like Convalescent centers at night where you can hear crickets chirping it's so quiet and dead.

Back the, drivers weren't afraid to interact with one another, now days drivers only speak to each other when forced to.

Trucking, now days, is a very lonely environment, other drivers give you cold glares and stares, instead of simply saying 'hi'.

Much more to follow.

Back in the day, the trucking industry, like most other industries, blue collar industries, was dominated by younger white males...let's just be blunt and factual.

And there's nothing wrong with that, nothing at all.

But as intigration became the law of the land, and companies forced to hire on other nationalities, that begin to change, not only that, but after many of these companies begin growing, the need for massive labor made them hire all and anyone willing to drive, simply to fill trucks, to pull trailers, to meet customer demands.

Many owner operators where also 'white', in the beginning, cause in order to get a truck, many had to get loans, and way back in the day minorities traditionally had a harder time securing loans from banks.(it's all documented, lets not pretend 1948 was the same as 2014).

So in the past the standard driver, OTR driver was white, rural/suburban blue collar type.

Not so much now, at least in certain regions.

I mean you may still find drivers that fit that profile in rural States like Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Idaho, Wyoming ect, but as soon as you get into areas where populations are above 300,000, or regions like SE, SW, NE, most drivers are quickly becoming foreigners, at first Hispanics, then Slavic types (Eastern Europeans), and now even Asian...you now see more and more Chinese OTR drivers.

And in places like Florida and California, in some areas, 50 or more of the drivers are Spanish speaking.

So the question now becomes 'Hey, where all da white truckers at?'.



And the answer to that is, is...is the younger white male drivers have mostly shifted out of OTR type of driving and into local LTL type company jobs where you're home daily and run local routes in and around the city or a town.



In other words, this, the above, is where all the 'pretty white boys are at'.

LTL carriers pay the best, and with most, you're home daily, like a 9-5 job.
These highly coveted driving jobs are some of the best you can get, outside of joining a Union..(some may be unionized, not sure).

But where these LTL Carrier jobs differ from your typical OTR (Over the road Carriers) is that they have grooming standards...yep.

When you work for these carriers public image is everything, brand is everything, and as such these companies have stringent grooming standards, short hair, no bangs, no long beards, uniforms, ect.

Unlike OTR companies where you may never ever meet your supervisors, with LTL carriers you're around your supervisors daily, managers daily, so companies like LTL carriers have a much more 'Corporate' feel to them than say Swift or Werner, where drivers are just out there alone, by themselves, isolated for weeks, and only communicate with dispatcher through remote qualcom system.

And is why OTR drivers are allowed to get so out of shape, so unhealthy, so unsightly, cause they spend most of their time in complete isolation...it's kind of sad actually.

Just visit any truck stop and you'll see what I mean, drivers who spend their life on the road are stuck in a different era or something.

But back to my 'where have all the younger aspiring white male drivers gone, they've transitioned into LTL Carriers which pay pretty good, have grooming standards, and are carrier driving jobs...



These companies are where drivers go now, who actually want to make a career out of driving, these LTL carriers actually allow a driver to have a life, be home daily, off on the weekend, lot's of time with family, with your hobbits, time to have hobbies, attend special events...LTL carriers are where the smart drivers go now.

Where you can work 9-5 or over night shift, and attend Orioles Baseball game that evening or weekend.

So much more to follow...a trucking blog like no other.

OTR trucking might still be fun if one is brand new at it, every thing is fun when new to it, but I don't see to many older drivers having fun out there anymore.

Where I stay, the bulk of the drivers are Hispanic now, cause most native Americans don't want to do it anymore.
But to Hispanics from Cuba or Columbia or other South American countries, they seem thrilled, and are really becoming a growing presence, at least in the Owner Operator section.

And sadly, as usual, most 'black drivers' work as 1099's for the Hispanics who came or come over, bust butt, buy trucks, then hire Americans to work for them as contract drivers.

It just demonstrates a mindset in that even Hispanics can come over hear, climb economic ladder, and then barely able to speak English, turn around and hire 'black' driver to drive for them, or even white drivers.

I've seen both.

It's a mindset.

Lower class whites and blacks just aren't as motivated anymore as newly arriving immigrants.

But this refers to the O/O world, not company or mileage paid drivers.

Most immigrants slip into the O/O side of driving, as contractors.

They see the value of ownership.

If you fast forward the clock, I can see Hispanics becoming second only to 'whites' as being economically more sound than all others, and leaving blacks way way behind, at least hood types, who allow others from across the ocean to arrive, step on, then step ahead of them in every social and economic way imaginable, all do to different mindsets.