Owner-Operators: Do they really earn more? Posted by DC Cargo Mall on May 06, 2014

Is owning your own truck really going to save you $$$ in the long run?

Some beg to differ.

For Samuel Slatin, his investment in his own big rig seemed to be the best decision he ever made. The hours were his own to choose from, gas was a meek 87 cents a gallon, and the paycheck came in more often.

Now, he says, things have gone from bad to worse.

Expenses have gone through the roof in more ways than one and giving up is close on his radar.

Tolls are about $100 for truckers, insurance is sky high, gas is 3.99 a gallon, and his truck gets by on only 5.2 miles a gallon.

Any slight traffic infraction could raise his insurance. His health insurance is something he can’t afford and the stress makes for a weaker heart which he now needs regular checkups for, all of which must be out-of-the-pocket, sometimes having to dish out upwards of $100 at a time.

Slatin says he left Europe, hoping for a better income and got his wish, but it was short-lived.

“I almost wish I stayed working for someone else, for a company. Being my own boss comes with all the expenses and responsibility that, at the end of the day, is costing me more!”

He points out that worker’s compensation, social security contributions, unemployment insurance, or high protection levels by safety and health regulation are just a handful of the many things he is missing out on as an owner-operator.

Back in the 1980’s, when truckers made today’s equivalent of $44.83 an hour, most of those 75,000 port truck drivers were unionized.

Now, more than half of the percentage have become independent owner operators. Initially, it was the envy of the industry – someone with his own truck and his own freedom. At this point however, independent truckers have been making an average of $28,000 a year, $7,000 less than employee drivers, who are paid by the hour and receive more comprehensive benefits. Port truckers are sometimes made to wait at the port for just one shipment for almost a day – simply because no one loses out except them, and no incentive is put in place to avoid this.

Slatin shared his musings with us:

“My marriage has been sourly affected, and I had to give up on our home mortgage because it was either that or the truck. And I need my truck to continue working. I’ve declared bankruptcy and I owe debtors. The hardest part of it all is, I am very attached and truly love my truck at this point, but I may have no choice but to sell it. The miles are high though, so it can’t be worth that much on the market by now. The saddest part is, my case is not uncommon.

“With all the expenses piling up, I have no choice but to scratch it down to bare necessities. This includes all the straps, chains, load locks and tools needed to secure my load that need replacement. If I don’t have the correct strong and sturdy securing ropes that my load requires, I could be risking a horrible accident where my load goes airborne and results in injury or worse: fatality. 

I want to thank www.DCCargoMall.com for providing me with all the equipment I need and more, and after they heard my story, have given me the discount I needed to splurge on a gift for my wife. Things are lookin’ up, slowly.”

The Text and Drive Epidemic Posted by DC Cargo Mall on April 30, 2014

Texting has evolved from just a secondary means of communication to the foremost preferred. Whereas phone conversations were the escape from face-to-face confrontation, texting now takes up precedence as the novel way to escape voice confrontation as well. 

Candid exchanges have become almost extinct. Assuming that texting requires half the effort, drivers the world over mistake it as an easy multitasking option for driving and communicating in one shot. It only requires, well, your line of vision, concentration, and hands. Other than that, sounds like a safe way to multitask, right? Wrong. 

Statistics back up the fact that no matter just how tech-savvy, and how ‘I-can-watch-the-road-while-siri-types-what-I-say’ you are, previous results are not on your side.

According to the Department of Transportation, nearly 16,000 truckers were ticketed for using their cell phones last year, but only four of those were suspended and taken out of service, WABC reported.

In just one scenario, ABC reports a George and Kathy Weed who were killed one year ago when a truck driver who police say was texting while driving slammed his tractor-trailer into the back of the upstate New York couple’s car on a Pennsylvania highway.

“Dad was in his lane and coming to a stop,” said their son, Brian Weed. “The truck just came up and hit him from behind and pushed him into another truck.”

“This utterly destroyed us,” said their daughter, Tricia Weed.  “I mean, devastating beyond words.”

This immeasurably horrifying tale is only one among thousands. Even if the driver lives to tell the tale, he may wish he hadn’t. 

In another example, in Arizona, a truck driver has pleaded not guilty to murder charges after a police officer was killed when the driver crashed into police cars and emergency vehicles.  The driver was allegedly looking at pictures on his phone at the time of the crash.

Practicing unsafe loading can aggravate the chances for a fatal crash as well, due to unwanted shifting and tumbling of heavy cargo in the wake of a texting-induced crash.

When WABC investigative reporter Jim Hoffer asked National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Robert Sumwalt if the consequences for texting while driving are strict enough for truck drivers, he had this to say:

“Well, is it really changing behavior?” 

“From your video, that indicates a lot of people driving commercial vehicles that are still using personal electronic devices,” he said. “And that would indicate the enforcement side of it is not strong enough.”

An investigation in New York City showed that the two crashes are not isolated incidents.  Cameras set up on major New York highways caught truck drivers dialing, texting and talking on their cell phones.

In one of the worst cases observed by the cameras, a truck driver carried on two conversations on two separate phones.

An institution of stricter laws have been consequentially put into place:

A truck driver stopped by police for talking on a cell phone in New York would receive a $150 fine and five points on a driver’s license. Accumulating 11 points over an 18-month period may result in a suspended license in New York, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The hope is that the fear for suspension will deter avid texters and lousy loading to a thing of the past.

A Fiery Trucking Protest - Whose Side Are You On? Posted by DC Cargo Mall on March 06, 2014

The port in Vancouver is confiscating trucker’s permits due to the resort to threats and violence in a combat about labor. 

The Port as well as the Trucking Association representing trucking companies are adamant to elicit a solution for the truckers who have quit working in anger, and resorted to protesting. The protesting included so much as one trucker tossing a heavy rock through the front window of another trucker’struck, who going at 70 mph was lucky to have survived the incident. Cutting break lines was another tactic used by these quitting truckers in the hopes of physically and verbally intimidating fellow truckers that refused to join the strike and opted to continue on working.

A BCTA Representative is disheartened with all the verbal intimidation thrown at the truckers who stuck to their posts. He’s revved up about the drivers that are being stopped and surrounded by people and cars attempting to convince the driver to stop work and join the protest. The working truckers have even received intimidating phone calls from home, warning them to quit.

Upwards of 20 permits of protesters have already been suspended with 20 more expected to be. The permits were not permanently terminated though until after a two weeks’ notice and a chance at disputing the claim with valid-deemed reasoning, which in such a case could allow for reconsideration.

So what were these protesting truckers so harried over?  Their main complaint was in regard to the hours of waiting at the port between loads. Most container truckers get paid by the load (some because they are doing the loading themselves, and buying quality securement items from their own pockets) as opposed to by the time. For them waiting long meant less time for loads and less money. The VCTA – (the Vancouver Container Trucker’s Association) which is part of Unifor (the country’s largest private sector union) has joined the strike. 

Unifor’s area director, Gavin McGarrigle, asserts that the VCTA/uniform represents around 400 members. The BCTA disputed this count stating that VCTA’s membership ran up at closer to 250 members. The UTA counter argues this as well, claiming that approximately 1000 members including employee drivers and owner operators would be a more accurate summation. The BCTA still refutes the cause and valid reasoning for protest with that argument that some drivers that in fact are paid by the hour. But the UTA challenges that these truckers are suffering though regardless – due to the same overhead costs.

The BCTA instituted an 8 point plan in the hopes of halting the protest and urging them back to work. Their strategy includes extending gate hours at terminals and introducing a rate-auditing system. A Ms. Yako has stated that the plan was developed by BCTA members who are trucking companies and therefore can empathize with the concerns of drivers. The Port Metro Vancouver also agreed to it in principle.

But this didn’t pacify the protesting drivers. ‘The plan had no input from us, the actual individual drivers!’ 

A spokesperson for the UTA criticized further that ‘They don’t care about the fact that drivers are losing their trucks, homes, and the money in their pockets.’

Mr. Xotta pointed out that truck activity has declined 20% since this protest, and with the stakes worsening each day, causing a long term reputational risk with customers. The port authority says that this is exponential because about $855 million worth of cargo is locally exported / imported via truck weekly. 

Meanwhile, the port will be lifting a moratorium on full-service operator licenses that was put into place two weeks prior to enable trucking companies to add trucks to their fleets to combat the fact that their fleets were affected by permit suspensions.

Truck Driver Beginnings: Tips on Surviving the Baby Steps Posted by DC Cargo Mall on February 26, 2014

Truck Driver Beginnings

Tips on surviving the baby steps:

Everything starts with the beginning. Well, there’s a shock. Every beginning though, is difficult, and you can’t just get to the top of a mountain view without first braving the rocks and harsh winds that come prior to it. That first year of treacherous hauling, ignorance, and perhaps getting taken advantage of with your lower hand at experience, may be the hardest but best thing that will ever happen to you.

Experience is something you’ll be forced to buy with time, but learning from your own mistakes has a more competent option: learning from other people’s mistakes. Specifically veteran trucker’s past mistakes. That will offer you the best of both worlds by knowing what not to do in spite of never having tried it. 

In your company’s eyes though, you are still new. They will want to test you out. Before trusting you with their most precious and valuable cargo, they are looking for the following behavioral patterns which are beneficial to ask yourself.

1.       Can they trust you, point blank?

 
2.       Is your freight consistently loaded in line with the rules of safety loading and with the right quality equipment, ensuring no shifting,breakage, or accidents?


3.       Can you drive safely for large increments of time, at night no less?

4.       Are you good with planning the schedule of your route to allow for timeliness?

Just reassuring them with words is not enough. Prove all of these assets to them with action. Be trustworthy, load safe; don’t bypass law even if you think it to be convenient. Drive only in amounts you can handle with adequate sleep because over-doing it will only prove that you are willing to forgo safety. Be on time and plan ahead for anything that may come up- storms, construction road close-offs, and cancellations with reroutes. 

Planning ahead is not just about leaving early. Know your route, make note of truck stop options along the way, and in case your GPS breaks down, bring a map. This way time is not lost searching for stops and more with borrowed time. 

This also means packing the sack with extra pairs of dry and comfortable clothing to ensure a relaxed drive in spite of weather conditions, and prevent you from having to run a laundry load at a truck stop. 

Attempt to bring a balanced food menu of nutrition to keep your brain alert, and an added bonus of not spoiling without too much preservative. Not your brain spoiling, your food. Although we don’t recommend either one.

Try to keep with the same company for at least a year before deciding that you need a change, because you may just be your own problem and starting with yourself can help you survive anything you come in contact with in the future.

Last but not least, when you do find yourself at the threshold of challenge, whether it is a grumpy dispatcher, a HAZMAT load, an impossibly foggy windshield, or a lost in the woods predicament, don’t panic. These challenges are expected in the life of a trucker, now just figure out what you can do to combat it.

Get off at the next truck stop (that you wrote down hopefully!), sit yourself beside that kind looking veteran trucker, and pour out your concerns. Chances are, he’s gone through them himself, and will feel needed and delighted to help. 

Even if he hasn’t a concrete answer, just sharing your burden with a fellow trucker can help to lighten your load (pun intended) and peace of mind does wonders for any trucker stuck on the side of the road with only slippery ice as company. Breathe. :)