major rant

The trucking industry SUCKS!  Patrick sat for 2 full days while they tried to locate an empty trailer for him.  The one good thing that came of it was he got to meet Jill and Eric in Columbus!  He only got 1300 miles last week!  Normally a trucker will shoot for 3000 miles a week for a good paycheck.  He gets paid (on average) about 35 cents per mile.  You figure out his paycheck this week!  As if that’s not bad enough, they started routing him home.  Ok that’s a good thing, but they gave him a load that picked up in Indianapolis, IN and goes to Huntington, WV.  Use Yahoo Maps and run the miles on that if you want.  The shortest route is 278 miles.  They gave him routing information to take all interstates.  They want him to go south on 65 till Louisville, KY and hit 64 west almost all the way to Huntington.  That route is 314 miles.  They’re paying 251 miles.  WHAT?!  I told him he should drive it 251 miles, call them up and say “hey I drove this thing 251 miles but the consignee is nowhere to be found and I’m nowhere near Huntington!”  So anyway, he calls in and they say “well, that’s what the load pays.”  So what?  You allow the shipper or consignee to say what they’ll pay you to haul a load?!  I’m sure that’s not the case!  So for Patrick to drive 314 miles should pay him $109.  Instead he’s getting paid $89.

Companies that don’t pay from address to address should be shut down!  How can they ask a driver to be away from home 10 days to two weeks at a time and live in a 6ft box and treat them this way?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, truckers have a horrible job and don’t get paid NEARLY what they’re worth!!  Any store you walk into, any mall you pass, any item you buy from any store you visit, any item you bought…  a trucker delivered.  “If you bought it, a trucker brought it” is a saying I’ve seen repeatedly on trucker (and trucker wives) message boards.  Can you imagine living where you work, not seeing your spouse or kids for 10-days to 2-weeks at a time, not having a bathroom readily available, having to drive 11 hours a day, worrying about other drivers on the road, having people in cars stop suddenly or not knowing how to merge onto the interstate.. a big truck doesn’t stop that quickly.  And if you have an accident, it’s your fault.  No matter what, it’s your fault.  Because you’re the “professional” driver.  You’re trained to handle anything, right?  If someone pulls out in front of you and stops, and you hit them and kill them, you go to prison for vehicular homicide or involuntary murder.  And why?  For driving and trying to support your family while driving for a company that screws you over at every possible turn!!

And Patrick doesn’t work for some random little company, he drives for one of the most reputable in the country!

Have I mentioned trucking SUCKS?!?!?!