I am getting sick of places not having a bathroom for truck drivers. They forever use the excuse of COVID but that is simply not true. This time we have Black and Decker in Jackson, TN. Drivers are expected to relieve themselves outdoors, in PUBLIC, at below freezing temperatures. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. It also violates the 5th Amendment to the National Truck Driver BILL OF RIGHTS. It is time for this mistreatment of truck drivers to end. I wrote to Black and Decker but have received no response so we need to take action. At the bottom of this will be contacts for you to make with your Google Voice number or emails. I also want drivers to tell their companies that this is not acceptable. We will be silent NO MORE. First, education. Now, ACTION. Please, as always be polite but be firm. Let them know that it is not acceptable to have to PEE ON THEIR BUILDING IN PUBLIC and that they are in violation of the National Truck Driver Bill of Rights for not providing a bathroom. Tell them they are being reported to the authorities and if they have further questions send them to UFCD.ORG. You could also give them my email [email protected] if you want. There are also press contacts here, let them know what is going on. Ready? Let's do it! B+D Dispatch 731-512-3006 B+D Warehouse 731-512-3067 B+D email [email protected] Let the press know: Jackson Sun (paper) [email protected] Submit a news tip to WBBJ TV Let Madison County Health Department know you have to pee (or whatever) in public on a building. On THIS form you can check health department. If you do Twitter you can retweet my message or cut and paste this one. Just takes a second. B+D In Jackson TN forces truck drivers to pee in public outside. NO bathrooms. Reprehensible. @StanleyBlkDeckr @ooida @WBBJ7News @JSunNews @JacksonTNPolice @JaxTNChamber @VisitJacksonTN @Land_Line_Now @Land_Line_Mag @CityofJacksonTN Be sure to include all of those @ because that is who needs to know about it.
What does your company say if you tell them you can't access a bathroom somewhere? Curious. Now, let's get to work! UFCD.ORG
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In light of the Canadian convoy there have been dozens of groups popping up on FB and all over wanting to organize the same in the United States. The problem is they are not of one mind. Going through some of them their "demands" are quite different. Some that are great and some that are downright kooky. Crazy far out demands are just going to get you label as a weirdo. Having a spokesman that looks like he just emerged from 25 years living in a cave is not going to help the cause. I started the United Federation of Commercial Drivers so we would have one voice and all under one banner. I have a bill of rights there that covers all drivers. If all these groups do not come together at one place and speak together they will not accomplish their goals. This is actually part of the problem in Canada. I have watched and their list of grievances is growing. You need to have that nailed down BEFORE the negotiation. Adding things later does no one any good. I have written to a few of these groups with no response. If you know leaders there put them in touch with me. I would like to see this happen but heck, I have already seen at least 4 different convoy routes posted. Real change can come but we must come together to do it. If you haven't done so please join the private FB group of the UFCD and consider joining as a member. If we can grow this bigger we will get official 501 status but that can only happen if people join. Simply complaining has gotten us no where, as we see.
In a recent article on Landline Media, Chris Spear is quoted as saying there is simply a chronic shortage of talent. He means there is a driver shortage. The ATA continues to push for more legislation to make it even easier to get a CDL. As if it isn't easy enough as it is. I would say there is a lack of talent at the ATA HQ. This is a tired line and I think they should get a new one. Now they want to recruit more women and minorities into trucking. I guess they have run out of who would be traditional truck drivers to take advantage of so they are branching out. While it may be good to encourage all people to pursue a career in driving, the ATA should work at improving the working conditions of drivers rather than trying to attract new drivers. If they just kept more of the people they already have they would not need as many new drivers. Let's face it, trucking is not that attractive of a career to most women, especially OTR trucking. I suppose local driving is a different story. Lack of bathrooms, poor treatment from men in the industry, low pay and the myriad other problems cause women to stay away. This could be the proof that women are smarter than men! Seriously, though, I would like to see the ATA just one time call out its own companies on the treatment they give to drivers. When a company, any company in any industry, has a turnover rate of 100% plus, it is the fault of the company. I will ask them why they don't do this at the Mid-America Truck Show in March. They usually have a large booth. We can change trucking if we work together. To do that check out the United Federation of Commercial Drivers. Join the private FB page and consider joining the UFCD as a member! An astute viewer sent me THIS article and I have to comment on it. It says that a milk company had to go out of business because it couldn't find qualified drivers. What is should say is that it could not get anyone to do the job for the money they were offering. That is something completely different. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the United States that have a CDL and do not use it. They couldn't find people at the low wage they are paying. How do I know they were paying a low wage? No one would take the job. Example: I have a driving job available. I offer company drivers $5500 a week salary. Would I be able to get drivers? Probably I would. So, somewhere between $5500 a week and what they were offering is what the job should pay. If a company goes out of business I say that is great. The low paying companies should go out of business. It is about time that drivers stand up and not take jobs that don't pay anything. People never put enough value on their time. Do not accept low wage offers. Drivers in the late 70s were making $100000. What happened?
Come join the private FB page of the United Federation of Commercial Drivers! sThe time is here for the United Federation of Commercial Drivers! I have been pondering this for some time. How do we go about changing the entire trucking industry? Let's look at how others do it. The big player is the ATA. They have members and lobby for them, especially in Congress but also in the press. They get taken seriously because of their size and membership. They put out a press release and it gets published. Also, there is OOIDA. I like OOIDA but I think they do too much in Washington DC for owners and not enough for company drivers.
There are many terrible trucking companies waiting for their next victim to call a recruiter. Having a lobbyist in Congress won't change that. We need to come together ourselves, take actions and make changes happen PETA style. PETA is very effective because they take immediate on the ground action that gets results. We can be the PETA of trucking! Seriously, though, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Trucking is and will always be a great career but many never stay long enough to realize that. By joining together we can take that immediate action to change trucking. Here are some of the things we can do with more to follow: Let's get on the phone! Right now most companies simply ignore me when I write to them. What if we called their recruiters? I mean, clog the lines for days until they respond. We will get an email then. Get your Google Voice number ready! Billboards. Yes. We put up billboards (electronic) near these companies. It would be great if there was a billboard right by a terminal. An arrow pointing down "DON'T WORK HERE!" Legal help. Many drivers have their paychecks shorted or they don't get paid at all. I want to get a lawyer on board who will give discounted services to us, like a lawyer letter. That get's the attention at a company way better than a simple email. The press. We will be able to get our message out in the press the more members we get. Bullhorn. I'll go to companies and yell at them with a bullhorn. Sound ridiculous? Think I can get a reporter to come over? Change requires action but it also requires money. So, I am opening membership HERE. There is also a bill of rights you should look at and make suggestions for more or for changes. There is a private Facebook page for the group as well. Once you join find it and request to join the page. I will verify membership and let you in. We can discuss what we are doing there. Also, post bad companies, no bathroom situations, long waits and all that. There will be a video about this as well but I wanted to get this out there first. Initially we won't see much change so I need everyone to spread the word. Tell your friends to join and send links to the page everywhere you can. Mighty oak trees start as a tiny acorn. I have been reading more and more complaining lately from drivers about long wait times. Really the complaint seems to be that all or most of the time is unpaid. The common thread is that shippers and receivers don't value your time. Well, duh. You don't work for them, why should they value your time? You know who should value your time? YOU. So, if a driver is willing to sit 10 hours to pick up fruit and does not get paid for that time, who should be do blame? I get the story from someone complaining on Twitter about this. You know who we should blame. THE DRIVER. I said it. "Mark, that isn't very nice." Ok, I can deal with that. If you are unwilling to value your own time then why should a shipper value it? If you are willing to sit around for free and just complain about it expect nothing to change. See, I value my time. There is precious little of it that we get so if a company wants to take some of it from me I expect compensation for that. Sitting 10 hours for free at a place to pick up citrus, or anything really, just wouldn't be my thing. I would have done at least some research BEFORE signing up to work somewhere, though. A place that is not going to compensate me for things like this is not a place I am going to work. If drivers did this companies would be forced to pay for this time. Drivers don't, though. They just sit there and tweet about it. Sailing a ship on a sea of complaints doesn't get you paid. As in every endeavor in life you need to take action to change your situation. Firstly you must value your time.
I never accept "that is just the way it is". It is that way because no one dares to change it or even question it. The industry, and even some older drivers, seem to enjoy putting out a narrative of the "Trucking Lifestyle" whatever the heck that is. I want to enlighten people that trucking is a JOB like any other job and you should get paid to do it. It is not a "lifestyle". Wearing parachute pants everyday is a lifestyle. You would never tolerate working at any other place where they said the first 10 hours of work are free. Why do drivers tolerate it in trucking? For anything to change people have to take action. I get emails from drivers getting $30+/hr and OT asking me to advertise their company so they can get drivers. I always find this ironic and a little sad knowing jobs like this go wanting and drivers sit for free for 10 hours for Florida fruit. When you are ready to get paid for your time take action and find a compatible job that gives you the compensation you want. If you are unhappy with what you are making or how you are being treated you can always make a change to a better job. Complaining about it on Twitter won't get you paid. This always fires me up. I think everyone should get paid for their time at work but I also think people way undervalue their own time. Some people have figured it out as we see many jobs not being taken because the pay is too low. Good for them. Don't do a job, any job, that doesn't compensate you fairly for your time. It is up to the individual to not accept no pay, though. I guess it kind of amazes me to have to tell people it is ok to be paid for work. When did we get in a mindset that working should not come with compensation? That needs to change as does the old mileage pay system. More on that in a future post. Until then, take action to get what you want. Among the many lies trucking companies put out one that I am growing weary of hearing is the safety aspect of a driver facing camera. It is always touted by trucking companies as a way to absolve the driver of wrongdoing in the event of an incident. Recently I was speaking with a trucking company representative and they said that their driver was accused of being on the phone and the driver facing camera cleared them. They said this as if there is no other way for the driver to prove they were not on the phone, like A COPY OF THEIR PHONE RECORD. I am still patiently waiting for the video where a driver is absolved with the video of them and that would have been the only way, no other way possible. As of today no camera company and no trucking company has provided even one instance of this. The other thing companies say is that it is about safety. Well, if that was in fact the case why don't these same people have the camera in their personal car? I mean, surely they want their own family to be safe, correct? The truth of the matter is the camera is all about MONEY. They save the companies money in their insurance rates, plain and simple. It has nothing to do with safety or the executives at these companies would have all of their own cars outfitted with cameras. They should do it just to set the example for the drivers. At least I would respect someone who said "I won't ask a driver to do anything I wouldn't do" and then put it in their car and post any videos they may get. Companies should just be honest and say it is about money and any safety benefit is a secondary consideration. Just be honest.
I have a podcast that you can download from your favorite podcast player! [email protected] I want to get this out everywhere I can so here is a blog about this camera placement. As you can see, the company could care less about safety. The driver wrote to me and said the company actually moved the camera down the windshield because drivers were using the visor for its intended purpose. As you can see, they left the glue from where the camera used to be. I don't like them no matter where they are but this is ridiculous. I also did a video about this. It is way past time that we allow this. It is unsafe. The FMCSA says the bottom edge of the camera can be NO LOWER than 8 inches from the upper edge of the swept area of the windshield wipers. Also, the camera cannot block the view of the driver of traffic, traffic control devices or street signs. Does this look like it blocks any of those things? I give the driver what I would do in the video. Do you have any advice for this driver?
Have you listened to my podcast yet? I hope you will give it a try. You don't have to look at me! Head over HERE or your favorite podcast app. I recently did a video about a driver that wrote to me about a long breakdown he had and his inability to get paid for that time. sWell, I have an update about it. I asked the driver about what is in writing with the company, like what is in the driver's manual. He sent the page from it and it shows you will get paid $100 a day after the first day and for up to 2 days total. So, he is due $200 and that is what they are offering him. I find this all the time. Most companies do actually pay what they say they will pay. Now, we may think they should pay more but this driver is getting what they said they would pay. I think he should look for other employment and not accept this kind of pay in the future. I would tell them it will cost them more to hire someone else instead of paying me. They may fire you on the spot for this so get ready. The moral of the story is to not work at a place that is not willing to pay you for your time. This driver was down for 14 days, yes 2 weeks and is getting $200. This same company complains about the driver shortage. Of course! Who wants to tolerate that kind of pay?
Are you a driver who is a RESIDENT of Illinois and has a driver facing dash cam? You can work for any trucking company as long as you at least go through Illinois from time to time. There is a law firm interested in talking to you. NO obligation and they don't collect money unless they win. You MAY be entitled to compensation from the Illinois BIPA statute. Write to me and I will let you know how to proceed. Do you listen to PODCASTS? Trucking Answers is now also a podcast and the best part is you don't have to look at me! You only get me through your earhole. The podcast currently goes out Tuesday and Friday but it could increase if you want more. Subscribe to it on you favorite podcast player! All episodes are also right HERE for you. How is it in this world truck drivers get treated so poorly? This place, BUNZL, expects truck drivers to pick up and deliver but will not even provide the most basic bathroom so drivers can go about their day. They at BUNZL expect us to be professional in picking up and delivering at their facility but will not give drivers a place to relieve themselves. This forces drivers to use other places, including the parking lot there as there is no other facility. They should be ashamed. They cannot use the current situation in the country as I am sure there are shared bathrooms in the office and everywhere else on the property. This mistreatment of drivers who deliver all the products that we use needs to stop. The sign from this video is from the Bunzl in Tracy, CA and I do not know if any of the other ones do this but if they do I want to hear about it. With some effort and publicity these places will have to change. We will not take this sitting down! Bunzl Distribution Tracy, CA 209-229-7315 Twitter @Trucking Answers |
AuthorHi! Welcome. I'm Mark and I've been a professional truck driver for over 33 years, the last 19 years at the same company. It is time that drivers got paid for every minute that we work and we are treated like the licensed professionals we are. Archives
February 2022
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