So we have yet another trucking company closure where drivers have their fuel cards turned off while they are on the road. The closure of HVH has nothing to do with anything but sheer greed. Some years ago HVH Transportation was bought by an equity group and basically run dry. That is what these financial leeches do. They go buy a place, take all of its assets and money and then just let it close with $3 in the bank. While this was likely a WARN Act violation, nothing will come of it as usual. The WARN Act has no teeth in it. No driver should ever be left stranded on the road with no way to get back home. Here is my proposed solution to these companies that close.
Trucking companies would be required to have a bond posted in the amount of $1000 per OTR driver. In the event of a closure, this bond would immediately pay each OTR driver by Comcheck so the drivers could access it on the road. That would be enough money to get a driver home from wherever they are. I am sure trucking companies would oppose this as they oppose every single regulation that is in favor of drivers. The ATA would be the first to fight this as "unnecessary" when what is really unnecessary is the ATA itself. Since there are plenty of truck driving jobs at least these drivers will be able to get back to work. Will they get paid on Friday? Unlikely. We will see. Always have access to at least $300 if you are OTR so you can get back home if this happens to you. See you on the road!
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The new HOS proposal has been out now and drivers are really happy, in general with the "flexibility" it will provide. This is mainly due to the up to 3 extra hours a day you can spend off duty and extend your 14 hour day to 17 hours. I have seen no one talking about the fact that this is UNPAID time. You will be adding 3 hours a day unpaid. Is that the flexibility you want? This will relieve the pressure on shippers and receivers to get you out sooner. Your company has much less incentive to get you moving because you have all this new "flexibility". It pains me to see OOIDA in support of the new proposal. Why are many drivers in a constant fight to try to work as many hours as possible for free? Plus, who the heck wants to work 17 hours a day? It is bad enough to have to fight companies to get paid, now the drivers are on the side of the company and willing to add 3 unpaid hours a day. Ridiculous.
See you on the road! Today the FMCSA announced the proposed changes that it wants to make to the hours of service. The one I want to talk about here is the ability to take an off duty break of between 30 minutes and 3 hours once a day. This break will stop your 14 hours clock. If you use this you must take a full 10 hour break after your shift, no splitting. I am sure the ATA is fine with this as now they will have the ability to not pay drivers for 3 more hours each day. They were right when they said they were making the HOS rules more business friendly. I did a video about the HOS changes and you should watch it. I am no fan of adding unpaid time to the drivers day. Will this benefit some people? Yes, it is likely to do so. I just can't imagine working for 17 hours each day. That is no way to make a living. This is also a way to squeeze out the more experienced drivers as they will be unlikely to enjoy this and some may retire making room for lower paid newer drivers with less experience. I will have more in the coming days on other changes but this one I am not for.
See you on the road! A recent article that was sent to me by an astute viewer talks about the first load with no human interaction. Robot dispatchers found a load, booked it (on an automated site) and a robot truck delivered it. It says "no human intervention was required". OK, how did the load get loaded and unloaded? I guess yard people at each end could open the trailer doors or they could use a roll up door. Either way I find it interesting. Brokers will be put out of business by a robot. For many, that will be very satisfying. Take a look at the article HERE.
There are those that will be angry about this but it is coming and we need to realize it. When the light bulb was invented there were candle makers put out of work. That does not mean we should not have light bulbs. Keep up with technology as it moves along, don't try to stop it or slow it down. A job, like a freight broker, is an easily replaceable job and it will be automated. Heck, there are kiosks in McDonald's now. Why? The cashier is easily replaceable. It is harder to replace a driver but that day will come. As computers get faster and smarter we will also be replaced. I am going to predict that it won't happen in any widespread way for 15-20 years but it is coming. It would be another 20-30 years for most drivers to be replaced. Still, even today there are candle makers and there will always be drivers. Get the most training and qualifications you can, especially if you are young and just starting out in trucking. I suppose at some point there will be robot Mark writing this blog. For today it is still me! See you on the road! Part of why I started Trucking Answers was to help explain the FMCSA rules to drivers. I teach this at work and very few drivers seemed to know the actual rules of the FMCSA. There are many folk tales of this and that but what are the actual rules to follow? If you don't know them you can be subject to a ticket. I started an occasional series called "Trucking 101" which I thought was very clever. In each one I go over 1 rule in depth to explain it. I then get stacks of angry emails telling me I have no idea what I am talking about. UGH. The Green Book is the final word on these things. Personal Conveyance is very limited and much misused. I have done a number of these videos and I am sure there will be more to come as the rules are about to change again. I always encourage everyone to follow the rules and run legal all the time. This puts immense pressure on the industry forcing wages up. When drivers violate the rules they cut their own pay. Part of the reason we do not make more money is because we are forever cutting our own throat. Think about it this way, if a company can get you to work for free, why would they ever pay you? Every time you violate the HOS you are doing just that. They would need an extra driver except you are willing to violate the log to "get the job done". Hogwash.
The BlueParrott 450 is only $119 as of this writing. That's amazing! Get yours HERE today! See you on the road! When I started driving in the 80s I had no idea about trucking or hardly anything else for that matter. I found out quickly that much of the time spent in trucking goes unpaid and I realized that made it very difficult to make a good living. My first OTR job was flatbed and it paid percentage. The problem was, empty miles paid 0%. I was making about $700 a week, though, I didn't think too much about it. That is the problem. Many new people come from very low paying jobs and trucking is a raise even though they are getting hosed. It took some time to understand that if I got paid for all of my time, I would be able to work less and make more. In the 90s I changed my perspective on pay. I get paid for most of my time now. Things like fueling time are not paid but other things like detention and breakdown are immediate and continue until the problem is resolved. Drivers should get paid for all of their time, like everyone else. Why does there have to be this 2 or 3 hours of free time? Do workers at fast food have free time? Some companies don't pay anything for detention. How is that possible in America today? How do you get paid for your time? You have to have a mindset shift and understand that your time is valuable. If you are willing to work for free companies have no incentive to ever pay for that time. Believe me, there are numerous companies out there paying a good wage and for your time. I get letters from people working at them every day. We can't just complain about working for free. We need to stand up and quit these companies that don't pay. It is really just that simple. A nationwide strike is never going to happen but you can have your own strike against these companies by refusing to work there. Be sure to tell them why you are quitting because once they start getting the message they will have to change their ways. If their trucks don't move they will figure out how to pay us. Detention pay has been a theme of the show since the beginning and will continue to be so. Does your company not pay detention? I want to know about it. Also, why do you stay?
See you on the road! Let's remember back to September of 2017. This fledgling channel had a few subscribers and very few views. Then I got a break. Operation Black and Blue was announced. Truck drivers from around the country were supposed to descend on Washington DC and tell Congress that they don't want and ELD but I had a good idea that they would not be able to round up more than a few dozen drivers. I made a video about it and I was right. More than that, though, this video was my first video over 1000 views and helped move the channel along. YouTube was starting to get the idea that this is a channel to promote to viewers. That video was the first large increase in subscribers and views here at Trucking Answers. Do you remember that video? It doesn't get really any views anymore because that time has passed. To see that many views was very exciting to me! I was beginning to get my message out there and that is what this is all about. To help people and change the industry you have to be able to get your ideas in the world. This was the first big step.
See you on the road! This month I am taking a look back at the first 2 years of Trucking Answers. Since it is Monday, I want to talk about the Live Show that I do every Monday at 1pm Eastern. The show now runs about 2.5 hours. I end it there because I have to go to work! The first time I went live was about 18 months ago when Trucking Answers was only 6 months old. I just hit the "Live" button and off I went. Very nervous which I still am every Monday even though I have done dozens of live shows and a couple of live remotes. I never know how the show will go or if anyone will show up. That first show actually had a few people on it! I couldn't believe it. I did a few more shows at random times and then I got contacted by Jay from Auto Transport Intel. You should watch his videos HERE. Anyway, he asked me to be a guest on his live show which he was doing (and still is) every Tuesday at 8pm Central. I agreed and had to pull over because I normally drive evenings and nights. It was great and I told him I do a show but hardly anyone comes. He said to do the show at the same time every week and keep doing the show. Make it a regular thing. I did and here we are still doing the show. I had to switch stuff at work, I do less hours than I was so I could continue the show and the YouTube work. YouTube is closing in on 30 hours a week, every week.
I am still very humbled by the live show. There are many regular people that take their time out every Monday to be on the show and participate in the chat. We discuss current trucking events and help drivers who have questions. Now, trucking companies are in the chat as well as product sponsors. GP Transco is a regular in the chat and BlueParrott has sent many headsets to giveaway to drivers here. I hope to see you in the next live show. Remember, no drama allowed! Let's keep the chat to trucking. See you on the road! Let's go all the way back to the beginning: August 18, 2017 and look at the first video which is still used as the channel intro video although I do need to change it. Wow. So much has changed in just 2 years! I didn't have a vision yet for the channel and so early videos were all over the place. In my first video I talk about how much drivers make. I said BANK. Hilarious. I though that might bring viewers because of the word BANK. I had no idea what I was doing, not that I do now or anything. Seeing it now it seems almost like click bait which I strive not to do. If you see a thumbnail or a title you can be assured that is what the video is about. I remember getting like 10 views in the first week or so. Very disheartening. Like anything, though, you have to stick with it and I knew that I had a message to get out. I have always enjoyed speaking to others in groups. At every yearly safety meeting I speak on some subject and have spoken to other groups as well. Do you have a message you want to spread? YouTube may be the place to do it. Give it a shot, what do you have to lose? Life is too short to not do the things you want to do with the people you want to do them with. HUH? Yes.
It is hard to believe but August is here and this month is the 2 years anniversary of Trucking Answers. This whole thing started because I saw some people on YouTube making trucking videos and they either had no idea what they were talking about or were just doing drama videos like they are 12 years old. I thought that there are so many companies getting away with not paying drivers, why doesn't anyone bring that to light? Also, there are many, many good companies paying drivers properly, treating us like the professionals we are. Where is anyone to say something about that? So, here we are nearly 2 years later and this has become an incredible movement. I could not do this without all of you, of course. Trucking Answers with no viewers is just me talking to a phone. The live shows this month will have t-shirt giveaways and whatever other things I can scrounge up. How about another BlueParrott headset? That sounds like a good idea for sure. I try to keep the chat drama free on the regular Monday live show which goes on at 1pm EST. Be there and join in the 2.5 hours of rapid fire questions and trucking news. What would you like to see from Trucking Answers in the next 2 years? I am for sure going to keep the pressure up on companies to get us paid for all of our time. This month on the blog I will be taking a look back and talking about some of the behind the scenes things that happen here at Trucking Answers World Headquarters. Thank you all for being a part of the Trucking Answers Nation!
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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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