I have a couple questions for you if you don't mind.....
1. We all know you are a truck driver....so.....don't truckers have to buy a little sticker for every state they want to truck in? Is that cost per state a uniform cost across the board or does it vary from state to state? What is that money supposed to be for?
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
You may be thinking...."what the hell does that have to do with anything?"......well, I understand why you would think to ask yourself that, but let me explain my interest.....
I was having a discussion a few days back and someone made the comment about shipping costs and how products cost more. They said it wasn't because the products are actually made with better materials or cost more to make, but because of the cost to transport these goods for resale to the people. They went on to state how truckers and trucking companies have gotten greedy over the years and want more money to "just drive" things from point A to point B...... I was floored! Now I don't know the exact numbers, but I know what it costs to maintain my car yearly (gas, tune-ups, insurance, tires, etc) and I can imagine that could be multiplied by about 20 and still not cover a semi......I mentioned these things along with the additional taxes incurred by trucking companies and independant drivers and the outrageous fuel costs to "just drive", not to mention the $$$$ it costs to go to school to drive one of those monsters!!!! They just brushed it off as power for the course and that they were tired of paying additional taxes for road maintence caused by those dam semi trucks......
So....I guess my question to you is more of a what kind of "hoops" do you have to jump through to make a meager living and is it worth it to you knowing how some people view it?
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
The little stickers went out years ago with the bingo cards ...
The system we use now is called IFTA ......
First you have to buy your 2290 ..... $550 to the federal government .... What for? To tell all the states its OK for you to buy their stuff
Then you get to buy your Base Plates .... The tag for your bumper .... Mine runs around $ 1600 dollars .... Some, depending on the state, run over two grand if I'm right .
Then comes about three or four different types of insurance .... I let my company buy them because I'm to stupid to under stand why so many and why so much .... I think one policy is a million dollars... But you need one for running bob tail, one for running empty with a trailer, for being loaded, for the load, liability ,, on , and on ,,, on .... IO see that part on the settlements ... I'm scared to look .. Almost forgot, Need to buy insurance on my trailer to.
Then you can get your permits to fill out your IFTA .... one for each state that you run in just for general freight .... Then you have to get extras depending on the state for things like Hazmat or Beer and wine .... Liquor is separate too .... I run the 48 lower states and keep permits for Alaska and Canada too .... My permit book is over two inches thick....
I don't run flat bed so I don't have to mess with things like oversize / over weight permits or escorts.
So now I'm legal to run ... I go down and buy fuel .... depending on the state, as much as .37 cents a gallon in taxes on the fuel ....150 to 200 gallons a pop... this goes toward the IFTA .... If I don't buy fuel in that state, I still pay taxes to that state through the IFTA program for the miles I run in that state.
Then there is the ton mile tax that some states charge. tolls .... and the bull shit 50 dollar ticket because one of my fifty marker lights went out and I did not notice it because I could not see it from the drivers seat going down the road .....
Yes believe it or not .... we are used for a source of revenue for states to bolster their budgets without raising your taxes ...
Now, they charge me all these taxes .... And every now and then you see them in the news saying we are going to raise taxes for fuel or on the tolls truckers pay to help our budget...
Then I have to pay them ... And like any good business man, I pass the cost along to the agent who passes it to the shipper who passes it to the receiver who passes it to the store who passes it to you....
Just keep in mind that your fine Governor never raised your taxes ..... or did he ????
What are the fuel taxes used for .... supposedly to pay for road construction .... But would you believe that many states rob that fund to pay for pork barrel crap for the state and then try to raise fuel tax again so they can repair the roads ....
All in all , I'm probably close to ten grand a year in permits and taxes just on my truck alone. Times that by the number of trucks on the highway and thats some serious tax dollars ...
In my opinion , trucks should not have to pay taxes at all .... To start with ,,, it's just passed on to the consumer anyway .... and to end with ,, to many politicians use it to get votes from people that don't under stand hidden taxes, It sounds good up front, but you still pay for it at the grocery store
You may be thinking...."what the hell does that have to do with anything?"......well, I understand why you would think to ask yourself that, but let me explain my interest.....
I was having a discussion a few days back and someone made the comment about shipping costs and how products cost more. They said it wasn't because the products are actually made with better materials or cost more to make, but because of the cost to transport these goods for resale to the people. They went on to state how truckers and trucking companies have gotten greedy over the years and want more money to "just drive" things from point A to point B...... I was floored! Now I don't know the exact numbers, but I know what it costs to maintain my car yearly (gas, tune-ups, insurance, tires, etc) and I can imagine that could be multiplied by about 20 and still not cover a semi......I mentioned these things along with the additional taxes incurred by trucking companies and independant drivers and the outrageous fuel costs to "just drive", not to mention the $$$$ it costs to go to school to drive one of those monsters!!!! They just brushed it off as power for the course and that they were tired of paying additional taxes for road maintence caused by those dam semi trucks......
So....I guess my question to you is more of a what kind of "hoops" do you have to jump through to make a meager living and is it worth it to you knowing how some people view it?
Some things to ponder
Tires ... If I had to buy eight tire of the shelf to put on my drives ... 4000 thousand dollars and up..... Steers are three to four hundred a piece and The trailer for all eight .... about twenty five hundred ... So we are looking at close to eight grand just for tires .... the price has gone up at least 33% in the last five years due to the cost of oil
The truck ..... In the year 2000 ... new truck and trailer 120 thousand dollars that the bank wants paid off in five years ... Thats payments over 2500 dollars every month before you even crank the truck up ....
Fuel .... So now my truck is paid off ... all the extra money goes into fuel ... In twenty years fuel only went up about fifty cents. I buy my truck and it triples in five ....SO the money I'm supposed to be putting back for things like new equipment, retirement and health care is all going into some one else's pockets.
Freight rates. Still about the same as 1980 levels. Large companies keep the rates down ... They haul for less then what it cost them and the bankruptcy judge lets them off for pennies on the dollar. Then they get grants from the government to bring guest workers to the US to help bolster their bottom line
EPA ... decided that the fuel has to be change .... So fuel that used to give me 7 mph now only gives me 5.5 ... so lets say 2.50 a gallon with a drop of 1.5 mph ...thats around 12,000 dollars a year just in extra fuel cost ... This also leads to increased cost because now they have to refine it more and it lowers the availability on the market because no new refineries have been built in the US for over twenty years .....
Now they want cleaner burning engines ... cool ... they want them now ... so all the new engines coming out are untested ....Nobody wants to buy them because the technology to make them cleaner is not holding up .... and that leads to down time and increased repair cost ... Not to mention that the manufactures are laying people off by the thousands because no one is buying their trucks
What it all boil down to .... people that think driving a truck is easy should give it a try .... The big companies are so proud of themselves this year because they got their turn over rate down to 116% .....
I'm in this business because I love what I do .... the chances of me walking out of it with anything more then a bankruptcy is about zilch... A few years back when fuel started to get high over 250,000 owner operators like myself went bankrupt. Every time I figure a way to save a little money or make a little extra, some politician decides I need to pay more on taxes, or some company decides they need to cut their budget ....
As for people that don't like trucks ... the answer is simple .... just don't buy anything a truck delivers ... I guarantee that we will go away ...
Besides ... with NAFTA coming around ... The American truck driver will soon be a thing of the past ... Why pay me what I'm worth when you can get the Mexicans to do it for a third the cost .... We've been sold out by our own government ...
Now ... who decides how I drive my truck ... I just lost a contract partly because I refuse to run illegal ... A person ... not a truck driver but a person that goes home every night like you do walks into a meeting and says that only so many trucks are staying on ... these trucks will be of drivers that know how to work a log book .... I got this amount of work to be done and you figure out how to make it look legal .... So I'm the first one out the door.
So because I run legal ... I lost a contract that would have paid me over 100,000 dollars in 90 days while those that did what it took got to keep their jobs ...
Had the person that did not drive the tuck decided that only drivers that would do what it took got to keep their jobs ... safer truck would be on the highway.
Back to freight rates ....Company A pays 3.00 dollars a mile to move their freight ....
Agent B takes the load and pays Agent C 2.50 to move the freight ....
Agent C gives it to his wifes company D who pays 2.00 to move the freight .... get the point ...
By the time I get the freight and pay 25% to my company ... there is nothing left ... The only people that make a profit here is people that drive a desk and only have to pay for a computer and a phone line ....
Now why do I have to pay 25% of my gross revenue .... Because to many unethical people become brokers ..... They go get a 500 dollar bond and start dispatching out loads .... The shipper pays them but they never pay the truckers .... They just simply leave the state or go out of business and all the drivers get to sue trying to get their part of the 500 dollar bond. I have too many friends that left my company to try this just to return six months later a little smarter and a whole lot broker ....
Over regulation .... You can not stay ahead of it ..... Lets take just the health part of it ... The American Medical Association decides it's members need to make more money ... So they recommend to the Government that drivers health requirement need to be changed ..... The government to make the world safer for you and your children changes the regs
So drivers that were perfectly healthy last month now have to go to their doctor and pay him and the drug companies to make him healthier .... I'm sitting here thinking ... just last month the doc told me my Blood pressure was fine ... now he is telling me I have to take drugs to get it down ... What change .... Money from my hand to theirs .... Legalized theft ...
Now they are up their discussing how heavy a driver can be before he is disqualified ... I've been fat all my life and I've not killed the first person ... but mark my words ... I'm going to have to fork over more cash or loose my ability to feed my family ... not to mention loose my truck ... house, cars .... no fucking wonder my blood pressure hits the roof some days ...
What all this boils down to is shelf life .... Just like a professional athlete ... the government is shorting the number of years that I am able to work ... That shortens the time I have to build a retirement for my family ... and that raises the rates and prices you pay at the grocery store ...
SU.....Let me start by saying THANK YOU! Thank you (and other's like you) for shelling out the big bucks so we (the consumers) can have stupid little trinkets at Walmart. Thank you for choosing a life style (while veiwed by most as big bucks) that is equal to what I (joe shmo poor person) make. Thank you for allowing me (the general consumer) to believe you are only in it for the big money (when in reality you are as poor if not more in debt than I).
Seriously, I really do appreciate what you and other working men like you do for me and all the rest of the blind consumers. All of the things you stated are things we all take for granted and then bitch when the truck drivers get pissed about the rising costs. There was a time (and I still think it is sort of true) that truckers held some serious power to affect the world. If all of the drivers chose to just park their trucks....the world would be at a loss. They couldn't kiss your asses fast enough to get the world as we know it spinning again.
For what it's worth......thanks for doing the job you do, whether others truly appreciate you or not...I do.
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
Yah know...I was not niave enough to believe trucking was cheap....but I had no idea it was that bad!!!!! DAM!!!!! And I thought I got hosed being a small business owner in Ohio....you my dear man couldn't find enough KY for the fuckin you're getting!
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
Yah know...I was not niave enough to believe trucking was cheap....but I had no idea it was that bad!!!!! DAM!!!!! And I thought I got hosed being a small business owner in Ohio....you my dear man couldn't find enough KY for the fuckin you're getting!
That part about the 100 grand really has me think though ...
Hell buddy....those numbers scare the shit out of me! I used to think truckin was a great way to live (financially) but not any more! You're just as screwed over as the next guy!
I must admit though....you do get a great view! And that part of your job, I envy!
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
Hell buddy....those numbers scare the shit out of me! I used to think truckin was a great way to live (financially) but not any more! You're just as screwed over as the next guy!
I must admit though....you do get a great view! And that part of your job, I envy!
Yea your right ... there are some fine looking seat covers that go by every day ....
Hell buddy....those numbers scare the shit out of me! I used to think truckin was a great way to live (financially) but not any more! You're just as screwed over as the next guy!
I must admit though....you do get a great view! And that part of your job, I envy!
Yea your right ... there are some fine looking seat covers that go by every day ....
....hey there's always those few people gettin freaky down the highway????
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And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
On top of all that you have read that SU has posted he did not mention ....
A truckers life …
Have you ever really thought about what how a Truck Driver has to live through daily to get the food, close, furniture, and etc. to the stores so it will be there when you need/want to buy it?
First lets talk about the Truck. Their home away form home.
I am not good at wording things but here goes …
Start by imagining a set of bunk beds. Now instead of four post holding it up imagine is a wall on three sides, and they are on hinges so that the top one can be folded against the wall. The bottom bunk does not fold all the way against the wall, but has some room underneath it for storage. Three compartments approximately three-foot wide by two foot tall filled with an AC unit for the truck and an AC unit for the bunk, tools, parts, oil, antifreeze, etc.). Now stand in front of the bunk facing it … to your left is a small refrigerator, a microwave, and two shelves. One shelve is small two-foot by one-foot by one-foot. The second one is two-foot by two-foot by three foot with two shelves inside. On the other side … a shelve that is three-foot tall by two-foot by two-foot with one small drawer, and then the same two shelves as on the other side leaving a three-foot by two-foot open area to stand. In this area of the "bunk" is where you put all your food, close, shoes, toilettes, dishes, etc. Basically everything you need for a normal person uses in everyday life. Just in front of the shelves on each side are the seats with the gearshift in the middle of them. Now imagine two grown adults living in that area.
Now imagine not having a bathroom, shower, or laundry room. Having to walk at the very least 500 foot, if not further, and into a public convenience store to go to the rest room and/or take a shower no matter what time of day you need to (including the middle of the night). Dealing with the uncleanness of every other person (not just other truck drivers) that stops at that convince store.
Or … Dealing with shippers and/or receivers that just because you are a Truck Driver are not allowed in their building area to use their restroom. Maid to wait for hours in your truck while they decide to unload the cargo when it is convent for them. They do not even have the curtsy to even provide an "outhouse" for the drivers.
Then there is the time the spend on the road … away form their families … missing Birthdays, Ball Games, Graduations, Christmas’s, and all kinds of other Holidays. Even being far away when other family members die and not being able to come home because "the load has to be there on time".
Not to mention how some police officers treat them like dirt just because they are Truck Drivers. I know a lot of you on this forum are LEO’s but the truth is a lot of LEO’s treat Drivers badly. They see them as revenue for their town … because they know that in order for them to make a living for their families they cannot take the time to fight the ticket(s) in court.
I could go on … but what would be the point. No one really cares and no one can/will do anything about it. But just for the heck of it … try sleeping double in a single bed … for just one week.
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"Fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out" Romans 12, verse 2
At my place of work we get truckers delivering to us all the time, most are short haul, but we do get the occasional long haul trucker, some of the long haul ones might of just come from up north, which means they are a fair way away from their homes, but we do also get foreign truckers, the foreign truckers quite often do not speak English too well, which makes things awkward.
We do however make every trucker welcome, the short haul ones can use our tea/coffee making facilities if they want as well as our toilets.
The long haul drivers can do the same as the short haul drivers, but we would even let them have a proper wash using our facilities if they want to.
We would like to let them park up for the night in the secure estate that we work in, but it would go against all of the landlords conditions, so we direct them to somewhere that will be safe, have facilities and will make their life as easy as possible.
Remember people, truckers are still humans, but they do go through hell to ensure that the country and its people are provided with the luxeries that they think they think they need and deserve.
Trucking is a shitty industry. All goods should travel by train-its more cost efficient, and more environmentally friendly. It is more slow though-adding time onto the ability to transfer goods. Which is why companies have switched to trucking as a shipping option with their JIT (just in time) production schedules. Now before you poopoo on my statement, a little sideshow background. My father was in upper management for a major railway (worked there 38 years before his retirement). And i worked in the trucking/courier industry for 12 years before my current vocation. I was also the local union president for 10 years, and did bargaining, arbitrations, and such which required me to do extensive cost evaluations and presentations between our company and industry, and other companies and industries. and i can tell you that rail is cheaper and more efficient-in moving the goods, but not in timeliness.
and as companies have switched to the independant contractor for workers (read-ripping off the worker and getting out of paying decent wages and benefits-fuckers) the ability to unionize/organize and get decent wages is encumbered.
this isnt any reflection on truckers-they work long, hard days/nights, and are away from friends and families for extended periods-just to make a buck. if anyone tells you truckers are getting rich-bullshit. some do decent, and many make a living, but there are those not doing that good-just like any industry.
approximately 40% of the cost of goods in canada are related to transportation. but goods have to be moved to be sold, so its part of the game. think about how ups has a quarter of a million workers in the US-lot of economic stimulation for the economy.
There are the "No Idle Laws" ... saying that Truck Drivers can not Ideal their trucks for more than 15 minutes an hour ... SU correct me if I am wrong ...
but I remember a story about a driver that was in an "No Ideal" area ...
He had his dog in the truck with him ... it was 102 degrees outside and ... yes he was idling the truck to keep cool ... The DOT came and gave out tickets to all that were idling ... and made them shut down ... later (about two hours) the same officer gave the same man a ticket for cruelty to animals because the inside of the truck was over 110 degrees even though the doors and windows were open and the animal had water available.
Just goes to prove that a dog has more rights than a Truck Driver ... They expect Drivers to live in that condition but not a dog ...
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"Fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out" Romans 12, verse 2
My favorite thing is when I'm some where talking to strangers ... like on a cruise or standing in line for something .... your having a conversation with some one you just met .... things are going fine ... lots of chatter ... then they ask what you do for a living .... Seconds later all you see is the back of their head .... end of conversation
As for trains ..... Watch them ... count how many truck trailers go by loaded on them .... thousands .... The big companies make major bucks using trains over drivers for cross country runs ..... Takes a lot of trucks off the road .... good for safety and profits .... sucks if your trying to feed a family ...
Trains though could never do the job alone .... imagine train tracks leading to every store in America ... every shipper and receiver .... Thats a lot of tracks to lay ...
you are correct, but trains could do the bulk of the cross country work-and p and d drivers could transport them from the rail yards to the warehouses where goods are sold. think about it. as rail lost jobs, trucking gained them. it was like a scale, one end dropping the other rising-thing is, the cost is really too high-environmentally, and financially-for the worker. the railworker historically makes more than the trucker. keep in mind im much more familiar with canadian economics than american, but the same principles (baring state/provincial laws) apply.
And your point is???? Don't have one? Well then shut up and I'll give you one!
....hey there's always those few people gettin freaky down the highway????
Maybe this is all for you????? They are showing their appreciation by flesh flashin yah???? LMAO
