Unfairness Of Pay By The Hour And The Fair Labor Act

Hello everybody

I am right now taking an English Composition II class in college and one of the assignments we have is to pick a topic and do research on this topic. My husband is actually a truck driver for the company swift, so the topic I ended up picking deals with what I believe is a big problem in the trucking industry today, the fact that drivers are paid by the mile rather than by the hour.

Truckers have been getting paid by the mile since the rise of the trucking industry, and even voted to be exempt from the Fair Labor Act that would have made them a by the hour pay job just like everyone else in the United States. I feel this is not fair to truckers in this day and age. This is especially true when you take into consideration the time truckers spend stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, not moving an inch, and all the time spent at loaders waiting for live unloads and live loads to finish. All of this time pretty much wasted, because you are still technically on the clock but since the truck isn’t driving down the highway, truckers are not getting paid a dime for that time. Also, the time you spend with the truck whenever you aren’t driving at all. When you are a company driver it is your responsibility to take care of that truck, yet the company expects you to do that completely for free. I know there are some companies that are exceptions to the rule, but overall this is the practice of most trucking companies in this day and age. I believe that this needs to stop and that companies need to consider becoming included on the Fair Labor Act and paying drivers by the hour rather than by the mile.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, as this is a subject I feel passionately about and I hope that the industry will soon fix.

Ashley

The majority of companies pay layover/dention pay. Load/unload/tarping pay, extra benefits, and other payouts to compensate for the wheels not turning. True, some don't, but from my observations, they are the minority. A few companies pay percentage of load, and some even pay salary for dedicated routes, these ones also pay the extra stuff too.

If a company were to switch to an hourly pay, and paid for 14hrs a day at $10/hr, that is $140/day. Driving 7 days would gross $710.50/week base pay before the layover, etc pay.

A driver driving at .35¢ per mile, driving 500miles a day is $175 per day, or $1,225/week base pay before layover, etc pay. Granted, some days you will drive less, and some days more.

All of the companies that I am considering pay at least .35¢ once I upgrade to my own truck.

The case for hourly wages, while it sounds good on the surface, doesn't really hold weight, once you start breaking it down. Yes company A can pay $15/hr, or more, but say good bye to the extra pay, and benefits.

The majority of companies pay layover/dention pay. Load/unload/tarping pay, extra benefits, and other payouts to compensate for the wheels not turning. True, some don't, but from my observations, they are the minority. A few companies pay percentage of load, and some even pay salary for dedicated routes, these ones also pay the extra stuff too.

If a company were to switch to an hourly pay, and paid for 14hrs a day at $10/hr, that is $140/day. Driving 7 days would gross $710.50/week base pay before the layover, etc pay.

A driver driving at .35¢ per mile, driving 500miles a day is $175 per day, or $1,225/week base pay before layover, etc pay. Granted, some days you will drive less, and some days more.

All of the companies that I am considering pay at least .35¢ once I upgrade to my own truck.

The case for hourly wages, while it sounds good on the surface, doesn't really hold weight, once you start breaking it down. Yes company A can pay $15/hr, or more, but say good bye to the extra pay, and benefits.

Now, I neglected to add in "overtime." Which would make it $1,340/week gross. But the company can always classify the pay as salary, thus eliminating the overtime aspect. I have worked salaried positions that were in reality an hourly job.

No matter how you look at it, by changing to an hourly structure, ultimately, the driver will suffer, in less performance bonuses, worse benefits, etc.

Most over the road drivers can't drive an average 500 miles a day and also stand by for 4 hours twice a week on a load legally.

I get paid by the hour. Local Southern California.

I driver over the road for swift for a couple months on average I brought home between 800-1100 per week with swift for the weeks I worked. it's not bad getting paid by the mile. Most of my miles were on the open road. Spending one day in a city then 3 or 4 on the road then one day in the city. Most of the times when I did hit traffic it wasn't my whole day. It was just for a very short period of one day. So per pay check there may be 2 to 5 hours in traffic and 3-4 hours of stand by at a warehouse. With 55+ hours driving hammer down at 62 mph lol.

But if I got paid by the mile now as a local driver I'd starve I average about 4 loads a day and between 230 and 275 miles a day. I currently bring home about 1000 a week on average.

Another part of your story can be those drivers that get paid percentage. Some of the other local companies running transfers and belly dumps pay per load.

Usually pre trip around 345-445 am head to the pit get loaded and sit in traffic until about 645-800 make the first drop head back to a close pit by 1000 the traffic is lightened up. So hammer down and try n get a couple more loads before 2 because that's when the traffic gets heavier. Back in the yard doing post trip by 3-5. Those guys that get percentage pay sit in traffic headed back to the yard and are not getting paid. At least the guys getting paid by the mile still will make 4 or 5 dollars for the 2 hours in traffic.

So for the long story short mileage pay did not do me wrong and neither does hourly pay. I haven't tried the percentage pay and don't plan on it unless I buy my own transfer truck. Lol

Most over the road drivers can't drive an average 500 miles a day and also stand by for 4 hours twice a week on a load legally.

I get paid by the hour. Local Southern California.

I driver over the road for swift for a couple months on average I brought home between 800-1100 per week with swift for the weeks I worked. it's not bad getting paid by the mile. Most of my miles were on the open road. Spending one day in a city then 3 or 4 on the road then one day in the city. Most of the times when I did hit traffic it wasn't my whole day. It was just for a very short period of one day. So per pay check there may be 2 to 5 hours in traffic and 3-4 hours of stand by at a warehouse. With 55+ hours driving hammer down at 62 mph lol.

But if I got paid by the mile now as a local driver I'd starve I average about 4 loads a day and between 230 and 275 miles a day. I currently bring home about 1000 a week on average.

Another part of your story can be those drivers that get paid percentage. Some of the other local companies running transfers and belly dumps pay per load.

Usually pre trip around 345-445 am head to the pit get loaded and sit in traffic until about 645-800 make the first drop head back to a close pit by 1000 the traffic is lightened up. So hammer down and try n get a couple more loads before 2 because that's when the traffic gets heavier. Back in the yard doing post trip by 3-5. Those guys that get percentage pay sit in traffic headed back to the yard and are not getting paid. At least the guys getting paid by the mile still will make 4 or 5 dollars for the 2 hours in traffic.

So for the long story short mileage pay did not do me wrong and neither does hourly pay. I haven't tried the percentage pay and don't plan on it unless I buy my own transfer truck. Lol

I did not account for local routes, mainly otr , and regional. Dedicated can be any of the above. But yeah, from my understanding, most local routes pay salary, or hourly. Thanks for the correction ☺(I also didn't account for ltl)

TMC, gives you a choice between % of load or cpm. They are a pretty big company, moving a lot of freight, so I can see the % pay from them being pretty good.

I've done cpm and currently do percentage but let me say that I never had an issue running 500 miles per day. Granted, if you're running around LA all day long you might but not an otr or even regional driver. If you're not, you either have a bad dispatcher or you have some trip planning/time management issues.

I've done cpm and currently do percentage but let me say that I never had an issue running 500 miles per day. Granted, if you're running around LA all day long you might but not an otr or even regional driver. If you're not, you either have a bad dispatcher or you have some trip planning/time management issues.

I have been watching a driver, who does youtube videos. He runs a Regional Dedicated route for Schneider. When he started with them, after 10+ years of driving, They paid the drivers on that route salary + the standard company extra pay. He made good money. After a while, Schneider switched those drivers to cpm, and he makes a lot more, as a result. He never really says how much he is paid, but it is more than he has made during his previous 10+ years driving. They run Masonite doors to the various Home Depot's in the Southern States.

These are his words, and one example, of one company. Albeit, a really good company, even though that Orange can be an eye sore!

So far, I've been a local P & D driver/linehaul combination driver. I've been paid by the hour at the highest rate in the city among similar companies and on days when I ran linehaul , I was paid by the mile. Were I paid by the hour in linehaul, I would make less than I would at cpm.

The regular linehaul drivers here would be very, very unhappy were they paid by the hour. The company I've been with for the last year pays linehaul well over 55 cpm. Running 60 hours in 7 days, the hard-working linehaulers who are on the extra-board without their own dedicated route , who turn on their 10 as often as possible, make well over $1,100 a week. Well over. These guys hook their sets and get out of the yard quickly. They get paid a couple of dollars for hooking, dropping, one fuel a day, and a few cents more per mile, for alternate routes, i.e., when the winds are high in WY.

They would be furious, were they paid by the hour.

I know some who have been OTR and found ways to make good money by the mile and I think they preferred it that way.

Tough subject and no doubt, one near and dear to your heart. I'm sure it would be impossible to make drastic changes and keep everyone happy at the same time.

Let us know how your paper turns out!

-mountain girl

I would suggest you read this: Why Drivers Are Paid By The Mile

The hourly pay would obviously hinge on what that hourly pay would be. At perhaps $10 an hour, the math would simply not work. But $10 is pathetic for the level of responsibility this job entails. $20 might be more in-line, but this is just my opinion.

As you see, this is quite a contentious issue, with solid arguments on both sides. I myself would prefer hourly just like in every other job.