Control Your Future

Not sure if other drivers out there are keeping pace with what's happening in America so I want to bring this issue to the forefront of everyone's mind. Regulation, bad trade agreements, the "great recession" have all effected the trucking industry over the years. Still truckers have stuck it out and the trucking industry as a whole has been resilient to economic downturn. Thanks to some huge multi-national conglomerants like Alphabet which basically run the world and the elected government (take a look at Jared Cohen who is employed by Alphabet & US Secretary of State) we have seen jobs disappear through the west. Technology & wealth are the weapons the billionaires behind these companies are using to rob us of our rights, freedom, liberty, healthcare and ability to provide for our families. These companies have targeted transportation with the goal of eliminating the human element. That's right driverless technology which is being marketed as a "convenience" is really being developed to eliminate jobs from the workforce and make these rich *******s even richer. They want driverless trucks and driverless cars & want to eliminate all car ownership across the globe. Some of These same people are behind the push for universal healthcare and the obummercare we have today which has failed many drivers & their families like myself & left us with medical bills that cost more than our homes and trucks. These people want to create a welfare state not to help the world but to fill their pockets with more dough. If they win here and eliminate drivers the last of the holdout industries will have fallen to technology but more importantly it will end freedom. We will have to pay rent to these *******s for the right and ability to transport anything including ourselves. Whether we have to collectively unionize or go to even more drastic measures we have to stop this from happening. We must be masters over our own destiny. It's "one nation under God" not "one nation owned by Google".

We must be masters over our own destiny.

Ok, you've gotten our attention so now what exactly should we do about it? And most importantly, how?? To say "We need to unionize" or "go to more drastic measures" is easy to say, but how do you go about accomplishing that?

And what's the goal? Say we formed a nationwide union of 3 million truckers. What would we ask for and who would we ask?

I won't fuel the fire here. Brett pretty much asked what should be asked. This is a very ambiguous post being that there is no plan of action. Also where do you get your info, is this through research or what the other driver at the counter told you? If i listened to half the bs out there I wouldn't be as well off as I am now. This driverless stuff sounds the same as "in the future the computer will be no less than 2 tons."

I suggest we unionize or go teamster like ups & lobby to protect our jobs. That would seem to be the most civilised of choices. Being a truck driver and not a union organizer I don't know how to do that. I think the first step however is to start the discussion and make people aware of whats going on. Maybe other people out there will have some better ideas than i will. And no I haven't been getting my info from other drivers I'm getting my info from news & some boards. I try to keep up with current events, politics, stocks & weather on my down time.

Gladhand asks:

Where do you get your info, is this through research or {what}?

What Jukebox seems to have done is string liberal/ leftist buzzwords together, often not in any logical order:

These people* want to create a welfare state not to help the world but to fill their pockets with more dough.

Welfare State: where people (proletarians in some places), often unemployed, depend on the govmint for support for daily life, including medical, food, and a place to stay.

And "these people*", billionaires no less, somehow get more money running this welfare state?

* huge multi-national conglomerants like Alphabet which basically run the world and the elected government ... Technology & wealth are the weapons the billionaires behind these companies.

Oh come on Errol V. you're a mod don't sink into denial and dismissal right off the bat! Just because we drive truck doesn't mean we should have our heads buried in the sand. If you want me to site a few sources I will. There is a difference between stringing buzzwords together and repeating something the president of Jigsaw said. Come on! I am not a writer or a politician but I am under no illusion that I write with eloquence or proper course. I simply want to bring the issue to light and have a proper discussion.

Self-driving technology is already out there and companies are already testing it. Either you are for drivers being replaced by technology or you are against it but you cannot pretend that it will not happen. Gladhand said earlier "This driverless stuff sounds the same as "in the future the computer will be no less than 2 tons.". Well guys the future is here and you can now hold a computer in the palm of your hand. We have seen countless jobs fall to automation. Now technology giants have set their aim on transportation. If you think that technology cant automate a lot of transportation jobs then you are a member of the "in the future the computer will be no less than 2 tons" camp and we know how that panned out.

Here you go Errol V.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.trucks.com/2016/11/16/self-driving-trucks-reshape-trucking-industry/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/92695580/

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/trucking-industry-on-uber-otto-beer-truck-delivery

For one years worth of wages or less trucks can be retrofitted to replace drivers: https://www.wired.com/2016/05/otto-retrofit-autonomous-self-driving-trucks/

Technology reduces jobs and tech innovators get behind universal basic income: http://www.npr.org/2016/09/24/495186758/as-our-jobs-are-automated-some-say-well-need-a-guaranteed-basic-income

Hey jukebox, unions, pensions. Tenure... Etc. All that stuff is a thing of the past.

Wake up and smell the cappuccino.

Let us know how that goes for you there Hoffa.

And I'm a member of a union - Local 1526 Longshoreman. And I believe the "rank and file" in that industry benefit from collective bargaining.

Not sure it would be worth the $$ you would be paying as a percentage of your pay in union dues - for what we do as company drivers for mega's like Prime/etc. Some private fleets are union shops - FedEx, UPS, etc. - and a great many of them are salaried, not CPM.

We is what we is. Would it be nice to have someone stick up for us? I suppose. Do I think it's going to happen?

Look at McDonalds and the demands for $15 an hour wages - their response - AUTOMATION.

Rick