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Would paying drivers an annual salary or by-the-hour instead of by-the-mile help reduce driver turnover?
Driver turnover is a serious problem and there's no way to sugarcoat it . . . or is there?
Quote of the Day
"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual."
-- Vince Lombardi
Drivers Sound Off
When it comes to the trucking industry, everyone wants to know what's around the next corner. Will fuel prices rise or fall? Will freight increase or decrease? Will the driver shortage get better or worse? How will politics and the economy impact things? In many ways, all of those concerns boil down to one question:
Is the trucking industry heading in the right direction?
Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines put the question to those on the front lines, the drivers. Here are some of their responses:
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Matt Lewis , 45, Marion, OH Professional driving experience: 1 year "I'm optimistic about my own future in this industry, but not for the reasons you may think. So many trucking companies do things bad that it might be easy for me to get my own truck and fleet and do it better. Right now, I'm learning everything there is to learn. Even though I've only been driving for a year, I have a lot of confidence in myself. I own 80 rental properties and I used to own a Pepsi Cola distributorship, so I know how to run a business." |
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Robert Miller , 56, Mount Pleasant, IA Professional driving experience: 33 years "Wages and equipment are moving in a positive direction. Companies seem to be getting drivers home more often, so that's positive. Unfortunately, the drivers themselves don’t seem to be going in the right direction. Everyone seems to be going their own way. I guess that’s why they're drivers, but there's not the camaraderie that there used to be. Everyone listens to their own drummer." |
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Larry Harrison , 58, Sebring, OH Professional driving experience: 35 years "Nope. Rates aren't good enough for one thing. There's too much red tape for another. There are way too many rules and regulations coming out of the DOT that make this job more difficult than it should be." |
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Merlyn Bender , 62, Canton, OH Professional driving experience: 30 years "No. The hours-of-service rule puts too much stress on drivers. You can't drive the hours you need each day because you lose too much time loading and unloading, and don't even get me started about dispatch." |
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Anthony Waclaw , 34, Westville, IL Professional driving experience: 13 years "I think everyone needs more training, a lot more training. Drivers and society as a whole need more training in order to make the highways safer for everyone. A lot of drivers are getting into the industry because of the money, but they don’t like the lifestyle. The problem is, if you don't like being out here, you shouldn't be out here." |
