Question:
I know many people have mentioned this but it seems a driver should get compensated at LEAST minimum wage for waiting to be loaded or unloaded per the state they are in. If a driver gets the load to the customer on time and they are made to wait, the customer should be made to provide proper compensation if not the carrier. I know waiting is not actively doing any work but it IS preventing that driver from earning money os should be compensated for. Anyone out there have a compny they work for provide any kind of pay for waiting?

Answer:
Do pay detention pay (which is what you are talking about), however, most of the time the detention pay does not start until a driver has been sitting at the warehouse waiting to be loaded or unloaded for more than 4 hours, and also with a few companies out there they will tell you that the driver will be paid detention "if we can collect it from the customer".
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
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Answer:
Well, let's see:
OTR net income per week:500.00
monthly living expenses for me(single, no rent):800.00
savings per month:1200.00
savings per year: 14,400.00
Oregon Min. wage: 6.90/hr
@ 40 hrs: 276.00/wk gross
plus 20 hrs. OT: 207.00
Total weekly gross: 483.00
Total week net: 387.00
Monthly: 1548.00
Living expenses: 800.00 1300.00/mo.(w/rent)
savings per month: 748.00/248.00
savings per year: 2976.00/8976.00
So, with even working 20 hours OT ther is no real comparison to OTR with minimum wage.
I guess there would be if I calculated every waking minute but that would be lame. (BTW- I know of NO minimum wage job in this area that even comes CLOSE to providing 20 hours weekly OT)

Answer:
“So, with even working 20 hours OT ther is no real comparison to OTR with minimum wage.”
Try these numbers:
40 hours @ $6.90 = $276
40 hours @ $6.90 x 1.5 = $414
Weekly wage on min wage = $690
2500 miles @ 25 cpm = $625 (7 days)
There are 168 hours (7 x 24) in a week. At home, or in a truck, you’ll be asleep for (7 x 56 hours, leaving (168 – 56) 112 hours available for work & recreation.
Working two jobs, you’ll spend (40 x 2) 80 hours working and probably another 3-4 hours per day (4 x 7 = 2 travelling to/from work, eating, breaks, etc. leaving you a grand total of about 4 hours to yourself.
Driving OTR, you will donate time over the week to loading/unloading, fueling, PTIs, scaling, waiting for loads and, of course, babysitting the truck while maintenance performs it’s functions. You might have more than 4 hours a week to yourself but I wouldn’t count on it.
There’s an obvious advantage to driving OTR in that your cost of living for “housing”, such as it is, is nil. Part of that is counterbalanced by the fact that it will cost you more to eat on the road than it does at home if you prepare your own meals.
None of this is meant to dissuade you from driving OTR if that’s what you choose to do. It is meant to give you a somewhat different view than you have now. BOL

Answer:
During th week M-F you will have ZERO time to yourself using the 80 hour work schedule you provided. 24-16 hours a day=8 hours minus 8 for sleep. NOT including commute/meal prep time(3-4hrs as you, point out) = 4-5 hours for sleep during that time. TOAST by Wednesday! Yeah, you get the weekend but half of it or more would be spent recouping! PLUS, most minimum wage jobs BLOW and they STAY minimum wage. You can work min. wage a five years later, the only raise you'll most likely get is whatever the state has given. In trucking you will(should) be making close to 50k if you stay with the same carrier. Also you get some decent bennies....most min. wage gigs give you squat.
[This message was edited by bigtimber on September 07, 2003 at 15:11.]

Answer:
And let's not forget that if you wait for say, 8 hours for example, you could just log that time in sleeper berth (off-duty) and get yourself some much-needed rest, so that you have the hours necessary to drive that load you are going to get. Now if you are paid detention pay for those 8 hours waiting, you legally cannot log that as off-duty time, and by law must be logged as on-duty, not driving. If you add all this waiting time up, you will have burned up many potential driving hours. Now, which would you rather have, eight hours pay at minimum wage, or eight hours driving time at mileage pay?
That is basically why companies do not pay much detention time unless you are paid hourly for your job rather than mileage-based.
Here's a stipulation on this. If you are actively waiting at a dock, filling out paperwork, preparing the trailer, or assisting loading/unloading, this has to be logged as on-duty. But if you are told to go and wait for several hours, you might even park the truck at a truckstop or go to sleep. Either way, this is off-duty.
The FMCSR law is very specific on what constitutes on duty vs. off duty. But just because a driver is on duty in the logbook does not mean that they have to be compensated.

Answer:
What say is true, bigtimber, if you’re working 16 hours a day. There are many non-drivers I know who have been working 12-14 hours per day, 7 days a week for many years though not at minimum wage.
“In trucking you will(should) be making close to 50k if you stay with the same carrier. Also you get some decent bennies....”
Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath waiting for either the 50k or the “decent bennies…”. That 50K is pretty much a top of the line wage for most OTR drivers (yeah, yeah, I know; some of you guys make more) whereas with an educational upgrade, most people could do considerably better. It’s your life; knock yourself out.
“And let's not forget that if you wait for say, 8 hours for example, you could just log that time in sleeper berth (off-duty) and get yourself some much-needed rest, so that you have the hours necessary to drive that load you are going to get.”
Sure , that’ll work swell. You unload in the morning, as I usually do, head over to the next shipper and then sleep all day after you’ve just slept all night. It’s a shame real life doesn’t work as simply as posting on this forum.
“Now if you are paid detention pay for those 8 hours waiting, you legally cannot log that as off-duty time, and by law must be logged as on-duty, not driving.”
Why don’t you inform us of what law that might be? The FMCSR do not address issues of pay in that manner.
“That is basically why companies do not pay much detention time unless you are paid hourly for your job rather than mileage-based.”
Companies don’t pay detention pay because they don’t have to and drivers reinforce the practice by logging detention time as “off duty” or “sleeper berth” thereby rewarding the companies for not paying them.

Answer:
Thanks for your input, really helps! I guess what would someone do if they love to drive? I mean, what other type jobs are there for someone who wants to see the nation and collect a paycheck? I'm not being flip, really, what other things are out there?
There is local driving but you know I would rather stay a courier driving a smaller vehicle than mess with a TT in traffic all the time.

Answer:
Great posts, except for the fact most here don't seem to consider they are never truly 'off duty' as OTR drivers, so you are the comapny's disposal 168 hours a week, not 80-100. If you don't think so, just ignore somebody taking off your hood while you are the bunk for your 8 hours or whatever, do nothing about it then tell your compnay you didn't get any info on who hit you because you were 'off duty'. LOL
Same thing waiting around for ANY reasin; out of hours, waiting on a new dispatch, can't load til Monday, etc. You are always 'on duty' as an unpaid security guard for company property, period.
Now run those numbers again and see what minimum wage adds up to for a full week OTR. Drivers have been so stump trained around logged hours and cheating on those they don't even consider the true story anymore. Do we also want to go with what minimum wage adjusted for inflation would be and use those numbers as well?
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Answer:
Bigtimber; as far as I'm concerned, if you want to drive you ought to get out there and give it a try.
As far as I know, you only get one life (yeah, I know; move it to the "spiritual forum") and, in my far from humble opinion, you should do the things that are important to you. If this is one of those things, you're far better of going for it now then regretting than you didn't when you're older.
There are many people on this board who have enjoyed trucking for many years and have found the financial rewards perfectly satisfactory. You aren't going to know if you're going to join their ranks until you try. BOL

Answer:
Thanks,
I'm just not sure myself. I'm 32 years old and still trying to figure out what I wanna do when I grow up. I own my own courier business now but want more.

Answer:
There's something to what you say, Dominoes, but I've done other things than drive in my life and, frankly, I've never been paid to sleep and, as a result, I don't expect trucking companies to pay me for that time either. Unlike some drivers, I will take my 8 hour break and the load be damned.
On the other hand, in other positions,I've always been paid per diem (real per diem to pay for living expenses, not mileage-based quasi per diem) when I've travelled on company business and been provided with somewhat more luxurious sleeping quarters than the 6' x 7' box which I inhabit now.

Answer:
"And let's not forget that if you wait for say, 8 hours for example, you could just log that time in sleeper berth (off-duty) and get yourself some much-needed rest, so that you have the hours necessary to drive that load you are going to get." Theres some good trucker logic. besides most do it that way. Dock time = sleeper time. You wont actually be getting much rest on a dock as trucks will be coming and going around you. Workers may be in and out of your wagon and you've most likely already slept if it's a morning appointment. That all doesn't matter. Whats important is you have those hours to run your next load. You might be tired and worn out but who cares, your legal? On paper anyway.
What was that up there about logging on duty not driving if you receive detention pay. Thats a new one. I wonder if the Union drivers who are paid to sleep in hotels for their 8 hour breaks log all that time on duty.
"Companies don’t pay detention pay because they don’t have to and drivers reinforce the practice by logging detention time as “off duty” or “sleeper berth” thereby rewarding the companies for not paying them. " That pretty well sums it up.
"Caution: Door May Open"
[This message was edited by Stuffs on September 07, 2003 at 18:03.]
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