Semi Drivers needed...starting at $95K

[stevej37]

Driving Walmarts trucks....not a bad wage.

https://news.yahoo.com/walmart-offering-truckers-starting-salary-152931879.html

[stomachmonkey]

Buddy of mine is VP for a logistics company.

He says the driver issue has been going on for years even before COVID.

They've been paying their local around town delivery drivers $90K a year for a while.

$110k for out of state regular runs like Dallas to LA.

Long haul drivers, the teams that run non stop cross country, $300k

And they are having trouble finding enough drivers.

He's on the fence about easing CDL standards to bring in younger candidates.

On the one hand his business needs it, on the other, he thinks 18 year olds behind the wheel of big rigs is not the best idea.

[cabmandone]

^^
I'm not sure it's CDL requirements that prevent younger candidates from applying. It's more to do with the fact it just takes a different kind of person to be a truck driver.

[stevej37]

The newer semi's are auto/tranny or manual?

[911 Rod]

Once again, I chose the wrong career.

[stevej37]

I've ridden in a couple of them...never drove one.
The modern ones look comfortable...esp with the sleeper section.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by stevej37

The newer semi's are auto/tranny or manual?

All the trucks the company my brother drives for are auto. My brother is an owner operator, his is a manual.

[asphaltgambler]

There is waaay more to this than just a driver 'shortage'. It is, more to the point, people not willing to drive over-the-road semi's specifically, where the pay and hours are a zip-code apart.

The only people making money in this racket are the freight brokers who lie, cheat, steal on the front and the back end of the haul load. Or where the employer pays the driver in railroad-miles instead of the actual miles driven. Or the huge amount of 'demerits' for going over the speed limit, too much throttle for too long, too aggressive braking, too high g's in a turn - all live monitored via telemetering. Uber has entered this business and using an app the owner-operator accepts or rejects bids for the haul. But often when the driver accepts the bid displayed, it is a lesser amount flashed briefly on the next screen where they accept it

How about the warehouses that unload on their schedule, not the driver's? sometimes waiting more than 24 hours from the time of arrival. If the wheels aren't turning with a load in the trailer, you're earning $"0". How about you now can't drive but so long or the truck will actually shut itself down regardless of where the vehicle is when over that limit.

I could go and on. BTW, all this stuff is nothing new. But when the Virus caused an almost complete shutdown of the country, both driver employees and owner-operators had no loads to haul. No loads = No work. No work = No pay. Drivers of all types simply quit and went to another line of work.

And don't get me started on 'private' CDL training schools which are nothing more than a shell corporation for the major trucking companies; in which, once graduated you might get 1 day off in the first 2 months ........................if you're lucky.

For those who quit, whether in the 1st week or in the 1st year, you'll be on the hook for entire 'loan' that was fronted to you to become a CDL driver, including fee's and other add-on items to your new debt, payable all at once.

[stevej37]

There is a truck broker where I live that started out with one semi in the 70's.
He's built it up to a huge business...

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

How about the warehouses that unload on their schedule, not the driver's? sometimes waiting more than 24 hours from the time of arrival. How about you now can't drive but so long or the truck will actually shut itself down regardless of where the vehicle is when over that limit.

And when you get done waiting, they tell you that you need to tarp the load out in the rain. Who wouldn't love that job? Then there's unpaid deadhead time, detention time (you touched on) and a bunch of other stuff.

[stevej37]

^^^ Driving a Walmart Semi shouldn't be that bad. (I don't think)

[stevej37]

That reminds me of a guy that used to stop by our business and want to talk for an hour.
He had a stick that he propped between the depressed clutch and the steering wheel.
He said his boss would recognize it as stopping for traffic. lol

[911 Rod]

Reading the article they made it sound like they were salary employees?

[stevej37]

^^^ That's what I got out of it too. No mention of miles or hours.

I wouldn't want to do it now...but if I was needing a job, I would surely look into it.
I liked the part about the luxury truck stops with masseurs and pet-bathing stations.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Reading the article they made it sound like they were salary employees?

I have to think that’s an error on the author’s part. That would be a major change in the industry.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by stevej37

There is a truck broker where I live that started out with one semi in the 70's.
He's built it up to a huge business...

There’s a local trucking company that runs a fleet of dump trucks.

The tailgates all say something along the lines of “To those who said I wouldn’t amount to anything, this is #XX!”

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by cabmando

And when you get done waiting, they tell you that you need to tarp the load out in the rain. Who wouldn't love that job? Then there's unpaid deadhead time, detention time (you touched on) and a bunch of other stuff.

Or chaining up to go over a mountain pass, which looks like a brutal job on a large truck.

[cabmandone]

If working as a driver for Walmart was really great, they wouldn't need to do some of the things they've done in the last year or so. They'd have people knocking down their door to drive their truck and earn 90K.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ That's what I got out of it too. No mention of miles or hours.

I wouldn't want to do it now...but if I was needing a job, I would surely look into it.
I liked the part about the luxury truck stops with masseurs and pet-bathing stations.

Deshaun Watson was considering becoming a Walmart driver before the Browns picked him up

[GG Allin]

100k a year in a truck is an easy job to find, just not gonna happen in a 40 hour work week.