7 ms·

More specifically, they are protesting the wait times (up to 12 hours now), not the inspections themselves. These wait times are generally unpaid, I believe the

More specifically, they are protesting the wait times (up to 12 hours now), not the inspections themselves. These wait times are generally unpaid, I believe they get a single flat fee per border crossing.

colejohnson66 5y ago
My experience talking to truck drivers is that many are paid per mile and per stop, not per hour. So sitting for 10 extra hours and not getting paid for it could easily piss someone off enough to strike. Especially if you change is as drastic as this: > One trucker told the news outlet that prior to Abbott’s order, he made two crossings into the U.S. a day. Now, he’d be lucky to have one or two a week given the long delays at the bridges.
- ilaksh 5y ago
  It could be the difference between being able to pay rent or not.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  Similar problem when they are waiting 10 hours for a load to finish filling. It's all unpaid time.
- hiccuphippo 5y ago
  John Oliver recently made a show on this: https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA
- sva_ 5y ago
  Truck drivers are treated like dog shit, seemingly anywhere. I saw some documentaries about them here in Germany, and it's an ungrateful soulsucking job. Sleep in a truck, get barely any showers, and shit in toilets that would make porta potties seem luxurious. Most of those left now seem to be eastern Europeans. People express concerns that those jobs could get automated away, but I don't necessarily share those worries. Most of those people working those jobs are near retirement age, and we'll have a real problem filling up those positions in the coming years, at least in this region. Barely any young people want to work such jobs.
  - pkaye 5y ago
    I've been seeing news about Walmart raising their in-house trucker pay to $110k. Not sure how many truckers they have though. https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-to-110-000-leads-industry/video_fb51a758-5930-58be-bc41-a9ff37730ba9.html https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-...
    - wavefunction 5y ago
      They're trying to recruit existing employees for these truck driver positions.
    - chottocharaii 5y ago
      that is misleading. $110k isn’t salary, it’s money paid to owner-drivers
      - missedthecue 5y ago
        $95k for salaried drivers doesn't sound bad though
  - bag_boy 5y ago
    I have worked with a lot of freight drivers. They have to do some seriously stressful tasks: - unloading pallets, some over 1.5k lbs in weight. When they’re stuck, the truck driver is responsible for getting them out, and that’s that. Not every small biz has a forklift lol. - you drop off your load in a warehouse and nobody is there to receive it/unclear directions/your pickup directions suck. You spend the next hour walking around a warehouse searching for someone to sign for you. - backing up to a dock and interrupting traffic = outraged commuters who get ridiculously upset - unloading broken pallet loads by hand. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
    - quartesixte 5y ago
      >When they’re stuck, the truck driver is responsible for getting them out, and that’s that Not to say that it doesn’t suck being a truck driver, but most of my experience has been that if the load cannot be unloaded by the receiver, the shipment is taken back and the driver is still paid for the attempt.
munk-a 5y ago
Yup, trucking has become a race to the bottom. Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. I don't know when this all shifted in the past twenty years but it feels like the teamsters union (both here and in Mexico) needs to step up their game.
- Spooky23 5y ago
  It started in the 80s. Deregulation of certain types of trucking allowed for unions to be broken by shifting employment to “right to work” states. There’s different types of regulation. The in-state truckers in labor friendly states get a decent deal.
- rascul 5y ago
  > Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. If the statistics are accurate, and my math isn't too horrible, in the US, something around 47% (679,127) of drivers (1,441,014) are owner operators. I'm not sure how many of that 679k are leasing from the company they drive for, but it's certainly not 100%. Drivers are not paying for their own maintenance when they don't lease/own the trucks. https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/
  - joe_the_user 5y ago
    Neither of your links support your claims. I don't know if the OP is correct or not but you're just saying "that's obvious false - no evidence, here's the definition of owner-operator". If you think outrageous BS is obviously impossible, you haven't been around in the last few, where many, many abusive and egregious practices have come to light.
    - rascul 5y ago
      I don't have any references that drivers don't pay for maintenance on trucks that they don't own/lease, I know that from friends, family, and myself having worked in the industry. I don't know how to show that here without being able to find any articles about it online. I am well aware that outrageous BS is very possible in the trucking industry, having seen it and been subjected to it myself. It's not new, even if it has recently come to light for people outside the industry. What I tried to show is that the drivers who are paying for their own maintenance on vehicles leased from the company they drive for is smaller than "generally". I don't know of any articles that show those numbers so I tried to show other statistics that would imply it. I thought the way that the comment I replied to could be perceived was unfair.
after_care 5y ago
1. Why are wait times so long? Is there anymore we can reasonably do to reduce them? 2. How much would it impact the costs of goods to pay truckers an hourly wage during these downtimes?
- fgonzag 5y ago
  The inspections are political. Tx gov started them because Biden removed title 42 expulsions. He simply ramped up full inspections for 100% of trucks entering the state (under tx dot authority) instead of the random system they had before. Abbott is using the inspections as a political bargaining chip to regain title 42 expulsions.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Texas Ag Commissioner is not a fan of Abbott’s actions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas-farm-official-blasts-governor-s-border-crackdown https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas...
    - oh_sigh 5y ago
      Presumably a Governor has a wider view than an agricultural commissioner. For example, one would not expect an agricultural commissioner to focus on drug or gun law enforcement.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - dylan604 5y ago
        The Lt Governor is the key to power in Texas. Also, the Railroad Commisioner in Texas is extremely powerful compared to other states. It's all weird.
        wavefunction 5y ago

colejohnson66 5y ago

My experience talking to truck drivers is that many are paid per mile and per stop, not per hour. So sitting for 10 extra hours and not getting paid for it could easily piss someone off enough to strike. Especially if you change is as drastic as this: > One trucker told the news outlet that prior to Abbott’s order, he made two crossings into the U.S. a day. Now, he’d be lucky to have one or two a week given the long delays at the bridges.

ilaksh 5y ago
It could be the difference between being able to pay rent or not.
HWR_14 5y ago
Similar problem when they are waiting 10 hours for a load to finish filling. It's all unpaid time.
hiccuphippo 5y ago
John Oliver recently made a show on this: https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA https://youtu.be/phieTCxQRLA
sva_ 5y ago
Truck drivers are treated like dog shit, seemingly anywhere. I saw some documentaries about them here in Germany, and it's an ungrateful soulsucking job. Sleep in a truck, get barely any showers, and shit in toilets that would make porta potties seem luxurious. Most of those left now seem to be eastern Europeans. People express concerns that those jobs could get automated away, but I don't necessarily share those worries. Most of those people working those jobs are near retirement age, and we'll have a real problem filling up those positions in the coming years, at least in this region. Barely any young people want to work such jobs.
- pkaye 5y ago
  I've been seeing news about Walmart raising their in-house trucker pay to $110k. Not sure how many truckers they have though. https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-to-110-000-leads-industry/video_fb51a758-5930-58be-bc41-a9ff37730ba9.html https://tucson.com/news/national/walmart-boosts-trucker-pay-...
  - wavefunction 5y ago
    They're trying to recruit existing employees for these truck driver positions.
  - chottocharaii 5y ago
    that is misleading. $110k isn’t salary, it’s money paid to owner-drivers
    - missedthecue 5y ago
      $95k for salaried drivers doesn't sound bad though
- bag_boy 5y ago
  I have worked with a lot of freight drivers. They have to do some seriously stressful tasks: - unloading pallets, some over 1.5k lbs in weight. When they’re stuck, the truck driver is responsible for getting them out, and that’s that. Not every small biz has a forklift lol. - you drop off your load in a warehouse and nobody is there to receive it/unclear directions/your pickup directions suck. You spend the next hour walking around a warehouse searching for someone to sign for you. - backing up to a dock and interrupting traffic = outraged commuters who get ridiculously upset - unloading broken pallet loads by hand. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
  - quartesixte 5y ago
    >When they’re stuck, the truck driver is responsible for getting them out, and that’s that Not to say that it doesn’t suck being a truck driver, but most of my experience has been that if the load cannot be unloaded by the receiver, the shipment is taken back and the driver is still paid for the attempt.

munk-a 5y ago

Yup, trucking has become a race to the bottom. Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. I don't know when this all shifted in the past twenty years but it feels like the teamsters union (both here and in Mexico) needs to step up their game.

Spooky23 5y ago
It started in the 80s. Deregulation of certain types of trucking allowed for unions to be broken by shifting employment to “right to work” states. There’s different types of regulation. The in-state truckers in labor friendly states get a decent deal.
rascul 5y ago
> Drivers also generally pay their own vehicle maintenance, often on trucks their renting from the company that "hired" them. If the statistics are accurate, and my math isn't too horrible, in the US, something around 47% (679,127) of drivers (1,441,014) are owner operators. I'm not sure how many of that 679k are leasing from the company they drive for, but it's certainly not 100%. Drivers are not paying for their own maintenance when they don't lease/own the trucks. https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/owner-operator-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/truck-driver-jobs/demographics/
- joe_the_user 5y ago
  Neither of your links support your claims. I don't know if the OP is correct or not but you're just saying "that's obvious false - no evidence, here's the definition of owner-operator". If you think outrageous BS is obviously impossible, you haven't been around in the last few, where many, many abusive and egregious practices have come to light.
  - rascul 5y ago
    I don't have any references that drivers don't pay for maintenance on trucks that they don't own/lease, I know that from friends, family, and myself having worked in the industry. I don't know how to show that here without being able to find any articles about it online. I am well aware that outrageous BS is very possible in the trucking industry, having seen it and been subjected to it myself. It's not new, even if it has recently come to light for people outside the industry. What I tried to show is that the drivers who are paying for their own maintenance on vehicles leased from the company they drive for is smaller than "generally". I don't know of any articles that show those numbers so I tried to show other statistics that would imply it. I thought the way that the comment I replied to could be perceived was unfair.

after_care 5y ago

1. Why are wait times so long? Is there anymore we can reasonably do to reduce them? 2. How much would it impact the costs of goods to pay truckers an hourly wage during these downtimes?

fgonzag 5y ago
The inspections are political. Tx gov started them because Biden removed title 42 expulsions. He simply ramped up full inspections for 100% of trucks entering the state (under tx dot authority) instead of the random system they had before. Abbott is using the inspections as a political bargaining chip to regain title 42 expulsions.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Texas Ag Commissioner is not a fan of Abbott’s actions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas-farm-official-blasts-governor-s-border-crackdown https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-12/top-texas...
  - oh_sigh 5y ago
    Presumably a Governor has a wider view than an agricultural commissioner. For example, one would not expect an agricultural commissioner to focus on drug or gun law enforcement.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - dylan604 5y ago
      The Lt Governor is the key to power in Texas. Also, the Railroad Commisioner in Texas is extremely powerful compared to other states. It's all weird.
      - wavefunction 5y ago