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If you're getting paid $200,000 to do drive a set route in a truck then you deserve to be replaced by a robot. The justification for getting paid this much for

If you're getting paid $200,000 to do drive a set route in a truck then you deserve to be replaced by a robot. The justification for getting paid this much for such a monotonous job is ridiculous. Their union better be sweating.

anigbrowl 11y ago
Maybe, but look at those trucks, they're the size of a building. If you screw up you could do a hell of a lot of damage. I presume the $200k salary is a reflection of the supply & demand for that particular driving skill.
- frozenport 11y ago
  None of the risk is bore by the truck driver. If they screw up or destroy the equipment they might be sued for negligence, at worse. Risk of lives is somewhat less compared to slamming a school bus into a busy intersection. It is not clear if the risk is bore by the company because the equipment is insured, maybe they will get higher insurance rates. $200k salary comes from living the middle of nowhere, and indeed the work of the unions. The pay for this kind of a gig has gone up dramatically in the last 3 decades. On the other hand, despite the 200k salary the the industry remains profitable, as they simply stick their hands in the ground and pull out money.
  - anigbrowl 11y ago
    Your response is meaningless. If I'm not willing to pay the going rate for a competent megatruck driver in a remote location, and an incompetent driver wrecks a heap of equipment that ends up costing me millions of dollars, then I may well ask myself why I cheaped out instead of just spending $200k/year on a driver with the desired skillset and experience. I never suggested in any way that such wages were reflective of drivers' costs of doing business or liability insurance, and don't know where you got such an idea. I think the high salary is a function of both the remote location and the particular skills/experience needed to operate a truck that can weigh up to 600 tons when loaded. The trucks themselves cost a few million dollars each, I believe.
    - frozenport 11y ago
      US miltary equipment, such as plains and tanks cost more and require more experience. Its not about finding competant drivers.
      - anigbrowl 11y ago
        Working in the military isn't a regular job, and people who enlist in the military sign a very restrictive contract, so the normal laws of supply and demand don't apply. Internally the military is, by definition, a command-and-control economy. http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/making-commitment.html http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/making-commitment....
  - ForHackernews 11y ago
    And if I push code with a bug in it that winds up costing my company 5 million bucks, it's extremely unlikely they'd try and take it out of my salary. What's your point?

anigbrowl 11y ago

Maybe, but look at those trucks, they're the size of a building. If you screw up you could do a hell of a lot of damage. I presume the $200k salary is a reflection of the supply & demand for that particular driving skill.

frozenport 11y ago
None of the risk is bore by the truck driver. If they screw up or destroy the equipment they might be sued for negligence, at worse. Risk of lives is somewhat less compared to slamming a school bus into a busy intersection. It is not clear if the risk is bore by the company because the equipment is insured, maybe they will get higher insurance rates. $200k salary comes from living the middle of nowhere, and indeed the work of the unions. The pay for this kind of a gig has gone up dramatically in the last 3 decades. On the other hand, despite the 200k salary the the industry remains profitable, as they simply stick their hands in the ground and pull out money.
- anigbrowl 11y ago
  Your response is meaningless. If I'm not willing to pay the going rate for a competent megatruck driver in a remote location, and an incompetent driver wrecks a heap of equipment that ends up costing me millions of dollars, then I may well ask myself why I cheaped out instead of just spending $200k/year on a driver with the desired skillset and experience. I never suggested in any way that such wages were reflective of drivers' costs of doing business or liability insurance, and don't know where you got such an idea. I think the high salary is a function of both the remote location and the particular skills/experience needed to operate a truck that can weigh up to 600 tons when loaded. The trucks themselves cost a few million dollars each, I believe.
  - frozenport 11y ago
    US miltary equipment, such as plains and tanks cost more and require more experience. Its not about finding competant drivers.
    - anigbrowl 11y ago
      Working in the military isn't a regular job, and people who enlist in the military sign a very restrictive contract, so the normal laws of supply and demand don't apply. Internally the military is, by definition, a command-and-control economy. http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/making-commitment.html http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/making-commitment....
- ForHackernews 11y ago
  And if I push code with a bug in it that winds up costing my company 5 million bucks, it's extremely unlikely they'd try and take it out of my salary. What's your point?