by: Pash Brar
There are long lists of trucking firms that are going bankrupt. Truckers are selling equipment and trying to exit a struggling industry. But I am getting growing reports of rude behaviour towards drivers and abusive violence. It’s a real shame and I believe desperation and stress has lead people down abusive paths. Abuse has always been in trucking I think, but in bad times it seems to get worse.
I was dealing with the seller of a trailer, as my client was purchasing his trailer. The seller told me where he had worked. I knew the company well. He told me this firm kept him on the road for seven straight weeks. I was shocked. He said he told the owners son that after the current load he needed a break and not to call him. Instead, the owner himself started calling and demanding he go back to work. He told the owner he needed time off after seven weeks and had already told the son. The owner investigated and then ok’d the time off but had said many abusive things and never apologized. That was strike one as the driver said. But a few weeks later the son gave him an oversize load and refused to give him a permit. He said the permit was required but was told by the son to go around the scales at night and go the long way. When he was late for delivery, which is expected when a proper permit was refused by the son, the owner called the driver swearing at him. Strike two. When this driver got back from the load he went straight to the fleet insurance office with the license plates and quit the organization. More shouting and yelling from the owner ensued. This trucker escaped a very abusive firm. He said he makes less money at another firm, but money is not worth that kind of abuse and demands to do illegal activity.
The story of this firm does not end there. This same trucker has a friend who had a worse incident. It escalated to violence with the owner of the same firm. His friend went to the office, got in a shouting match and ended up in a physical fight with the owner. The owner was knocked to the ground and given a broken nose by this trucker. Violence is not the way. The owner has a reputation for reprehensible behaviour, and it continues.
I financed a truck, and that driver later got in a snowstorm accident. The leasing company showed me the emails sent by this same trucking firm owner to the insurance company demanding he be paid instead of the actual owner, which was the leasing company. His emails were incredibly rude and threatening, and the driver’s wife called me crying because she was also getting threatening calls along with her husband who was blamed for rising insurance costs. Recently 10 drivers with maxi trailers all walked out on this firm. They all quit together. I think it’s unbelievable that this firm remains in business.
Another form of abuse is lack of transparency with driver statements. I have seen so many transgressions when it comes to paying the driver. The rate given to the driver is not the actual rate the firm says it is. The firm keeps the difference but also takes a percentage as a dispatch fee. Practices like this need to be regulated. So many drivers are losing thousands in pay a year all due to rate dishonesty. I witnessed drivers coming into the office, seeing their pay cheques and yelling at the office staff and owners for ripping them off. You work to live, pay your bills and provide for your family; not to have someone steal your hard work for their own wallet to fill. Fuel costs have risen so much, so robbing drivers of their pay is just not right.
I had already mentioned there are trucking firms who refuse to purchase permits for over size and other permit required loads. Is this why it seems like there are more accidents and overpass strikes? If there is a permit, there is also a route to be followed. Are truckers taking the wrong route because they have no choice, to avoid a no permit situation? This puts not only the driver in danger, but also the public who share the roads with trucks. This is an abuse of power by refusing to provide a permit. The driver who speaks up, knowing their job requirements for a permit, makes it very sad. There is zero respect to the driver or to the public, and not to mention very dangerous.
As trucking continues to decline, it appears that the abuse increases. The lack of patience and respect to truckers and their families, as well as to all who share the road is very disheartening. I hope there are more regulations and more transparency in trucking with advances in technology. I think the de-regulation of the trucking industry in the USA in 1980 with the Motor Carrier Act brought nothing but problems. It allowed for too many carriers to enter the market and wages to be cut in half and a lot of deceit along the way. No one deserves abuse in any field. I know I have saved a few drivers from a bad experience by telling them about a firm’s bad reputation before they join. Those that listen are thankful. Those that didn’t listen and found out the hard way, always call to thank me for being honest. Do your homework if you can before joining a firm, but if it’s already too late, you can escape and quit. Save yourself abuse and find somewhere to work that appreciates and respects you.
