Trucking Advocate and Activist Allen Smith of TruthAboutTrucking.com : Articles Current News and Information for CDL Truck Drivers and Truck Driving Students…"Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry"
Hope Rivenburg, the widow of slain trucker Jason Rivenburg, along with Congressman Paul Tonko, AskTheTrucker, and everyone who has worked so diligently to get HR 2156 passed into law, has designated June 28th 2010, the official day for Jason’s Law – Bill HR 2156.
Jason’s Law, otherwise known as Bill H.R. 2156, was introduced on April 28th, 2009 and has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The Bill, named after truck driver, Jason Rivenburg of Fultonham, NY, who was found shot to death in his truck, would implement a pilot program to establish safe truck parking facilities.
What this day of recognition means is that on, June 28th, 2010, we are calling for EVERYONE to call their Representatives and Senators, telling them that it is imperative for them to support HR 2156 in order that truck drivers can have the promise of safe and adequate parking. We need to flood the phone lines and “Get Er Done”
This is a Bill that has the Support of everyone. With all the many differences that exist among one another within the trucking industry, we are all in unanimous agreement that H.R. 2156 must be passed and become law.
Organizations in Support of H.R. 2156- “Jason’s Law”
OOIDA Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters
It’s time to for us all to be determined and not depend on the next guy. Here is an article written by Todd Dills of OverDrive Magazine which explains why we must not be passive, but instead, the absolute vital importance of why we must all be proactive in this cause. We must all create a frame of mind within ourselves that says,
” If I make this call today, Jasons Law Will be passed”
Hope Rivenburg has made numerous trips to Washington in support of HR 2156, attempting to gather support and co-sponsors for the bill.
She does this for 2 reasons:
So that her husbands death will not be in vain
So that no other truck driver or their family will have to endure similar pain and loss
Union or non-union? That is the question many truck drivers across America have debated for years. Truck drivers face long hours, low pay, disrespect and continual abuse by trucking companies which come in the form of taking advantage of CDL students and new drivers as a means of cheap labor. Couple this with the on-going abuse of the truck driver DAC Report and the illegal lease agreements between driver and the trucking company lease-purchase programs, professional truckers seem to take it from all sides. Recently, I received an email from a recruiter of a major trucking company. Here is a small part of the message:
“I am a recruiter for a major carrier and have been for some time. Though it is never discussed, I’ve been there long enough to understand how it all works . It’s frustrating watching drivers be treated as an expendable resource as well as purposefully being paid an unlivable wage in order to createturnover. I’d like to be part of the solution to the problem rather than the instrument of the companies who cause the problem.”
For five years now, I have been publicly speaking and writing about the abuse of truck drivers, purposefully being done by the trucking companies and the “leaders” of this industry.I have always maintained that the trucking companies, the dispatchers, the recruiters and the trucking organizations all know too well that everything I have disclosed through the years is accurate. The above email from a veteran trucking company recruiter is verification. Furthermore, this is not the first message I’ve received from recruiters and dispatchers within the industry . . . only the first that I have shared publicly.
I never expected to be well received by trucking organizations and the so-called organizations standing up for drivers . . . but drivers can expect that Truth About Trucking, LLC will continue to fight to “raise the standards of the trucking industry.” As more dispatchers and recruiters who possess a greater deal of character than their peers, continue to come forward to confirm the truth that we first exposed on a public forum . . . drivers will see a change for the better. They must first understand that any change for the professional drivers will only come about through the works of the drivers themselves.
If trucking or driver organizations sincerely cared about their drivers, there would be no DAC abuse . . . there would be no lease purchase program designed for the driver to fail . . . there would be no CDL graduate paying $5000 for a license and sitting at home a year later without a driving job . . . there would be no cheap labor pool of new truck drivers earning .19 cents per mile . . . and there would be no constant, self-made turning over of drivers by the trucking companies. It is no wonder why so many thousands of drivers are in favor of unionizing the trucking industry. If trucking companies only continue to abuse the professional truck driver, CDL student and newcomer to the industry, who is left to fight for themselves? It will have to be the driver. Once again, all eyes are on the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Employee Free Choice Act would allow the truck drivers, not the trucking company, to choose whether and how they want to form a union. Many drivers have their eye on this legislation and so does the ATA and trucking companies across America. In March of 2009, I had John Wojcik, the editor of People’s Weekly World Labor as a guest on the Truth About Trucking “LIVE” talk radio program. I could see this issue coming and it is now breaking the horizon. The ATA and trucking companies are preparing for the battle.
Personally, I can see the pros and cons of a union. Having been an owner of a trucking company, I can understand the concerns from a business viewpoint. However, we are not talking about any business . . . we are talking about the trucking industry. More specifically, we are discussing the long-haul trucking industry. In an industry that has been described by professional, veteran drivers as the “most corrupt” industry they have ever seen . . . is a union the only answer to fixing the problem?
Truck drivers who are for organizing a union within their trucking companies, believe it is the only way to receive the respect and pay they deserve. Apparently, the American Trucking Association believes other wise. The ATA has added a new “business solutions” publication to help trucking companies prepare for the potential passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. In other words, it is a publication to assist trucking fleets in understanding how they can fight back against those truck drivers demanding equal rights, pay and benefits.
Organizations and trucking companies fighting against drivers, keeping them right where they want them to be. Whether you are for a union or against is not the issue. It appears the giant trucking organizations are against truck drivers even having the right to choose. This employee right could very well make the trucking companies abandon the abuse and actually give truckers the respect and lifestyle they deserve.
Land Line Magazine, the OOIDA business trucking magazine, reported on the recent Dan Rather Reports TV Show in which I was invited to as a special speaker from the audience. In the article they wrote:
Rather turned to an audience member, Allen Smith, who has spent 30 years in the business. Smith claimed he has received thousands of responses on his site, askthetrucker.com, since the “Dan Rather Reports” episode aired featuring Wood. ( misquote)
“The schools are still taking their money. They’re wasting their time in the truck knowing that within a couple of weeks they’re going to be thrown out of the truck anyway,” Smith said.
Although I’m sure Land Line would never admit to receiving the volume of emails we have received from all of you since our site began, all of you CDL students and new drivers out there who have experienced these abuses you have shared with AskTheTrucker over the years, should consider also sharing your stories directly to OOIDA and their Land Line Magazine.
In fact, here is an email we just received a few hours ago from a gentleman who wanted to share his nightmare story of his Owner Operator Lease Purchase Program, which I have discussed many times. For Land Line Magazine and OOIDA . . . this is just another one of the thousands we have and continue to receive:
Dear Sir:
I have settled down a bit, so let me put things into perspective and give you some more info:
I am near the end of my 5th week with ********. I will get my 4th settlement statement tomorrow. I am a rookie driver – all my experience is these 5 weeks, plus ******** driver training program. My driver trainer was a lease op, he convinced me that I would make much more money as a lease op. I was convinced by many ******** people that leasing my truck would provide me more income, more flexibility in various aspects of the job. I got back to the yard, tested out, and one of the instructors talked to our group about leasing. He pulled me aside, and of course I had already made up my mind to do it…long story short, he gets $300 bonus for every one he can get to sign up. And I did so. It has turned into a nightmare. I was making more money ($330 a week) with Georgia unemployment than with this company.
My settlements so far during my short career have been: $755 for week 1, $305 for week 2, $56 for week 3, week 4 comes out tomorrow, and of course here I sit broke down from Sunday Nov. 8 to probably Sat. Nov. 14, so when I get the settlement for this week, it will be deeeeep in the hole no doubt. Those figures
are before taxes and Soc. Security, which I have to pay quarterly. I probably wont have to pay anything as I had worked in the corporate world in my old job for a half year in 2009. I have to drive 1800 to 1900 miles to “break even”.
I am told that ******** Trucking receives $30,000.00 from the US Govt. for every new driver it trains and puts on the road. At the same time, this company has a 120% turn over rate, and it’s because the lease ops are making the truck payments on a fleet of lemons (Cat C-15 engines with problematic Regen systems), and the Drivers (lease or company) are not getting enough miles to earn a living. What do you think, is it a scam? Or is aall of the trucking industry just like this?? This is a “$30,000 a head personnel factory” funded by our tax dollars.
Five weeks is not a very long time, perhaps it reduces the impact or legitimacy of this story, you know, here is a guy just whining or whatever, but to me it is very big… I did this as my answer to being laid off from the corporate world, my big career change, a new beginning.
I am planning to complete my 90 day obligation to ******* and then give my 2 weeks notice to break the truck lease. At least there is a 2 week walk away clause. Today is Nov. 12, and I have been broke down since Sunday Nov. 8th, and I have to continue making lease payments, pay my own hotel bill, and basically just wait until it is fixed. Yes I signed a contract, I knew what I was getting into, but I did not expect I would be issued a lemon. My truck had 238 thousnad miles on it – just broke in, they all said. They do offer a truck rental at *******, but I wont be down long enough for it to work out – it would be time to come back up here & get my truck after only say 1 run in the rental (from back at the yard in *******), and by the way, there are no rentals available right now anyway. I checked yesterday (Nov. 11). So, my truck will be issued to the next victim, and this puppy mill will continue to generate $30,000 government payments.
I guess I am a complete idiot. Trucking has turned into a nightmare in only 5 short weeks, I have gotten a real education. I think it is God trying to tell me something. I await some kind of sign from Him, or maybe its that simple: that he wants me to go home and not be a truck driver?? I know this has hurt my wife badly, and I am lonely as hell. What can I say? I can do this work, I know it, but I cannot survive at the abysmal level of income. If I had some other source of income, it would be OK to stick with it and learn the ropes, get the experience, and so on. I believe trucking has a chance to come back like the old days, I believe that is why the old veterans are hanging in and running on.
I cannot afford it.
If you can use any of this please do so. Bear in mind I still have to work with ****** for 4 more weeks or so to fulfill my 90 day obligation – that covers training expenses. They say they can charge me with it if I leave early.
Very Best Regards,
***********************
MY REPLY:
Hi ******** :
I’m really sorry this has happened to you and is the reason we are working so hard to expose these scams and abuses by the trucking industry, from those companies and schools which are allowed to operate in these abusive manners.
I don’t have to tell you that “yes” in many cases, these lease purchase plans are nothing more than scams. There are good companies out there with good lease programs. I cannot really say about the company you mentioned, but again, this lease purchase programs show to have an 87% failure rate.
They are simply designed for a driver’s failure by many companies. Understand, you ARE NOT AN IDIOT! Sounds like you are just another victim of the abuse and scams of the trucking industry that we are working to expose. I cannot verify the $30,000 you mention – that sounds very high to me – but I will look into it.
Industry leaders will always say that it’s YOUR fault … but trust me … it’s not. It’s their fault for allowing these scams and abuses to continue.
I’m sorry that once again, another newcomer to the industry who only wanted a new career and a way to support their family, has been victimized by this industry. We will keep fighting to expose the truth.
Sincerely,
Allen Smith
So here is ANOTHER story shared by one more victim of the scam and abuses of trucking. We maintain all emails within our system, so if OOIDA wants to say that I “claim” to receive . . . we will be glad to start posting more here on AskTheTrucker including the names of those trucking companies within the emails.
: askthetrucker, ata, H.R. 2156, hope rivenburg, jason rivenburg, Jason's law- H.R.2156 S971, ooida, paul tonko, teamsters, todd dills, trucking, trucking industry
