Giving drivers what they deserve
Hello everyone,
I have a quick thought experiment I would like to throw out there to see what the EXPERIENCED driver in the community have to say.
We have all seen that there are issues with load pay. It gets brought up all the time. I personally try to look at all angles and take everything on a case by case basis. We have all been on the customer side of things at some point. Wondering why our stuff that we ordered online or wherever hasn't gotten to us yet. I have been around the shippers who are just trying to keep their business going and honestly can't afford to pay the higher rates. And can't get a driver to take the load.
Any one of these could be caused by refusing to do our job as drivers.
Now, what if we didn't have to worry so much about the rates? What if we were actually able to run our business and provide for our family while taking the financial load off the shippers and receivers? It could have a trickle down effect where the costs of products goes down instead of up. Thus allowing everyone else in our country to enjoy a better lifestyle as well.
What I propose is a discount system. Similar to the military. As a former military member I know that there were many times that discount would make a difference. We as drivers are the life blood of the country. If we got treated as such it could have a huge impact. Small percentage discounts on utilities, rent, food, services......
They all add up in savings for you as a driver. If you can save a few hundred or maybe a few thousand a month in just cost of living expenses would you still be bothered by the lower rates? If you could actually afford to operate on $1.05 a mile and your family and lifestyle were not affected would you still turn down the loads?
Now this discount would not be given simply because you drive a truck. It's something that would have to be earned. By a driver's safety score, performance score and experience level.
The longer you safely drive a truck, the better your discounts get till you get to the highest level at which point in theory, you would have a pretty good life.
Anyway, what do you all think? I know it sounds good. I would like real feedback on what you think would make this actually work. Who would be willing to help get this started? It might start slow at first but give it a few years and we might see a whole different industry for the better if we actually do something instead of just complaining about how it's unfair or hard things are right now.
Thank you for your time. Looking forward to hearing from you.