Originally Posted by RichieLion

OK, let me suggest to you why you're seeing this.

It is because of the demise of the Union Driver. Unionized drivers have and had many safety provisions in their contracts to deter company owners from demanding unsafe practices for profit.

They were also paid fair wages irregardless of their employers under charging customers for market share or the amount of goods delivered on their rigs which can be hampered by inefficient customer receiving practices or overburdened roads leading to the customer or other factors.

Today's drivers are increasingly being paid on productivity and profit percentage which can be impacted by conditions of the road and the inefficiency of their delivery site which drive up the costs, and impact the net share the driver receives for his efforts. They need to get that freight expedited off their trucks to get to their new freight pick-up point in order to earn a decent day's pay. Many companies are also paying a bonus if the driver get to his destination by a certain time.

Many companies are also paying driver's by the load. You particularly see this in non-union construction work. Driver's of non-union dump truck/trailers are racing around all day in order to haul that one more load that may make or break their day.

Because of this and the fact that even the non-union truckers who earn by the hour are generally paid less in total wage and benefits than a comparable unionized worker for work that is not easy, there is a far greater worker turn-over than in the past "glory days" of the unionized truck force. Therefore you have a high percentage of inexperienced drivers on the road rolling 40 tons of truck down the road behind you and you family in your mini-van and hoping he can make a move to swing around you, legally or illegally.

I don't have a solution as it seems the day of the fairly paid and compensated union workforce is in rapid decline and favor, but it is what it is.