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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

City Seattle Truckers Are Getting Screwed

Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 10:55 AM

George Pfromm III

In case you haven't read it, check out freelancer Jake Blumgart's article on the weakest link in the global supply chain. Seattle's freight truckers work exhaustive hours, drive excessively polluting trucks (the only trucks they can afford), and can't unionize:

The typical port trucker often wakes before 4:00 a.m., works 12-hour days five days a week, and brings in $400 to $500 at week's end—after expenses. And expenses take up more than half of a driver's net income. Due to the 1980 federal deregulation of the trucking industry, port truckers can be labeled "independent contractors," even though they work for the same trucking firm every day. (Many trucks even bear the company emblem, but their drivers still aren't acknowledged as employees, meaning no hourly wage, no health insurance, no vacation time, and no unemployment benefits.) As for the exact number of independent contractors, no one knows for sure. Some specialty firms, such as refrigerated-trucking firms, employ their drivers, but as far as the Washington division of the Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports (CCSP) can guess, more than 80 percent of the truckers are independent contractors.

This legal technicality allows trucking companies to shift all the costs to the drivers: gas, insurance, maintenance, permits, parking, and road taxes—all taken out of the driver's income.

Check out the entire article HERE.