I have witnessed this growing over the last 20 years in the Chicago area. These are money laundering operations for Eastern European gangs who bribe state officials to get away with not operating legally.
Excellent work. However, the rot is much deeper. It is like an iceberg of which you only see a fraction of the real extend that is under water. After holding a German CDL since 1984 - that can of course not be transferred - I finished my CDL school two weeks ago, graduating with a CDL-A. My examiner told me that I did a stellar performance, to which I replied that I have been doing that since 1984.
Then came the rude awakening. There are a number of online job brokerage companies like "Glassdoor", "Indeed" and "ZipRecruiter". These aggregators of job offers for truckers are not interested in the veracity of the job offers. After having contacted a number of those "Easy Apply" job offers, I realized that the deception is complete. When you search a trucking company on "maps", you will find the contact information provided. Calling those companies, those who responded were not proficient in English - to say the least. Then I realized that trucking companies that advertised job openings for "auto transport, home daily" were actually brokers working for "Swift". And the "auto transport" was driving for walmart. The "home daily" was for exclusively night shifts.
The advertised income is based on working - as you stated above - like 50 hours per week. There are rules by the FMCSA pertaining how many hours you can be behind the wheel and total working hours. Both are absolutely detrimental to the health and wellbeing of truckers. Having to allow them to work that many hours to make a living is criminal. A real slave market. The system is rigged and those who reek the profits are not interested in the life of the truckers. And many truckers are only motivated by income. Some are bragging about how many miles they are doing per week. Having been commuting in Southwest Florida for the duration of my CDL school, I have seen way too many situations in which 18-wheelers did not maintain a safe distance to the passenger cars in fron of them. Ignoring the signs that state "No Trucks On Left Lane For The Next 18 Miles". Dangerous lane changes and loss of lateral stability are all too common. One time I was inches away from being strafed by a semi truck entering my lane.
Last but not least, when I applied for the school district in which I live as a bus driver, the prerequisite for employment is a GED. I am 65 years old. My GED is from 1979 and I have several professions I pursued when I was young. But I am supposed to utilize an online only "academic verification" system to have my German GED certified - starting at $60 and a processing time of about five weeks. For a school bus driver. Many trucking companies also require a GED. You won't be able to progress in the online job application without one. Which is just one more step into the digital nightmare coming at us. No physical interviews in which a potential employer will have the opportunity to find out who you are and what your abilities are. Sad affairs for which there are people responsible that are never facing consequences for their detrimental policies.
There are in fact True Believers who'd line up behind that sort of full blown bat guano nuttery. But "Collective Punjabi youth" glows, as does Change.org
The use of immigrant truckers may be new, but “cooking the books” isn’t. I drove long haul back in the 1970’s and we kept two log books… one to show the highway patrol if pulled one or if asked at the weigh scales, and the other to get paid. Guess which one was fake?
Except back then you had to be smart to get away with it; fudging logbooks was an IQ test - you had to be somewhat good at math and be able to corroborate your story.
These guys are just having it done for them on the back end - and like so much other technology, this reduces the barrier to entry a little bit more, and puts even dumber, lower quality, and thus even more drivers with lower conscientiousness on the roads.
Agreed. It was illegal back then, too, but what’s going on now is pure evil. At least back then you had to have driving skills and understand the rules of the road. Now, you just pay the entry fee and jump into the cab. It’s gotta stop!
I have witnessed this growing over the last 20 years in the Chicago area. These are money laundering operations for Eastern European gangs who bribe state officials to get away with not operating legally.
Excellent work. However, the rot is much deeper. It is like an iceberg of which you only see a fraction of the real extend that is under water. After holding a German CDL since 1984 - that can of course not be transferred - I finished my CDL school two weeks ago, graduating with a CDL-A. My examiner told me that I did a stellar performance, to which I replied that I have been doing that since 1984.
Then came the rude awakening. There are a number of online job brokerage companies like "Glassdoor", "Indeed" and "ZipRecruiter". These aggregators of job offers for truckers are not interested in the veracity of the job offers. After having contacted a number of those "Easy Apply" job offers, I realized that the deception is complete. When you search a trucking company on "maps", you will find the contact information provided. Calling those companies, those who responded were not proficient in English - to say the least. Then I realized that trucking companies that advertised job openings for "auto transport, home daily" were actually brokers working for "Swift". And the "auto transport" was driving for walmart. The "home daily" was for exclusively night shifts.
The advertised income is based on working - as you stated above - like 50 hours per week. There are rules by the FMCSA pertaining how many hours you can be behind the wheel and total working hours. Both are absolutely detrimental to the health and wellbeing of truckers. Having to allow them to work that many hours to make a living is criminal. A real slave market. The system is rigged and those who reek the profits are not interested in the life of the truckers. And many truckers are only motivated by income. Some are bragging about how many miles they are doing per week. Having been commuting in Southwest Florida for the duration of my CDL school, I have seen way too many situations in which 18-wheelers did not maintain a safe distance to the passenger cars in fron of them. Ignoring the signs that state "No Trucks On Left Lane For The Next 18 Miles". Dangerous lane changes and loss of lateral stability are all too common. One time I was inches away from being strafed by a semi truck entering my lane.
Last but not least, when I applied for the school district in which I live as a bus driver, the prerequisite for employment is a GED. I am 65 years old. My GED is from 1979 and I have several professions I pursued when I was young. But I am supposed to utilize an online only "academic verification" system to have my German GED certified - starting at $60 and a processing time of about five weeks. For a school bus driver. Many trucking companies also require a GED. You won't be able to progress in the online job application without one. Which is just one more step into the digital nightmare coming at us. No physical interviews in which a potential employer will have the opportunity to find out who you are and what your abilities are. Sad affairs for which there are people responsible that are never facing consequences for their detrimental policies.
Superb work. Will watch you on Juno News.
Will try not to disappoint.
Was wondering about the 'poor guy' crowd who 'feel terrible' for the trucker doing a u turn and creating horror on the highway. Then this story: https://thepostmillennial.com/over-1-7-million-people-sign-petition-demanding-leniency-for-illegal-immigrant-trucker-who-killed-3-in-florida?utm_source=deployer&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_term=26474
Lots o bots, I'd guess.
There are in fact True Believers who'd line up behind that sort of full blown bat guano nuttery. But "Collective Punjabi youth" glows, as does Change.org
What assurance/evidence do we have that the Uzbek and Dubai dudes pictured are even real?
None
Yes there is a conspiracy to just put hundreds of FB hiring ads out there for no explicit purpose. Ok.
The use of immigrant truckers may be new, but “cooking the books” isn’t. I drove long haul back in the 1970’s and we kept two log books… one to show the highway patrol if pulled one or if asked at the weigh scales, and the other to get paid. Guess which one was fake?
Except back then you had to be smart to get away with it; fudging logbooks was an IQ test - you had to be somewhat good at math and be able to corroborate your story.
These guys are just having it done for them on the back end - and like so much other technology, this reduces the barrier to entry a little bit more, and puts even dumber, lower quality, and thus even more drivers with lower conscientiousness on the roads.
Agreed. It was illegal back then, too, but what’s going on now is pure evil. At least back then you had to have driving skills and understand the rules of the road. Now, you just pay the entry fee and jump into the cab. It’s gotta stop!