August 16, 2024 • 20 mins
Ever wondered how to safeguard your personal information from cunning email scammers? In our latest Rolling 18 Podcast episode, we promise to arm you with essential knowledge to protect yourself against the latest phishing email scam targeting truckers. This episode is critical for anyone in the industry who wants to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters. We'll cover how to verify email authenticity and the steps you can take to ensure your private data stays private, as highlighted by the FMCSA's most recent warnings.
Think driver turnover is evidence of a trucking labor shortage? Think again. We challenge this common misconception by revealing the real reasons behind the high turnover rates, such as drivers hopping companies for better pay and enticing sign-on bonuses. Explore with us how the current tight labor market actually puts power in the hands of drivers, allowing them to make more informed and beneficial career choices. This episode provides a nuanced view of the trucking industry's dynamics and debunks misleading media narratives. Tune in for a thorough examination of the factors influencing driver turnover and their broader implications for the sector.
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Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date in the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello drivers and welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
I appreciate you folkslistening to and or downloading
my podcast Now.
Today we're going to talk aboutdriver turnover rate, but first
I want to mention a warningthat has been put out on Trucker
News.
The FMCSA is warning truckers.
Another phishing email ismaking the rounds Now.
(00:41):
The Federal Motor Carrier SafetyAdministration announced a new
phishing fake email appearing tocome from the agency, from
FMCSA.
The agency said an email isbeing sent to registered
entities by a party pretendingto be FMCSA and requesting the
carrier's complete formsattached to the email.
(01:02):
These forms ask for a socialsecurity number, usdot, pin.
Fmca does not require suchinformation on official FMCSA
forms.
Fmcsa said carriers should notfill out forms attached to the
fake email and always refer tothe official FMCSA forms for the
(01:23):
latest and official documents.
Now everybody should be smartenough to know.
This day and age, you do notprovide any type of information
on any email until youabsolutely verify who this is
from.
Websites look real.
They're not.
You can always check thehttpscomorgwhatever.
(01:47):
You can always go on googlegoogle the organization, see
exactly what their websiteaddress is and match it up to
the one that you've got.
If it's wrong, you know damnwell it's a scam.
Don't put up with this anymore.
These people overseas aretrying to scam us, and they do.
They hit us for billions ofdollars every year.
It's real funny how we can'tget organized enough to realize
(02:10):
a fake from a real one.
When in doubt, do not send anyinformation at all.
Call somebody, talk to a livehuman being.
If you can't do that, don'tworry about it.
I'm sure they'll try andcontact you one other way.
So that's all you have to do.
Anytime you get an email,verify that email wholeheartedly
.
If you cannot verify it, do notsend anything.
(02:33):
And remember a lot of theseorganizations DOT, fmcsa, etc.
Etc.
They will not ask you for anypersonal information to be put
on a return email when you reply.
So don't do it.
Fmcsa also said that in somecases, the phishing attempt also
(02:53):
asked for a certificate ofinsurance copy, of course, and
driver's license to help protectthe recipient against fraud,
while they are committing fraudagainst the recipient.
See what I'm saying.
So don't do it.
Don't allow these people to getinto your head, get into your
life.
It's just another thing thatwill take you months, if not
years, to get straightened outonce they got your information.
(03:15):
So do not send anything.
Verify everything.
If you have to, and you arethat scared, tell the FMCSA.
They have to send arepresentative to your front
door with a badge.
That's all there is to it.
Now, today we're going to talk alittle bit about, I guess,
turnover rate, because there issome confliction on the reports
(03:38):
of what's going on.
Some people are stating thatthe turnover rate is 90, 91% and
it is true that back in 2019,it was around 91%.
But they are saying that thesedrivers are quitting because of
lack of wages, because of allkinds of different things, and
that they're going home andthey're just not driving.
(03:58):
We know for a fact there areenough registered CDL holders in
the United States to coverevery single load this country
provides, including more thanwhat we have.
So we do know there are someCDL holders that are sitting at
home doing other things.
They may have a dream job, theymay not even be driving truck.
They keep it just in case theyneed it.
(04:19):
Blah, blah, blah.
But we also know that theturnover rate is not exactly
caused by drivers quitting andgoing home.
The vast majority of driversare rotating companies and
they're doing this in order totake advantage of sign-on
bonuses and things like that.
And I did read a report which Iwant to read to you Now.
(04:41):
Ata put out a story and it saysmany cite driver turnover rates
but few understand what theymeasure.
And part of the story says thatas post-pandemic supply chain
challenges and I don't know whythey're saying post-pandemic
we're long past thepost-pandemic, but have been
(05:01):
thrust into public consciousnessA new class of armchair experts
have risen to explain all thatails America's trucking industry
.
Bureaucrats, analysts and othercultural commentators, most of
who have no real-worldexperience in trucking, are
quick to explain why, forexample, the industry faces a
(05:22):
labor shortage as it strives tohire the next generation of
professional drivers.
They want chaos.
They want people to think thatthere's a lot of problems going
on because they want to keepeverything low.
They want to try and get asmany benefits from the United
States government as possible.
The more problems that theyhave, the more they can go
(05:43):
before Congress and say here'sthe issue we have Now.
Case in point, the New YorkTimes essay put out a story that
said for decades, truckers havequit at alarming rates, leading
to a chronic shortage.
The turnover rate was at astaggering 91% in 2019, which
means that for every 100 peoplewho signed up to drive, 91
(06:07):
walked out the door.
Plenty of people have thecommercial driver's license
needed to operate trucks, saidMichael Beiser, a Wayne State
University economist who hasstudied the industry for 30
years, but none of them willwork for these wages.
And this is another typical waythat the mainstream media and
the New York Times it's not justpolitics they lie about.
(06:30):
They lie about a lot of things.
In fact, I would say that allmedia lies in favor of their
narrative, and that includes theleft-leaning and the
right-leaning.
They lie in order to benefitsomebody that's probably putting
money in their pockets.
You cannot trust the newsanymore.
The fact that these folks areeven they even think that
(06:53):
they're legitimate anymore isbeyond me.
They're a powerhouse of nothingbut takes money from those that
want to do nefarious things inorder to collect money, and
generally everything boils downto money, and that includes the
rumors about the shortage oftruck drivers, because they want
to go after the federalgovernment to say, look, we need
(07:15):
subsidies like the trains, andI lay a 10 to 1.
The trains make plenty of moneyto operate on their own too,
but the government's so deep inwith them they still get
billions of dollars a yearbecause they cry like little
babies and say, oh, we can'thandle it.
And then, when you talk to atrain engineer or a guy that
works on the tracks, or the guyanybody that works for a train,
(07:35):
they think they're better thaneverybody else not all of them,
but most of them and they maketons of money.
They get paid hourly wages thatare unbelievable.
Not because they're taking itout of the money they're making
the profits that these traincompanies are making.
They're taking it from yourpockets, the taxpayer.
(07:56):
Now the problem.
The author, robin KaiserSchatzlin I don't know what the
hell kind of name that isfundamentally misunderstands
what the annual truckload driverturnover rate measures.
He and many others before him.
The armchair bandits, the onesthat go out and tell these
stories that are inaccurate,assume or imply the rate
(08:19):
captures drivers leaving theindustry and often cite poor pay
or working conditions as thecause.
Now, part of that time.
That is true, but it is wrong.
The whole overall narrative isjust trying to push people
people that have never driventruck into believing that 91%.
Now, if 91% of truck driverswere quitting the industry
within a year, our economy wouldhave collapsed a long time ago.
(08:44):
It's not three people coming inand three people leaving.
It is three people coming inand then changing companies.
And they do that because of thesign-on bonus.
And I'll get to that in aminute.
I'm going to read part more ofthis story here.
It says turnover is not anindicator of people exiting the
(09:06):
industry.
We know because ATA created andtabulated the metric.
Rather, it more accuratelymeasures drivers moving between
carriers.
You see what I'm saying.
It captures churn within theindustry, not attrition from the
industry Okay.
While retirements and exitsaccount for a small percentage
(09:27):
of turnover okay.
By and large, that is not whatthis figure is counting.
So why are drivers movingbetween fleets at such great
numbers and frequency?
And be honest with you, it'sbeen happening since the 60s and
70s.
There has not been a turnoverrate lower than 80% in the last
40 to 45 years and I think a lotof it has to do with boredom.
(09:50):
I think a lot of it has to dowith a lot of industries.
They get stuck in this wheel ofthe same repetitive crap every
single day, and truck driversaren't built for that.
Truck drivers are built to roam.
Like the freedom that theyprovide, they're made to go out.
You know I used to go on a,pick up a load and leave LA and
go up to Washington.
Bring it back down to LA, goback up to Washington.
(10:12):
You think I wanted to go backto LA?
No, I would pick up anotherload of apples and I would go
east East, young man.
I would head to Philly, or Iwould head to North Dakota, or I
would head to southern Texas.
I didn't want to take the samedarn route every single day.
There's very few people canhandle a daily route that is
identical, especially a truckdriver, because that's not where
(10:36):
we're built.
But it says here.
Rather, it more accuratelymeasures drivers moving between
carriers.
It captures the churn whileretirements and exits for a
small percentage of turnover.
By and large, this is not whatthe figure is counting.
So why are drivers movingbetween fleets?
There are many factors at play,but one number one demand and
(10:59):
number two, opportunity.
Trucking is an extremely tightlabor market For cynical and
structural reasons.
Drivers in high demand today, afact exacerbated by COVID, and
then after that it was becauseof the return from COVID and the
return of traffic and theamount of people back on the
road and the way they weredriving and the amount of
(11:20):
accidents.
So, in order to attract andretain drivers, fleets must
increase pay, which is nowhappening at an extraordinary
rate.
We're witnessing unprecedentedpay increases across the
industry.
Now, then, with weekly driver'searnings surging at a rate of
more than five times theirhistorical average, and that's
up more than 25% for long-haultruckload drivers since the
(11:43):
beginning of 2019, fleets arealso offering sizable
five-figure sign-on bonus andfull benefits as they compete
for the same limited pool ofdrivers.
So let's say, they offer you tenthousand dollars and they say
look, you have to be here sixmonths.
You have to be here at leastsix months, and then you won't
(12:04):
have to pay that back.
So they go pull their six-monthstint, and by that time they
found another job that's givenout a bonus, and they'll bounce
to that one too.
I mean, I don't see a problemwith that either.
We are free, we are independent, we can do what we want, and if
it's legal, what is the problemand what does that mean for
turnover, though?
What is the problem and whatdoes that mean for turnover,
(12:27):
though?
Driver A who's been working fora fleet for only four months
knows he can jump to anothercarrier or six months and get an
immediate $15,000 sign-on bonusplus pay raise.
Six months later he can do thesame thing again.
The churn or poaching, orwhatever you want to call it, is
what inflates turnover in atight labor market.
So when Kaiser and others pointto high turnover figures as a
(12:50):
sign of trucker's jobdissatisfaction, they're missing
the mark.
They're way off the mark.
One could argue that they'regetting it backwards In many
respects.
High turnover is an indicatorof driver empowerment, which the
labor market tightens.
Drivers find themselves in thedriver's seat, he says pardon
the pun, putting millions ofhardworking men and women in
(13:13):
control of their own destiny inways that haven't been in for
years, if ever.
And the cool thing about that isthat you can pick and choose.
I'm not going to work for youunless I get a brand new truck.
This is the style of truck Ilike.
You get me one of those I'mhopping on board.
This company needs drivers.
They're going to do that foryou, especially if that's what
they carry.
A lot of people like theCascadia, a lot of people like
(13:36):
the Volvos and things like that,because of their creature
comforts.
I personally don't care muchabout creature comforts.
I want something that looksbadass and has a lot of chrome
on it.
But I know several truckcompanies that hire people.
They'll give me an 18 speedwith a 550 horsepower engine of
(13:57):
my choice and a Kenworth or aPeterbilt with more rivets in it
than anything else, and I'llhave a million lights on the
damn thing.
And they'll give it to mebecause they want me to chicken
haul, they want me to go downthe road and get the job done,
and they know I can do itbecause I've been doing it for
40 years.
It all depends on what you wantas a driver.
(14:18):
The fact is, truck drivingremains one of the steadiest
paths to the middle classwithout requiring a costly
four-year college degree.
It cannot be offshored and it'sessentially to our way of life
and standard of livingcontinuing to grow over time.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Do you understand here?
Let me play this real quick Doyou understand the words that
(14:40):
are coming out of my mouth?
Because that is a fact.
Drivers and we all need tounderstand that I've always said
we're the captain of our ship.
We get out there on the bigroad.
We are the man or the woman.
We are the ones that make thedecisions.
If I get sick on the road I'mpulling over and I'm going to
bed.
I don't give a crap who callsme.
(15:03):
I don't give a crap what theysay, I don't care if they fire
me because I'm sick, because Itell you what I've always said
that a truck driver may be adime, a dozen, but I can get two
dozen truck driving jobs at thesame dime.
You see what I'm saying.
I love truck companies.
I love the fact that they putmillions of truck drivers to
work.
I love great brokers.
(15:23):
I love honest brokers.
I love anybody in the industrythat's not a truck driver, that
works with us, that helps us dowhat we all need to do, and that
is the basic minimum of pickingup a load and delivering it
somewhere.
That is it.
It's simple as that.
There is no in-between.
The main thing in a trucking jobis to pick up a trailer load of
(15:47):
freight and deliver it tosomebody and empty that trailer.
How easy does that sound?
Well, it sounds extremely easyto me and we need to understand
that.
We need to be empowered.
Yes, we do, and any truckcompany that understands a truck
driver and everything they gothrough out in the road.
They don't clock out at 5 or 6o'clock at night and go home
(16:10):
like dispatchers or like peoplethat work in the office at
trucking companies, and Iunderstand they work hard too.
Don't get me wrong, but we arethe final destination of where
the money comes from.
So we need to be pacified alittle bit more than anybody
else.
We're the drivers.
It doesn't mean we need to getcocky.
(16:30):
It doesn't mean that we need tostick our nose up in the air
and act like we're better thananybody else.
We are a team.
We understand that too.
But the point is, if we're nothappy out on the road with all
the other stress we have to dealwith, then you can pretty much
forget about any type ofnormalcy until you either get
(16:51):
rid of that unhappy driver oruntil that driver is made happy
by the company they hear cheerwith, and then everybody is
going to work together and havea great day.
Now, remember, truck driving isamong the three most common and
last remaining routes to amiddle-income lifestyle.
Without a bachelor's degree,everything is going electronic
(17:15):
Everything is going.
Computer Everything is going.
App Everything is going.
Ai.
Truckers' earnings are currentlyincreasing at five times their
historical rate.
There's no better time tobecome a truck driver than now.
All you have to do is take allthat silliness out of your head
and place it in logic, andthat's what I plan on doing for
you and for me and everybodyelse.
(17:36):
That's why I started thispodcast is to bring you the
information you need to succeedon the road information you need
to succeed on the road.
The average weekly earnings forlong-haul truckload drivers is
over 25% since the beginning of2019, and we can keep that
motivation going by making surethat we continue doing things
(17:58):
the way we're doing right now.
But if we don't get along on theCB, if we don't get along at
the truck stops, if we don't getto start eating better and
feeling good about ourselves andbeing happy on the road and
knowing we're out there to do ajob and be able to separate your
work ethics along with yourhome style ethics, to be able to
(18:19):
make sure you get enough hometime but you're also getting
enough work time to make thatmoney, then you can have that
full circle.
You can be okay with being atruck driver, you can survive
out here, you can love it andyou can just do all kinds of
things with your life that younever possibly could have by
working at a convenience storeor a dollar store or a Walmart
(18:41):
or something like that in yourtown.
The medium salary for atruckload driver working a
national irregular route is morethan $53,000.
There are people out there Iknow a guy that works for
Walmart.
He makes over $100,000 a year.
The average private fleetdriver earns more than $86,000
and I would say it is between$86,000 and $110,000 annually
(19:07):
depending on what you're doing.
The money's out there, ladiesand gentlemen, the lifestyle's
out there, your love fortrucking everything.
And the easiest way to and I cango into that on another podcast
stay in the right lane in thecities, relax, do it a little
bit less than the speed limit ifyou have to in order to just
cruise through the city realgood Hammer down on the open
(19:28):
road.
There's all kinds of ways to behappy and the best way to be
happy in the trucking industryis not sit there and complain
that somebody's in your way orsomebody keeps you in the brake.
Just keep rolling smoothly, nomatter how slow you have to go
or how fast you have to go.
Keep rolling smoothly.
Don't let the other peopleirritate you.
(19:52):
Be happy with your job and lovewhat you do.
Thank you guys for listening tomy podcast.
As I always say to you guysokay, god bless, be safe, keep
it between the lines.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
driver.
Thank you for listening toRollin' 18 Podcast.
Please visit Walter's podcastsite at Roland18podcastcom or
his social media sites such asInstagram, facebook and TikTok.
All links are in thedescription.
Welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
This 40-year veteran is herefor anyone wanting to stay up to
date in the trucking world.
Grab your coffee, hop on boardand let's get on down the road
with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello drivers and welcome to Rolling 18 Podcast.
I appreciate you folkslistening to and or downloading
my podcast Now.
Today we're going to talk aboutdriver turnover rate, but first
I want to mention a warningthat has been put out on Trucker
News.
The FMCSA is warning truckers.
Another phishing email ismaking the rounds Now.
(00:41):
The Federal Motor Carrier SafetyAdministration announced a new
phishing fake email appearing tocome from the agency, from
FMCSA.
The agency said an email isbeing sent to registered
entities by a party pretendingto be FMCSA and requesting the
carrier's complete formsattached to the email.
(01:02):
These forms ask for a socialsecurity number, usdot, pin.
Fmca does not require suchinformation on official FMCSA
forms.
Fmcsa said carriers should notfill out forms attached to the
fake email and always refer tothe official FMCSA forms for the
(01:23):
latest and official documents.
Now everybody should be smartenough to know.
This day and age, you do notprovide any type of information
on any email until youabsolutely verify who this is
from.
Websites look real.
They're not.
You can always check thehttpscomorgwhatever.
(01:47):
You can always go on googlegoogle the organization, see
exactly what their websiteaddress is and match it up to
the one that you've got.
If it's wrong, you know damnwell it's a scam.
Don't put up with this anymore.
These people overseas aretrying to scam us, and they do.
They hit us for billions ofdollars every year.
It's real funny how we can'tget organized enough to realize
(02:10):
a fake from a real one.
When in doubt, do not send anyinformation at all.
Call somebody, talk to a livehuman being.
If you can't do that, don'tworry about it.
I'm sure they'll try andcontact you one other way.
So that's all you have to do.
Anytime you get an email,verify that email wholeheartedly
.
If you cannot verify it, do notsend anything.
(02:33):
And remember a lot of theseorganizations DOT, fmcsa, etc.
Etc.
They will not ask you for anypersonal information to be put
on a return email when you reply.
So don't do it.
Fmcsa also said that in somecases, the phishing attempt also
(02:53):
asked for a certificate ofinsurance copy, of course, and
driver's license to help protectthe recipient against fraud,
while they are committing fraudagainst the recipient.
See what I'm saying.
So don't do it.
Don't allow these people to getinto your head, get into your
life.
It's just another thing thatwill take you months, if not
years, to get straightened outonce they got your information.
(03:15):
So do not send anything.
Verify everything.
If you have to, and you arethat scared, tell the FMCSA.
They have to send arepresentative to your front
door with a badge.
That's all there is to it.
Now, today we're going to talk alittle bit about, I guess,
turnover rate, because there issome confliction on the reports
(03:38):
of what's going on.
Some people are stating thatthe turnover rate is 90, 91% and
it is true that back in 2019,it was around 91%.
But they are saying that thesedrivers are quitting because of
lack of wages, because of allkinds of different things, and
that they're going home andthey're just not driving.
(03:58):
We know for a fact there areenough registered CDL holders in
the United States to coverevery single load this country
provides, including more thanwhat we have.
So we do know there are someCDL holders that are sitting at
home doing other things.
They may have a dream job, theymay not even be driving truck.
They keep it just in case theyneed it.
(04:19):
Blah, blah, blah.
But we also know that theturnover rate is not exactly
caused by drivers quitting andgoing home.
The vast majority of driversare rotating companies and
they're doing this in order totake advantage of sign-on
bonuses and things like that.
And I did read a report which Iwant to read to you Now.
(04:41):
Ata put out a story and it saysmany cite driver turnover rates
but few understand what theymeasure.
And part of the story says thatas post-pandemic supply chain
challenges and I don't know whythey're saying post-pandemic
we're long past thepost-pandemic, but have been
(05:01):
thrust into public consciousnessA new class of armchair experts
have risen to explain all thatails America's trucking industry
.
Bureaucrats, analysts and othercultural commentators, most of
who have no real-worldexperience in trucking, are
quick to explain why, forexample, the industry faces a
(05:22):
labor shortage as it strives tohire the next generation of
professional drivers.
They want chaos.
They want people to think thatthere's a lot of problems going
on because they want to keepeverything low.
They want to try and get asmany benefits from the United
States government as possible.
The more problems that theyhave, the more they can go
(05:43):
before Congress and say here'sthe issue we have Now.
Case in point, the New YorkTimes essay put out a story that
said for decades, truckers havequit at alarming rates, leading
to a chronic shortage.
The turnover rate was at astaggering 91% in 2019, which
means that for every 100 peoplewho signed up to drive, 91
(06:07):
walked out the door.
Plenty of people have thecommercial driver's license
needed to operate trucks, saidMichael Beiser, a Wayne State
University economist who hasstudied the industry for 30
years, but none of them willwork for these wages.
And this is another typical waythat the mainstream media and
the New York Times it's not justpolitics they lie about.
(06:30):
They lie about a lot of things.
In fact, I would say that allmedia lies in favor of their
narrative, and that includes theleft-leaning and the
right-leaning.
They lie in order to benefitsomebody that's probably putting
money in their pockets.
You cannot trust the newsanymore.
The fact that these folks areeven they even think that
(06:53):
they're legitimate anymore isbeyond me.
They're a powerhouse of nothingbut takes money from those that
want to do nefarious things inorder to collect money, and
generally everything boils downto money, and that includes the
rumors about the shortage oftruck drivers, because they want
to go after the federalgovernment to say, look, we need
(07:15):
subsidies like the trains, andI lay a 10 to 1.
The trains make plenty of moneyto operate on their own too,
but the government's so deep inwith them they still get
billions of dollars a yearbecause they cry like little
babies and say, oh, we can'thandle it.
And then, when you talk to atrain engineer or a guy that
works on the tracks, or the guyanybody that works for a train,
(07:35):
they think they're better thaneverybody else not all of them,
but most of them and they maketons of money.
They get paid hourly wages thatare unbelievable.
Not because they're taking itout of the money they're making
the profits that these traincompanies are making.
They're taking it from yourpockets, the taxpayer.
(07:56):
Now the problem.
The author, robin KaiserSchatzlin I don't know what the
hell kind of name that isfundamentally misunderstands
what the annual truckload driverturnover rate measures.
He and many others before him.
The armchair bandits, the onesthat go out and tell these
stories that are inaccurate,assume or imply the rate
(08:19):
captures drivers leaving theindustry and often cite poor pay
or working conditions as thecause.
Now, part of that time.
That is true, but it is wrong.
The whole overall narrative isjust trying to push people
people that have never driventruck into believing that 91%.
Now, if 91% of truck driverswere quitting the industry
within a year, our economy wouldhave collapsed a long time ago.
(08:44):
It's not three people coming inand three people leaving.
It is three people coming inand then changing companies.
And they do that because of thesign-on bonus.
And I'll get to that in aminute.
I'm going to read part more ofthis story here.
It says turnover is not anindicator of people exiting the
(09:06):
industry.
We know because ATA created andtabulated the metric.
Rather, it more accuratelymeasures drivers moving between
carriers.
You see what I'm saying.
It captures churn within theindustry, not attrition from the
industry Okay.
While retirements and exitsaccount for a small percentage
(09:27):
of turnover okay.
By and large, that is not whatthis figure is counting.
So why are drivers movingbetween fleets at such great
numbers and frequency?
And be honest with you, it'sbeen happening since the 60s and
70s.
There has not been a turnoverrate lower than 80% in the last
40 to 45 years and I think a lotof it has to do with boredom.
(09:50):
I think a lot of it has to dowith a lot of industries.
They get stuck in this wheel ofthe same repetitive crap every
single day, and truck driversaren't built for that.
Truck drivers are built to roam.
Like the freedom that theyprovide, they're made to go out.
You know I used to go on a,pick up a load and leave LA and
go up to Washington.
Bring it back down to LA, goback up to Washington.
(10:12):
You think I wanted to go backto LA?
No, I would pick up anotherload of apples and I would go
east East, young man.
I would head to Philly, or Iwould head to North Dakota, or I
would head to southern Texas.
I didn't want to take the samedarn route every single day.
There's very few people canhandle a daily route that is
identical, especially a truckdriver, because that's not where
(10:36):
we're built.
But it says here.
Rather, it more accuratelymeasures drivers moving between
carriers.
It captures the churn whileretirements and exits for a
small percentage of turnover.
By and large, this is not whatthe figure is counting.
So why are drivers movingbetween fleets?
There are many factors at play,but one number one demand and
(10:59):
number two, opportunity.
Trucking is an extremely tightlabor market For cynical and
structural reasons.
Drivers in high demand today, afact exacerbated by COVID, and
then after that it was becauseof the return from COVID and the
return of traffic and theamount of people back on the
road and the way they weredriving and the amount of
(11:20):
accidents.
So, in order to attract andretain drivers, fleets must
increase pay, which is nowhappening at an extraordinary
rate.
We're witnessing unprecedentedpay increases across the
industry.
Now, then, with weekly driver'searnings surging at a rate of
more than five times theirhistorical average, and that's
up more than 25% for long-haultruckload drivers since the
(11:43):
beginning of 2019, fleets arealso offering sizable
five-figure sign-on bonus andfull benefits as they compete
for the same limited pool ofdrivers.
So let's say, they offer you tenthousand dollars and they say
look, you have to be here sixmonths.
You have to be here at leastsix months, and then you won't
(12:04):
have to pay that back.
So they go pull their six-monthstint, and by that time they
found another job that's givenout a bonus, and they'll bounce
to that one too.
I mean, I don't see a problemwith that either.
We are free, we are independent, we can do what we want, and if
it's legal, what is the problemand what does that mean for
turnover, though?
What is the problem and whatdoes that mean for turnover,
(12:27):
though?
Driver A who's been working fora fleet for only four months
knows he can jump to anothercarrier or six months and get an
immediate $15,000 sign-on bonusplus pay raise.
Six months later he can do thesame thing again.
The churn or poaching, orwhatever you want to call it, is
what inflates turnover in atight labor market.
So when Kaiser and others pointto high turnover figures as a
(12:50):
sign of trucker's jobdissatisfaction, they're missing
the mark.
They're way off the mark.
One could argue that they'regetting it backwards In many
respects.
High turnover is an indicatorof driver empowerment, which the
labor market tightens.
Drivers find themselves in thedriver's seat, he says pardon
the pun, putting millions ofhardworking men and women in
(13:13):
control of their own destiny inways that haven't been in for
years, if ever.
And the cool thing about that isthat you can pick and choose.
I'm not going to work for youunless I get a brand new truck.
This is the style of truck Ilike.
You get me one of those I'mhopping on board.
This company needs drivers.
They're going to do that foryou, especially if that's what
they carry.
A lot of people like theCascadia, a lot of people like
(13:36):
the Volvos and things like that,because of their creature
comforts.
I personally don't care muchabout creature comforts.
I want something that looksbadass and has a lot of chrome
on it.
But I know several truckcompanies that hire people.
They'll give me an 18 speedwith a 550 horsepower engine of
(13:57):
my choice and a Kenworth or aPeterbilt with more rivets in it
than anything else, and I'llhave a million lights on the
damn thing.
And they'll give it to mebecause they want me to chicken
haul, they want me to go downthe road and get the job done,
and they know I can do itbecause I've been doing it for
40 years.
It all depends on what you wantas a driver.
(14:18):
The fact is, truck drivingremains one of the steadiest
paths to the middle classwithout requiring a costly
four-year college degree.
It cannot be offshored and it'sessentially to our way of life
and standard of livingcontinuing to grow over time.
Do you understand what I'msaying?
Do you understand here?
Let me play this real quick Doyou understand the words that
(14:40):
are coming out of my mouth?
Because that is a fact.
Drivers and we all need tounderstand that I've always said
we're the captain of our ship.
We get out there on the bigroad.
We are the man or the woman.
We are the ones that make thedecisions.
If I get sick on the road I'mpulling over and I'm going to
bed.
I don't give a crap who callsme.
(15:03):
I don't give a crap what theysay, I don't care if they fire
me because I'm sick, because Itell you what I've always said
that a truck driver may be adime, a dozen, but I can get two
dozen truck driving jobs at thesame dime.
You see what I'm saying.
I love truck companies.
I love the fact that they putmillions of truck drivers to
work.
I love great brokers.
(15:23):
I love honest brokers.
I love anybody in the industrythat's not a truck driver, that
works with us, that helps us dowhat we all need to do, and that
is the basic minimum of pickingup a load and delivering it
somewhere.
That is it.
It's simple as that.
There is no in-between.
The main thing in a trucking jobis to pick up a trailer load of
(15:47):
freight and deliver it tosomebody and empty that trailer.
How easy does that sound?
Well, it sounds extremely easyto me and we need to understand
that.
We need to be empowered.
Yes, we do, and any truckcompany that understands a truck
driver and everything they gothrough out in the road.
They don't clock out at 5 or 6o'clock at night and go home
(16:10):
like dispatchers or like peoplethat work in the office at
trucking companies, and Iunderstand they work hard too.
Don't get me wrong, but we arethe final destination of where
the money comes from.
So we need to be pacified alittle bit more than anybody
else.
We're the drivers.
It doesn't mean we need to getcocky.
(16:30):
It doesn't mean that we need tostick our nose up in the air
and act like we're better thananybody else.
We are a team.
We understand that too.
But the point is, if we're nothappy out on the road with all
the other stress we have to dealwith, then you can pretty much
forget about any type ofnormalcy until you either get
(16:51):
rid of that unhappy driver oruntil that driver is made happy
by the company they hear cheerwith, and then everybody is
going to work together and havea great day.
Now, remember, truck driving isamong the three most common and
last remaining routes to amiddle-income lifestyle.
Without a bachelor's degree,everything is going electronic
(17:15):
Everything is going.
Computer Everything is going.
App Everything is going.
Ai.
Truckers' earnings are currentlyincreasing at five times their
historical rate.
There's no better time tobecome a truck driver than now.
All you have to do is take allthat silliness out of your head
and place it in logic, andthat's what I plan on doing for
you and for me and everybodyelse.
(17:36):
That's why I started thispodcast is to bring you the
information you need to succeedon the road information you need
to succeed on the road.
The average weekly earnings forlong-haul truckload drivers is
over 25% since the beginning of2019, and we can keep that
motivation going by making surethat we continue doing things
(17:58):
the way we're doing right now.
But if we don't get along on theCB, if we don't get along at
the truck stops, if we don't getto start eating better and
feeling good about ourselves andbeing happy on the road and
knowing we're out there to do ajob and be able to separate your
work ethics along with yourhome style ethics, to be able to
(18:19):
make sure you get enough hometime but you're also getting
enough work time to make thatmoney, then you can have that
full circle.
You can be okay with being atruck driver, you can survive
out here, you can love it andyou can just do all kinds of
things with your life that younever possibly could have by
working at a convenience storeor a dollar store or a Walmart
(18:41):
or something like that in yourtown.
The medium salary for atruckload driver working a
national irregular route is morethan $53,000.
There are people out there Iknow a guy that works for
Walmart.
He makes over $100,000 a year.
The average private fleetdriver earns more than $86,000
and I would say it is between$86,000 and $110,000 annually
(19:07):
depending on what you're doing.
The money's out there, ladiesand gentlemen, the lifestyle's
out there, your love fortrucking everything.
And the easiest way to and I cango into that on another podcast
stay in the right lane in thecities, relax, do it a little
bit less than the speed limit ifyou have to in order to just
cruise through the city realgood Hammer down on the open
(19:28):
road.
There's all kinds of ways to behappy and the best way to be
happy in the trucking industryis not sit there and complain
that somebody's in your way orsomebody keeps you in the brake.
Just keep rolling smoothly, nomatter how slow you have to go
or how fast you have to go.
Keep rolling smoothly.
Don't let the other peopleirritate you.
(19:52):
Be happy with your job and lovewhat you do.
Thank you guys for listening tomy podcast.
As I always say to you guysokay, god bless, be safe, keep
it between the lines.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
driver.
Thank you for listening toRollin' 18 Podcast.
Please visit Walter's podcastsite at Roland18podcastcom or
his social media sites such asInstagram, facebook and TikTok.
All links are in thedescription.
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