Trucking isn’t an easy job. It requires skill, long hours and time away from family. Most would agree it’s one of the toughest jobs around. So why are some drivers earning minimum wages?
It’s been reported that port drivers are making the equivalent of a burger flipper at McDonalds. They work an average of 59 hours a week and are earning an average of $28,700 per year, before taxes!
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) issued a report claiming wages are low because often, port drivers are classified as independent contractors, instead of employees. About 49,000 of the 75,000 port drivers across the country have been placed into the contractor category, but is that fair?
Labor experts would say the reason employers put these drivers into the “independent contractor” category is to save themselves some money by not having to pay taxes or benefits to the drivers. But when you look at how those carriers dictate hours, what equipment the driver uses, and how much they’ll pay the driver, that makes the driver an employee, doesn’t it?
One driver who has been a port driver in Los Angeles for three years says that the carrier tells him not only where and when he has to drive, but how much they’ll pay him. To make things worse, he says after paying his fuel costs and maintenance fees, he can barely afford to put food on the table.