So... how's that novel you're working on?

[Initech]

[rrneck]

1. It's a piece of shit.

[In_The_Wind]

2. It's an expose on corruption in the trucking industry.

It I hadn't seen it up close and personal (as an escort for oversize loads) I wouldn't have believed it.
You'd think interstate regs would also protect the little guys ~ not happening.
Owner-operators and OTR drivers are being victimized by the larger carriers on almost every trip.
Honest working people are going broke trying to earn a living.

[Tobin S.]

3. Almost since I started driving I've said

that it's easy to find a truck driving job, but it's much harder to find a good truck driving job.

I've been swindled a couple of times in an almost criminal way. Then, of course, if you're paid by the mile most carriers short you every trip. The trucking industry can also turn ordinary people into criminals if they don't understand the concept of covering their own asses.

[In_The_Wind]

4. Paying practical instead of hub-miles is how carriers get away with robbing the driver's wage.

Then there are the true criminals who just won't pay for the work they've contracted the driver to haul, chain & tarp, be responsible for from pick-up to delivery. I have a whole list of trucking companies and brokers who have not paid those truck drivers.

I've heard the sob stories from the companies about ~ why the driver hasn't been paid.
They've gotten away with it. Getting a judgment against the company in small claims court doesn't mean you'll ever see the lost wages.

[Chan790]

5. I'm assuming these are independent drivers...

they're probably eligible for membership in Freelancers' Union (www.freelancersunion.org) who is currently involved in campaigns through their PAC to get legislation passed at both the state and federal level to protect freelancers and contract employees from deadbeat clients from this very type of corruption and graft. They also offer a contract generator for use by people who are not legally-savvy in order to insure that they have an enforceable contract. I'd recommend them, if a critical mass of independent truckers joined them or any such organization, they'd wield a great deal of clout because you'd have a unified means of fighting back without surrendering your independence.

Truckers may not seem like their target audience but they aim to represent all types of freelance and contract workers because a broad-labor base and many hands makes the fight for all of us working as freelancers (currently 1 in 3 employees nationwide, FU has currently over 170K members) easier. They also maintain a list of deadbeat clients for the benefit of their membership...presence on the list is an effective form of public shaming; they have no problem doing things like reading it out loud to the NY General Assembly or mailing it to the NY Times. (They're NYC-based but a national organization.)

Also, membership is free (They're an NPO rather than a labor-organization, they run off donations and grants.) and includes a fairly-large number of free benefits. (Member-to-member discounts, corporate discounts (hotels, accountancy, gym memberships, drug-stores, tax-processors, travel, workspace and 100s of other things), job-listings (mostly for freelance white-collar work, as those individuals currently make up the bulk of membership)) In addition, they offer pay-for-use benefits such as life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, retirement services, etc.

They do a lot of advocacy and targeted campaigning so if you have documentable violations and people willing to go on the record, you should also email their advocacy team. The last thing any habitual violator wants is sunlight.

[In_The_Wind]

6. The truckers I know are rarely sitting still.

Two of the independents gave up their trucks. They are now driving on percentage.

I will pass along all of this information.
Documentation should be out there because every load can be tracked.
Every driver knows who sill owes them uncollected pay for completed work.