Truck Drivers Have Problems Too

Another bashing of truck drivers (Letters, Aug. 12) finally provoked me to write to explain the problems in the transportation industry.

First, let me state that a bad truck driver is no friend of mine or anyone else in the industry.

1. Most truck drivers receive no overtime pay, and work for straight hours or per-load pay.

2. A lot of the equipment is unsafe and doesn’t get repaired, leaving the driver to either drive unsafe equipment or be told to find another job.

3. Legislators never talk to drivers about legislation to make things safer, I believe, because we don’t contribute to PACs like the California Trucking Assn., which doesn’t represent truck drivers but truck companies.

4. To get equal justice or pay in regard to labor laws we as drivers must join a union, but when the company owners hear about this they threaten to fire the employees and fold the company to start a new company.

5. The ridiculously low pay of approximately $10 per hour on average forces drivers to work long hours.

6. There are no industry training programs for truck drivers, yet we are expected to know the Vehicle Code as well as a CHP officer.

7. Unscrupulous employers who promise benefits and/or vacations but fail to keep them.

8. Immigrants are hired to haul and drive equipment most safety-conscious drivers wouldn’t drive.

I would favor a black box when my pay was half as good as an airline pilot, when employers pay stiff fines for working drivers too many hours, and when companies with unsafe equipment have their officers put in jail for endangering public safety.

By the way, I drive a petroleum tanker for an Orange County-based company that pays OK, has safe equipment and pays a safety bonus; but I am a minority in the trucking industry.

TOM O’NEILL

Orange