We human beings do great things: we have super-intelligence, we are creative and innovative. We’ve put a man on the moon; we’ve seen Mars, and we are looking towards Venus. We have designer jeans, hand bags, and new communication products… great minds keep rolling out incredible products! Big-box stores stock “new and improved” items because how could we live without an upgraded version of everything? Better, cheaper product to improve our lives, right?
Don’t kid yourself. It’s all about money and more money. Did you ever ask yourself – hey, how do those big-box stores sell this stuff so cheap? How much do they pay their hard working staff? Do they beat up their suppliers – manufacturers and trucking companies – to the point where they have to cut wages just to survive? You bet they do.
It’s all about money, and nothing to do with humanity. OK, rock star Roger Waters wrote in “It’s a Miracle” that “a doctor in Manhattan saved a dying man for free” …I’ll hold onto those words with a small sense of hope and optimism, but truthfully, the chances of us seeing a world where we do things for any reason other than money is not likely. (Our own governments cut down countless trees for all the paperwork needed to take a load across the border.)
Same Money Obsession Driving Trucking Industry Changes
Wake up, folks – this same money-driven attitude that has proven so successful with the big-box stores is being used by the trucking industry. Just take a close look at the buy-outs and amalgamations in our industry: The big get BIGGER…
Have you ever asked why our trucking associations skirt around the real issues such as driver pay? And better working conditions? Let’s not even touch on over-regulation of the industry!
Just recently an association leader said “drivers make a fair wage,” and at the same event, a board member and CEO of one of Canada’s largest carriers asked me, privately, “Why do you even care about drivers?” He also told me that “if owner-operators aren’t making money… tell them to get the X*&$%* out of the truck!”
Really? We have a driver shortage, but our leaders talk like this?!
It’s time for drivers to start considering where they work. If a trucking company owner suggests that you are making a fair wage – think about walking away. After all, an honest, ethical owner will tell you it’s not enough, and he/she will tell you what they’re doing to fix that.
We need to start putting people first. It’s time to be human in the face of corporate inhumanity.