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Adam Thayn

Ms.Amanda Tibbits

Language Arts 12

8 March 2019

Truck Drivers

We should start thinking what would happen if all the truckers in today's world were to retire.

Now if our united tuckers were not able to deliver their cargo,we would be in great trouble. To

say we wouldn't be able to transfer so much of our needs and wants as a nation so we could start

with food or water? If we weren't able to transport so much so fast every one would have to live

by clean water sources and be near suitable farmland because we weren't able to transfer so much

in our past.so the fact that we have so many helpful drivers to deliver our very needs to capture

and sustain the lands we live in today in short a very powerful miracle to behold in our silver age

in america.

All right here's the need to know to this paper: the sources used are articles from a database and

information from wikipedia.

Truck driver duties and functions:Truck drivers provide an essential service to industrialized

societies by transporting finished goods and raw materials over land, typically to and from

manufacturing plants, retail and distribution centers. Truck drivers are also responsible for

inspecting all their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others,

such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales, completing additional services such

as cleaning, preparation and entertaining (such as cooking and making hot drinks) and customer

service.
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So who is responsible for ensuring a driver is fit to drive and who must be notified?The operator

would have to report his or her condition and paperwork of that to​ verify by a General

Practitioner. And if they don't do this process they have to driver must surrender their licence to

the United States Department of Transportation, if their General Practitioner tells them that they

need to stop driving for three months or more because of the medical condition.If a driver

cannot, or will not, exercise their own legal duty to notify the, then the General Practitioner (or

other healthcare provider with care of the driver) does have the ability to notify the United States

Department of Transportation themselves. This is in circumstances where there is concern for

road safety for both the individual and the general public and is in accordance with the guidance

given by the General Medical Council.

Driver centric: Higher pay just one of the ways Kenan Advantage Group tries to recognize its

drivers as true professionals. KAG announced in mid-January that a majority of its customers

had agreed to pay higher rates to support the driver pay increase, which took effect at the

beginning of the year. The program calls for guaranteed pay increases for the next three years to

help significantly elevate driver pay to levels that successfully attract new drivers required to

meet the capacity and growth needs of the organization's blue customer base.

"As the flagship carrier in the tank truck segment, it is important that we boldly assume the

responsibility of protecting our customers from the painful impacts of the driver shortages," says

Dennis Nash, Kenan Advantage Group executive chairman chief executive officer. "A potential

tsunami is building now that presents serious consequences for the entire trucking industry if not

addressed.
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"There are many elements to creating a highly attractive work experience such as new

equipment, advanced technology, safety support, respect and appreciation from management,

and many more. We've spent an enormous amount of time, energy and money enhancing all of

these as part of our 'Employer of Choice' promise. This move on wages provides our drivers with

the certainty that they will experience an improving personal financial situation well into the

future."

Driver Shortages:In 2006, the U.S. trucking industry as a whole employed 3.4 million drivers. A

major problem for the long-haul trucking industry is that a large percentage of these drivers are

aging, and are expected to retire. Very few new hires are expected in the near future, resulting in

a driver shortage. Currently, within the long-haul sector, there is an estimated shortage of 20,000

drivers. That shortage is expected to increase to 111,000 by 2014.Trucking (especially the

long-haul sector) is also facing an image crisis due to the long working hours, long periods of

time away from home, the dangerous nature of the work, the relatively low pay (compared to

hours worked), and a "driver last" mentality that is common throughout the industry.To help

combat the shortage, trucking companies have lobbied Congress to reduce driver age limits,

which they say will reduce a recruiting shortfall. Under current law, drivers need to be 21 to haul

freight across state lines, which the industry wants to lower to 18 years old.Employee turnover

within the long-haul trucking industry is notorious for being extremely high. In the 4th quarter of

2005, turnover within the largest carriers in the industry reached a record 136%. meaning a

carrier that employed 100 drivers would lose an average of 136 drivers each year.
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Driver Compensation:Truck drivers are paid according to many different methods. These include

salary, hourly, and a number of methods which can be broadly defined as piece work. Piece work

methods may include both a base rate and additional pay. Base rates either compensate drivers

by the mile or by the load.

The main advantage of being paid by the mile may be that a driver is rewarded according to

measurable accomplishment. The main disadvantage is that what a driver may accomplish is not

so directly related to the effort and, perhaps especially, the time required for completion.

Household good drivers deal with the most complexity and thus are typically the highest paid,

potentially making multiples of a scheduled freight-hauler.

Now we go to some problems of truck driving.In the United States, there is a lot of unpaid time,

usually at a Shipper or Receiver where the truck is idle awaiting loading or unloading. Prior to

the 2010 HOS changes it was common for 4–8 hours to elapse during this evolution. CSA

addressed this and incorporated legal methods for drivers and trucking companies to charge for

this excessive time. For the most part, loading/unloading times have fallen into a window of 2–4

hours although longer times are still endured.

Time off: Due to the nature of the job, most drivers stay out longer than 4 weeks at a time. A

few for months on end and even longer. For the average large company driver in the United

States 6 weeks is the average, with each week out garnering the driver one day off. This accrues

to a set maximum usually 6 or 7 days. This is the average for OTR (Over The Road) Line Haul

and Regional drivers. Vocational and Local drivers are usually home every night or every other

night. ​Safety:From 1992–1995, truck drivers had a higher ​total​ number of fatalities than any
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other occupation, accounting for 12% of all work-related deaths. By 2009, truck drivers

accounted for 16.8% of transportation-related deaths. In 2016 alone, 475,000 crashes involving

large trucks were reported to the police: 0.8% were fatal and 22% resulted in injury. Among

crash fatalities generally, 11.8% involved at least one large truck or bus. In 2016, property

damages resulting from truck and bus crashes cost several billion dollars.​ ​Truck drivers are five

times more likely to die in a work-related accident than the average worker. Highway accidents

accounted for a majority of truck driver deaths, most of them caused by confused drivers in

passenger vehicles who are unfamiliar with large trucks. The unsafe actions of automobile

drivers are a contributing factor in about 70 percent of the fatal crashes involving trucks. More

public awareness of how to share the road safely with large trucks is needed. For this safety

segment are numbers are a bit dated but the are still relevant in today's times.

Now for a soft roll into an ending i would like to talk about why i chose this as my career

research. Because we mostly drive point A to point B we sometimes forget that some people are

doing their job just by driving and providing our lives with the simplicity that we often forget to

enjoy and we also get mad at ,but never mind that since we all have a bit or road rage pent up in

us and gets uncapped in the worst of times.i know that i want to provide something to people of

our great country so i will be a truck driver that you may or not be seeing on the roads in a few

years. And besides i've always wanted to see some of what makes this country of ours great and

the people that live in it.I know that this career comes with its ups and downs but with all that it

takes and gives think it is worth giving a great consideration for me to look into. For my life for

country and my service i will gladly take any challenges that come into my life.
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Works Cited

Cassidy, William B. “Honor Thy Trucker.” ​Journal of Commerce (1542-3867),​ vol. 16, no. 20,

Oct. 2015, p. 4. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=110038736&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 27 Feb.2019

Gargoum, Suliman A., et al. “Towards Establishing Effective Commercial Driver Training

Standards: Analysis of Industry Opinions from Alberta.” ​Canadian Journal of Civil

Engineering,​ vol. 44, no. 11, Nov. 2017, pp. 899–910. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1139/cjce-2017-0115. Accessed 27 Feb.2019

Lunney, Heather. “Fit for Purpose: Both Drivers and Employers Have Responsibility When It

Comes to Their Fitness to Drive for a Living.” ​Commercial Motor​, vol. 229, no. 5784,

Apr. 2018, pp. 24–26. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=129342053&site=ehost-live

. Accessed 27 Feb.2019

Wilson, Charles. “Driver Centric: Higher Pay Just One of the Ways KAG Tries to Recognize Its

Drivers as True Professionals.” ​Bulk Transporter,​ vol. 80, no. 10, Apr. 2018, pp. 14–20.

EBSCOhost​,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=129397337&sit

e=ehost-live. Accessed 27 Feb.2019

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