Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

This is why my lawn waste hasn't been picked up for two weeks. According to the Republic website, there is a nationwide shortage of truck drivers and they are prioritizing trash and recycling pickup. They'll get to it when they get to it, basically. Those are jobs that don't involve any Covid risk as you are alone in a vehicle and I presume they pay a "living wage". So why, when the unemployment rate is double what it was pre-Covid, can't they find people to do it? It's never been a problem in the past.

A shortage of truck drivers is a problem that pre-dates covid. Here's an industry report from 2019 that talks about it in detail. Basically it can be a sucky lifestyle, even if you're paid well. Younger drivers, presumably the ones that might have young kids, are often the ones that get asked to spend weeks at a time on the road.

https://www.trucking.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/ATAs%20Driver%20Shortage%20Report%202019%20with%20cover.pdf

[lineygoblue]

Yeah, I'd say over all, truckers are under paid for the work they do. With the way pay scales are now, if the wheels are not turning, you're not making a penny. Anyone who has been paid hourly has a stark realization coming when they try to drive trucks. You don't get paid when you're sitting still. If you're at a warehouse waiting to be loaded, and the Union-pay-scale loader tells you that you're 5th on his list to be loaded, so you're probably going to be waiting 5-6 hours "before we can get to you", that's all out of the driver's pocket. And there's not a doggone thing you can do about it.

[Mike]

With regard to driving a garbage truck, though, that's a job that you work a regular shift and sleep in your own bed every night. They need people with the skill set of driving a big truck but it's not necessarily a "trucking job". At any rate, I want someone to pick up my shit.

[Dr. Strangelove]

With regard to driving a garbage truck, though, that's a job that you work a regular shift and sleep in your own bed every night. They need people with the skill set of driving a big truck but it's not necessarily a "trucking job". At any rate, I want someone to pick up my shit.

Yeah, I was only talking about the long haul truckers. I thought most garbage truck guys were unionized? Maybe not.

[lineygoblue]

Most garbage trucks that run up and down the streets in your neighborhood require a CDL-B with what's known as a "air brakes endorsement". A CDL-B is for straight trucks, as opposed to semi-tractors, and the air brakes endorsement means that you've studied the state regulations as to how air brakes work, and you have to demonstrate to a state examiner how they work. Its a hassle, but its fairly easy if you know how to read, and you have a good instructor. What most major sanitation companies are doing now, is sending out their trucks with only one person, that being the driver. They don't utilize a rider on the back anymore. That means the driver has to get in and out of the truck several hundred times per day to pitch the trash on the truck, then drive down the road. Modern trash trucks now have an arm that reaches out to grab the trash container and dump it on the truck without the driver having to get out. That makes it a lot easier. But still those drivers make less than $20 per hour for the most part.

[Mike]

Our trucks are the automated kind but that doesn't help with the yard waste because that's all in the paper bags, not the big plastic trash cans. They still need to throw them in the hopper.

[Tom W]

And there's not a doggone thing you can do about it.

Maybe there is. The brilliance of capitalism is that the logistics of distribution in this country is pretty much taken for granted. People simply don't notice the value of the components (like truck drivers) until something goes wrong.

Another good thing about it is that it's downright amazing how much opportunity and leverage people will grant you when you have the skills to fix those things when they go wrong.

[lineygoblue]

Trucking used to be one of the best paying occupations in the country, but deregulation took place back in the early 70's (I think it was then) and so now carriers pay whatever they want to pay, and the driver has to take it or leave it. Used to be no matter who hauled your cargo, whether it was Roadway, or Yellow, or whomever, .. you paid the same rates. That's not the case any longer. And there's more carriers than ever as well. The best way to make money in the trucking industry is to be an owner, and own several rigs, and have drivers drive for you. That's where the real money is.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump released a statement this morning attacking Michigan Republicans in the state Senate, saying that if they don't open an investigation into voter fraud immediately they should all be run out of office.

The Chairman of the oversight Committee (a Republican) said this week that they spent months probing the election and found nothing to substantiate allegations of mass fraud or vote-switching by computers.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...te/4987441001/

[lineygoblue]

Trump needs to do what Hillary should have done. Settle down where-ever he wants to live, enjoy his family, concede that he lost, and move on with his life. He needs to get out of the way so future Republican candidates can establish themselves, and trust the people to do the right thing. Republican voters can choose new candidates that agree with Trump if they want. Or, they can move away from Trump and select others. I can think of a few other Republicans that I'd rather hear from than Trump. There's something to be said about being a gracious loser, and so far both Hillary and Trump have failed that test.

[Tom W]

Trump released a statement this morning attacking Michigan Republicans in the state Senate, saying that if they don't open an investigation into voter fraud immediately they should all be run out of office.

The Chairman of the oversight Committee (a Republican) said this week that they spent months probing the election and found nothing to substantiate allegations of mass fraud or vote-switching by computers.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...te/4987441001/

So that explains what they were doing instead of questioning Whitmer's edicts? But at least, Trump has the right idea about running them out of office.

[Dr. Strangelove]

That deranged Lin Wood guy is going after Lindsey Graham now, saying Graham committed election fraud to get reelected and voting machine company ES&S switched votes for him. Wood is trying to become the next Chairman of the South Carolina GOP and one of Graham's allies is the frontrunner.

https://www.rawstory.com/lin-wood-drew-mckissick/

[Mike]

That guy has mental problems.

[Hannibal]

Republicans pissed away tons of credibility focusing on voting machine programming nonsense when they should have focused on the many mail-in the lack of integrity and security around the mail-in ballots and the ease with which fraudulent ballots can be introduced into the system in mass quantities.

[CGVT]

Republicans had no credibility when it came to this issue. Period