Living paycheck to paycheck costs truckers more than a few bank overdrafts. The stress of an uncertain income stream also takes its toll on both the trucker and his/her family. Why do so many drivers and owner-operators live this way? It�s not by choice. And it�s not only the everyday challenge of budgeting. It�s the payment system and the fluctuating work flow. The industry offers a variable compensation model based on milage. Drivers only get pay for driving the truck down the road. Unlike most workers with predictable weekly hours or salary, many over-the-road drivers can�t count on steady weekly income. The compensation model seems reasonable on the surface. However, it does not consider the countless factors beyond the driver�s and trucking company�s control that reduce miles and the money he can earn-factors like bad weather, heavy traffic, road construction, shippers and receivers taking too long to load or unload and dispatching errors. Worse, most drivers and owner-operators only get paid the shortest "household" miles. So, they don�t even get paid for the full miles driven. This practice creates an estimated six to eleven percent shortfall of unpaid labor. How many other workers receive 90% of their salary wage??
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