🚚 The Uberfication of Trucking is Here

The stuff you buy in stores - clothes, toilet paper, that new Playstation - almost all of it got to the store on a truck. In the U.S. it’s assumed wisdom that long-haul trucking is getting cheaper, and that's good for consumers. It means stuff is cheaper.

But it's not so good for truck drivers because all of this is happening at their expense.

How Trucking is Changing

This is the first year that online shopping has overtaken retail, driven in part by the pandemic. All of this shipping demand has the business of freight and trucking companies in high demand. Many companies are scrambling to hire drivers, often offering free training. What they aren't offering are great salaries.

As a new driver gets hired, they are often given a choice by trucking companies: you have the option to either be a company driver for a low monthly salary or a lease operator.

As a company driver you are a "plain old" W-2 employee and paid based on how many miles you drive, the per mile price for which keeps droppi…