Submission

I am a Canadian truck driver.

I do not own a truck, nor am I an independent businessman competing in the transportation market.

I am an employee, like the majority of Canadian truck drivers.

When I am driving down the highway at 60 mph, I make about 20 dollars an hour.

When I inspect and maintain the company's truck each day to make sure it is mechanically sound and safe to operate, I am working for free.

When I stop to check my brakes or my load as required by law, I am working for free.

When traffic is at a standstill because of congestion, accidents, construction, maintenance, fires, floods, road closures, poor roads and the like, I am working for free.

When I spend up to two days wrestling a load across the US or Canadian border, I am working for free.

When I sit in a loading dock for 12 hours waiting to be loaded or unloaded, I am working for free. When it takes 2 hours to get my paperwork signed by the receiver, I am working for free.

When I wait at the side of the road for half a day for a repair, I am working for free.

When I sit idly at a truck stop thousands of miles from home, waiting for days and paying all my own expenses until the company finds me a load, I am working for free.

When I live on the road in a box without plumbing or running water, I am working for free. When I clean the company's truck using supplies paid for out of my own pocket, I am working for free.

When I sit for an entire day in the waiting room at a truck dealer while repairs and maintenance are done, I am working for free.

When I spend half an hour or more each day doing paperwork, I am working for free.

When I wait at a government weigh scale while inspectors go over the truck and my records with a fine-tooth comb, I am working for free.

When the inspectors find a flaw and I get handed a massive fine, I am working for free.

When I have to sit at a truck stop for two days because the government says I'm too tired to drive, I am working for free.

When the company fines me for being late delivering the load because the government said I was too tired to drive, I am working for free.

When the company deducts the cost of WCB premiums from my pay cheque, I am working for free.

When the company requires me to pay for a cell phone so they can get hold of me whenever they want, I am working for free.

When the company makes me pay for repairs and maintenance on their truck, I am working for free.

When I drive 1000 miles to pick up and deliver a load, but the company only pays me for 950 (computer program) miles, I am working for free.

When the company requires me to call in on their 1-800 line each day, then bills me for doing so, I am working for free.

All of the above happen to some truck drivers each and every day. Some of the above happen to all truck drivers each and every day.

I am a Canadian truck driver. I work 100 hours a week, log 60, and if all goes well, get paid for 40. When I have to lie and cheat on my log book daily in order to achieve this, I am sacrificing my ethics and honour.

Why do I do it? I have children to feed, rent to pay, and my family and I would starve if I worked a minimum wage job at the local gas station.

The trucking companies say 'Oh, it's all included in the rate we pay you.'

The Federal Labour Board says 'You must be paid for all the work you do, unless of course the company you work for can coerce you into giving up even the minimal employment rights we are supposed to be protecting.'

The risks and uncertainties of doing business are supposed to accrue to the employer, not the employees. In the trucking industry, federal labour law guarantees that employees absorb these risks and costs, in exact opposition to the intent and purpose of such laws.

Truck driver employees need protection from a de-regulated and cut-throat industry. An end to all forms of piece-rate (by the mile, by the ton, by the drop, etc.) is required. Hourly wages and minimum wage protection for all work as defined by DOT Hours of Service regulations is the only solution to this problem.

Industry currently enjoys a massive free labour subsidy from truck drivers. Powerful, influential businesses such as Wal-Mart will work hard to maintain that. I ask the Commission to do the right thing for working Canadians and provide a fair standard, one with appropriate enforcement and penalties for violators.

Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,

Alan Black