John Oliver spoke about the many problems facing truckers in the US and an industry that mistreats them.
The Last Week Tonight host said at the start that “everyone” loves trucks, from kids to reality show producers, and they remain a “vital part of the economy”. He explained that 70% of the tonnage moving in the US is transported by truck.
After just three days without a trucker, “every merchandise department would switch from the all-you-can-eat market to the all-you-can-eat raccoon buffet.”
But the industry is “facing a massive problem” with drivers. But despite headlines to the contrary, “it’s not so much a driver shortage issue as it is a driver retention issue.”
Driver turnover in certain companies can be as high as 300% over a year, with around 100% in most cases. Base salary has dropped by 50%.
One of the key issues is that “most drivers are paid by the mile, not by the hour,” which doesn’t take into account the many hours of loading and unloading. It’s become “a huge sticking point,” said Oliver, who showed footage of a driver stuck in his truck for 19 hours without pay.
Many truckers then have to make up time, which can be dangerous. About 5,000 people die each year in accidents involving large trucks. Drivers are “sandwiched between regulations and the companies they drive for, with no regard for their own feelings or needs at any point in the process.”
Another issue is that most companies classify them as independent contractors rather than employees, meaning they receive no benefits and “all the costs and risks of truck ownership are passed on to the truck driver” – resulting in “a pretty crappy end result”.
Oliver also spoke about the fallacy of lease-purchase agreements, where drivers are offered the opportunity to lease their truck from the company so that they can eventually own it themselves. But they “almost never succeed,” Oliver reported, with one company saying only 5-10% of them were able to close the deal.
That means truckers are tied to a company and pay back earnings. Companies often charge them for parking in their own lot and once for using office toilet paper. This can result in a driver owing the company money at the end of the work week. “Can you imagine picking up your paycheck and finding an envelope with five dollar bills in it?” he said.
But some of these “predatory” companies are now embroiled in lawsuits, including a $15 million class action lawsuit against Western Express.
“We should probably realize that we’ve all gotten used to the idea of next-day shipping, but someone, somewhere, is paying the price,” he said. There is “a fundamental lack of value being placed on their time that clearly needs to be addressed”.
Ultimately, companies need to “do a job that people actually want to stay in,” Oliver said.