Kristi Cramer's Blog: Bounded in a Nutshell - Posts Tagged "unions"
Ghost Driver's Guild
The real reason a lot of Solo drivers don’t like us is because we have managed to organize into a union, the Ghost Driver’s Guild. As a result, we get paid more per mile than Solo drivers, and we also get paid for time waiting when we could be driving.
The Guild formed shortly after the Companies created the position of Floating Co-Driver, or Ghost Driver as we prefer. They determined that Ghosts were cheaper and more stable than putting teams on all long haul trucks. (Not every driver is cut out to constantly share truck space with another driver, you know.)
They found us: qualified drivers who meet all these extra requirements like ongoing training, immaculate driving records, spotless criminal and drug histories, high IQs, little to no physical attachments (homes or families), and high levels of physical fitness. We are smart, fit, clean, and have nothing to go home to. The road is our home.
By 2020, the Companies had re-designed the freight movement system to be entirely dependent upon the availability of Ghosts.
They sent us out there.
Then they screwed us. Paid us less than Solos, stranded us in remote locations leaving us to pay our own fare out or hitchhike. They refused to address any of our grievances, from abusive Solos to lack of accommodations. So we organized. All of us, every last Ghost. We went on strike.
Within hours of beginning the strike we knew we had the Industry by the short hairs. By May 7, 2021, after a mere week off, we went back to work with better pay, better benefits, and more respect from the Companies.
Ghosts keep telling the Solos that if they organize themselves, they could bring the whole country to a halt until they get the restrictions eased, so they can make a proper living again. But Solos are too damn stubborn—they call it independent—to ever organize. It would take something supernatural, super unifying, or super horrible to get them to band together.
The Guild has been and remains a useful entity. We have no doubt that if the Guild dissolved a lot of the good we achieved would go away. Our pay would be slashed. We’d get stranded in remote locations with no waiting pay and no paid transport out to a hub. Lounge access would cost. There would be fees for every incidental service, from clean sheets to internet access. We would be bending over to get screwed. Again.
So we pay our dues and stay organized. It’s really a no-brainer.
Next week: Ghost Lounges
© 2013 Kristi Cramer
The Guild formed shortly after the Companies created the position of Floating Co-Driver, or Ghost Driver as we prefer. They determined that Ghosts were cheaper and more stable than putting teams on all long haul trucks. (Not every driver is cut out to constantly share truck space with another driver, you know.)
They found us: qualified drivers who meet all these extra requirements like ongoing training, immaculate driving records, spotless criminal and drug histories, high IQs, little to no physical attachments (homes or families), and high levels of physical fitness. We are smart, fit, clean, and have nothing to go home to. The road is our home.
By 2020, the Companies had re-designed the freight movement system to be entirely dependent upon the availability of Ghosts.
They sent us out there.
Then they screwed us. Paid us less than Solos, stranded us in remote locations leaving us to pay our own fare out or hitchhike. They refused to address any of our grievances, from abusive Solos to lack of accommodations. So we organized. All of us, every last Ghost. We went on strike.
Within hours of beginning the strike we knew we had the Industry by the short hairs. By May 7, 2021, after a mere week off, we went back to work with better pay, better benefits, and more respect from the Companies.
Ghosts keep telling the Solos that if they organize themselves, they could bring the whole country to a halt until they get the restrictions eased, so they can make a proper living again. But Solos are too damn stubborn—they call it independent—to ever organize. It would take something supernatural, super unifying, or super horrible to get them to band together.
The Guild has been and remains a useful entity. We have no doubt that if the Guild dissolved a lot of the good we achieved would go away. Our pay would be slashed. We’d get stranded in remote locations with no waiting pay and no paid transport out to a hub. Lounge access would cost. There would be fees for every incidental service, from clean sheets to internet access. We would be bending over to get screwed. Again.
So we pay our dues and stay organized. It’s really a no-brainer.
Next week: Ghost Lounges
© 2013 Kristi Cramer
Bounded in a Nutshell
The skinny on Kristi's life, musings, and occasional bits on writing, works in progress, and promotions.
My blog title is from Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Hamlet:
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and ...more
My blog title is from Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Hamlet:
O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and ...more
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