Monday, March 30, 2015

Why The Pay System Of The Trucking Industry Needs Change?

There are numerous causes behind the increasing numbers of truck accidents. Some of the main causes behind these incidents are driver fatigue, negligence, weather conditions, road structure, equipment failure, etc.

There are few other causes that remain behind the curtains are also hazardous and contribute significantly in the rising numbers of these heart-breaking incidents. Many industry experts believe that the current pay structure of the trucking industry is insecure and is one of the underlying causes behind increasing numbers of accidents.

According to the current pay model, the majority of the drivers get paid by the mile. The more miles they drive, the more money they earn is a key factor that gives truckers encouragement to violate mandatory safety guidelines. Paying a trucker by the hour is a much safer option, which is not used by most of the trucking companies.

It has been noticed that the trucking companies that made the switch and paid their drivers by the hour were not only able to reduce driver’s turnover, but also enhanced safety. This is the reason that now Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is also showing its concerns towards this issue and trying to determine the correlation between driver pay and safety.

It will help them identify whether or not this pay system engages driver in causing an avoidable accident. It is expected that the results will show a connection between being paid by mile and increased chances of an accident, particularly when compare with drivers receiving hourly pay.

At the end, we can say that this pay model also suggests that a trucker who should have stopped driving, but did not because he received an incentive to continue. Therefore, it is believed that it is a wrong pay model that could be the cause behind many road accidents and should be changed. Many truck accident injury attorneys have also raised the matter of this pay system in many lawsuits and have litigated it as a potential reason that the negligent act occurred. 

Trucking companies need to place safety first. Ironically, if they did that then their profits will increase as they won’t have to fend off litigation from trucking accidents or worse the publicity of a trucking fatality.

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