Udo posted a contribution on Facebook about pay commensurate with performance. He is right in many things, even though I see some points differently here and there.
For those who don’t have Facebook, Maik Erdmann from Truckonline published the post on his page.
Among other things, the point that I only partially blame employers for wages is relevant. Of course, you imagine yourself at a company and are told how great the company is. Later comes the point where you ask: How far does the wallet stretch?
And here we come to Trucker Latin. Or also: Stories from the Paulana Garden.
I always negotiate my own wages
I have repeatedly mentioned in many posts and comments: Drivers mess themselves up.
On one hand, there is the fairy tale where many claim they negotiate their wages themselves and never leave it to someone who knows nothing about the job.
On the other hand, there is reality, and that looks like this 95% of the time: The driver arrives, you talk, and then the question of pay comes up. At this point, you can try to squeeze out more, but that is usually futile effort. But people like to stick to the fairy tale that they negotiate themselves.
Job offers in recruitment ads
Yes, a modern fleet, great scheduling, maybe even the blonde receptionist, the family atmosphere at the company—things that logistics companies with 300 or more units also carry on their banner—are things we drivers more or less take for granted. But that doesn’t fill my fridge and doesn’t pay my bills.
And what a driver understands by “performance-based” is often light-years away from what an entrepreneur means by it.
Foreign countries and why they can do better
Other countries like Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, as well as Scandinavian countries are also often cited as examples of good wages. Why does that work there but not here?
It’s true. I myself drove trucks in the Netherlands for a time and can say that from the start, more is paid there than here in Germany.
But few want to know why. And even when I occasionally bring up a generally binding collective agreement, some again repeat the fairy tale: I basically negotiate myself.
Which brings us back to foreign countries. The aforementioned countries have what others also demand of me: a generally binding collective agreement. It’s just called something else there: The Collective Agreement.
It’s just annoying now
This constant complaining about how terrible the job is, the endless search for someone to blame. As long as the driver isn’t at fault. Because with him, it’s always the others who are to blame. Only not him. Because he is the one who masters everything. Those in the office are stupid and don’t know what it’s like outside.
The only downside is that the driver overlooks many things in his little world. Among other things, that those in the office are not responsible only for him. Depending on the size of the logistics company, they are responsible for 5, 6, or even 20 drivers. It is simply so that one person cannot take intensive care of a single driver.
Yes, the driver has a problem. With 20 drivers, the scheduler has 20 problems. And it is his job to solve them. Ideally, according to customers’ wishes, all at the same time.
Back to the driver and his problems
Let’s be honest: Almost all other industries in Germany are paid much more reasonably than a truck driver. And why? Not because the legislature has done something here. No, because the employees and female employees of the respective industries are in a trade union.
What the German 5-star-plus-trucker doesn’t want to understand, because he likes to look into the past on this topic: The number of members in a trade union gives it the power to change what needs to be changed. And whoever pays for the music also determines the tempo at which the dance is performed.
Not the trade union. It is only an executive body.
Surveys and other things
Funny are also always the surveys about what is wrong with the job. If you look at comments or posts by drivers on social media, then pay is always point number 1.
When survey results are published, pay is always in third or fourth place. Sometimes even further down. But never, really never, in first or second position.
So why isn’t something done about it? Why don’t you join forces and change things there? We others are just waiting for you.
We could have a collective agreement like in neighboring countries, where things that don’t suit us are regulated. And just because such an agreement might exist doesn’t mean you can still add a cherry on top of the cream.
But unfortunately, it is simply so: The German driver is the biggest hero on the smartphone keyboard. The best under the sun. Only he knows where it’s going. And in reality? The wimp. The loner.
Don’t fit in? Then change something about that. But as I once said: No guts!
Only if we change things will there be the performance-based wages that people want.
In this spirit… Until next time!
