Real Change News | Cleaner trucks, yes, and better jobs too

April 8, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 17

Community & Editorial

Cleaner trucks, yes, and better jobs too

by: Olufemi Dosunmu , Guest Writer

Meet the ill-paid work force that gets foreign goods to our stores

Photo by: John Burbank , Contributing Writer

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Maybe you’ve seen me driving my Mack truck back and forth from the Port of Seattle’s docks to the rail yards along E. Marginal Way. I’m probably carrying containers for Target, Costco or Home Depot. What you might not know is that these billion-dollar corporations are pressuring the Port of Seattle to make me and my fellow truck drivers pay for retrofit diesel trucks out of our own pockets.

I am proud I have a job at the Port of Seattle. Without truck drivers like me, those containers would sit on the port docks and Seattle’s trade system would come to a standstill. As an American citizen, I am part of the American Dream — I work hard and I participate in democracy.

So at a recent meeting at South Seattle Community College I was surprised to hear Port of Seattle officials say drivers must pay for retrofit diesel trucks or face losing their jobs. Don’t get me wrong – I would love to drive a clean, non-polluting, dependable and safe truck every day. I cough and choke on the diesel fumes from the old trucks and worry about the pollution. But I cannot afford a clean truck because I am treated as an “independent contractor” by the trucking company.
As an independent contractor, I get paid $40 per round trip, no matter how long I have to wait. Like many of the port truck drivers, I get up before dawn to warm up my truck and line up outside the port terminals. On a bad day, and there have been more bad days lately due to the slow economy, I move only one or two containers. To make up for lost time, sometimes I have to speed and drive my truck recklessly on the streets of Georgetown and South Seattle.

This means I make only $80 - $120 for a 10-hour workday. But that’s just the start for an “independent contractor” truck driver at the Port of Seattle. From that $500 per week, I have to pay for my own fuel, container insurance, truck maintenance, parking, phone, taxes, tonnage fees and many other costs that total close to $350. At the end of the week, I have little left to support my family.

I’ve been to many meetings with the staff and elected commissioners at the Port of Seattle. I’ve testified over and over again, explaining that the Port’s truck drivers cannot afford the $200 - $400 they want truck drivers to pay for clean diesel trucks. Just last week, dozens of drivers waived signs and protested at a Port of Seattle Commission meeting, telling their stories for almost three hours. But the Port of Seattle is more interested in doing what Target and Costco want. We heard Port Commission President Bill Bryant read out loud letters from those corporations supporting the Port’s plan to make truck drivers pay for the clean trucks. He even called it a “win-win” plan.

Is this the American Dream? Target and Costco each made more than $1 billion in profits in 2008. Is it fair to force the people at the bottom of the ladder, the container drivers, to take responsibility for owning and maintaining retrofit trucks when they can’t afford to feed their families?

Drivers are asking the Port of Seattle Commission to make some changes in the plan. We want the trucking companies to help us reduce air pollution by purchasing and maintaining the clean trucks. We want to be treated as employees, not independent contractors, so we get paid for the hours we work and are treated with respect. We want to know that we can work hard and support our families. We want to be part of the American Dream. n

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Comments

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Karma | submitted on 08/13/2009, 11:53pm

Collecting social security now or later. Leaflet retirement arrangements and planning. Thanks for the help
costco locations

Mike | submitted on 01/25/2010, 12:35pm

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