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Should Truck Drivers Receive Overtime Pay?

A Michigan congressman thinks truck drivers ought to receive overtime pay. Rep. Andy Levin recently introduced a bill called Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act. This bill would undo truckers’ exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act. That exemption dates back to the 1930s and was enacted as a safety issue to keep drivers from working too many hours.

truck driver drivers overtime pay
I believe drivers should be properly compensated for the work that they do. Whether it be paying overtime, raising their base rate, or paying them by the hour in general.
 
But this bill doesn’t guarantee that truck drivers are going to get raises. If the bill gets passed, some trucking companies will lower the drivers’ hourly pay rate because now they have to pay overtime. Essentially, if this bill is passed there’s a chance that driver pay will stay the same.
 
One thing that trucking companies can do to retain truck drivers, instead of paying them overtime, is to pay MCB or minimum compensation benefit. Minimum compensation benefit guarantees that drivers get paid regardless of the number of loads the company has to haul.

Written by Mike Ritzema

With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Mike has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.

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