{"id":963,"date":"2025-05-04T18:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T18:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/?p=963"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:41:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:41:39","slug":"friendly-faces-real-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/friendly-faces-real-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Drivers Behind the Truck"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the topics discussed during the HONS-499 class that we were asked to focus on was the concept of Martin Luther King’s Triple Evils, racism, poverty, and militarism. With my field of study, I think focusing on is poverty, more specifically worker exploitation and low wages among truck drivers. A large majority of truck drivers come from families who were also truck drivers or they are forced into the industry because others judge them based on their backgrounds and where they come from. Because of being treated this way, it makes it harder and harder for truck drivers to break the cycle of poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some truck drivers who fall into the categories of independent contractors, immigrants, and people of color are trapped in the economic hardship due to unfair industry practices. Many drivers, especially those classified as independent contractors, are paid by the mile instead of a flat hourly rate. This leads to long hours with unpaid waiting times at warehouses. To elaborate on this, in the state of Illinois, all truck drivers have to follow the federal Hours of Service regulations. Drivers must take a 30 minute break after 8 hours of driving, they cannot drive after being on duty for 14 consecutive hours, and they also have weekly limits of 60 hours on duty in 7 days. These strict hours and rules can be tracked using a tablet equipped with a software that makes abiding by these rules easy but it can also lead to some drivers trying to cheat the system in order to make more money for their families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To go with the Hours of Service, many drivers are trying to max out their hours in order to not only make the most money possible but to also gain notability and try to build relationships with others in the industry. However, these actions are especially taxing and can feel like they are not being appreciated for their work. This can be because of the lack of overtime pay, increase in physical exhaustion and health risks. Many people also don’t think about certain safety measures that some drivers ignore in order to go as fast as possible and to maximize their hours. For example, some loads that drivers haul require certain straps or ways to secure and haul it safely. Some drivers might try to cut corners and not take all the proper safety measures; this can lead to injuries while on the clock both to drivers and others they are working with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many trucking companies use a “misclassification” loophole, by labeling drivers as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits, healthcare, or fair wages. A way that some companies are trying to change this way of thinking can be shown from the internship I worked at over the summer and where I plan to take my job after graduation. They hire “owner operators” which are on the same level as independent contractors that I have been referencing. These drivers get to pick their hours, get safety bonuses and health benefits, and also get paid detention (where a driver has to sit at a delivery location and wait to get unloaded for a long amount of time, thus causing them to miss the chance of making more money that day). Especially in the St. Louis area, many of the drivers are immigrants from Bosnia who are trying to break the cycle of poverty for their families. It’s one of the main reasons that I enjoy working for them, they give opportunities to others who can prove that they are worth taking the chance on. \\<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way to stop people from judging truck drivers and others alike is to show people that these people are just like the rest of us. We should be treating them with the respect they deserve. The four drivers who are featured above are just a few who I have had the pleasure of working with for the past year. They want the best for their families and want to prove to everyone else that there is no reason for some people’s behavior towards them. I have made an Instagram page, @truckersmatter, and am asking everyone who sees this to share the post to others who would help get the word out with this ongoing problem in the transportation industry. Let’s make a difference together, one trucker at a time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the topics discussed during the HONS-499 class that we were asked to focus on was the concept of Martin Luther King’s Triple Evils, racism, poverty, and militarism. With my field of study, I think focusing on is poverty, more specifically worker exploitation and low wages among truck drivers. A large majority of truck drivers come from families who were also truck drivers or they are forced into the industry because others judge them based on their backgrounds and where they come from. Because of being treated this way, it makes it harder and harder for truck drivers to break the cycle of poverty. Some truck drivers who fall into the categories of independent contractors, immigrants, and people of color are trapped in the economic hardship due to unfair industry practices. Many drivers, especially those classified as independent contractors, are paid by the mile instead of a flat hourly rate. This leads to long hours with unpaid waiting times at warehouses. To elaborate on this, in the state of Illinois, all truck drivers have to follow the federal Hours of Service regulations. Drivers must take a 30 minute break after 8 hours of driving, they cannot drive after being on duty for 14 consecutive hours, and they also have weekly limits of 60 hours on duty in 7 days. These strict hours and rules can be tracked using a tablet equipped with a software that makes abiding by these rules easy but it can also lead to some drivers trying to cheat the system in order to make more money for their families. To go with the Hours of Service, many drivers are trying to max out their hours in order to not only make the most money possible but to also gain notability and try to build relationships with others in the industry. However, these actions are especially taxing and can feel like they are not being appreciated for their work. This can be because of the lack of overtime pay, increase in physical exhaustion and health risks. Many people also don’t think about certain safety measures that some drivers ignore in order to go as fast as possible and to maximize their hours. For example, some loads that drivers haul require certain straps or ways to secure and haul it safely. Some drivers might try to cut corners and not take all the proper safety measures; this can lead to injuries while on the clock both to drivers and others they are working with. Many trucking companies use a “misclassification” loophole, by labeling drivers as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits, healthcare, or fair wages. A way that some companies are trying to change this way of thinking can be shown from the internship I worked at over the summer and where I plan to take my job after graduation. They hire “owner operators” which are on the same level as independent contractors that I have been referencing. These drivers get to pick their hours, get safety bonuses and health benefits, and also get paid detention (where a driver has to sit at a delivery location and wait to get unloaded for a long amount of time, thus causing them to miss the chance of making more money that day). Especially in the St. Louis area, many of the drivers are immigrants from Bosnia who are trying to break the cycle of poverty for their families. It’s one of the main reasons that I enjoy working for them, they give opportunities to others who can prove that they are worth taking the chance on. \\ The only way to stop people from judging truck drivers and others alike is to show people that these people are just like the rest of us. We should be treating them with the respect they deserve. The four drivers who are featured above are just a few who I have had the pleasure of working with for the past year. They want the best for their families and want to prove to everyone else that there is no reason for some people’s behavior towards them. I have made an Instagram page, @truckersmatter, and am asking everyone who sees this to share the post to others who would help get the word out with this ongoing problem in the transportation industry. Let’s make a difference together, one trucker at a time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":782,"featured_media":1219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capstone-project"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2025\/05\/Semi-pic.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/782"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1220,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions\/1220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}