RIGGED: Forced into debt. Worked past exhaustion. Left with nothing.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/news/rigged-forced-into-debt-worked-past-exhaustion-left-with-nothing/

A yearlong investigation by the USA TODAY Network found that port trucking companies in southern California have spent the past decade forcing drivers to finance their own trucks by taking on debt they could not afford. Companies then used that debt as leverage to extract forced labor and trap drivers in jobs that left them destitute.

If a driver quit, the company seized his truck and kept everything he had paid towards owning it.

If drivers missed payments, or if they got sick or became too exhausted to go on, their companies fired them and kept everything. Then they turned around and leased the trucks to someone else.

Drivers who manage to hang on to their jobs sometimes end up owing money to their employers – essentially working for free. Reporters identified seven different companies that have told their employees they owe money at week’s end.

* * * * * * * *
This is a devastating piece that requires a long read. The details, stats and stories are infuriating. Our economy is subsidized on the backs of people all down the line, all in the name of cheap goods for the tyranny of the Consumer. Please do read it.

[FSogol]

1. K & R. n/t

[displacedtexan]

2. Thank goodness, 97% of legal actions have sided with the drivers!

The trucking companies, trying to blame the Teamsters for encouraging drivers to sue, need to be exposed. Big time.

Truly heavy sigh.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Truck Driving, In Many Cases, Has Become A Rotten Gig

My dad was a guy who delivered milk to the supermarkets. Back then, that was a good paying job. Since he was driver/salesperson, there were commissions involved so the extra hours had to do with how much load he was willing to take on because there was the salary plus a piece of the action.

There are still good trucking firms to work for, but the guys i know that still do that are CONSTANTLY looking for an opportunity to get a shuttle gig. Pay is a little lower, but the hours are predicable and there is no long haul work.

Most of the guys we know that have been doing it for 20 years or more, have really come to hate their job.

[Delphinus]

4. Oh my!

What an infuriating story! It's heartbreaking to read about the lives of these workers.

And they are trapped.

[Shell_Seas]

5. Capitalism at it's finest.