A Canadian local truck driver explains why consumers are paying such high prices for products by outlining his monthly gas bill and highlighting the enormous amount of taxes he pays, including federal tax, provincial tax, carbon tax, and the GST tax levied on those three taxes.
Chrystia Freeland - WEF Board Director, Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and MP for a lot of citizens... what's her advice? Cancel your Netflix account and you'll save money! Ignorant Bitch Alert
Now add in the cost of maintenance, tires and other upkeep, plus the inevitable damage that results from inexperienced drivers hauling into locations designed in the years when trailers were shorter, and where today's motorists have no patience for the people hauling the food they eat and will often try to drive around you, or sit with their headlights blinding you when you're backing into a loading dock.
Speaking of inexperienced drivers, it can cost up to $5000 to get your class 1 licence, and that's the bare minimum of training you need to drive a heavy truck, the rest is trial by fire. Today, these drivers are hired right out of school since so few people want to drive trucks anymore as the pay just isn't worth the long hours, time away from home and family, and the aggravation of dealing with an increasingly inconsiderate and sometimes hostile motoring public. Where I work, the only driver under 40 is the yard guy, son of one of our drivers. The rest are so close to retirement they can smell it.
Another contributing factor to high food costs is the chronic shortage of employees at the supermarkets. From speaking to managers at the ones I haul to they often work short-handed due to people spontaneously quitting or booking off sick, which I suspect has something to do with the recent vaccine tyranny. The net effect is that where before I had two people unloading my truck, typically it's now only one, and often inexperienced. This results in longer unloading times, which get charged, and also more freight damage caused by inexperience, but also by poor loading practices at the other end, where warehouses are also short-staffed and under pressure to get the loads out on time. They don't always make it on time either, so add in the extra cost of fuel used to keep the refrigerator running when the trailer misses the barge.
That's not all either. Support industries are facing the same labour shortages and supply chain issues. For example, it took us over 3 months to obtain a replacement fender for one of our trucks. Maintenance issues can be a real problem too, as wait times for service and repairs are increasing, and if your truck's in the shop for a week, you might have to rent one to replace it, adding even more costs to your operation. Oh, and the trucks on the road are getting older too, as replacement costs are way up so equipment gets pushed past its useful life, resulting in more breakdowns and roadside calls or tows. Actually tow trucks are one of the few services that are doing well these days. Go figure.
Thanks. In fairness I should point out that it's not all bad. I drove gas tankers in the 80's and the industry has really improved since then. Things that should have been standardized across the industry now are, and safety and impact on the environment have improved greatly. Then as now it was the highest paying work in trucking, at least for short haul. As a result it attracts the more responsible members of our trade.
Trucks in general have improved over the years as well. Exhaust systems are much cleaner, and most now have automatic transmissions which makes driving and maneuvering much easier. Driver's seats are multiply adjustable and the trucks are much quieter and have killer sound systems! Better visibility, heated adjustable mirrors, roll-over warning, lane change alerts, etc. and the engines deliver more horsepower and torque for the same weight, so you don't need as many gears. I came back to the industry after a long absence and was amazed at all the improvements. Now when I hear guys complain about stuff I just laugh. Some of the trucks I drove before didn't even have power steering! You had be rolling to even turn the wheel...lol.
Chrystia Freeland - WEF Board Director, Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and MP for a lot of citizens... what's her advice? Cancel your Netflix account and you'll save money! Ignorant Bitch Alert
💯 agree this is total insanity and we should not be paying this government another bloody cent - disgusting abuse of Canadian citizens
Now add in the cost of maintenance, tires and other upkeep, plus the inevitable damage that results from inexperienced drivers hauling into locations designed in the years when trailers were shorter, and where today's motorists have no patience for the people hauling the food they eat and will often try to drive around you, or sit with their headlights blinding you when you're backing into a loading dock.
Speaking of inexperienced drivers, it can cost up to $5000 to get your class 1 licence, and that's the bare minimum of training you need to drive a heavy truck, the rest is trial by fire. Today, these drivers are hired right out of school since so few people want to drive trucks anymore as the pay just isn't worth the long hours, time away from home and family, and the aggravation of dealing with an increasingly inconsiderate and sometimes hostile motoring public. Where I work, the only driver under 40 is the yard guy, son of one of our drivers. The rest are so close to retirement they can smell it.
Another contributing factor to high food costs is the chronic shortage of employees at the supermarkets. From speaking to managers at the ones I haul to they often work short-handed due to people spontaneously quitting or booking off sick, which I suspect has something to do with the recent vaccine tyranny. The net effect is that where before I had two people unloading my truck, typically it's now only one, and often inexperienced. This results in longer unloading times, which get charged, and also more freight damage caused by inexperience, but also by poor loading practices at the other end, where warehouses are also short-staffed and under pressure to get the loads out on time. They don't always make it on time either, so add in the extra cost of fuel used to keep the refrigerator running when the trailer misses the barge.
That's not all either. Support industries are facing the same labour shortages and supply chain issues. For example, it took us over 3 months to obtain a replacement fender for one of our trucks. Maintenance issues can be a real problem too, as wait times for service and repairs are increasing, and if your truck's in the shop for a week, you might have to rent one to replace it, adding even more costs to your operation. Oh, and the trucks on the road are getting older too, as replacement costs are way up so equipment gets pushed past its useful life, resulting in more breakdowns and roadside calls or tows. Actually tow trucks are one of the few services that are doing well these days. Go figure.
Thanks for your clear words and insight's. 🖖
Thanks. In fairness I should point out that it's not all bad. I drove gas tankers in the 80's and the industry has really improved since then. Things that should have been standardized across the industry now are, and safety and impact on the environment have improved greatly. Then as now it was the highest paying work in trucking, at least for short haul. As a result it attracts the more responsible members of our trade.
Trucks in general have improved over the years as well. Exhaust systems are much cleaner, and most now have automatic transmissions which makes driving and maneuvering much easier. Driver's seats are multiply adjustable and the trucks are much quieter and have killer sound systems! Better visibility, heated adjustable mirrors, roll-over warning, lane change alerts, etc. and the engines deliver more horsepower and torque for the same weight, so you don't need as many gears. I came back to the industry after a long absence and was amazed at all the improvements. Now when I hear guys complain about stuff I just laugh. Some of the trucks I drove before didn't even have power steering! You had be rolling to even turn the wheel...lol.
In the Middle Ages and later, the "zent", i.e. 10% of everything you earned, was demanded (by force).
No noble lord of a castle in those times would have reached the castle alive if he had tried to collect today's tax rates.