Forced Retirement

Forced Retirement

After trucking for over 2 decades, I can't help but notice that the vast majority of truckers I see at the truck stops are in their 30s and 40s. Strangely, I don't see very many old timers (60+). I just assumed they settled down to a local job to come home every night, but as I take careful observation of all the local daycab trucks, I realized I rarely see old timers driving locally either. It wasn't until one day, I was waiting my turn to back into a dock and deliver newsprint rolls, that I walked up to see how much longer this truck ahead of me had to go before his trailer was empty.

I looked inside to see an old guy in his 60s, pushing each roll of 2,000+ lbs of newsprint rolls to the back edge of the trailer. The combined weight of the forklift truck and newsprint roll would exceed the weight capacity of the trailer's floor board. If the clamp forklift were to enter the trailer, it would damage the floorboard as it backed out with a payload. Thus, drivers were expected to push each roll to the rear edge, where the clamp forklift would take the load off from the edge of the trailer.

I was brought up to respect the older generations, and to give a hand when I see them exerting physical effort to lift something. So I immediately entered his trailer and got next to him to help push the remaining newsprint rolls. Its apparant this particular warehouse either didn't take pity on an old guy, struggling to push a 2,000+ pound load by himself, or it was policy and forbidden for warehouse staff to help delivering truckers to unload the freight. The old guy struggling to push each roll was a white caucasian, and the warehouse staff were all Hispanics. I couldn't help but wonder if they would let an old trucker unload the freight himself if the driver was Hispanic. In over 2 decades of trucking, I've learned that racism is one of the ugly sides of humanity.

After this elderly driver was empty, he shook my hands and said "Thanks," and he headed back to the nearest truck stop. I ran into him the next morning; he was sitting at the restaurant counter, which happens to be my favorite spot when I'm ordering a hot breakfast meal in the morning. After exchanging small pleasantry comments, I opened the topic of why I don't see very many mature drivers like himself. He replied that when he reached his mid 50s, he began to get turned down by employers because he was "over qualified." Prospective employers would tell him that because of his 20+ years of driving experience, he deserves a starting pay that is beyond what they can afford. He answered that he was willing to accept the same starting pay as a driver with 10+ years of experience, yet no employer would accept his offer of starting at a lower pay rate. Its at this point that he realized employers were routinely discriminating against him because of his advance age. So he took his life savings and became an owner operator. He's realized too late in life that trucking is only for the young ones. He feels its too late in life for him to go into another line of work. But with his insurance rate so high because of his age, he felt that the blatant practice of age discrimination by employers, and the high insurance rate he pays because of his age, he has no choice but to quit trucking for good.

In 2006, I turned 46 and began to look at myself in the mirror. I'm not as strong and agile as I used to be, and I began to consider what I'm going to do when employers begin to see me as a liability risk because of my age, and discriminate against me by saying "you're over qualified." I realize I have to prepare for the inevitable; I need to retrain myself and prepare for a desk job. So I quit trucking and enrolled in a community college. The good paying desk jobs all require a bachelors degree (4 years of college). I'm now slowly studying and had gotten adjusted to the discipline of studying for hours at a time. I'm gradually working my way towards a bachelors degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management; a specialty under Business Administration.

So far, I've learned in college that business engages in what they call "damage control." This is where you identify all the liability risk that can hurt your business. Truckers in their late 50s and 60+ are part of that liability risk. As the human body ages, it undergoes a process of physical and mental deterioration. A driver's ability to recognize danger and react to avoid an accident greatly diminishes as the human body ages. State and federal labor laws forbids age discrimination, so management hides the practice by saying "you're over qualified." With drivers who had been with the company, they simply wait until his medical doctor finds a condition that precludes him from renewing his commercial license. This practice is called "forced retirement." Even if a driver passes his DOT health exam, the company will claim the insurance company wants another DOT health exam, and the veteran driver finds himself having to undergo another DOT health review every 6 months until the doctor finds a condition to legally "force retire" a driver from his chosen profession.

So I realize I have made the right decision to quit trucking and undergo a period of retraining. However, how many veteran truckers out there are unaware they are eventually going to be "forced retired" by their employer?? I've run into many truckers at truck stops who claim "I'm going to keep trucking until I die in my sleep inside my sleeper berth." Little do these veteran truckers know that the insurance companies and corporate management had already made plans for when they reach their late 50s. Its called "FORCED RETIREMENT."

Tony Cantero

poortrucker@gmail.com