Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

 What happened to $8.50? For that matter what the heck happened to $8? We’re talking about a slab of concrete in the ground connected by a long wire to a electronic printer operated by a pimple faced high school senior working part time at a Pilot. Do I need to remind everyone here that we, as drivers, have not received a raise in a long time. Not one damn dime! But everything else around us is going up. I think this latest CAT scale increase must be to cover the increased cost of printing up those useless “Super Truck – Limited Edition” cards stuck to the 2nd page of that yellow ticket we receive. There are 1,200 CAT scales across the US and Canada. There is even a CAT scale ring-tone that you can download from their web site. Great. But $9? Why raise the price now when drivers are really hurting? How about stopping these unnecessary costly promos – everyone in the industry knows about CAT scales. No more stupid ring-tones or selling promo merchandise from China and REDUCE the price back to $7.50? That would be the right thing to do. Researching this post, someone e-mailed me that the card “promo” ends this month, but the price will remain at $9. No word on whether or not the price will go up again next year. I say shame on CAT scale. And no, I’m not going to the cheaper scale at Flying J. They are NOT approved by my company. Isn’t that special! I’ve got to dig deeper in my pocket for pay for necessary service to keep running. Problem has always been and still continues that I, as a trucker, can’t raise my prices accordingly. Oh by the way, ever try to pay for a CAT weigh with a credit card? Sorry folks, cash only!