They are paid by the mile, or they receive a percentage of the amount received by the trucking company for hauling the load. They receive fuel and safety bonuses, loading and unloading pay. They work seven days per week, sometimes weeks at a time. Special attention must be made when calculating the trucker's average weekly wage and the weekly benefits to which the trucker is entitled. Truckers may have a choice of state laws.
Truckers frequently have a choice as to where they can file their workers' compensation claim.
When a trucker lives in one state, works for an employer from another state, and is injured in a yet another state, an analysis of each state's laws must be made in order to maximize the trucker's insurance beneftis. Contrary to provisions in some carriers' employment policy handbooks, it may not be up to the carrier to decide which forum is appropriate. Truckers want local doctors. Truckers, like most people, usually want to be treated by doctors near where they live. If there is a dispute about which doctors the trucker may see, special procedures must be followed in order to protect the trucker's rights, even if the trucker lives outside the state exercising jurisdiction.