Keep Trucking

The Chicago city government employs more than 1,400 truck drivers at an average wage of $30 an hour, and a recent report by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson says about 200 of them are severely underworked. All they have to do is transport people and equipment to work sites. They then sit around until it's time to take everything back. Ferguson suggests that maybe, just maybe, after they get to the work site, those truckers could pitch in and help out with whatever work is being done. That alone could save the city $18 million a year. Unfortunately, the city's contract with the truckers union won't permit that.