I agree about most preloaders sucking, I see it every day. With PAS you can give 5 minutes of training to anyone and they get the general idea and start loading boxes in the truck. Management sees this and thinks they are now trained and moves on. Easy to learn hard to master. Most people have no motivation to try hard, you get the same pay for 1 misload a month and stop for stop loading as the guy who throws boxes anywhere and misloads every day. With the union at their backs they know they can’t get into much trouble or loose their job.
I Hate Ups
- Thread starter DS
- Start date
feeder53
ADKtrails
I am a feeder driver, and I have never had any reason to grieve a situation. I get the same treatment as anyone in the terminal too. I am not special or part of MGMT. When I get to my destination, I put my trailers where they need to be and find the yardman and ask if I can help out in the yard, and I have. I do not know the inside operation but lend a hand where ever I thought I could help. I do not want to just sit in my tractor bored stiff. I have done my run and they asked me to do yard moves with my tractor and have put in 14 hour days doing so.....I am far from perfect, but I will do the best job I can at all times. Have you ever hooked a set of doubles in the winter with snow to your waist? Trying to spot a dolly... We all have a job to do and we all can make it easier for all if we all help each other instead of bashing part of the team.
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
"Greed" is a desire for things that one is not entitled to or has not earned. "Greed" denotes a lack of balance. One must balance this desire for material wealth with the realities of what is available, what is reasonable, and what is fair and ethical for all concerned.
dilligaf
IN VINO VERITAS
Oh ya...............Gotta love that good ole boys country club. The dues are to pricey for me though. LOL
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
Good point. (sarcasm)
Maybe we need to get those feeder drivers in the 110 degree trailers humping cardboard, sweating like pigs, dehydrating so they can fall asleep at the wheel of their 35-110 foot long vehicle on their 4-5 hour drive back to their destination.
It would make your job easier and the numbers look better which, of course, is the most important thing.
And the best part about it all is when the feeder driver falls asleep, lays his rig on it's side in a ditch, the company can fire him and hire a much cheaper employee to replace the PC driver that is replacing him.
You need to suggest this at your next safety meeting as you grab your next piece of pizza and can of soda pop.
Average at Best
Well-Known Member
Greed is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed." Working hard everyday so that I can afford a mortgage, utilities and a modest vehicle is not greedy.
feeder53
ADKtrails
I too feel for those that work in those hot trailers and dock areas....That is where they chose to work. I started out in the trucking industry delivering referidgerators for Sears, Wards and Large furniture for Macy`s. I had the worst truck in the fleet and a helper just out of high school that weighed about 80 pounds, talk about a tough time as the customer watches so you do not scratch the walls or the appliance as you are going to the third floor. I have spend a lot of time driving a set of doubles (Big ones) through snow and ice and see other trucks off the road.....feeders is not as easy as one may think. This past winter for the last big storm of the year I was called by UPS to do a feeders run at the height of the storm. I had never been to any of the terminals and had worked all day at my full time job. There were trucks off the road and accidents all over the place......I did my job and got the runs done. I was on another run earlier in the winter and crested a hill in Willsboro N.Y. on my way to Plattsburgh and the road going down the backside was solid ice.........We are all a team, we all have tough jobs and that is the bottom line is we all have a piece to this puzzle......
tieguy
Banned
And yet you make so much more then many others in society. Therefore they could see your pursuit of more and more each contract as greed.
But in any case I'll stick to my original point. Corporate greed is what provides the jobs that you use to afford your mortgage , utilities etc.
Being dehydrated is your own fault and not an excuse for anything, water is free when you hit the button under the drinking fountain. If they are so frail that a little bit of physical labor causes them to fall asleep at the wheel then they really shouldn’t be working.
Average at Best
Well-Known Member
We are arguing over semantics. Yes, corporations exist to make money, not for the warm fuzzies they get from doing business. But corporate greed is what brings down the Enrons, Arthur Andersons, and Tycos of the world - wanting more than what they can earn from doing ethical business.
I've seen both sides of the fence. Growing up, my father's constant unemployment meant that we ate off-brand SPAM for sunday dinner and Christmas consisted of hand-me-down clothing. On the other side, my maternal grandpa recently died a millionaire. He was consumed with greed, to the point where he slept in his winter coat to avoid turning on the heat. He coasted his car in neutral down his driveway before turning it on to avoid burning gas. It was literally a sickness with him.
Yes, I make more than many other people in society, but I don't see it as greed. I see it as working since I was fourteen, putting myself through college, and never profiting from the sweat off of another person's back. It's pride - another deadly sin altogether.
Wanting to earn money to live a comfortable life - that's the American dream. When the accumulating of things becomes more important than friends and family - that's greed.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
It must be wonderful to be so smart.
I've worked for the company probably longer than you've been alive.
I'm not 10 foot tall and bullet proof like you but, unlike yourself, I am required to safely operate a 110 foot long vehicle in city and interstate traffic.
I'll leave the cardboard humping, at $8.50 an hour, to the young studs like you.
Perhaps you can explain to the feeder dispatcher how he is gonna get the load(s) to the destination because the feeder driver hurt his back lifting your "over 70" package so you wouldn't have to.
He doesn't have to break his back, he can team lift any package that is too heavy, or have a "cardboard humper" do it and stick to lighter packages. Anyone that stands around on the clock when they could be helping others work has very poor work ethics and gives Teamsters a bad name.
dilligaf
IN VINO VERITAS
You, Mike, are wrong. DO YOU HAVE A CLUE AS TO THE RESPONSIBILITY A FEEDER DRIVER HAS? I do. I have had a Class A CDL for 15 years and have used it every one of those years. Everyone has his/her own job classification for a reason. Feeder drivers, drive. Thats what they get paid to do. I, for one, would rather see a feeder driver sitting on his butt resting rather than working his
off because some local sort is to damn lazy to do the job he/she gets paid to do. We have a contract for a reason and if you think that it is okay for someone to do someone elses job then you don't understand the contract. It is not a matter of poor work ethics, it is a matter of misunderstanding on your part. And you can leave the Teamsters out of this, in fact if that is your belief then I hope you are NOT a Teamster.You, Mike, are wrong. DO YOU HAVE A CLUE AS TO THE RESPONSIBILITY A FEEDER DRIVER HAS? I do. I have had a Class A CDL for 15 years and have used it every one of those years. Everyone has his/her own job classification for a reason. Feeder drivers, drive. Thats what they get paid to do. I, for one, would rather see a feeder driver sitting on his butt resting rather than working his
Package drivers deliver packages and drive, but when the preload gets kicked out after 5 they load. I guess you think they should stand around because they are called drivers and not loaders? How do you know the loader is lazy, for all you know he is working his ass off and could use a hand.
We have a contract for a reason and if you think that it is okay for someone to do someone elses job then you don't understand the contract.
Pretty sure the contract says bargaining unit members must do the work, feeders are Teamsters, no? I don't think the contract has language prohibiting one Teamster from helping another. "Feeder drivers just sitting around waiting for the loads, watching supervisors carry bulk into the trailers." They are following the contract by not grieving it, right?
It is not a matter of poor work ethics, it is a matter of misunderstanding on your part.
Letting supes work instead of a teamster is good ethic?
And you can leave the Teamsters out of this, in fact if that is your belief then I hope you are NOT a Teamster.
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dilligaf
IN VINO VERITAS
Pkg drivers finish up preload work because we are forced to not because it's our job classification.
If the local sort is not lazy and is behind because of a lack of staffing then another local sort needs to be hired. HENCE, the not working out of your job classification.
If mgt is touching a pkg then a greivance needs to be filed, and local sort should be filing it.
If the local sort is not lazy and is behind because of a lack of staffing then another local sort needs to be hired. HENCE, the not working out of your job classification.
If mgt is touching a pkg then a greivance needs to be filed, and local sort should be filing it.
BigBrownSanta
Well-Known Member
I have learned one thing on Brown Cafe today, if you are passionately in the middle of a debate, DO NOT use green-lime-chartreuse as a font color.
That hurt trying to read that response.
That hurt trying to read that response.
The feeder drivers in my old center jumped in and helped whenever necessary. I know they had to code their timecard a certain way, but they never were lazy.
New Englander
Well-Known Member
So...if a Feeder driver is instructed by management TO help wrap a load up. They don't have to since it's not technically their job classification?
I agree they should help out if they are on the clock and have the time AND there is a REAL need for their help at that time. To not help is bush.
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