Will my base car route be permanently dissolved in 2024?

[TexCal519]

Hi fellow Teamsters. I started as a cover driver about 6 years ago, became a utility driver a couple of years after that and have had a base car route for a good few years now. I'm used to the route being cut on Mondays and even being cut a couple of random days during the week when the volume is allegedly too low to provide my guaranteed 8 hours but it was only in one day this week on Tuesday, which I guess makes sense because the volume that travels to the hub over the weekend seems like it warrants the base cars to be in.

I'm, of course, aware that the job cuts on the horizon have to do with a drop in volume and that it's supposedly going to mainly affect managers, sups, etc but also a lot of the lower seniority drivers and hub folks too. I'm very concerned that my base car route is going to be permanently dissolved because it happened to another fellow driver who had to go back into the utility mix, which would be an absolute nightmare for me.

No need for comparisons or of how long some of you had to wait to get a route, how some of you don't mind it or statements of how I just need to suck it up and deal with it, everyone has to put in time, blah blah blah, or even a statement like "you just want someone to say it's going to work out for you". Please spare me.

Can any one of my fellow Teamsters here chime in about how likely the higher ups might choose to permanently dissolve base car routes, especially in a hub in Los Angeles? Also, does hub management and dispatch determine how many and which routes to cut or are those decisions determined by their higher ups not physically in the hub? Thanks in advance for your helpful replies.

 

[Just A UPS Guy]

Are you the lowest seniority driver in your loop?

 

[TexCal519]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, and I did mean to mention it in the post. I'm aware that the surrounding drivers have the right to keep their work and that I cannot bump them. They are often loaded up heavy anyways and that usually means that I have plenty of apartment resi to fill out 8 hours anyways. The base car route I have has been in longer than I've been driving and it always seemed necessary due to the aforementioned heavy loads and tons of apartments (most with multiple floors and no elevators). I'm just wondering if anyone has concretely heard that base car routes are definitely being dissolved because of the news.

 

[TexCal519]

Those surrounding drivers are definitely overloaded. They complain to me privately about it but aren't the kind of guys who complain to the office, file grievances, etc.

 

[Just A UPS Guy]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, and I did mean to mention it in the post. I'm aware that the surrounding drivers have the right to keep their work and that I cannot bump them. They are often loaded up heavy anyways and that usually means that I have plenty of apartment resi to fill out 8 hours anyways. The base car route I have has been in longer than I've been driving and it always seemed necessary due to the aforementioned heavy loads and tons of apartments (most with multiple floors and no elevators). I'm just wondering if anyone has concretely heard that base car routes are definitely being dissolved because of the news.

No, routes are not being dissolved because of the 12k job cuts. Routes are being cut because a 23 year-old with a degree is sitting in an office somewhere, far away from you, and making decisions without any real-world information regarding the matter.

 

[542thruNthru]

It's gone man. Better just come to that realization now and start planning for the future.

 

[542thruNthru]

No, routes are not being dissolved because of the 12k job cuts. Routes are being cut because a 23 year-old with a degree is sitting in an office somewhere, far away from you, and making decisions without any real-world information regarding the matter.

He's 24 now get your facts straight!

 

[Coldworld]

It's gone man. Better just come to that realization now and start planning for the future.

Is a base car an “A” car in the loop??? Can’t remember.

 

[Coldworld]

It's gone man. Better just come to that realization now and start planning for the future.

This could be a kid that has only done 5 routes total in the building before he won his current one. Seriously might have a panic attack if thrown on anything else…I use to drive with a couple guys like this…would fold like a house of cards, bad. OP…you need to get in your head now that things are going to get real very fast. If your route isn’t cut then it’s probably going to get a bunch of other areas which could be just as bad. It’s not going to be fun for the next year or two….seriously.

 

[SorryLazyPOS]

Those surrounding drivers are definitely overloaded. They complain to me privately about it but aren't the kind of guys who complain to the office, file grievances, etc.

Don’t file grievances? What the hell? They need to of they’re complaining. Otherwise don’t complain.

 

[BigUnionGuy]

This could be a kid that has only done 5 routes total in the building before he won his current one. Seriously might have a panic attack if thrown on anything else…I use to drive with a couple guys like this…would fold like a house of cards, bad. OP…you need to get in your head now that things are going to get real very fast. If your route isn’t cut then it’s probably going to get a bunch of other areas which could be just as bad. It’s not going to be fun for the next year or two….seriously.

I've seen drivers that got qualified, that had no sense of direction.

They couldn't tell you if they were going North, South, East, or West, and would only be placed on certain routes.

 

[Coldworld]

I've seen drivers that got qualified, that had no sense of direction.

They couldn't tell you if they were going North, South, East, or West, and would only be placed on certain routes.

Some people could go out there and do well on anything and others had to stay on the few routes that they had done dozens of times because they crashed and burned on anything else. I was somewhere right in the middle….which was fine with me. I couldn’t imaging going out cold now unless it was a cut car with no pickups.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Is a base car an “A” car in the loop??? Can’t remember.

I thought the A route was for Apex
And the B route was base

 

[pkgdriver]

I thought the A route was for Apex
And the B route was base

What about C,D,E,friend?
Yep A was usually the farthest away in the loop in my center.

 

[pkgdriver]

Some people could go out there and do well on anything and others had to stay on the few routes that they had done dozens of times because they crashed and burned on anything else. I was somewhere right in the middle….which was fine with me. I couldn’t imaging going out cold now unless it was a cut car with no pickups.

About the only good thing about the DIAD 6 is its helpful going out cold or an area you are unfamiliar with.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

What about C,D,E,friend?
Yep A was usually the farthest away in the loop in my center.

The C& D routes are closer to the center
But I don't know what they stand for

 

[BigUnionGuy]

Some people could go out there and do well on anything

I'll raise may hand on that one.

I was trained on one route and learned 25+ in the blind on paper and with maps.

No power steering, no automatic transmission, and the high step. After a while you figure it out.

Stop and get a cup of coffee and a donut. It's gonna be a long day. Oh well....

I was somewhere right in the middle….which was fine with me.

That's smart.

Don't want to look to good.... or look too bad.

 

[pkgdriver]

The C& D routes are closer to the center
But I don't know what they stand for

Dont stand for anything I believe. Just the position in the loop.

 

[Coldworld]

Dont stand for anything I believe. Just the position in the loop.

The a car used to be the farthest away and “supposedly” would be the last one cut so many of the old timers were on them but over the years I saw them reloop things and screw up those a cars.

 

[burrheadd]

Hi fellow Teamsters. I started as a cover driver about 6 years ago, became a utility driver a couple of years after that and have had a base car route for a good few years now. I'm used to the route being cut on Mondays and even being cut a couple of random days during the week when the volume is allegedly too low to provide my guaranteed 8 hours but it was only in one day this week on Tuesday, which I guess makes sense because the volume that travels to the hub over the weekend seems like it warrants the base cars to be in.

I'm, of course, aware that the job cuts on the horizon have to do with a drop in volume and that it's supposedly going to mainly affect managers, sups, etc but also a lot of the lower seniority drivers and hub folks too. I'm very concerned that my base car route is going to be permanently dissolved because it happened to another fellow driver who had to go back into the utility mix, which would be an absolute nightmare for me.

No need for comparisons or of how long some of you had to wait to get a route, how some of you don't mind it or statements of how I just need to suck it up and deal with it, everyone has to put in time, blah blah blah, or even a statement like "you just want someone to say it's going to work out for you". Please spare me.

Can any one of my fellow Teamsters here chime in about how likely the higher ups might choose to permanently dissolve base car routes, especially in a hub in Los Angeles? Also, does hub management and dispatch determine how many and which routes to cut or are those decisions determined by their higher ups not physically in the hub? Thanks in advance for your helpful replies.

Bad news cuz you’re now a cover driver better grab some maps