Shilling in the Trucking Industry

The landmark study has just been completed; a special thanks to all who participated.



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The single greatest asset the modern trucking company has may very well be the shill. Without the shill, the poverty wage, homeless truck driver would realize he/she is being badly abused by the company and force some positive changes like living wages, equitable work rules, tolerable working conditions and not failing to mention the elimination of ‘bullying - intimidation’ tactics while at work.


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A few online definitions:

shill (shl) Slang
n.
One who poses as a satisfied customer or an enthusiastic gambler to dupe bystanders into participating in a swindle.
v. shilled, shill·ing, shills
v.intr.
To act as a shill.
v.tr.
1. To act as a shill for (a deceitful enterprise).
2. To lure (a person) into a swindle.

and:

Slang a confidence trickster's assistant, esp a person who poses as an ordinary customer, gambler, etc., in order to entice others to participate
[perhaps shortened from shillaber a circus barker, of unknown origin]


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In the trucking industry, shills are not hard to spot. Common characteristics:


Always making grandiose claims pertaining to their ‘massive earnings’(?) while everyone else knows what the shill states just doesn’t add up;

Try to position themselves as the ‘elite’ and the ‘go to’ people of the group despite questionable histories and experience;

Often act as ‘company bullies’ attempting to intimidate those with more experience, know the truth and question the status quo (‘troublemakers’);

Belittle the internet as the bastion for untrustworthy information;

Attempt to position themselves as authorities on the trucking industry despite a lack of a real working knowledge;

Seem to interact most often with the office staff, management and amongst themselves;

Many use the same common phrases and empty arguments with little meaning other than attempts at intimidation.


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Shills often have poor safety and customer service records. Many reported that shills working for their employer have more than their share of vehicular accidents, many involving large $$$ pay outs. When confronted, the shill will typically respond with ‘I’m a producer’ or ‘the company can’t do without me’ or something similar. Many report that had anyone else experienced even a fraction of the vehicle accidents or customer service complaints they would have been shown the door long ago.

In a non union shop, shills are used to great effect at intimidating and belittling those who question the obvious discrepancies in the workplace. A common tactic is for the shill to declare ‘I’m my own man/woman and I deserve just what i’m getting’ and/or “I can stand up for myself and don’t need help from anyone else’. Anyone attempting to stand up for what’s right are quickly branded commies, union sympathizers, weak, incompetent, unqualified, etc.

In a union shop, things are only a little different. It’s being reported that shills will often put on the show of the stereotypical ‘union thug’ and the ‘rude, demanding, unreasonable union fool’. Yes, they are often used as ‘bullies’ by management and occasionally by the weaker, incompetent union representatives who have been exposed as pawns of management.

Also in union shops, shills will often belittle questionable contract votes/results by stating ‘we didn’t need it as it cost the company money’ or ‘that provision was abused’ despite effective arguments to the contrary. When confronted about about obvious misstatements, the shill will most likely go on the offensive by stating they were ‘union reps’ at some point in the past and they know what they’re talking about when its obvious they don’t have a clue but are just trying to control the conversation through intimidation.


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Shills can and do move in often predictable patterns, apparently being ‘positioned’ to have the greatest ‘influence’ at a targeted location. It was reported that shills at one company often seem to know shills ‘working’ at other companies, leading many to believe these people are supplied and/or trained by outside ‘labor relations consultants’ organizations.

Many reported there are shills who never seem to leave the property despite having been ‘dispatched’. Shills often show up at many locations without a credible story on how they arrived there.

Respondents working at a major employer (past and present employees) reported that incoming new ‘employees’ (shills) seemed to be already acquainted with the existing shills. One respondent for the same employer reported she was invited into the ‘new employee training program’ only to quickly realize her ‘trainees’ were shills who were somehow acquainted with the shills already there. She stated she left the training program and wanted no part of it. The same respondent also reported she witnessed a newly hired shill ‘training’ a ‘new employee’ and stated that many people noticed the ‘new employee’ appeared to be a ‘shill supervisor’ who departed after only a few days.

Also at the same employer, it was reported by nearly every respondent that shills wholly and very publicly supported an extremely unpopular manager who was fired for still publicly unknown reasons. The manager in question wouldn’t hesitate to use questionable and openly dishonest tactics against those who he didn’t like for whatever reasons; the ‘targets’ often had immaculate records and many years of service with the employer and weren’t afraid to stand up to the ‘dishonest manager’.


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The darker side of shilling is obvious; the use of shills as ‘bullies’ and ‘enforcers’. It was consistently reported that shills would work in coordinated ‘human waves’ when a single shill failed to intimidate an employee. The usual common phrases, body language and facial expressions lead most to believe these people received ‘specialized training’.

Most interesting were respondents reporting on the availability of ‘shills for hire’. These people were often connected to customers (often ‘customer employees’(?), security people at various common locations where employees would congregate away from the employer’s main facilities and ‘unknowns’ who would target employees at random locations not associated with the employer or customer.

One respondent stated he recently delivered to a customer where he had excellent relations with for years. All contacts were by appointment and he was ‘on time’. The first thing he noticed was the people he normally dealt with were ‘missing’ and no one could say where they were at. Their ‘replacements’ were openly hostile and provocative while (strangely) bringing in an outside contractor to off load his equipment when this was always done ‘in house’ before.

It quickly became apparent the ‘new employees’ and the ‘outside contractor’ were working in tandem and were completely transparent. The respondent felt he had been ‘targeted’ once again. Many other similar stories were reported leading one to conclude the ‘shill for hire’ network is widespread.

A couple of respondents reported that a very prominent shill at their common employer openly carried a sidearm while on the job despite the company’s prohibition of carrying any type of weapon on company property or inside of company vehicles. The shill presumably carried for self protection against other employees and was effective when ‘undesirables’ were fired.

Another respondent also reported that when he was fired, an existing manager showed up with a sidearm while backing a newly hired general manager who was firing the long time employee. Racial and sexual orientation issues were involved and the respondent was completely surprised when the long time manager who he had been on friendly terms with showed up armed. At the employer in question, shills were effective in maintaining a very lopsided racial and sexual orientation balance of employees.


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No doubt that shills are the worst (or best?) kept secret of the trucking industry. However, there is a ‘wall of silence’ about the origins and training these people receive. Thinking it must pay pretty well as these people continually boast about their ‘above average’ earnings, always well above the typical line employee if true.

If you have experienced 'shilling' at your employer please feel free to post your experiences here.

 

Your contribution to the topic is noted. Much new information is arriving and being processed.

 

Shilling is indeed an interesting topic and a fascinating 'business'. It appears to be related to the union busting industry, or better known as the labor relations - employee relations 'consulting' business. Word is that shills are solicited through invitation only.