Originally Posted by MACK E-6

Good. Let them sort though THEIR product and stack THEIR product how they see fit ... after I've unloaded it ... and after I've left.

Originally Posted by jcash1

At work we get 40' containers that might contain anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 ctns. Their live unloads to. We have 2 hours unload the guy including sorting onto the skid, and wrapping the skid up if it's going out right away. Usually anything over 2 hours we get charged. (side note :those containers are like microwave ovens during the summer!)

Originally Posted by Sabine in Mo

I beg to differ on the certification thing....I got my card for electric jack and forklift, and even with that they won't let you use it.

I am no wimp, but I am not going to sort thru thousands of boxes of product to stack it as they want me to.

Originally Posted by wackywoodie

ya but the thing is it's not "Their" card, and for insurance purposes for them you are not able to use thier forklift or electric jack

Originally Posted by Fozzy in Oklahoma

Nice try, but there is a little thing called a contractual obligation. You will do what your employer and their contract states. Again, this is not about force, this is about practicality and money. Many people use the excuse that they are legally not required, this all goes out the window when and if your carrier and the shipper or receiver happen to make an agreement with each other for you to do it. You cannot be forced to do it without a contract.

BUT! The point is that the lumpers were screwing everyone and they are and have been, but that's because the drivers wont (as a majority) unload freight no matter how simple it is. If I was still in the van world, I'd still be unloading freight while everyone else sits there and complains and leave the place with more money. I talk to newbies all the time who's trainers had that attitude, when a new driver is struggling with their low pay, unloading is an easy way to generate a few hundred dollars that would have gone to someone else.. AND a valuable opportunity to learn HOW to unload freight. That is also a dieing art and another reason why people do not do it anymore.

Originally Posted by Tip

I never touched the freight after about my third month. Even before then, I unloaded maybe 5 loads. Three of those were a simple pull and park, as there was no sorting, no stacking, and no counting.

After the fifth unload, I adopted a "no touch" attitude and never touched freight again. Some companies tried to force me to unload afterwards, but on those deliveries I just sat until the docks got somebody to unload it, usually from the local employment office.

I also had a TM tell me he could "make" me unload freight, upon which I broke out laughing in his face. Eleven years later he was still waiting on me to do his unloading. Nobody can make you do a thing in the world that you don't want to do.

Last time I looked at my CDL, "Lumper" was not listed as an endorsement. Leave the unloading to the people whose job it is to unload it. It's not your job to unload freight. If you want to, that's fine. If you don't want to, sleep while it gets unloaded.

Originally Posted by roadkill439342

That is simply wrong. First of all, my "employer" cannot enforce upon ME a contract he has with another person or company. Went thru that before with a company I had a truck leased on with.
Second of all, as I have stated, my current employer STRICTLY FORBIDS his drivers to load/unload or to even be present on the dock during either process.

The LAST TIME I unloaded anything, I unloaded and segregated over 6,000 items onto 250 pallets at a Walmart DC in Hurricane UT. It took 19 hours, during this time I was not allowed to leave the dock area for any reason, while the Walmart employees changed shifts twice and had their breaks every 2 hours. If more drivers refused to be forced into slave labor, shippers/receivers would get the idea real quick that the crap they buy and stock their shelves with is their responsibility.

Besides, if the lumper is screwing someone, it isn't me.

Originally Posted by Fozzy in Oklahoma

Well, that's you... AND there are reasons that a company cannot force a LEASE driver to do things, you are not an employee.. this really isn't THAT difficult to understand. If your company prohibits you from unloading then this thread isn't even relevant to you.