Just talked to a guy who is transfering to dayton to be a util man -

looks like their scheduled start time will be 9pm - 5 days a week (m-f)

with 10-15 hours overtime a week.

they will be running akron / indy / cincy / columbus / toledo...

home every night - and dedicated tractors /. dollys.

I had my doubts at first about this util position - and worried about it yanking a lot of work from us that linehaul doubles / triples... but man doing the math it looks pretty sweet.

40 regular hours at 25$ an hour = 1000$ 10 - 15 hours of overtime is about 450$

about 1500$ a week - home every night - scheduled time etc etc

dunno - it might be worth it...



time will tell - I know at our regional teamster meetings prior to the signing of our 2008 contract packet that we had a lot of questions that could not be answered then.

looks like linehaul will live - but will share some of the regional freight with the utility guys.

I am willing to give it a chance to suceed - especially if it makes life easier for a brother.



no word on what our 2 utility guys will be doing in cincy -

and no word on how many TOTAL util positions they want to have here...

I will stick with linehaul as long as i can - I am uncomfy with the idea of lumping and forklift work...

I suppose you can teach an old dog new tricks - but man I am terrified to think of running the forks into something.






In other union news - 7 of the top 10 drivers who competed in the Ohio State Trucking Championship were Teamsters.

Roadway had a 1st place doubles and a 3rd place tanker win (yeah - tanker?????) I laughed when I heard that one of our guys placed 3rd with equipment we do not even run.

a yellow driver ACED the written test (hard to do)

and some ups boys won the straight trucka nd long box competition.

No word on who was the overall champion - but I think it was a roadway guy out of akron... (might be wrong)

I competed in the Utah state championships in 2000 and 2001 and placed 5th in daycab long box and 2nd in pretrip - but that was a pretty weak 15 minutes of fame!

now that I live out here - I am itching to try my hand at it - but want to learn more about how they operate.

no need to embarass myself.


hopefully the national championship will be dominated by union drivers (again) -

one of our Roadway guys won it in 2007 and between ABF roaday UPS yellow and Reimer and holland we had 2 countries national champs and 26 state champs.

my hat is off to them - it is a lot tougher than it looks!

ok - fine - I respect your opinion -

however there are more adequate threads

(that was my point.)

just bringing this old thread back into view - since there have been a number of post recently that belonged here instead of where they were stuck...

another driver suggested I find and follow your posts, so here I am.
I have my CDL A w/ Hazmat, tanker, doubles and triples endorsements, and past experience with heavy equipment, dumps, and 4 years ago, reefers OTR for 2 months before having to leave to care for my Mom. Now I want to drive again, and want and am willing to move anywhere, literally, to work a union (Teamsters) job. Do I contact companies (Roadway, ABF...) to see if they are hiring? Do I go thru the union job board to find and apply? Do I go thru the union office locally first? And do I need someone to act as a reference? (Have read elsewhere that it's not what you know but who you know to get a union job.)

Answers to these questions I think will help alot of us who are looking. I see one driver is in the NW. I am in the SW. Most union jobs are in the midwest/northeast it seems. What's the best way to go about this long distance? Again, I stress that I am willing to move anywhere for a job, and willing to go casual driver/dock if need be to get in, if that is the best way to do so. My CDL and medical card are current... just one minor (10 and under) speeding ticket on my motorcycle last summer. I don't drink or smoke, and can pass all tests and background checks. Thanks. inthewindaz

Those (two-faced) employees were probably union stewards? lol I was union and worked in the steel industry (sheet metel) as a crane operator... entirely different matter than trucking... no comparison, and yes the union sucked.

I think you and others here miss the points being made by union drivers... it's different for different industries... here is a quote I am taking from another statement made by someone on this thread:

"50-60 years ago unions were good, they had legitimate greviances and provided away for workers to be treated fairly."

Now tell me, please.... after reading the thousands, literally, of grievances listed by drivers on this site in various, hundreds, of threads... tell me... why drivers would NOT benefit from a union v. what is and has been going on? Because, drivers TODAY, like other workers in other industries 50 to 60 years ago, have plenty of grievances. No one can argue that logically.

<P>I believe you vastly oversimplify this. I also don't believe you understand this industry and how it works. I too am new. But where you see drivers jobs that pay "fairly well" I see large trucking companies that are driver mills, running students thru a 1 or 2 week school, putting them on the road, OTR, with a usually very inexperienced "trainer" for typically 8 weeks, paying them $300 or $350 a week to work and run continuous, paying tolls, food, and other expenses out of their pockets and essentially burning these people out. They do this to the tune of a 95% drop out rate (have seen this on here elsewhere). These companies are "driver mills" getting forced, slave labor at BELOW minimum wage for up to months time, and when they quit, they have more right behind them. That is NOT "failry good pay". S I disagree with your assessment. <P>

[/quote]I am coming from an engineering background and have traveled extensively in my jobs. This has me away from home all week and home on the weekends. Sometimes I was away for several weeks at a time due to project requirements. Worked an average of 12 hours a day on the job while away from home and then I was just sitting around in a hotel or looking for something to do in the evening. Had to put up with airports, security and the BS that goes with that. Many things similar to the trucking industry. Yes the pay was maybe a little better than an equivalently experienced truck driver. But maybe not. My uncle drives and has 30+ years at it and makes over $60K driving 4-5 days per week, home every weekend and is not a trainer. Not to shabby. With 20+ years as an engineer I made a bit more but I worked 5-6 days per week and thru some weekends. Trucking looks pretty good.[/quote]
<P> My only comment here is... wait until you are on the road awhile... if you are a newbie, driving OTR, with a trainer or team, or just starting solo, you are in for a surprise. Be prepared for weeks when your gross income is, as others have gripped about here, $75, $100, $300, $500 a week. Now deduct all your costs of living on the road, taxes, and what do you have left? lol <P>

[/quote]Today's job market is driven by supply and demand. That is why the pay and benefits are slowly getting better for drivers. The supply of drivers is going down or the demand is going up and the supply is steady. This makes the price of the drivers go up. This is the law of supply and demand. When unions muck with this system by artificially driving up labor costs it messes everything up.[/quote]
<P>"Pay and benefits are slowly getting better??? There are hundreds of drivers here who would chuckle at this statement. I do. Why do you think there is a 95% drop out rate (approx.)? Why do you think the large companies have classes continually pumping out student drivers on a year around basis? True, driving is not for everyone... but you know what? Neither is working for free, being lied to and cheated, have a gun at your back if you don't run as told, and a weekly income of a couple hundred or few hundred dollars a week while not seeing your family for 2 or 3 or more weeks at a time... and then getting 2 or 3 days ... to be gone again. Sorry, but "the price of drivers has NOT gone up... but while your gone 27 days a month, in the infamous words of Frank Zappa... "your ol lady has just gone down." lol No sir, the price, pay and benefits for drivers has NOT gone up.<P>

[/quote]I don't think that unionizing is the answer for the truck driving industry. I think for those currently in it and for those like myself moving into it there will be improvements - supply and demand dictate it. I am certain because I have talked with freight company owners that I know, that the industry is trying to make it better. [/quote]
<P> You are living in a dream land... and I can't believe this... (you) "don't think unionizing is the answer...and (you) are certain because freight company owners you KNOW, (say that) the industry is trying to make it better." I am LMAO! Did you think that any freight company owner is going to tell you otherwise? That is a very naive statement... I am new as well, buit your thinking shows such a lack of knowledge about the industry... <P>

[/quote]It is never simple. It is not just a matter of having truckers paid for every single minute they are on the road. For every single minute that they wait. Not that these things won't happen and get even better - supply and demand. But it is the ramifications of the cost of shipping on the whole economy. As truckers like to say, "If you have it, it came by truck."

Just my humble opinion(s). It is worth exactly what you have paid for it - nothing.[/quote]
<P>I again disagree in-part because yes it is a matter of having drivers paid for every single minute they are on the road. And it is a matter of the pay being livable, steady, fair, and it is a matter of companies be held liable for their lies, their misdirection, their cheating, their use of DAC and safety reports to threaten drivers... and the overall abuse of drivers in general. Again... I don't make this up. There are thousands of threads here telling you this. <P>

Please do not take what I say personally, but your comments are so far off the mark... I just shake my head in bewilderment. Noting you state you have had talks "with several freight company owners" this leads me to believe there is more than meets the eye here with your statements about the wonderful life and opportunities for new drivers... lol... Be safe. <P>

There is bad in every group... whether unions or cops or??? Doesn't make it right... it just is, and they need to be dealt with.

I've met alot of non union workers in my travels and could say the same here.

Hear hear.

__________________

I can't understand you folks not realizing the advantages of having organized labor (Unions). Any meaningful working institution realizes the advantages of having union representation. Municipal law enforcement agencies such as police departments, State Police, US Postal service, are union organized labor. If they weren't people would be getting fired every day for trivial reasons. If you have a grievance with your employer and there isn't a union, how would you handle it? If you spoke up on your own of your dissatisfaction management would fire you or make it unbearable for you to stay. Would you quit? Unorganized labor never wins. If you complain to the Department Of Labor, the first thing they ask you is do you have a union. If you do then they advise consulting with your union. If you don't have one, then you're Out Of Luck. The D.O.L. handles hours of work and unsafe working conditions. If folks don't wake up and realize where the labor force is heading, labor is going to be in a pickle. Open your eyes it's heading that way. Trucking jobs in Kansas City, Mo. is really getting out of touch especially in the intermodal industry (which I consider the step child of transportation). Employers like Midcities Motor Freight screwing their drivers, not paying what is written in their policy. Dispatchers that are rude and obnoxious, talking to their drivers like they are slaves or less than human. Lying about paying a driver according to what's written in their policy. Look on the internet at Career Builder.com Midcities Motor Freight and Martin Transportation Systems have a ad for drivers that breaks. Everyday, every week, every month. Midcities has the audacity to state in their ad being a family oriented company, they place an emphasis on the safety and comfort of their drivers is one of the biggest lies that's told. Perhaps it be so if they would put their dispatchers in check and insist they talk to their drivers with some dignity and respect. They work you in the city, a driver has no way of confirming your pay when you examine your pay stub. You get paid by the hook. Your hours may be listed on your stub, but you don't get paid by the hour. KC Piggy Back don't have those issues, they're union, they get paid by the hour. Martin Transportation Systems is another driver thief. They have a career ad on Career builder.com also. Those two companies when I see drivers pass by there's never the same driver in the truck from week to week. These two companies need organized labor like fish needs water.