I am a union Carhauler and the company hires who ever walks in the door
And they train
of coarse as a union driver I could go to another location if available
If we lose freight like GM we can follow the freight with seniority

How good is union traing versus private training? talked to both thinking of going with the union training, any thoughts would be great. Thanks

Dont think its the union doing the training. Its the job that has the union backing the workers.
Figure that the training depends on the company.

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I worked for Roadway, mind you this was 17 years ago. I thought to myself finally a job with a future. I started out as a casual working docks and driving. The problem, no hours. I was on call basicly 24/7, they could call anytime and you had a half hour to respond to the crude pager they gave you, that thing was huge. It would never fail, sit around most of the day, decide to go fishing or something and they would call. Most of the time i would work 2-3 hours and they would send you home. As a young guy i would look at some of those old farts limping out to their trucks barely climbing in and leaving, sucking up 60-70 hours a week just because they had seniorty. There was three guys over 65 and one over 70. I stuck it out for almost a year never missing a call, in that time my best week was 31 hours. I was living in a run down trailor in a guys back yard, and barely getting by. I had to do something the union was starving me out, those old sob's weren't going anywhere. I quit and got a good otr job, got back on my feet and made a decent living. Three years later i ran into one of the guys, and yep those old farts were still there. I have nothing against unions, for the most part it provides a good way of life and a decent wage. The casual work was tough back then, maybe it's better now. I never resented it, but at the plant where i unload at daily us regular drivers all got together and now the ltl drivers wait their turn. I always hated those going to the front of the line.

Thanks for the info, I called the local teamsters union in my area and they have started a school. When I looked up PTDI they had the link to the union. When I talked to them the explained the training and said they did not guarantee placement no private school can. Only a company paid training could guarantee placement.Once again thanks

You'd rather have the guy with 1 skid to unload and who could be in and out in 15 minutes wait hours for you to unload your 22 or 24 skids?

Of course, the union mentality at work...

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

If you read his post, it's actually the TL drivers that got together and decided to take the docks first.

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 200

And for the original purpose of this thread, here's a link to the teamster job bank: "google it"

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TEAMSTERS LOCAL 200

You know, Things things you talk about are not true in the carhaul business
basically it just comes down to what shift and what truck you will drive

i was one of the very few remaining union o/o left in the truckload business. with only about 9% national work force unionized, the fact is, most places that our time is abused at the docks are non-union. this occurs because they know the non-union driver is not paid for this time, so therefore the shipper/consignee knows he will not be billed detention. but numerous times, including walmart in mt. pleasant, ia., when i proved that i was a teamster and would collect my detention time, i had my 3 pallets unloaded in 12 minutes. the 3 other non-union owner operators leased to the same company, according to the loading agent, "averaged 3 hours per stop" at the other walmart distribution centers and we all had the same 3 pallet shipment! because under a union owner/operator contract there is no "forced dispatch", i demanded $50. per hour detention with "no give away time", in other words the "clock was ticking" at my 9: am appointment time, or i would not haul the load. many times over the years when you prove to the the dock management your teamster membership and contract the freight miraculously begins to load/unload. that's worth my $40. per month union dues! interesting point here is, because there were less than 100 union o/o left out of several thousand leased to this company, now a days i really stood a snowball chance in..... of of collecting the detention, but attitudes change when they see "teamster's" stuck under their noses. btw, for many years when this company initiated their type of contractors of the year awards it was mostly the teamster o/o that took the awards. you had to be in the top 10% of hauling revenue to even qualify. then safety compliance, customer service, and etc. was evaluated. now that they have gone through their union drivers they have had to relax their qualifacations or they would have no drivers qualifying. last i heard to qualify you now have to be in top 20% of hauling revenue. also, virtually "no turnover with the union o/o". they either die or retire, just like at the ltl jobs. may it's true, "over the long term you get what you pay for."