Canadian good and bad trucking companies

Discussion in 'Canadian Truckers Forum' started by angry_trucker, May 22, 2010.

  1. defencerulez

    defencerulez Light Load Member

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    Oct 28, 2010
    In between the LAKES!
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    Black Ice I am not sure if you work for a union or not, but this is my experience as a driver for courier for 7 years under a union. Just a note, the experience I share below is just a tale, but a real tale, I don't wanna reveal which company or which union but you can probably guess it.

    Started as a low paying package car driver, starting wage were absolutely crap, only had my G license back then made like $11 per hour. The job was absolutely terriable, I have to make a minimum of 80 stops per day, often times up to 130 - 140 stops lifting all kinds of boxes upto 150lbs... I don't have a dedicated run since I am new, so I am going into different areas everyday... Back then, I was job searching everyday, looking for job in Canada post etc... Management will do everything to try to load up every single trucks, it's their wish that if they can overload us, just because we wanna go home early, someone might actually work faster and deliver more (so they can send younger cleanup drivers home and 1 less paycheck for the day). If you fall into this trap, which at a point I did, you are screwed! Because they'll keep overloading you up to a point you can't handle anymore. And they'll keep your load like that everyday. To fight back, there is only 1 way, and it's not sex, you just go by the books and don't work any faster than you have to, you'll be back late, like until 730pm the cut off time (when everyone has to go back to the center and drop off their pickups)... If you have anything more than you can handle before the cut off time, it's upto the management to either send a cleanup guy to help you out. Or the management himself have to driver a truck out and help you out... So we have "standoffs" like that between senior drivers and management all the time. Union, where are they?

    After 3 years, all of a sudden my wage jumps from $14 per hour to $23 per hour, I am still doing the same thing, still don't have a run. Shortly after, I finally have the seniority to actually win the bid on some runs. However, all the new runs up for bid the management always make it absolutely ####ty run that you just can't imagine yourself doing everyday for the rest of your life, so even though I can bid for runs and actually win I choose to omit it, some newer guys will bid for it thinking it's great but they get washout within a month... Union did absolute nothing about this... By then, I am a super garbage cleanup driver, I can make deliveries without too much mapping, since I know all of the main roads and most of the minor road already... I can do this in 4 different cities and some area in the country as well for Christ Sake!!! (I can be a super taxi driver) One day, there was a sexy run up for bid, I am on the top of the list of drivers without a run, I though I hit the jackpot... But a driver with 15 years seniority who already has a run over bid me, that's because his run has been completely screwed over by management... So he took that sexy run, and his ####ty run up for bid which again I don't even bother putting up my name and some younger guy took it... Everybody hate each other within this courier company, management hate drivers in standoffs, drivers hate drivers because we are bidding against each other on runs and all the seniority issues. Drivers hate loader because the poor loaders break their back for $11 at the start, $17 top rate, they start after midnight depending on how busy we are, in the non peak seasons, sometimes they start at 4:30 and sent off around 8:30... Work only 4 hours per day for #### pay #### hours, they never do a decent jobs... Putting time commitment packages all over your load without seperating them, or maybe 1 or 2 boxes of your 50 boxes bulk stop will be hiding somewhere in your truck and you have to go back once you find out... Then the PM sort that handle all the pickups hate drivers, because of all that standoff, near the end of the cut off time all of a sudden a tons of driver will appear in the lot. They have a sudden overload... It's a company filled with hate! Everybody is hating somebody! Where is our Union?

    This year, the 7th year, Nothing has changed since my 3rd or 4th year. I am still filling in for different drivers on vacations and called in that kind of stuff, doing cleanups, and I never wanna bid on any runs since the management want to make every run up for bid the ####tiest run in the world... Whenever there's a sexy run, some old guys will take it, I think I will never get a decent run unless I have 15 plus years of seniority... I am completely fed up and washed out, but I am decently compensated, that's the only reason I go to work, that's the only good part about the union. I work about 8 to 10 hours per day, top rate at $24, "indexed pension" of $73 per year. (Meaning if I work for 30 years under this condition, year30x$73= $2190 per month when I retire above 65 years old) Government can't touch any of that money since it's indexed and they still have to give me social benefits assuming I don't have that $2190 income per month... Yea, RRSP makes absolutely no sense to me as long as I work for this courier... Also, our wages are inflation linked, if there's 1% inflation for the year, we get 1% raise. So yea, union is pretty good in this department, I have no worries financially as long as go to work making 60K per year with pension... At the end of the 5 year contract, our wage will be $27 per hour assuming 0% inflation. Yea, but my job absolutely sucks itselves, lot's of back breaking hard work and mental pounding from management and all the hate among the company...

    A few months ago, a rare oppotuntity came up, it's a feeder cover driver position, I signed up for it and I got in. In 2.5 weeks of high quality and intense training with on job experience, I have my AZ license granted by a upper management in this courier company, who was my instructor and with me for my entire AZ training. I didn't even take a road test in the ministry, he passed me. I just took written test... I still have to go back to my center and deliver packages when they have no feeder job for me. But when there is feeder jobs, like feeder driver from my center or near by centers on vacation, I will be doing feeders and transporting things with tractor trailers from centers to centers or doing pickups from big accounts... I am still home daily, and won't work over 14 hour per day (all the runs pretty much maxed out at 12 hours), nothing's illegal, equipment are decent and everything. Inspection stations don't even want to bother us since they know they will absolute find nothing faulty in our truck and I have to do a 800 point pre trip to a set of doubles, and I get the time paid to actually do it. I guess when I am doing feeder I get like $25-26 per hour, which is not a lot more but at least I don't have to lift packages anymore and seeing all the management being pushed to the max by upper management to screw every driver over...

    I donno, at this stage, all I hope for is a permanent feeder job up for bid, if I can get into that, I am set... After I have my AZ license, I wrote the C class written exam as well just because I don't have to do road test and I'll get my C license. I did a little job search, and I still couldn't find anything sexy out in the open market...

    So this is my little tale, talking about unions, I have to say when it comes to pay and working hours, they can do a very good job. However, there are still many things they can't handle, our back breaking job itself and the attitude that our management treat us, we deserve every penny of our pay. Our turnover rate is amazing, it's said that 3 in 10 people can actually do the job as a courier, to be strong enough and fast enough and smart enough. But less than 1 in 10 will actually able to hang on. I've seen so many people quitting over the years...
     
    2ndGenner Thanks this.
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  3. TheHealthyDriver

    TheHealthyDriver Heavy Load Member

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    Jul 11, 2010
    Stony Mountain, MB
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    First off, why does everyone who drives a truck think that this is a "normal" job, and as such, you should be paid hourly for doing your job?

    Secondly, this "work" that you speak of is menial work at best, and is deserving of maybe $10-$12/hour. $20/hr??? Are you freakin kidding me? No driver who is pretripping his truck, or waiting at the border, is worth $20/hr. NO DRIVER!!! If you really think you're worth $20/hr, prove it. Make the company 3-5 times that money. Because that's reality. Whatever you're making, your company is making around 5 times as much off of you. And why is that? BECAUSE IT'S BUSINESS!! ALL BUSINESSES DO IT!! If you're not making AT LEAST 3 times off of someone, you won't be in business for long.

    Some of you drivers really have your heads up your arses, as far as what you think you're worth out there.
     
  4. mgfg

    mgfg Road Train Member

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    Mar 29, 2010
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    Black Ice is a Teamster stooge that does NOT drive a truck for a living.
     
  5. canuck in da truck

    canuck in da truck Road Train Member

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    Aug 6, 2010
    western pa
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    i knew he was a stooge--but i didnt realize he doesnt drive
    that is much worse
    i have been in more or less 4 unions,and none of them did a thing for me
    in fact the one was so bad the wage went from $25 an hour to finally about 12 with less hours--so needless to say i have nothing good to say about them
     
  6. Lowbed

    Lowbed Light Load Member

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    Oct 23, 2008
    Edmonton Alberta
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    Ah bien tabarnacle....you do the math.

    If you pay a driver that runs long haul 40 cents per mile and he averages 50 miles per hour, how much does he make?? (50 X .40 = $20.00

    Prove it you say....I just retired from driving an oilfield winch tractor that paid a measly $40.00 an hour. The rate for a winch tractor is is $230.00 an hour. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.


    I had retired 5 years ago but got bored. I've owned 2 trucking companies that specialized in pipe and pipeline equipment hauling. Here's a link of pictures of my last one.

    http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pipex.htm
     
    oshawasue Thanks this.
  7. Lowbed

    Lowbed Light Load Member

    193
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    Oct 23, 2008
    Edmonton Alberta
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    oshawasue Thanks this.
  8. defencerulez

    defencerulez Light Load Member

    129
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    Oct 28, 2010
    In between the LAKES!
    0
    Lol, I am paying quite a handsome fee for their "service" then, it's something like $30 per week per payroll... Imagine how rich this guy is going to be, how much bonus he's going to get if he can talk you into a union and "sell" this "sales lead" to his boss...

    Well, if we don't talk about money and reasonable work hours... They absolutely sucks, we once had a manager who used to have on average a minimum of 1 grievance per day, at a certain point, all drivers in the whole center put together a grievance... Nothing's changed for the better, but we kept getting worse, he was able to prevail and push us to the max union did nothing, at the end when he got promoted and about to leave, this is what he said to all drivers that I'll never ####ing forget. "You guys are easy to manage, cooperative, I enjoy working with you guys?" (I promise, if I met him in an isolated island I'll turture him for a week, then, I'll will chop him into ground meat and ####ing feed my dogs with it) Where is our union? After over 500 grieves during his 1 year stay in our center, nothing, we just head right to the rock bottom doing more work per hour, working longer hour regardless of if we like it or not...
     
  9. end of the road

    end of the road Heavy Load Member

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    Jul 4, 2010
    Northern Canada
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    Really André?

    $10/hour?

    Okay, so I paid $5000 to get my license, then I have to pay every 5 years to get a physical. That is now up to around $150. Every minute of my day needs to accounted for, even when supposedly off duty. I need to conduct my personal life in a manner different from other professions by not drinking or smoking pot etc. When I am responsible for a equipment worth close to $200,000 and that is just for your basic set up. Then there is the freight you are hauling.

    Now, we are allowed a 70 hour work week here in Canada, but at what point does the time and half kick in? For the rest of the country it is after 44 hours, but do you see the first 2000 miles at .40 cents and the remaining miles at .60 for drivers? Not a chance.

    A driver is worth whatever he can get and then some. At times it is not hard work but at other times it is nothing but a cluster fcuk. You drive 500km in a snowstorm that normally takes you 5 hours but this time it takes you 8, and you get paid the same. Ever spend time cleaning your truck on the road? You getting paid for that? Imagine a baker going into work and putting in his 9 hours, then for the next hour he cleans the bakeshop and does not get paid for cleaning it.

    André usually your posts are pretty good but that one is just hogwash
     
    25hz and oshawasue Thank this.
  10. Lowbed

    Lowbed Light Load Member

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    Oct 23, 2008
    Edmonton Alberta
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    Your a hell of smart man....you would trust someone being paid $10.00 an hour to do a pre-trip on your equipment ????

    He'll, if the guy wants a day off he can come with a reason to say that the truck is not roadworthy. Such as a bad belt, tiny amount of seapage at the steering box etc. etc. And while the truck is down he can flip burgers and make better money.


    Tim Hortin's in Fort McMurray (3 years ago) were starting off the staff at $18.50 an hour plus overtime.
     
  11. TheHealthyDriver

    TheHealthyDriver Heavy Load Member

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    Jul 11, 2010
    Stony Mountain, MB
    0


    When I say a driver isn't worth $20/hr, I'm referrring to things like pretripping(part of your job, and your safety), waiting at a border(part of your job), etc. You're paid the way you're paid. By the mile. If you don't like the way you're paid, find a different job, or become an O/O.

    Also, since you've owned trucks and companies, then you know full well that if a driver was getting $20k more a year for the "incidentals", then the truck would have to make $100k/yr more to cover that increase. That's not going to happen.
     
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