do all ltl companies make you work the dock before you become a driver?

I work at a union LTL and I hear it everyday from drivers: "IM A DRIVER I AINT NO ******* DOCKWORKER"

$24.40 an hour to drive a forklift isnt enough I guess.

Like Don said, yes, you will have some interesting deliveries.

I spent 2 hours at a high rise hotel in downtown Indianapolis one time picking up 2 skids. They had a single dock, but the skids werent on the dock. It took me 20 minutes just to find the shipping clerk. The 2 skids ended up being on the 13th floor of the hotel. We go up there, and the skids are very wide, and about 800 lbs each.

Now, 800 lbs on a pallet jack isnt bad, on concrete. These were carpeted floors and it was a pain in the ###. I had to have people follow me to move couches and tables because of how wide the skids were. Then of course, they didnt fit in the freight elevator. Had to break them down, rebuild them on the dock.

Tell me one of these 400 lb OTR drivers would have gone to all the trouble. Cant do work like that in flip flops. This is just one example of many crazy delivery/pickup experiences Ive had.

 

If you hire in as a dock worker at Con-Way, how long before a driver apprentice program usually comes up? And, when it does, do you just get sent back to the dock after the training and placed into a driver pool?

 

Well, if you are a truck driver, and you feel that ANY of the jobs associated with the industry are beneath your dignity, then you are in the wrong career path. Or job.

Allow Me, I know that you were not referring to yourself in that post, nor was I referring to you. But I've seen it so many times it is pitiful. And it's usually a newbie who is so wet behind the ears that the water runs off him.

You are there to get the job done, whatever it takes. I'm talking about the hourly paid LTL driver here, not the OTR driver who is paid by the mile.

Yeah, I used to deliver to casinos in Nevada. They are always fun to deal with. Maybe, if the moon and sun are properly aligned, you can even find someone there who is willing to sign the paperwork for you.

And then you have those 2500 to 3000 lb pallets, and the delivery area is on a slope. . .Or you have to unload on a flat surface and then cross a slope to get the freight into the customer.

There are so many variables with LTL that it really is not a boring job.

 

More power to ya! That's why I chose to be a road driver.


Conservative to the Bone.

 

I used to be a road driver. I prefer the city. The road was too unstable for me. I still run the road about twice a week. Honestly if I work 2 days on the road I can live off that. 500 milesx.62=310 + about 3 hours on hourly makes for a $400 day. If the road was more stable Id bid back to it.

 

At ABF, we don't have that choice to run road. Either yours city/dock guy, or a roaddriver guy.


Conservative to the Bone.

 

Normally we dont either but we are extremely slow. Since I switched from road to city, I went to the bottom of the seniority list. Right after we did that our freight levels dropped big time, so Im kind of just stuck in the middle somewhere. I am technically a city driver but I work the dock, city, road and jockey. Its gonna get ugly in January because as you know, freight levels drop big time in January.

 

When I worked for roadway we had to get approval from customer and dispatchers when you were going to do an inside del or pickup cause someone had to pay the outrageous cost

 

I hear ya...


Conservative to the Bone.