Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

the outrageous money lumpers charge. i don't see how it can be cheaper then paying laborers the standard $10 an hour.

thinking i should start my own lumping company. the heck with driving a truck and never being home.

 

There's a lot more to the cost of an employee than just their hourly wage; half their taxes, Workman's Comp and benefits/no-insurance tax for instance. And, their hourly wage can be empty overhead too if they aren't kept constantly busy.

 

Thats what I said the fist time I got a lumper fee that exceeded the revenue on the load (150 mile run, $350 lumper).

Lumping companies have high workmans comp, but it still has to be a profitable business. Also dulous, companies do not pay half your taxes, only half your payroll tax. Employee leasing companies can get wc and payroll taxes done for <20%, and a lot of these lumpers never stop at busy locations.

 

You gotta wonder at the ones where try charge $20 extra dollars per broken pallet. Then they have 20 guys acting as seatwarmers the entire time you are dropping off and picking up paperwork. Enjoy the $155 to have 2 guys on forklifts clear out the trailer in 30 minutes. Surprised you're not breaking more pallets!

 

Just got my trainer assignment. Going to be picked up tomorrow. Apparently I have two trainers. For two weeks ill be with some lady and then after that her husband will take over the training.

 

Sounds like reinhart in La Crosse, WI. That's the only place I've had a broken pallet, and s&r looked like the break room.

My favorite is when they fly the stuff off the box in 10 minutes and somehow magically you have 3 damaged cases. Wonder how that happened?

 

Sorry for not being more precise about the taxes, but there are other expenses I didn't even mention for a Lumper business. I have had my own business, but not a Lumper business. But, I'd have to think there would be other insurance and bonding expenses and unemployment costs as well. Business is always a little more complicated than it seems from the outside. But, my comment wasn't directed at a Lumper business, it was at the company receiving the freight employing people to unload. Not everyone receives enough freight to make it worth while being my point.

 

Lumpers are on site, so you're either paying your people $10/hr to unload trucks or lumpers are charging $35-375 to unload the truck. Companies that don't get much freight don't have lumpers, they do it themselves. Who employes the people has little impact on how much they cost, but with a lumper business there's an extra hand in the pot.

 

What I mean to say is they are there no matter who employes them. They're not on demand.

 

That's not necessarily true. There are Lumper companies that work an "area" in order to keep busy (I spoke to the guy in charge of such a one). In a complex there may be several companies that a single group handles. Not all loads need someone to handle the freight by hand and some companies receive these kind varied loads with those needing to be touched by hand are the minority. Not every place even receives freight on a consistent basis. I put the security in a company that only received loads once a week. Most companies receive freight of one kind or another so its kind of hard to pigeon hole them. Interestingly the argument you are making goes for drivers too in a limited sense. Some companies employ their own drivers or have a transportation company as a subsidiary for the reasons you mention, but not all do it because it doesn't make sense for all companies to do it.