UPSF "Dockworker w/CDL"

If you work as a Dockworker/CDL, you won't get paid the same as a full-time city driver, you'll get paid about a buck less. Whenever you switch over to a driving position/P&D, THEN you get paid the same as the regular city drivers do. Normally you do this by switching out at the time clock whenever you switch over.

If you moved up to a full-time City/P&D, yes you would start off at the bottom of the seniority list.

 

The Unions I rubbed shoulders with in my work on the ports and other places have a long house, you sit there in the morning early with all the others waiting for your name to be called to work.

When you are new your senority is zero. Zip. bupkis, etc.

The other side is when you put in your time, dues etc and behave... you will potentially see a life of prosperity and move on to more important things.

Im not a Union man but Ive been given oppertunity once or twice that would have been life changing. I declined them because I was a wanderer and could not stand to be working 50 years minding a crane throwing boxes onto ships day in and day out.

 

Part time dock workers to my understanding only work 6 hours a day. When you apply for the position online, it will let you know what hours you will be working. Your online application is stored in UPS's system as your account on what jobs you applied for. I recently checked my online account out of curiosity to see if they still had me in their system, and sure enough they did. One was for a Casual Feeder Driver and the other was for Tractor Trailer/City Driver. Made a copy of it for my records.

I'm not a 100% sure if part timers get benefits or are in the union. The part time Dockworkers I talked to were college students who worked part time to supplement their income. Part timers also have a seniority list as well, so if a full-time position opens up, the top part timer moves to full-time.

 

After rereading your your question, I'm assuming this is for a full-time position, and not part-time. If it is full-time, than YES you are in the union and get the same benefits. If it's part-time, I'm not 100% sure on that. There's a few different scenerios that could happen. All depends on what the actual Dockworker/CDL is classified as.

Full-time Dockworkers have their own seniority list, just like P&D and Linehaul drivers do. Dockworkers who have a CDL are listed as Dockworkers and are on the Dockworkers seniority list. Yard Jockeying is considered part of dock work. So the guys who have CDL's are the one's that normally Yard Jockey. Payrate is somewhere around $16.50 and it tops out around $28 after four years and you work around 8-10 hours a day.

City Drivers/P&D also have what's called a Dock/CDL combo driver and they are considered Drivers and are on the P&D seniority list. This is where you would work the Docks and do P&D runs. Whenever you switch over to the docks, you get paid the same as Dockworkers do. Usually this is posted as a bidded run, but you work LOOONG hours. 12-14 hours a day is pretty much the norm, but each hub has it's own set of rules, so hours may vary. Payrate is somewhere around $17.50 to start and you top out around $29 after four years.

So until you hit that apply button online and find out what your job title is officially listed as, I would suggest rereading the job description and duties. If the description lists driving a tractor trailer, than you will be listed as a City Driver. If the description does not involve driving a tractor trailer, than you will be listed as a Dockworker.

 

Whether you're listed on the Dockworkers list or P&D list may be up to the hub you work out of. That job description posted would technically be on the P&D side, since your required to drive a tractor trailer. Hours seem kind of short, because Combo drivers normally start around 4am and finish up until 6pm. But Full-time Dockworkers that are listed on the Dockworkers side also have to sometimes to P&D as well, if they have a CDL. Doesn't happen all the time, but I have known Dockworkers who were required to do P&D runs if they didn't have anybody else to cover the work. Like I mentioned, it may be up to the terminal that you work out of. But either way, whether your listed as a Dockworker or P&D driver, the money is about the same.

 

Wow. i forgot this section for UPS/UPSF existed. Will comment on this and many other topics in full detail ASAP.

 

Here's what's involved if you're listed as a Dockworker. When you come in, you go to forklift area and you choose a forklift. Pretrip is required, meaning you have to check the oil level and propane tank level. After your pretrip, you scan your badge to login to the computer. You then go to the Dock office and pickup your paperwork on what trailers need to be offloaded. Keep in mind that their are safety rules that you must abide to at all times, like honking the horn whenever you offload a trailer and forklift tips has to be down to the ground and tilted to the floor whenever parked. But throw all that safety rules out the window during the afternoon when the P&D drivers all come back, because it's an absolute madhouse on the docks, trying to unload all the P&D trailers to the Linehaul. You then check your paperwork on which dock to offload, and line up the freight in the staging area, which is in the middle of the docks in front of the door your offloading. You then check the Pro Numbers on the freight with your paperwork and then move each freight to various different dock doors to reload onto the Linehaul trailers. The paperwork will tell you how to seperate your freight and which doors it needs to be loaded onto. When you offload a freight, the forklift has a scale that's built into the forks, and you weigh each pallet that's offloaded. Each forklift has attachments that you can add to the forks, such as carpet pole attachments, hooks and chains, and clamps for drums and such. After you load your freight, you then sign your name on the sheet that's by the door you loaded into to confirm that YOU loaded it onto the trailer, so this way if any mistakes were made, they will know it was you. After you finish with your move, you then scan the Pro Number on the sheet and hit the on-screen button on the forklift to confirm that move was done and then move onto your next move. At the end of the day, you hook up your forklifts computer line (sorta like when you use a USB on a laptop) to transfer all your information to dispatches office, park it in the staging area, clock out and do it all over again. Nothing really too difficult or strenuous about dockwork, just have to deal with subdegree weather during the winter time.