Random LTL Rants (all are welcomed)

I agree, and I am one. It blows my mind what my fellow drivers complain about.

 

I think the dynamic is an interesting one. From my observations being on both sides of the list, linehaul drivers seem to have that mentality more often, but I don't know if I could say that it's a majority of the group within the company. City drivers hate linehaul because they make all the money, linehaul hates city drivers for working in the daylight, having a normal weekend and sleeping next to their spouses.

As far as the entitlement goes, I think I can speak to it a little bit. I have a bit of that entitlement, but not in the way I think you mean. The tractor I run is never fueled, filled with DEF, windows cleaned, engine fluids topped off, or interior cleaned by any city driver in my barn that uses it during the day. My barn has a center manager hell bent on reducing or eliminating overtime as much as possible. This is evident in me getting back to my terminal at 8:30-9:00, since I'm back late, they typically put a 10am start city driver in the truck. I get to work a bit early, around 1900 to pretrip the truck, clean it and make sure its squared away for the run, and not one time has my truck ever not been there waiting for me, and every time the engine is cold or getting close to being cold. Now, figure I spend between 13-13.75 hours nightly in that tractor and maintain that tractor in showroom appearance and operating condition, so you're darn right I'm going to be a bit entitled in regard to the condition of my bid truck and how it's left for me. I'm going to make noise when someone smokes in the tractor, I'm going to give him crap when he wipes out all my radio presets, I'm going to give him crap when he screws with the CB and throws the mic into the pocket by the seat and I'm going to give the city driver crap for not bothering to write up any thing that is wrong with the tractor when he is done with it.

I as well. Last week, a driver was standing at the dispatch window at my hub demanding the name of the driver that dropped a specific trailer, as well as wanting to know what the dispatcher was going to do about the infraction that he caused.

The big deal? He was complaining that the driver who dropped the trailer in the whole left it too high, and he didn't think he had to crank the landing gear down a few turns. Nevermind that the different models of trucks we have all have slightly different heights between city and linehaul tractors, and wherever that trailed was initially dropped in the yard was more than likely on an uneven surface at some form of an incline. I mean Jesus Christ dude, the hostlers all run a CB, would it have killed you to call one over to lift the trailer and adjust the landing gear if you really couldn't physically lower the trailer? The trailer was friggin' empty to boot.

 

I wouldn’t say I feel entitled, especially since I just started working for FxF, but I’ve heard linehaul is getting half a cent, which is an increase of less than 1%. It’s not hard to see how some drivers would be upset about a raise that doesn’t cover the cost of inflation and the health care changes.

 

That'll be interesting to see what you guys actually get, because most of these carriers play catch up or leapfrog and if the largest LTL in the country does that, you can be sure the rest will follow suit. It's all about the market.

 

Turns out I was mistaken, it’s actually less lol. The bottom of the payscale in my area gets an increase of one eighteenth of one cent per mile. Hourly rate increases by 50 cents.

Oh well, at least I’ll still get the step progression raises annually on my hiring anniversary.

 

My understanding is .75/hr and a half penny a mile. City drivers in my barn are up in arms over it because of the insurance changes, but the road drivers took it in the shorts.

 

Yeah that’s what I initially heard second hand from another driver, but our Ops Sup had “the talk” with me when I came in last night. My mileage rate will be .5495 (up from .5477) and hourly will be 23.08 (up from 22.58).

 

Right out of truck school I got a job running daytime linehaul.
I got lucky because of local. But I know numerous other people who never went otr and found themselves great local jobs.
I know guys that started trucking 40 years ago and never once slept in a truck.

The idea that you have to go otr before local is a lie.