Life Post FedEx Freight... as a Local Cryo Driver

Looks like I may be making a return to LTL in the near future...

 

Kind of a blend of a few factors coming into play:

Regional VP stopped into my location today to give us "the bigger picture" of what COVID-19 is doing to the company.

• No more O/T for this region for the year without executive approval (i.e., location management has to reach out to the DM which reaches out to THEIR boss. They had slashed the O/T a couple months ago, but of course we figured it would come back when business improved.
• My location has a seasonal business flow, slow during the summer, busy during the winter. There is a location that is 73 miles away from where I live that is having an issue meeting their business demands for drivers on a certain type of cryo gas tank truck. This is compounded with a hiring freeze for the region that he doesn't know when it is going to be lifted. What's interesting to me is that the biggest issue this location has with this type of truck, is that the bulk of their drivers DON'T have a tank endorsement, since the bulk of the drivers the company hires will be running a cylinder truck. I figured that EVERY driver in the company had to have a Tank and Hazmat endorsement. Of course, all the drivers at my location require a tank endorsement so we are all "qualified" in the driver roster to run that truck. Since my location basically has 2 routes that run and an extra driver that has a very thin route during the summer, upper management is deciding to utilize one of the 3 drivers at my location at the distant one. That driver (if this truly shakes out as we were told) will likely be me. Oh yeah, the work is 1700-0300 or longer, zero pay increase OR nighttime differential with 146 miles on my pickup each day they send me there and only compensating me for 128 (deducting my normal round trip commute from the reimbursement).

"Mr. Executive, would such a change have any possibility of being permanent?"
"Yes, it's certainly a possibility."

So, with no nighttime differential to run graveyard, a boat load of miles on my pickup and the possibility of the change being permanent, I am seeking elsewhere. If I wanted to work nights I'd have stayed at FedEx Freight. Sucks because my boss has zero hand in any of this and he's that one boss of a lifetime that you'd go to war over because he always has your back.

I reached out to a terminal manager that I've maintained contact with and he tells me he has boatloads of work and needs 3 more city drivers, gonna go see him next week and feel it out.

 

It's no bummer, just riding the wave and enjoying life.