Seniority versus favoritism

I know nothing about AAA Cooper or the LTL business. But I do have first hand experience with the favoritism vs seniority thing.

I work for a very small (18 truck) company. Been here 15 years now. I'm currently employed here longer then everyone but 1 guy, who's semi retired. He works from April 15 to Thanksgiving. I work year round, taking only my week vacation and a few days here and there. Never use all my vacation days. We have guys here less than 5 years who always seem to get the easiest gravy work available. I was that guy getting the gravy work, the new trucks every three years, new trailers etc, until about 6 years ago. I found a better paying job, but really didn't wanna leave. So I went to the owner and we worked a deal out that was fair to me. Needless to say, I'm no longer the favorite in the owner's eyes. But we still get along.

Still, at the end of the year, I'm typically the highest paid driver here, and it isn't even close. The runs I do are the runs nobody wants. Short runs (I rarely make it over 400 miles a night), rough roads everywhere I go, the worst traffic areas our company deals with, and the list goes on. But, I make out better than the other guys when I look at the miles, and the time involved. Even if I was being paid the same percentage as they are.

That all said, I am learning that it's best to stay in my own lane, not give a #### what anyone else is doing or saying, and forgetting about who's going where or what they're doing. Seniority? Favoritism? None of that matters to me at this point. As long as I'm satisfied working my 10 hour days and making what I need to live comfortably, I could care less what shenanigans are going on elsewhere in the company. After all, it's just a job, not a popularity contest.

Once you learn to not care about such things, life gets really easy.

 

You mean you're the most senior driver at your terminal with 2 years at the company? Your 20 previous years in LTL means nothing until you came to this job. If you were there 20 years at your old job, why'd you leave?

 

Then be serious.

 

I was senior Line haul for 28 of 30 years,,seniority did not work out for some of the drivers,,mainly because they were not reliable, booking off because of snow storms was the biggest issue…its time sensitive freight and you run in any weather..always been like that in my area..
Guy who filled my position when i retired although he is definitely an idiot will work 6 days a week and he’s bumping a guy with 20 year there. I had negotiated a 4 day work week from the get go.
Why he’s an idiot?,,,among other things he heard a rattle under the hood in his new truck so he put a ratchet strap around the rad and rad cradle and torqued it down. Destroyed the rad, truck had to be towed 200 miles but that what kind of drivers are available in the labour pool.

 

Ah don't pay attention to that @Big Road Skateboard fella, he's the kind of guy that would change his own tire out. He's a real brown noser!

 

Well, after the tounge lashing I got with him blaming me for the flat, I thought savin him 70-80$ for the mount would make him happy.

Hell no, he's still beechin this mornin.

 

So you worked for USF/YRC, which went out of business. You hired on with AAA Cooper, a non union carrier wholly owned by Knight-Swift.

So I have three questions:

1. Did you start at AAA before or after those "5 guys"?
2. What does AAA company policy say?
3. Why aren't you a favorite?

If you hired on to AAA at the same time or after the other 5 guys, you have no claim to seniority - regardless of your relative positioning at USF/YRC.

However it's a moot point if AAA doesn't have a seniority policy. If there is a policy and AAA is breaking it, then you have cause to be irritated.

 

Not an LTL guy , but a fuel guy. I’ve been at my employer a year and have gotten more cards than anyone here, never been locked out, never said no to a load, got carded and stayed in Seattle and Tacoma when they asked. And yet 2 other guys get way more hours when it’s slow, get longer better runs, so I said F it. I found a different job.