***the Lumper Scam***

I have a question. When you use the term "unloading", does that mean the driver or lumper has to unload boxes individually, or is it simply just a matter of using a pallet jack and pulling the pallets off the trailer and into the warehouse?

 

yes and yes then breaking down one pallet load into 4 or 5 or 20 pallets. And doing that on up to 28 pallets or what ever is in your trailer.

 

Yes its a total PITA I delivered a load to a Jethro warehouse in Brooklyn NY had 8 pallets that turned into 15 pallets by the time I got done sorting every box by product #. It also took me 1hr 30 min to do this. My dispatcher wasn't happy cuz I was losing time on my other deliveries but I told him that the company shouldn't b cheap and pay the GD Lumper Fee if they didnt want me waisting time unloading and sorting freight!

 

I still see no valid reason for a truck driver to be doing warehouse work in someone else's warehouse. No warehouse I ever worked in required it. Why would we bring in someone else to take work away from us?

 

The lumper scam irrates me to no end. But since many of the food industry warehouses want to play the game I make them play it on my terms. I will not hire a lumper and always do the work myself for a few reasons. First is that if anyone is gonna get paid for this work, it might as well be me. Plus the carrier I'm leased to has agreements with many of our customers that we (drivers) get paid what the lumper would charge. Also I don't like people in my trailer since I own the trailer and many people have no respect in how they treat others and their belongings. The last reason is just plain and simple...excersize. I would rather get on the dock and get some movement then sitting in the truck and do nothing except goof off.

 

I normally haul ice cream out to the Northwest from Iowa usually consisting of 4 to 5 stops, the grand total for unloading all of the stops is $800 - $900. Really wish I made half of that if I chose to unload it, but I don't feel like standing in the freezer freezing my keester off so I don't! My back hauls are the best though, they usually come back to two regional grocery stores we haul for & best of all they unload the product THEY ordered with no money exchanging hands! When I go to these two places I am out of the gate within an hour or so of bumping the dock, usually a couple of hours before my appointment. C&S in Woodbridge, NJ, StupidVa.......errr SuperValu in Mechanicsville, VA & Nash Finch anywhere in the country have some of the worst lumpers in the country.

 

*waves white flag*
I hope I don't regret actually posting here, but after scanning a few responses (not all 23 pages worth mind you) I think maybe a lumper's point of view might be good for the discussion. Yes I am a dreaded in-house lumper for a food warehouse in Chesapeake, Va. I've only been doing this for about 3 months now simply because I just graduated from college and no one is hiring, so if what I say is incorrect then please don't tear my head off, just enlighten me .

I work for a third-party labor company that has a contract with the warehouse that we work in. And from what I've gathered drivers are not allowed on the dock while the trailer is being unloaded, it is required that lumpers unload the trailer, but the drivers DO NOT have to pay the lumpers to perform this service. Correct me if I'm wrong, but since my company is responsible for unloading the freight, then we're not swiping any money from the drivers right?

Now, my company provides lumpers for multiple warehouses, but we have the fewest number of lumpers (4) to our crew at one of the busiest warehouses. Why is this? We actually bust our ##### to make sure that we make our money as soon as possible and get y'all back on the road just as fast so we can get more containers . The most valuable loads are worth $140, and that's usually a 40". So for one 40", I MIGHT make $70 .Our crew has gotten to the point where each two man team can knock out a 7,500 case jelly load in 3 hours or less and a 9,000 case mixed wafer load in 4-6 hours. The only time we bring in other people to our dock is when the overall container length of our workload is over 240 ft. When we're done with each container, my partner does the count while I sweep out any trash within the container, then I raise up the dock plate, and while he's finishing up any paper work I go out and either inform or wake up the driver if they requested it (have startled quite a few people out of some much needed rest because of that). In between each container, we usually take a quick 5-10 minute restroom, water, smoke, etc. break just to regain some energy and strength before we get back in. 90% of the time, the two teams finish around the same time (give or take a pallet or two), but we don't just leave when we're done with our trucks. We actually hop on the container with the other team to help them finish. And if they're at the 10" mark when I start helping, I let them keep the pay out. To me, all of this seems ALOT more efficient and productive overall compared to if a driver by themselves has to unload a container with a hand-jack. Also, the safety issues themselves seem to almost disappear when Lumpers are involved.

Like I said earlier, I could be completely and totally wrong about what I just said, but it seems that the problem isn't with the Lumper system itself, rather with the different protocols and procedures that each company implements. Also I know for a fact that most lumpers don't work as fast, hard, and efficient as we do (my partner and I had to do four 40's the other day because the temps were going so slow we had to send them home), but I'm sure the same can be said about some drivers. Am I right? Thanks for reading.


*hops on electric pallet jack and races away*

 

It would take more time than I care to devote to answer all this--understand for the most part it--it isn't a personal thing--and one of my pet peeves--is that under this new lumper system(in house)most of the poor B******S unloading are way underpaid (usually on clock)versus the amount paid by driver/company to get it done--the other main problem is no matter how hard you work/or get it done--most of these waarehouses have cut their actual staffs to the bone--where there once was a receiver for every 7-10 doors--who would be moving between stickering and checking in pallets and breaks=downs as they were being done--thus virtually gettin the trucks out of the door within minutes of the truck getting m/t(and YES this is how it worked for years)now you have many places where there is one receiver for as many as 25 doors(if not more)and he/she won't come near a load until the entire thing is on the dock seperated and ready--now follow that mess out--and do the math--how they all end up hours behind--people not getting doors till way past appointment time etc. and as for who is actually paying for the load to be unloaded it is irrelavent-in the end it comes off the freight rate no matter how they hide it! besides there are plenty of drivers who would do it themselves and at least make some extra money for being stuck all day--but most of these places make this all but impossible!
Ok I've already put too much into this but I could go on another page or 2!~

 

Try Clark county school district in Las Vegas, 47K worth of frozen foods, no Lumpers allowed, and they all had to be restacked on their "approved" pallets in a different order. All while being supervised by a 23 year old kid who wouldn't lift a finger to help, he was much to busy texting, tweeting and picking his hair. How do I get that job??? Forgot I'm not a minority so I'm not eligible.

 

you need a walking floor or dump trailer, receiver won't unload?? no problem, just flip pto into gear and the load unloads it self!