I thought I got a CDL to get away from this stuff,,, heavy lifting!

For the most part I've been "1***5*x*10 = somewhat satisfied" at my company, a combination moving/freight company.

But since I'm in better shape than some of the drivers (translation less lazy!) I've been doing whatever jobs are open. It gets me more work and more money. But Lately I've been wondering, since I'm such a "team player" why do I get so much resistance when I want to say "no"?

I had a bad experience with a household move about 2 months ago and told them I really didn't want to do household again for a while. Yeah,,, that lasted about 3 weeks.

Anyway, the odd thing is I was actually happy with yesterday's job. Just a straight retail transfer. Small (non CDL) truck, just 5 pieces of furniture, no labor. When I got to the shipper however I realized they had given me the wrong equipment mix. Without getting to into the boring details of what commecial movers use it's simple enough to say that 80% of the tools I had on the truck were useless. And what I could use was really not OSHA recomended. (Think using a wrench to hammer nails, it CAN be done, but poorly).

Things got worse at the reciever, where the "small truck" was not up to the "standard" dock height. (and no leveler.) There was no labor onsite (although I could have ordered some, so that's on me) I just had to wrestle 5 pieces of heavy furniture onto the dock, put them on wheels and roll them into the mall. Easy cheezy, do it all the time.

I started with the heaviest, most troublesome piece. It was at least 6 feet long an mostly iron. I took my time, worked it and worked it. Once it was on the dock I just had to manuver a few tight corners to the freight elevator, once upstairs it was a straight shot to the customer. Only PITA was a set of fire doors.

The next 3 pieces were even easier. I even took two at a time. Piece of cake right? I'm a pro!

You can tell where this is going,,,,

The last piece was deceptively heavier than it looked. It was a massive table made of a single piece of wood thick enough to frame a house. To top it off it was topped with a 1/4" thick block of marble. (marble's a pain in the ###, I've had a few problems with it in the past, heavier than iron and a fragile as glass, with all of the problems of both.) It took 3 of us to get it onboard at street level but I was reasonably sure I could get it onto the dock by myself. Frankly I don't even remember how it happend, but somehow it got off balance (It must have been top-heavy) because once it went past a certain angle it wasn't comming back. A leg snapped, the marble top seperated and BOUNCED off my thigh before sliding off the truck and onto the ground, shattering, the top pinned me against the wall of the truck for a minute putting me in a very bad mood. I knew the piece was destroyed and I'd probably be paying for it. So I could stay there pinned or I could just finish breaking the #### thing and free myself. So I gave the top a good heave and watched the $6400 table splinter onto the tarmac!

(INSERT LONG STRING OF 4 LETTER WORDS HERE, CONTINUE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES.)

I was too mad for a while before I noticed I was limping. Had to call it in, call the shipper, apologize to the reciever, get the claims department involved. Whole lot of ugly. Decided I should have the doc take a look at my leg.

Fairly major contusion but nothing broken. I'll be on drugs and light duty, probably though Thanksgiving weekend. I've had worse.

But here's what really bugs me though this whole ordeal:

I've worked heavy labor jobs before, and I don't have a problem with it. But the reality is I'm one workplace accident away from loosing my income. THE WHOLE POINT OF GETTING A CDL IN THE 1ST PLACE WAS TO AVOID THIS TYPE OF EXPOSURE!!! Now I'm laid up for a week. Dagnabit!

I hate being a lazy truck driver, sitting in the cab while a lumper takes 4 hours to offload 5 pallets with a forklift. (Nevermind,,,I CAN DO IT MYSELF!!!) But if that same forkjockey runs me over? I'm in the hospital. Gah! It's so frustrating!

Anyway, just venting to others in the field.

 

Not quite. It just works out that I'm a big guy (over 6') and no matter what job I work, even the office jobs, I end up being "designated lifter of heavy stuff".

I used to race cars as a hobby. I knew an older gentleman racer who used to fix old Ferraris, had a list of big money clients and a huge waiting list. Guys paid top dollar for his work. Problem was arthritus was gaining on him quick. Guy had tons of experience and knowledge in his head but his hands wouldn't work for him anymore. That's when I decided I wasn't going to persue being a mechanic anymore. I didn't want to be unable to work in my 60's. My Father-in law (whom I met later) had the same problem with industrial boilers. At some point you just can't work anymore.

I wanted to be pro-active about that and find some sort of work I could do a long time. Obtaining a CDL has opened more doors for me than some of the other "job training" programs out there.

Well in fairness, if you had told me 5 years ago there was an opening in a moving company I wouldn't have taken it. I certainly wouldn't work for my company as a Laborer. Comming in as a Driver is like comming into an office with an MBA, you may not be experienced, or any good, but they put you in charge anyway. Anyway I treat my crews like I would want to be treated. Guys tell me they're moving on, I write them recomendation letters. If I got a guy with more experience than me I put him in charge. All I ask is that the laborers try to keep up with "the fat, lazy driver", if they can do that, then they're doing okay. (I don't make it easy for them either)

I did OTR for a few years, my situation required a change. The moving company I ended up with hired me on the spot, and it met my personal needs. If anything when I was OTR I didn't get to fingerprint ENOUGH! Too much unpaid time waiting at docks, or even worse having to shell out $300+ for a lumper when the company tells you that if YOU unload they only pay $8.50 an hour and the 1st hour is free.

The nature of my post is I don't mind working, I just don't want to put myself OUT of work over something stupid.