FAT people are Discriminated against at prime

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by mikebrown611, Sep 14, 2010.

  1. Cat sdp

    Cat sdp . .

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    I got " religion " after my doctor gave me the riot act. I'm 6 foot and down to 180lbs. And it's been over a year . If a jerky like me can do it you can. Give it a try. Then tell them to stick their chart!!
     
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  3. 123456

    123456 Road Train Member

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    Prime started their sleep apnea screening, after that truck driver fell asleep.

    Killed 4 people , I think it was.
     
  4. lexmark

    lexmark Medium Load Member

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    bmi is just a tool for screening purposes. Don't take it personally.
     
  5. ironpony

    ironpony Road Train Member

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    Yup... a highly experienced driver who came over from CFI. He fell asleep at the wheel and ran a red light, killing IIRC a mother and 3 kids. His medical records indicated untreated sleep apnea. There was a massive liability payout, of course.

    Some carriers just test everyone. Some carriers won't hire you, or find a pretext to fire you if you're diagnosed with it. Prime's policy is to work with the driver. If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and haven't been treated before being hired, you need to get a machine and show compliance before orientation. If our doctor feels you may have sleep apnea during your physical, he may order a sleep test. It is a debilitating disease, and one shouldn't take it lightly. If the test is positive, you get treatment AND are not turned down for employment.

    BMI just happens to be one of the screening factors for sleep apnea. 80% of folks who are overweight have it. That doesn't mean skinny folks get a pass. It just is the way it is.

    For the record...

    Prime does not deny employment to folks who are overweight. You still have to pass a DOT physical before you're hired by our company doctor.

    Prime does not terminate drivers due to their weight. They do encourage folks to live a healthy lifestyle. To that end there is a new wellness plan that is voluntary and free if you complete it.

    ...OK! Back to all the complaining and whining! :biggrin_25523:
     
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  6. rachi

    rachi Road Train Member

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    Well said brother pony.
     
  7. kc0rey

    kc0rey Medium Load Member

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    Indentured servants (slaves) and not smart enough to know it. You should be banding together to get a fair wage, access to healthy food and realistic working conditions. Instead, your fighting among yourselves about stupid crap.

    Glad I'm not trucking anymore.......Truckers used to stick together and trucking used to be a good way to earn a living... those days are long gone.

    EDIT: Do the math folks. You are responsible for the truck from the time you walk out your front door and start it up until you shut it down when you get home again. You are on the job every minute you are responsible for the truck.

    If you're one of the lucky ones you get home on the weekend. So, that said, you are responsible for the truck for 5 days or 120 hours. If you bring home $800 for that 5 days, you earned $6.67 an hour. That is about $1 less then minimum wage. No other industry can do that to you. $1000 a week? $8.33 and hr.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2013
  8. BoyWander

    BoyWander Road Train Member

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    So you're saying the average truck driver should be making $2,500 a week?

    There are plenty of people willing to work for $800-$1,000 a week, by their own choice, otherwise they wouldn't do it...so why would a company pay someone 3x the amount?
     
  9. kc0rey

    kc0rey Medium Load Member

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    By Federally Established Guidelines and the law, the work week is 40 hours. Any hours after 40 you go on overtime. I used the $800 -$1000 figures as an example. While doing some research that I'll touch on in a moment, I stumbled across the following figures. Projected Job Growth: 13 Percent. Median Income: $27,050 a year.

    The research I was doing was Top Ten Most Dangerous Jobs in the US. Trucking is #8. Police Officer and Soldier didn't make the list.

    Yes, people are willing to work 120 hours a week straight for $520 before taxes.
     
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  10. Jimmy Hoffa

    Jimmy Hoffa Medium Load Member

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    No, what he's saying is what we're getting paid is piece work. Add up the hours we're on the road and it isn't even minimum wage. In California I couldn't pay my roofers (I owned a roofing company) piece work. It was the law, had to pay hourly.
    I'm lucky my wife has a great job, excellent medical ect. My kids are gone, I'm a Granddad. This is supplemental income for me. I'm out 6 days, home for 3. Couple more years I get to retire before I'm 60.
    Thank Gawd that I don't have the pressure on me to provide for my family with what this industry pays considering the hours and working conditions. I think it's great that some drivers love the life. But I know guys that have been in the joint and thrived there.
    ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE
     
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  11. Jakaby

    Jakaby Medium Load Member

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    I would like to off a little perspective here-
    When I got into this business I was 6-1 and weighed 350. After constant truck stop food and no exercise other than climbing in and out of a truck, I got up to 400 pounds, give or take a few pounds. I was taking medicine for high blood pressure, blood sugar, high cholesterol, AND was smoking two packs of Marlboro Red's a day. And yes, I had a sleep study done and by some miracle I didn't have sleep apnea. How I passed a DOT physical is an act of nobody other than Jesus Christ himself. The only problem I ever had was bad indigestion which I finally went to the doctor for. He sent me for an X-ray, which showed a spot on my lung. He then sent me for a CAT Scan. He said it was good and bad news. The good news- the spot on my lung was scar tissue from bronchitis or pneumonia.
    the bad news- there was an 8cm tumor on the head of my pancreas. He tells me that he doesn't think it's cancer because I would have already been dead had it been because of the size. They did a needle biopsy and still didn't call it cancer. Apparently, I'm one of the few people in medical history to have something called a "Lymphoepithelial Cyst" on the head of the pancreas. In order to get to get it out of there, they had to treat it as if it was pancreatic cancer and do what is called a "whipple procedure". They took out the head of the pancreas, the bile ducts, the duodenum, the gall bladder, some of the small intestine, and then took what was left of the small intestine and attached it to what was left of the stomach.

    Needless to say, a Whipple procedure will change your diet. Recovery from that is different for everyone, changing what and how you eat. My stomach is about 3/4 of he size of a golf ball now. I spent he first three months throwing up and not being able to stand for more than 10 minutes at a time. The big changes for me is not really how much I can eat, but rather WHAT I can eat. I can no longer eat anything with refined or processed sugars, anything fried, dark green vegetables, rice, noodles and pasta, and, the biggest of all, any kind of beef. I just can't digest any of that stuff anymore because of all the new plumbing inside of me. I missed it for a while, but I have gotten used to eating healthier. It's hard to eat on the road sometimes, but I make most stuff at home and use he microwave to heat it up.

    The result of all he surgery and the healthier eating since has changed my life. I weighed 176 pounds this morning. I went from a size 58 pants down to a 34 and from a 4x shirt to a large. I weighed 404 pounds the morning of the surgery, which means I lost 228 pounds. Now if you are saying that I'm bragging, then yes, I'm bragging. I'm darn proud and feel like a new man because of it.

    I have seen both sides of he argument. There is no way, I mean NO WAY, will I ever get as big as I used to be. When you lose weight you will enter a whole new world as far as what your body will do. I used to convince myself that I could do anything anybody else could, but you are kidding yourself if you buy into that. It is indeed a whole new world. It took a little over a year to get back in a truck, but when I did, it too was a different world. I eat apples instead of candy bars and green beans instead of French fries.

    Im by no means passing judgement on anyone. Please know that. I've been there and lived the first 40 years of my life in that world. My message is that if people say 400 pound people can do the same things that 176 pound people can, they are lying to themselves.

    Sorry for the long read! I just thought I might better give a little background before saying been there, done that. My message is to get yourself healthy for YOU, and YOU alone, not for some company. You will never ever regret it!
     
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