yard jockey questions

I would always tell em on the docks ur trailer will get there when it gets there. I wasn't stressed...sore at times.

 

First you need to have really long hair or no hair at all. Lots of tattoos and a very grump look on your face.

Mikeeee

 

Noooo..I was a yard dog for a year..had no tats and Med length hair and I went above and beyond. .. I'd tell most drivers to drop and I'd back it in the dock and pull their empty out ... but I came from the road and knew what drivers went thru. Most yard dogs could care less.

 

You could inquire at local warehouses and shipping centers. If you want to become a very proficient backer before you hit the road, this is the way to go. Just be warned, it's not an easy job by any means. In an 8 to 10 hour shift you will probably move 100 plus trailers into and out of doors, parking spots in the yard etc. That's a lot of in and out of the truck. Any type of weather, doesn't matter, move move move. The A/C and heat do little when you are opening the back door so much. Snow on the ground? Have fun with that. Potholes in the lot? Kiss you back goodbye.

My company use to do the yard work for our main shipper and I filled in frequently. Can you tell I wasn't at all sad to see the contract expire and go to someone else?

 

Based on the experiences in this post, I think a yard dog could be a pretty good job. Just need it with a company that has reasonable expectations, a nominal shift length, and appreciates the power of a break.

 

Nope. Not unless the law has changed since I retired. Trucking industry is exempt from the overtime labor laws.
Also, if you agreed to work for them, knowing they didn't pay OT, why would you expect to get it for back pay. And if you did NOT know they didn't pay OT, then you didn't do your homework, or ask the right questions at your interview.
Even though it is not legally required that trucking companies pay OT, a lot of them do. Particularly if they are Union.
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO BEFORE YOU ACCEPT THE JOB!

 

We call it spotting.
I filled in for one shift when both our guys got canned (one wrecked a yarder, the other a trailer) in the span of three days.

Never again lol
Idk how these old otr guys do it. My back was wrecked after one night.
It was cold and miserable and I imagine hot and miserable in the summer.

No thanks, I'll take my comfy truck over that any day!

I try and be nice to these guys when I can. I'll open doors if the weather allows etc.
At the place I'm usually sent for a back haul I'll put it in the dock if they need an empty right away (by the time I get there they usually do) and if they don't the spotter lets me leave right in the driveway so I can just drop, hook and run
Pays to be nice and helpful.

 

I'm talking about a yard jockey not a truck driver.....I drove OTR for 6 years so I'm familiar with the laws on that, however switching is different...I have 4 friends who also switch n get over time...so are u saying it depends company to company on,overtime for switchers?

 

Being a yard jockey also depends on if it's a union shop or not. Usually in union shops, they jockey position is posted as a bidded position, so it rarely gets advertised as available, and they get paid just about as much as the regular drivers do. And usually it goes to the guy who only wants to put in their 9-5, or just tired of driving on the road. Every union job I ever had involved a combination yard jockey and driver, depending on where you are on the seniorty list.

 

SYSCO. I hostled with an Ottawa for three years for them . Got the job through a temp agency . Surf Indeed and Monster , also