Random LTL Rants (all are welcomed)

This guy has been fired once, in the 7 years I've been here and quit twice. He'd been rehired every time. (He's just too valuable to let go).
He has that new A cdl, and knows everything attitude right now. He just got it (after 7 tries).

He's been insufferable since.

 

I know this doesn't help you guys but I just want to let you know you aren't alone. We have a dumb ### that tears equipment up and always says it's because coke has all this money and won't spend it on fixing anything (not true from what I see). He comes in last week with the bottom two panels of the door (we have roll ups) all buckled and the top one missing. Obviously it's the trailers fault it is like that... Maintenance guy gets it pretty much torn off with a fork lift and I walk in the trailer and the stops on the tracks are bent bad on one side and clean shiney metal broken off on the other side. This ### hole drove down the road and locked the brakes up when he realized the door was open. It slammed the stops knocking the top panel off and came back down so hard it buckled the two bottom panels and broke the cables.


Nothing was said about it even after I said something.

 

Yup. I know your pain.
We had a guy, and I do mean HAD. Who would intentionally (i've been told) wreck the landing gear on the trailer.
SO that he wouldn't have to give up the tractor. It was the 1st BRAND NEW one, the boss had ever bought (it was a glider). But still.
We have a re-hire NOW. Who has snowed the boss so bad he get the new tractor, the new trailer, and the new electric jack. EVERY FRICKEN day.
He'll drive the forklift but WILL NOT get off to label anything, or even check it off the incoming manifest. He will gladly tell us all that he wasn't hired back to do those things.
Practically screams bloody murder when he works more than an 8-9 hr day. He's supposedly salaried to work 11.

Don't get me wrong, he's good at what he does. But he's so hard to listen to that being in the same building sometimes is enough to make my heart hut and head pound.

 

I'm gonna put my self out there as a piece of #### while we are talking about idiot drivers. When I was in a package car I was the top guy as far as crushing dispatch. We got paid for dispatch not hours worked so if you ran you your balls off you could make a TON of money which is how I was able to retire and get out before 40 years old. That being said I was super high maintenance because of it, I knew the time studies and would ##### and cry to get the extra splits that made the money. I would ##### any cry until I got the truck I wanted. They put up with it because I could do the work of two guys (I was the first driver to break 300 stops, then 400, then 450 during peak). I was a whiney ##### about helping people because I never asked for it (not a super valid reason, I know). I calmed down about 1000% since I started driving a tractor trailer. Looking back I can't expect everyone to do what I did but at the time I completely did. If you couldn't do what I was getting done you were a piece of #### in my eyes but I now know it was me that was the piece of ####. These are also the reasons I want to go to food service with case pay because I would tear that #### up and get paid but how long until I'm the whiney POS again?

Just thought I would put that out there...I ain't perfect.

 

What was the method to the madness to get thru that many stops while still beating dispatch time? How did you do it?

 

Organization of the truck so I would minimize steps, run and I don't mean hustle...I mean RUN. I have a rainman like ability to remember a ton of stop in my head and plan how I'm gonna hit them so I was always thinking 20-25 stops ahead of where I was. Building customer relations also helps, you know you have sig required stops so know who you can just sign for and leave it at the door, know who you can go to what neighbor to leave their stuff. All pickups that weren't daily shippers (I was doing 26 pickups also) have your number and text you when they don't have anything and the daily shippers text you to let you know how much they have, when it is ready, and how late they will be there so you can plan for room, loading time, and traffic. Talking about all this makes me miss it honestly, hard ### job but I did love it. Don't miss the hours of running tho. Delivering houses at 10 pm is weird and I had a gun pulled on me in Glen mills doing that lol. When I was younger I was screwing half the chicks on my route and that made #### awkward (should have seen that coming) so I don't miss that. Great job tho, so much better than pulling trailers as far as fun factor. That's why I want to try food service one day, similar job in a big truck.

 

Man that's alot of dang stops lol. Looks like you had a good system going tho. Yea the hrs are crap I could imagine. I'm looking at foodservice myself for similar reasons but haven't found anything due to no experience.

 

You have your license already right? Call ask them about a dock to driver program, since you already can drive they could probably fast track you into a truck.

 

Will take this advice and continue to pester these companies until one submits.

 

I honestly think one will. Food service is just like beverage with the high turn over rate because most guys anymore just wanna drive a truck and not do the work. If you have to work the dock for a lil while it's whatever, still usually pays pretty well. I got bumped back in the building for a few days last week and it wasn't bad at all.