FedEx Freight Diary (ala Russian Rabbit)

A few things have led me to this.

• The company has taken significant turns that I don't like or agree with since Mike Ducker left the company in 2018
• The way the company seems to be shifting linehaul power is interesting. Since I've been on the linehaul board, it went from other service center drivers being used to cover driver shortages (vacation, call outs, overflow etc) combined with selectively picking freight to hold back (holding economy freight instead of running it etc) to now heavily staffing hub rosters and heavily utilizing them to cover power needs. For example, my run has been cut very frequently in the last month. I've been fortunate that there are drivers in my center with time to burn, or family issues that allow them to slide the run down to me, or people just flat out leaving, and so I've been working consistently. The problem? When I get back in the morning and look into the system, my run being cut usually is in the system as a "Lack of Freight", meanwhile, a hub driver is coming into my center from my bidded hub with freight. The LOF aspect is significant, because since I'm not being cut and bumped down to lower paying runs for a "Lack of Driver", the company won't pay a mileage compensation claim on it. Compound this with upper brass just writing it off as "looks like it was bad planning, sorry". The significance of hub drivers being relied upon is also significant, because now the company seems to be shifting toward "cut now, fix during the outbound after you have a clearer picture of your power needs".
• I was recently approached about considering a management position. I declined the position because it would be a $35k pay cut, transition to a worse schedule, I'd see my family less than I do running linehaul, and most importantly, the company does not focus on DEVELOPING direct reports. It was when I declined this, I realized that I am in a dead end job, albeit a well paid one. I can hack the cut in pay, but with that comes trade offs, if I'm incurring that cut in pay, I'm certainly not shifting to what I feel is a worse schedule.
• My region aside from hubs, has ZERO daytime linehaul runs. Which is becoming important to me as I befriend senior drivers in other center, guys with decades on their seniority list. More often than not, even the guys in their early 50's have visible signs of health issues, and after talking with them, I find in conversation many other underlying medical issues as well. Studies out there show that shift work has significant links to medical conditions that can't be solely attributed to lifestyle alone. I'm becoming more and more concerned about the longterm health effects of running linehaul at night. I'm shifting more into a mentality of "make time for your health, or you will be forced to".
• A driver senior to me who has been trucking since the 70's made a statement to me a while ago. "Work to live, don't live to work". While I take what he says as almost trucking gospel, I never really thought much about this statement. I spend way too much time at work, a lot of it, when on my bid, is napping. I'd rather be napping at home or being productive. My run now that I am topped out is a $99,208/yr run. Which means that with my average shift time of around 13.6 hours, I am pulling in $28/hr for all hours across a 52 week period, and that is assuming I don't sit at home due to the ebb and flow of freight and the economy. I'd rather pull $28/hr during the daytime and see overtime being a part of the equation.
• The effects on my family have been noticeable. While I am blessed to have an incredibly supportive and loyal wife, I see it in her eyes when she asks me to go do something with her and the kids during the day, but I can't because I'm exhausted and need to get adequate sleep for the next run. My oldest, most recently asked if I could take him to karate this last week. Of course, I had to tell him I couldn't because I would risk being late to work. His response? "You've never been able to go to one night of karate with me". That was an absolute dagger in my heart, because karate is one of those things he does that he has a pure passion for, and I am not able to share his joy with him.
• The seniority system at FXF benefits those who are not interested in moving at any point in the future, and punishes those who are. So, 5 years from now, I could be on the same lane, with a better bid sequence running an average of 10-10.5 hours a night instead, but since I don't want to live in the Northeast forever, when I move out west I'll be forced to endure going to the bottom of the list, along with all the pains of being on the bottom and the risk of not working consistently or even working at all.

The bottom line, I have a family to support, but I've come to realize that the financial support I provide is only a piece of the puzzle. My kids are very young, and I also have one on the way. My wife, God bless her; works tirelessly to maintain the home and keep our kids busy and help them grow. I feel terrible that I am minimal in that process because of the ongoing battle to maintain a sleep and energy level so that I am not a fatigue hazard at work.

I can scale back on the liberties I've taken on this income, even as a sole financial provider. But the scale back that I take, also comes with significant gains in being in my family's life, improving and maintaining my health and being happier overall. I love the money I make, but in the long run, it isn't worth the sacrifices needed to get it.

 

This is the sticking point to me. When I started running linehaul here, I kept thinking to myself, man, why are they paying an exorbitant amount of money to drive in a straight line? Well, time has helped answer that.

 

Bingo, we as nighttime linehaul drivers are really excluded from the realities of life, especially being near the bottom of the board.

 

Had my name in the volunteer system with Central this week since Monday. Called this morning to see if they had anything.

"Looks like a driver from ABC is bringing freight to DEF"
"Why is ABC driver bringing freight to DEF, when I am in the volunteer system AND domiciled at DEF."
"I don't know, I can't do anything about it now, though."
::click::

Welcome to FedEx Freight, where the points don't matter and the rules are made up.