Leave this company or not?

Ah, I see the issue, manual labor is beneath you. You will go far in this company.

 

Do they have work for those trucks? If they're just sitting, I think you have your answer.

 

I agree with both arguments actually. Either yes they are possibly taking out your minor mishap on you, or as stated, maybe there isn't work, and you doing these jobs is better than them laying you off. Or quite possibly, they did the ole switcharoo and got you in there and seeing what they can get away with. I think I'd ask them what's up. I wouldn't go in tomorrow morning kicking the bosses office door open and asking "WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F&@$?!". But feel them out, mention you thought this was going to be a more driver oriented job and you'd be happy to train on the other specialized trucks while you have time if it is slow, so you'll be ready when it's not. Something like that. See what they say. It's a fine line though and you obviously know your boss better than anyone on here that's not employed there. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the oil, sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced. Tread lightly, keep it light even, I'm sure you'll get the answer. Hopefully it's the one you want.

 

Ah. Kick you out of that nice truck because you dinged it. Or something. Someone put you on the shovel army for a while. Maybe you will learn not to ding state trucks anymore in the future.

It's ironic though. I know exactly what role you are supposed to be playing in the overall battle plan as a crash dummy with a big pad for cars and trucks and... buses to crash into, taking YOU out.

Arent you grateful to give up your life so that others may live. /sarcastic.

I think a few days on the shovel army will be fine. Let someone else be the crash dummy.

I once witnessed first hand the State of Maryland assessing one little pot hole.

9 Am. A crew cab super visor's truck showed up. 4 men spill out. One has a white hat and clipboard. He starts barking orders. His little crew cab truck with big yellow strobe lights and piles of traffic cones in the back sprouted a lane closure in the face of rush hour. Yelling commences. Clipboard boss continues to strut around like peacock barking orders as if he was a general leading a invasion hitting the beach.

4 more yellow crew cab pickups show up. This time towing signs on trailers, enormous arrows driven by electric motors, Two were message boards. they pretty much set up on both ends of the city block, made of two strip mall type parking lots and our two gas stations on that street. the one with the pothole.

4 more crew cab DUMP TRUCKS SHOW up. Two with crash pads. Strobes everywhere. Two were loaded with blacktop. Other two were loaded with stone. Two were towing backhoe and roller paver.

While that is being unloaded, chains and straps flying, a motor grader from CAT shows up along with a spinning brush duster chugging along behind from the depot two miles down the road.

4 cars of temps show up. each one spilling out with poles stop and slow signs in one hand, coffee in the other. They deploy on the edges of the growing combat area. Mr Clipboard continues to point, bark and wave his arms. The yelling and profanity starts to creep into his language. Each increasingly bad profane word or dirty term drives his crew to faster work pace.

Three sets of painting trucks show up. Fully manned. One is the center, tanker of paint, a side cab with a man inside ready to paint lines on command. Other two were escort trucks protecting this paint tanker.

By now I am witnessing 4 more suits spill out of a company Grenada from ford, a little 4 door beater car wearing gold hardhats and all carrying a larger fancier versions of clipboards, radios festooning belts and more #### hanging out of suits inside and out.

One suit finally shows up. Arms akimbo surveying the action developing around this pot hole. By now entire street and it's 4 lanes have been reduced to one lane alternating traffic. Mr Clipboard stops barking orders and spewing profantiy. He switches to grovel and pretty flowery langauge in legalese corp speak BS designed to soothe and lull angry suit into submission... kiss kiss kiss kiss.... tsk tsk tsk.

By now it's 12. Lunch break. Everything in the area stops moving with the exception of flaggers. 6 full 15 passenger vans fill up the entire workforce and whisk them off to lunch for a hour or so.

At one sharp only then does the measuring tape comes out to measure the pothole. 2 feet by 3 feet by 2 deep past the blacktop into the realm of stone below.

Now the gas company shows up. Followed by the water company, with their own armies. A mack tractor trailer flatbed crane job shows up.... followed by a big digger and witches.

They deploy. That pothole has made to go bye bye and is turned into 3 concrete plates after 5 mixer trucks show up and pour.

Now it's 4 Pm. New shift of flaggers manage traffic around the curing cement/concrete pavement the rest of the night.

I quit counting the payroll hit to the Maryland's tax paying people for a whole days worth of all that crew and equiptment costs to do one little pothole with a spot of preventable maintance on gas and water sewer service.

disgusting.

 

If youre no content with the work, unless you are a govt employee, might be wise to look elsewhere. Goovt jobs, esp non officr jobs, arent exactly what they say. Ive done stuff not listed in my govt job title. Maybe if you look elsewhere you may get more/better hours if you arent happy with those. Not sure your area, but looking in mine so many are hiring with a large range of pay...even as low as $12