Should I make a switch with jobs

Stay where you are to be with your family. Re examine your budget to see where you can make adjustments. Family first....

 

I am going to be blunt, why screw up a good thing?

Stay where you are, it isn't always about money.

Who said you would make $100k?

I know others claim it, it is true for most but they ain't YOU.

You have one accident, you have one incident, and then what?

$70k?

Cut back on your expenses, get into routines that are beneficial to the family, don't go overboard with spending on stupid stuff and live within your means.

 

Idk how you grocery guys do it. I’d lose my mind going five mph under the speed limit and doing nothing but bumping docks breaking seals and waiting. Same thing day in and out. Only time I actually seen y'all actually move is when the entire country had supply chain issues. Shelves were empty so it was go time!

 

The worst part of grocery hauling is dealing the store employees and managers. They're the village idiots.

 

I worked in grocery right out of high school and did some merchandising for Pepsi later on and I can confirm you are correct!!

 

I delivered to a store in Georgia that took about half the trailer load. Was preparing to leave when some mentally deficient bag boy started screaming that I didn't load the empty pallets on the trailer. I explained to him that as soon as I made my next delivery, I'd be back to load the pallets. It wouldn't have been out of route by more than a mile. I explained the problem would be making the next stop with stacks of pallets in the way. He kept screaming and waving his arms, then ran to get the store manager. The idiot store manager told me to load the pallets.
So, I put the empty pallets on the trailer, then sold them on my way to the next delivery. Put some nice tax-free cash in my pocket.

 

LTL companies are for the most good jobs but really only after you get about 5 years of seniority.The first year could really be hit or miss running on a extra board LTL for new guys are very much based on the economy if it’s good you will do alright.if it’s not guy’s will quit because of not enough money to live on.

 

Wonder why they don’t keep the drivers

 

Im not going to read all 6 pages of this, but I read the last 2, so if this has been addressed, Im sorry.

First of all, UNION shop, UNION retirement. ESTES has a 401k. Is a GOOD 401k to be sure, but its still a 401k vs UNION retirement which usually includes medical insurance. Dont count that out lightly.

Second, who told you you wont be working weekends at ESTES? It, like pretty much everywhere else, is seniority. Low man gets the #### jobs, and that INCLUDES weekends. So another thing you need to look at is how OLD are the senior guys? If they are in their 40s-50s (which was my case in Minneapolis), you got 20-30 years of sitting behind them. When I went to USF Holland (UNION company, and I came FROM ESTES) a while back part of the reason I did it was well over 75% of the guys there were in their 60s...

Since you mentioned motels, that tells me you are looking at linehaul. One of the reasons I left ESTES was for the last couple months I was there they were running me on the clean-up run. Typical day: Hook to a pre-hooked set in Minneapolis, take it to Milwaulkee (usually an empty on the rear). Break them down and spot the trailer on the dock, and hook a set, take that to Rockford (usually with the same empty). Break that, spot the trailer, hook a set to Chicago. Drop the set, hook another set, and run that back up to Rockford. Break that set, spot both trailers, hook another set and take that to Lincolnshire (north side of Chicago). Break that set, spot them, hook ANOTHER set, and back to Chicago where I get to just drop them and head to the motel 6 (REAL fleabag hotel).

Lets count them... 1 Mpls. 4 Mil. 4 Rock. 3 Chi. 4 Rock. 4 Linc. 1 Chi = 17 trailers I cranked up or down (average was 10 a day to tell the truth). My right shoulder STILL hurts (seriously) 9 years later. I will probably have to have surgery to get it right.

I loved ESTES, but be careful. And if you live on or near the east coast, I have heard horror stories about doing the "I-95 crawl". Thats where you spend 10 hours driving 400 miles and hitting 5 terminals as you go. When I left ESTES had I think 143 terminals. I have been to 73 of them... I was there 2 years...