Teamster/ Union owner operator?

Back in the 60's,70's,80's,probably half the O/O,s were teamster.Everything was still regulated,hard to get your own authority,and you really didn't need it,if you used your head.Only really full independents back then were the produce guys,bull haulers,ag,timber,etc.ICC exempt haul.
I was leased to some great Teamster operations back then.Allstates/PIE/Ranger,Consolidated Freightways,and TIME-DC.Retired at Landstar/Inway Heavy Haul.Back then you would find a good agent you got along with,who moved the kind of freight you wanted to haul,and then get him to lease you on with his company.When I leased to CF,the agent had to recommend you,and then CF would do a back ground and finanicial check.If it worked out,you were hired, bonded and fingerprinted.Some Teamster locals also required lower back xrays.As a Teamster O/O you were actually a company employee,just like a CF linehaul driver,except you owned the truck and trailer,leased it back to the company.You were paid a weekly 2 check system,roughly 40% truck pay,10% trailer pay,and roughly 25%driver pay.usually around 75% total linehaul,but you also received Teamster benefits,health and welfare.Dispatch was a non forced board system,first in,first out.CF was very picky about putting trucks on,not like todays carriers,who lease a 1000 trucks on with freight for only 500. CF was the opposite,a couple of hundred O/O,s,lots of good freight.CF was huge,good reputation,and had freight everywhere,There wasn't a freight office you would go in that didn't have a CF calendar hanging on the wall,and a CF Tariff book on their shelf.They had a hell of a sales force,they didn't get huge by accident.
Back in the day when steel was king in the Midwest/East,most of the iron haulers were teamster too.But,as we know it's all changed,don't think for the better,but that's just my opinion.But,I know I made way more bottom line money back then,with rates that were higher then,than what I see guys hauling for today.In 1980,35 years ago,CF's cheapest truckload minmum flatbed rate,was $1.40 per mile,stepdeck $1.68,but most everything we hauled was still class rated,and paid much better.Good bit of the time you had at the least two truckload pays on,plus a ltl,or three.Or at the least,one truckload,and two ltl's.Some guys would just load up with all ltl's,lots of money but lots of work.Our cheapest per mile ltl rate was in the .80 cent range,dont remember exactly,but then again,most ltl shipments were class rated,that's where you could really make money.Just a more relaxed time back then,too,not like today.Glad I'm retired.

 

Way back when, before foreign manufacturers had a real presence with assembly plants on US soil there were several carriers that were O/O, and were Teamsters also. NuCar had ARCO Auto Carriers running imports out of ports. KAT or Kenosha Auto Transport ran VW, Ryder Systems had quite a few O/O's in Commercial Carriers, Complete, etc.
They paid union dues and were subject to the same seniority rights as any other member. The O/O supplied the power unit and trailer tires. The carrier put the headrack on and leased them a trailer.
They all made a ton of dough, just as any regular Teamster Carhaul driver. There was no animosity between O/O's and regular drivers, we were all solid together. I knew several way back when as they parked in the same area where I was based out of so we all hoisted beer together at the bar down the street. Not sure how their pay scale went but I do remember in the days leading up to the Carhaul strike in '85, that they were really hot over an increase in the ancillary charges they had deducted on Port units.

 

Not going to cut it in New York City, the unions are still pretty strong down there.

I thought that was how it worked, but my only union gigs have been Local 445 as a foodservice driver (Metroplex Harriman for Mc Donalds) and I forget the local but back in 96 I drove day trips and commuter runs in and out of PABT for Hudson Transit (Shortline Bus). Both of those were company positions and I did not stay more than a few weeks with either one, not for me but they got me through a few down times in car haul. Neither gig was long enough to actually qualify me for membership.

Thanks for the reply and the history lesson, I find it fascinating to learn how it used to be done. I remember a lot of the union carriers coming into my dad's truckstop in the 70's/80's, even remember him taking real good care of them, but I was too young to really understand what the stories meant. Dad has been gone 9 years this Oct 30th, so I can't ask him about the good old days anymore, and he became bitter about it after the Park Service forced him out of his business anyhow. I know Ryder and Anchor, later Leaseways, were some of his best clients as were Roadway and Yellow, right up until the Ho Chi Man Trail (US 209) closed in 1984. We even had a Roadway drop lot in our truckstop as a way for them to get around the local truck only restriction on US 209. I did road service for Leaseways into the mid 90's, last road call I remember for them was a driver at Slaerno Duane in Sussex NJ with no lights on his trailer, real nice guy but pretty clueless about his rig. Doing mobile repairs for companies like them helped with my interest in becoming a car hauler, I just went to a different market segment.

Sorry for getting off topic, just feeling nostalgic tonight.

 

HAHAHAHA Salerno Duane, Sussex. Put many a vehicle in there. Anchor put RT 23 past Sussex off limits as the junk we ran (238 Detroits) would not climb over High Point to deliver Pt. Jervis. Funny though, I made a ton of money driving that pile of junk.
Where was your Pop's truckstop?

 

On the "three lane" in between Matamoras and Milford, Pa. Truckstop is a slight stretch, but we did have fuel and 4 repair bays, heavy towing, etc. It was a Gulf station, brown pole barn. He ran it from 79 until 84, prior to that he ran the shop and wreckers for the old Pocono Queen/Pocono Tire truckstop a little closer to Milford (across from the Sparkomatic factory).
And even with modern trucks climbing up High Point from Sussex to Port Jervis is tough!

 

P.S., the Chevy dealer in Port Jervis, Ed Smith (long gone, didn't survive the reorg) was one of my high school jobs, detailed and received many cars while working there for a few years, talk about a flashback.

 

I work with a few guys that were Teamster Owner Operators in the 70's, they share some pretty interesting stories about steelworker strikes and the Teamsters honoring them. I love hearing about the history of our industry and I could listen to those guys for hours.

Present day Teamster Owner Operators are most likely few and far between, I'm an active Union Steward (I attend all meetings and am in contact with Union Officials on a weekly basis) and I haven't heard of any O/O Teamsters.

@Ruthless I'll be very interested when you get an answer. I'm going to text my Business Agent tomorrow to see if he has any information.

 

I had a couple of gigs where I had to join the teamsters way back in late 60's early seventies. One was 65% with 24% drivers check and the 41% truck check was paid monthly minus advances. Another outfit I pulled for had company drivers and we got 65% but we got a drivers check at same wage rate as company guys with a separate check for truck. Back in the day when the country was heavily unionized there were a lot of places you couldn't load/unload if you weren't a union member. I doubt there are many left. I do know there are still a few deliveries made in NY/NE that require a union card driver. Hell, I remember when Schneider was a union company

 

Delivered the Buick dealer also. I remember it being on the other side of town, old building near canoe rentals.