UPS Freight Diary:

i "heard" that some terminals start off at $22 because they can't find anyone?

 

Do you mean TO strike? Or NOT to strike?

 

What happened is i DID go back to working city one week last month because we got backed up because of the snow and also because i could get a break from night shift.

But i wanted to post the check to illustrate that if one did get enough hours, one could get close or even match/exceed would you could make running linehaul. Some people have trouble working nights/sleeping during day. Myself included to a certain extent; Will comment on this in another thread.

But it's a tradeoff:
Do you want to put up with sometimes rude and/or slow and/or highly annoying customers. Inside deliveries (some difficult). Residentials, and anyone who has ever done a residential knows it can be tight. Then the m-truckers want YOU to bring THEIR stuff into THEIR basement (although sometimes they do tip---i'd say 50% of the time).
Horrendous traffic (depends on city)
Bicycles coming from EVERY direction. Again depends on city, but if you could picture a clock, then bicycles can and do come in at EVERY possible angle. And depending on the city, the bicyclists DON'T follow traffic rules, they make up their own.
Pedestrians who think they own the street and take their time and/or don't pay attention.
RUSH RUSH RUSH, PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE-----gotta make the pickups AND delivery appointments!!!! NUMBERS!
Also, depending on terminal, your tractor may or may not be raggedy; Linehaul ALWAYS gets the new equipment. (Note: some of our city tractors have 800,000 to over a million miles on them..........)
Sleep normally.
OR
Would you rather pretty much just drive, listen to music/podcasts and eat. Not have any traffic whatsover
Never any rush; Even when we do have hot/or next day freight, it's still not a rush coz they know how long it takes to get from terminal to terminal.
Everything is so laidback. i'd say 20% of the time i don't even break or setup my trailers. The jockey does that.
You always get the latest and greatest tractors(NEW). With air conditioning so cold you have to turn it down. Not that you would need it, cos it's cool at night.
$$$ BIG MONEY $$$$

But, you have to work at night.............

 

UPDATE:

richmond terminal is beginning to tick me off...............

1) The new terminal "manager" at richmond is a LYING (EDITED ENDING WITH A "T" )

a) She can't handle the pressure so she blames the subordinate employees:
Now, isn't this just sad.

b) There is a queen bee syndrome that is unfortunately prevalent at richmond, which unfortunately includes SOME, NOT ALL, BUT SOME other female "managers." (Not that the male "managers" don't have their heads up their culus either...........)

c) It really pains me to say all this, but this is a diary and i'm telling it like it is. Really, i believe teamwork and unity is the best way and THE ONLY WAY.
Let this be a notice to all of our competitors:
If you're getting along with your managers and co-workers, then your company will be unstoppable and we'll be left in the dust............. i mean FedEx has already overtaken us as the highest paying LTL'er company.

d) Lord, keep me away from this wretched, decaying, cesspool excuse for a terminal......

2) On a brighter note, i'm/we're running our tails off; Freight is raining from the sky (At least the sales staff is doing their job correctly.....) More miles than we can physically and legally handle.

These two checks do not necessarily reflect this because i was on vacation for one week, but the upcoming checks should reflect this overflowsion of freight:




3) My brand new '18 Liner got snatched away from me due to seniority reasons. i'm not complaining because the replacement, despite having over 900,000 on the clock does the job as good if not better.