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ABF | UE runs

canaryinthemine said:
I know I don't want to work an extra 15 hours a week......... I don't even want an extra 5 or 6 hours,.
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That's because you're a cantankerous old man like me. Back in my day I'd have eaten something like that up. Excessive OT is addressed in our contract and, accordingly, should be handled by our union...I'm sure Ernie will be all over it! I have always been an advocate for additional monetary penalties for anything over 10 in a work day. If we were to receive double, double and a half or triple time for excessive OT it would be a whole lot easier to swallow...it might even make it desirable and it might just provide that incentive that the employer needs to hire more people and allocate work differently.
 
vongrimmenstein said:
Congrats on your up coming retirement. You have earned it. Tread lightly, no injuries. And on the last day clock in & don't do a thing but meet & greet. What, they gonna fire you for not taking your run. It's tradition in a lot of companies. Last day is a free skate number. von.
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Thank you Bro. Von. I've been playing that " What are they going to do, fire me?" card for about 2 months already......... Only another 2 months to go.

Besides, most people think I'm retired already, and ABF is just letting me drive the truck around........
 
ABFer said:
That's because you're a cantankerous old man like me. Back in my day I'd have eaten something like that up. Excessive OT is addressed in our contract and, accordingly, should be handled by our union...I'm sure Ernie will be all over it! I have always been an advocate for additional monetary penalties for anything over 10 in a work day. If we were to receive double, double and a half or triple time for excessive OT it would be a whole lot easier to swallow...it might even make it desirable and it might just provide that incentive that the employer needs to hire more people and allocate work differently.
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Cantankerous is right! Cranky as hell if I don't get my two hour nap after lunch........

Wife already went to the Mack junkyard and bought an old steering wheel. She's going to mount it on the living room couch so that when I retire, I can take my naps at home comfortably........
 
canaryinthemine said:
She's going to mount it on the living room couch so that when I retire, I can take my naps at home comfortably........
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Don't you mean, "uncomfortably"? How are you getting a comfortable nap in these trucks? Please share your secret. I am eligible for Worker's Compensation trips to the chiropractor for my back cramps after my lunchtime nap!
 
canaryinthemine said:
Thank you Bro. Von. I've been playing that " What are they going to do, fire me?" card for about 2 months already......... Only another 2 months to go.

Besides, most people think I'm retired already, and ABF is just letting me drive the truck around........
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See there, they really are the fools by letting you play that way. In your case, thank God we can't accuse them of being smart. von.
 
canaryinthemine said:
Cantankerous is right! Cranky as hell if I don't get my two hour nap after lunch........

Wife already went to the Mack junkyard and bought an old steering wheel. She's going to mount it on the living room couch so that when I retire, I can take my naps at home comfortably........
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Don't forget the sound track that has the jake brake song. Perfect to play around 3AM. Momma gonna love ya even more, or not. von.
 
ABFer said:
Don't you mean, "uncomfortably"? How are you getting a comfortable nap in these trucks? Please share your secret. I am eligible for Worker's Compensation trips to the chiropractor for my back cramps after my lunchtime nap!
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If you take your left arm and thread it through one side of the wheel and back out,........ and take your right arm and kind of pile it around your neck as you pillow your left cheek (face cheek) on the bottom-most spoke of the wheel,..... and wait until your entire head goes numb from the pinched nerves in your neck,.......... usually you can get a good two hours' nap that way.

The only problem is that when you wake up, it takes your eyes about 20 minutes before they focus together....... There's quite a bit of tingling as the blood starts rushing back into your brain,....... some people might find that startling,...... but I've always quietly enjoyed it.

Try not to sleep with your forehead on the center of the wheel........ The "Mack" emblem takes most of the day to fade out, and some people think that the mark on your forehead is some sort of truck driver's religious rite of passage......,
 
canaryinthemine said:
As I'm going to retire in two months , I gave up the steward's position I had for 16 years, and one of the biggest future problems that me and the new steward had talked about was our UE run going to 5 days.

Now that it is 5 days, the work week is about 55 - 57 hours. Of course, the company has no problem paying overtime after 8. The problem isn't the money....... it's the time.

If you're divorced or single, and have no home or family life, then of course you want this run. However, not everyone fits that description, and as some of the older guys who have these runs retire....... ( or other...),.... then these runs will be forced on the bottom of the board, as per language in Art. 3. sec. 7. State of Penna. currently does not deny Unemployment Compensation to anyone who refuses a job where they are required to work crossing state lines. The money is......"nice"....... but there are many guys who only want to run the city and won't/can't run the road at night.

Sooner or later, one of these jobs are going to be forced on a guy and cause a divorce. These are road runs, plain and simple, and should not be forced off the bottom of the city board.

I haven't heard of any current UE guy complaining about the excessive overtime, even though they are setting up run conditions that other, junior employees are going to get jammed down their throats.

I know I don't want to work an extra 15 hours a week......... I don't even want an extra 5 or 6 hours,...... but sometimes it's inevitable..,... This is trucking, ........

But I regard a bid that's designed to produce an extra 15 hours of overtime a week as an abuse of overtime......( In my opinion, a penalty your employer pays for keeping your CDL license at risk longer than eight hours..)
........And, an abuse of what should be a road bid......

Hey, guys voted yes for this........Only in trucking ......I don't see train engineers or airline pilots accepting excessive overtime like this...
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Good points ALL, canary. Trucking has a very high divorce rate, and the reason is obvious: we're never home! I've wanted to file on the Excessive Overtime clause for YEARS at my barn, but nobody else wants to go along with it. And our 'shop steward' doesn't seem the slightest bit interested. It's pretty sad when nobody wants to back each other up, and I'm not going to be the only one filing...strength in numbers.

I'm tired of the late nights. I don't want or need the OT at this point in my life. And, like you say...this is trucking, and there will be OT on occasion...I understand that. But the 10, 11, 12..sometimes 13-hour days have to stop. Been married 30 years. My wife is sick of it, and so am I.
 
Trucker 206 said:
Good points ALL, canary. Trucking has a very high divorce rate, and the reason is obvious: we're never home! I've wanted to file on the Excessive Overtime clause for YEARS at my barn, but nobody else wants to go along with it. And our 'shop steward' doesn't seem the slightest bit interested. It's pretty sad when nobody wants to back each other up, and I'm not going to be the only one filing...strength in numbers.

I'm tired of the late nights. I don't want or need the OT at this point in my life. And, like you say...this is trucking, and there will be OT on occasion...I understand that. But the 10, 11, 12..sometimes 13-hour days have to stop. Been married 30 years. My wife is sick of it, and so am I.
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I understand that distinctly, Brother. Working......... or worse, volunteering to work excessive overtime ,......... in my opinion, all you're doing is saving up for that solid gold coffin to be buried in.

A number of years ago , we filed a grievance on the excessive overtime with the formula in the contract to bring guys back off of layoff. The companies' reaction was the same as if I had yanked their liver out with a claw hammer. They couldn't believe we all didn't want to work 13 hour days, while our two bottom men day at home on layoff.....

Needless to say, after a few weeks, those guys were back.........And we still we're getting 13 hour days.......
 
Time was my biggest complaint at ABF. There was none of it. At all. No set schedule, no life. Bid runs kept getting cut. I was told when I hired on, after two years I'd have a bid. As the bids were cut, I went five years with no bid.

As a rookie, an older driver told me, "You may as well forget about life outside those green trucks." It sounded lucrative and exciting. How quickly that wore off.

And now it's Monday-Friday, weekends off...Not making as much money at the moment, but I don't care. Eventually I'll make more. ABF was rough on life. I don't miss anything about it.

Good luck working this out. I don't see much hope, but I'm pulling for you.
 
LTLAnonymous said:
And now it's Monday-Friday, weekends off...Not making as much money at the moment, but I don't care. Eventually I'll make more. ABF was rough on life. I don't miss anything about it.
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Congratulations on taking control of your life and doing what is right for yourself. Most drivers think that they're stuck where they are.
 
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