Estes | Bring on the UNION !!!!

if you are waiting for a load and the terminal has told you to be there for a certain time.....isn't that on duty not driving..????
 
if you are waiting for a load and the terminal has told you to be there for a certain time.....isn't that on duty not driving..????
It all depends on which way you like to play the game. Just tell them..... "Call me when my set is hooked and pointed towards the gate with the lights wiped off and fresh rubber seals on the glad hands. Oh! And be sure to drop the trailer slightly below the 5th wheel height so I don't get a callus or overexert myself." That all that needs to be said to make sure yo don't get the dreaded bench time.
 
Bringing Estes under a low cost Union

I have had people ask me in the past about helping start a union for Estes Express Lines. But I didn't feel interest was high enough to warrant investing alot of time and money.

It seems like conditions for many have gotten more stressful recently. I get alot of complaints from dock workers and truck drivers. And it seems like a few supervisors as well.

I have listened to many people's complaints about unions with other companies.

I am new to this site. And I am basically going to be here, taking notes, listening to complaints, listening to how you percieve management and how management is running things, checking about unethical practices and such.

I would like to try to set up a union that provides more benefits than what most unions do. I want a project I can feel good about. When I meet God someday, I want Him to to tell me I did good. I don't want to be responsible for underhanded deals that hurt the company or the workers. I want to create a union, which after it is created, actualy helps the company as a whole.

I will be upfront about a few things. I do not believe in a union which protects lazy employees. It will eventually hurt the entire company.

I would like to see drivers compensated if they have to wait for loads. Here you are, waiting around, not getting paid, and every hour you stay awake before you go out on the road, means you will not be as fresh and as alert when you hit that road. Yes, initially you are fine for the first 6 or so hours. But what about the last couple? If you had left earlier, maybe those last couple of hours you were on the road wouldn't be so rough? And I feel like things can be done to insure you don't have to wait as much.

Much of many companies problems can be attributed to management and their ability to plan and problem solve.

So what I'm looking to do with this union, is force the owner of the company to re-evaluate the people he has in place and their methods.

What I seem to be hearing from people is that upper management does alot of whip cracking, yet they never come up with reasonable solutions. Obviously from emails I recieve and conversations I have with people, your work environment sounds miserable.

Work doesn't have to be a place you like. But when you do a good job, you should feel respected. There are times when you push yourself hard for this company, and they treat you with disrespect, like they forgot what it was like to actually be on the road or working on the dock.

The company seems to use archaic systems, when there are faster and more efficient systems. They want you to work at a certain speed, yet they won't provide you with equipment to make the production more achievable. How can they hold one terminal which is well equiped to the same standard as an ill-equiped one?

I'm still trying to formulate exactly what all functions and benefits the union will provide. But I was thinking of just trying to keep it very basic, help you have a little more strength in your voice and help good workers feel more secure. Force management to change things it needs to change. There are just practical things Estes should do out of the sake of courtesy. ANd alot of times, when a company does the right thing, it is not only good for the worker, but good for the company as well.

The main goal of me being here is just to gather information about the problems people see, and forming a union that helps alleviate those problems.

Thank you for reading this.
 
By the way, I did feel like there is enough interest in a union to go ahead and hire a staff to start building a website. EstesExpressLinesUnion

Thanks to the many people who have helped getthis started
 
Bills Per Hour

I don't know how many dock workers come to this site. But I hear a ton of people complaining about Bills-Per-Hour and it causing alot of stress. It doesn't sound like a very comprehensive system of determining how good of a worker someone is off of merely counting Bills-Per-Hour.

Doesn't this lead to damages? Do they penalize anyone for not bracing freight in? What if someone runs a skid in a trailer that hasn't been recouped? Do they catch this?

When they give out breaks, is each trailer loaded the same way? Do get a wide variety of shipments? If so, doesn't it take longer to move some orders than others? When they give out trailers to break, is it random luck of the draw? Or do they make sure each person does a certain amount of each kind of trailer?

Are their air hoses by the doors of each terminal? Or do some people have to use an air bag machine at some?

Are all terminals on a Bills-Per-Hour system?
 
Oh, and I think I also have the ultimate ace in the hole that goes beyond drivers and dock workers. And even supervisors.

The company has made so many people mad. In so many departments. And the more I dig into this, it seems like upper level management is really out of touch. I actually thought this union was going to be alot harder to start. The things I am reading on these boards and other places is unbelievable.

I bet your company doesn't realize in todays age, how easy it is to start a union. Then you compound it with such obviously inept management at the highest levels. No wonder you folks are so angry.

If your management keeps this up, I could have you guys unionized in maybe a month or two. With the internet and all these social networks, a union can be set up so fast. Especially with so many disgruntled people.
 
I bet your company doesn't realize in todays age, how easy it is to start a union.

I bet the IBT doesn't either, maybe you could package your vast unionizing resume into a "Rich Organizer/Poor Organizer" seminar and cassette tape series and sell it to them. May we have some examples of the trucking companies you have organized recently? Based on your countless (unsolicited?) e-mails and info here on the internetz you have ole Rob by the nuggets so why bother directing us to your under construction website? Or much simpler, just follow the rules of this forum and take this to the Union/Non-Union debate forum. Or keep it here and we'll digitally lance each other til a Mod gets involved.

Disclaimer: I lost interest in this board some time ago, so I've just checked in from time to time to see what the old hands were up to....but this is rich.
 
Hello DD. Welcome back. These threads have been doing ok so far so I've been letting them ride.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome back boys. Your funeral Mildew. After thinkin on it a bit and rereading I'm a little suspicious of a possible fishing expedition by an eager up n comer looking to put a feather in his career.
 
I wouldn't worry as long as you're getting paid for work you ACTUALLY do. Anyway, pre-hooked sets(aka pre-strung sets) are the way to go. What do you want to do next, work on their equipment??? ..lol Be safe. :-)
 
I wouldn't worry as long as you're getting paid for work you ACTUALLY do. Anyway, pre-hooked sets(aka pre-strung sets) are the way to go. What do you want to do next, work on their equipment??? ..lol Be safe. :-)
We are a well ran company. Personally, it would bother me a little getting paid for having my feet up in the arm chair at the motel. It would add a whole lot of stress to a laid back company. Theirs really not enough money in trucking for that kind of stuff and I like the way things are going here. We have a screwy seniority system but that's something that can work itself out in the future. We still get paid for hooking our sets but we just have less sets to hook. That's a good thing. At $7.50 per set. Its a pay increase in my book.
 
Good googly moogly..Make $450a week on drop and hooks..Wonder the whole place afloat..What happened to working to earn money
 
Thanks for the warm welcome back boys. Your funeral Mildew. After thinkin on it a bit and rereading I'm a little suspicious of a possible fishing expedition by an eager up n comer looking to put a feather in his career.

exactly what I was thinking
 
It's nothing. Some idiot on the cb radio would have a better shot of organizing... Trust me.
 
It's nothing. Some idiot on the cb radio would have a better shot of organizing... Trust me.

Ha! That dude could give some high school kid $50 and have a much better under-construction website. But a smart kid would show him his card and tell him about the overtime after 8 and pension he'd need to begin work on it!

Where are the masses of disgruntled Big E drivers about to go 'postal'? Out of the last roughly 10 drivers I've talked to in person lately, 1 was indifferent (not angry), and 9 were pretty damn happy. Most said 'I wouldn't go anywhere else'. With all the whiners in this industry, I'd say that's a helluva good average (and a big reason I wanna get on there). He should talk to the guys in my company. 100% disgruntled. Just not enough potential dues to make him rich...
 
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