Rumourweed
TB Lurker
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Mr. Johnson,
For as long as I can remember it has always been a staunch rule at Estes Express that a driver who is on a bid run can keep that run until it is discontinued or he/she bids off on another run. All drivers understood it and accepted it and ALL agreed to it and thought it was one of the great benefits of working at Estes Express.
A few years ago the drivers voted on whether all runs should be rebid and we voted it down and the company accepted it. All drivers were satisfied save those who joined Estes from union companies after theirs went under. We were very pleased that the driver was allowed to participate and give our voice in this decision.
Last year there was a rumor going around that all runs would be up for rebid. You yourself issued a memo stating that it was a rumor and that Estes would stand by its policy that no runs would ever be rebid. We, the drivers, took you at your word.
Today we hear, and read, through a leaked corporate memo, (yes, most drivers have read the two page memo and have a copy) that ALL RUNS will be up for bid beginning Thanksgiving week and many drivers are in a panic as their lives, along with that of their families, will be severely disrupted and shows severe disloyalty on the part of corporate in that they will not keep their promises to their drivers. How do you expect drivers to believe anything that corporate says after this and if this policy is made permanent?
I remember back in around 2000 when many runs were cut/eliminated due to the sagging economy. Many drivers, whose runs were cut, were not happy with it, but understood it and accepted it as a corporate rule and policy as that's the way it has always been. Today, many of my fellow drivers are not willing to accept this new policy as it is completely incomprehensible and goes against everything Estes ever stood for as we do not even have a say or a vote. It's as if we do not exist anymore and are expendible.
Also, the garbage memo that has been posted at all terminals completely eliminates the paragraph that "all runs will be up for rebid". What's up with that? Is this some BS that corporate is trying to shove down the throats of gullible drivers by eliminating that so important paragraph when many drivers have seen the original memo? This new policy WILL NOT, as I mentioned above, make drivers lives better but will disrupt them and make drivers bitter/untrustworthy towards the company for not keeping their promises. Also, 90% of drivers are home on the weekends anyway so why feed us the propaganda that it will be good for the drivers to be at home on the weekends with their families? We are not that dumb thank you.
How can you say from one side of your mouth, that we, as a company have done well because of the dedication of the drivers and then, from the other side of your mouth, screw the drivers by putting all scheduled runs up for rebid with not so much as an ounce of input from the very people that keep Estes a success? This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the very people you say are vital to Estes' survival and have made you a success and that is us, the drivers.
Sure, it is understandable that changing times and a sagging economy require changes, some drastic, but to completely eliminate the driver, the backbone of the company, from any participation or voice in the matter goes beyond belief and the long term ramifications for the company as a whole, in terms of driver loyalty, etc will not be good I am afraid as, from what I am hearing, many drivers will no longer go "the extra step or mile" for the corporation as why should they when we were royally screwed and the company didn't go the extra mile for us? If you take a poll, I believe many drivers would glady give up their raise to stay on their run as many will lose theirs including myself who has been on the same run for more than 8 years.
This policy will now force me to take a run from a driver with less senority and who will now probably not be able to be at home with his family during the week as he/she may not get a bid run due to lack of seniority. This, I'm afraid will force some families into more hardships and at more cost to the family due to the fact that the father/mother is now not at home to take the family to school or be there when the kids come from home while one parent is working. This may even cause some to put their kids into afterschool daycare and will cause a severe financial distress to them in a sagging economy. How is this beneficial to the drivers? Has the company even thought about this?
Some drivers are even rumoring that this is being put into effect to save the "old timers" from losing their runs that will be cut so that they may "steal" runs from those with less seniority so they will not have to run wild. I doin't know the truth as nobody does, but I do know that the rumors are flying. When rumors like this fly throughout a company it is not good.
Should this policy be put into effect and made permanent without driver input, I would like to suggest some cost saving measures to Corporate: Please stop printing the Estonian and distributing the CD's and DVD's as they will mean nothing anymore. Nothing ever will be believed that is written or said from a company that USED to put its drivers first above all else and I will just toss them in the trash as it will be nothing but corporate propaganda to me as well as to many of my fellow drivers. And this is coming from a driver of more than a decade who would do anything for the company as I have done many times in the past, but no longer. You will only get what is required of me and nothing more and I do not belive I am alone in this thinking.
Mr. Johnson, you can delete this e-mail or you can take it seriously, the choice is yours. But coming from someone with extensive management experience, it would unwise of Estes Express lines to go ahead with this policy without driver input and just "hope for the best" as many companies have done in the past. I am afraid it will just come back to bite the company in the butt later on and, in the long run, will be detrimential to the future success of Estes Express Lines.
I wonder if the "old man", if he were still alive today, would even consider such a drastic measure without driver input. Somehow I feel he would not even consider it as he always put the driver and their welfare first.
Than you for your time.
A Concerned Driver
For as long as I can remember it has always been a staunch rule at Estes Express that a driver who is on a bid run can keep that run until it is discontinued or he/she bids off on another run. All drivers understood it and accepted it and ALL agreed to it and thought it was one of the great benefits of working at Estes Express.
A few years ago the drivers voted on whether all runs should be rebid and we voted it down and the company accepted it. All drivers were satisfied save those who joined Estes from union companies after theirs went under. We were very pleased that the driver was allowed to participate and give our voice in this decision.
Last year there was a rumor going around that all runs would be up for rebid. You yourself issued a memo stating that it was a rumor and that Estes would stand by its policy that no runs would ever be rebid. We, the drivers, took you at your word.
Today we hear, and read, through a leaked corporate memo, (yes, most drivers have read the two page memo and have a copy) that ALL RUNS will be up for bid beginning Thanksgiving week and many drivers are in a panic as their lives, along with that of their families, will be severely disrupted and shows severe disloyalty on the part of corporate in that they will not keep their promises to their drivers. How do you expect drivers to believe anything that corporate says after this and if this policy is made permanent?
I remember back in around 2000 when many runs were cut/eliminated due to the sagging economy. Many drivers, whose runs were cut, were not happy with it, but understood it and accepted it as a corporate rule and policy as that's the way it has always been. Today, many of my fellow drivers are not willing to accept this new policy as it is completely incomprehensible and goes against everything Estes ever stood for as we do not even have a say or a vote. It's as if we do not exist anymore and are expendible.
Also, the garbage memo that has been posted at all terminals completely eliminates the paragraph that "all runs will be up for rebid". What's up with that? Is this some BS that corporate is trying to shove down the throats of gullible drivers by eliminating that so important paragraph when many drivers have seen the original memo? This new policy WILL NOT, as I mentioned above, make drivers lives better but will disrupt them and make drivers bitter/untrustworthy towards the company for not keeping their promises. Also, 90% of drivers are home on the weekends anyway so why feed us the propaganda that it will be good for the drivers to be at home on the weekends with their families? We are not that dumb thank you.
How can you say from one side of your mouth, that we, as a company have done well because of the dedication of the drivers and then, from the other side of your mouth, screw the drivers by putting all scheduled runs up for rebid with not so much as an ounce of input from the very people that keep Estes a success? This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the very people you say are vital to Estes' survival and have made you a success and that is us, the drivers.
Sure, it is understandable that changing times and a sagging economy require changes, some drastic, but to completely eliminate the driver, the backbone of the company, from any participation or voice in the matter goes beyond belief and the long term ramifications for the company as a whole, in terms of driver loyalty, etc will not be good I am afraid as, from what I am hearing, many drivers will no longer go "the extra step or mile" for the corporation as why should they when we were royally screwed and the company didn't go the extra mile for us? If you take a poll, I believe many drivers would glady give up their raise to stay on their run as many will lose theirs including myself who has been on the same run for more than 8 years.
This policy will now force me to take a run from a driver with less senority and who will now probably not be able to be at home with his family during the week as he/she may not get a bid run due to lack of seniority. This, I'm afraid will force some families into more hardships and at more cost to the family due to the fact that the father/mother is now not at home to take the family to school or be there when the kids come from home while one parent is working. This may even cause some to put their kids into afterschool daycare and will cause a severe financial distress to them in a sagging economy. How is this beneficial to the drivers? Has the company even thought about this?
Some drivers are even rumoring that this is being put into effect to save the "old timers" from losing their runs that will be cut so that they may "steal" runs from those with less seniority so they will not have to run wild. I doin't know the truth as nobody does, but I do know that the rumors are flying. When rumors like this fly throughout a company it is not good.
Should this policy be put into effect and made permanent without driver input, I would like to suggest some cost saving measures to Corporate: Please stop printing the Estonian and distributing the CD's and DVD's as they will mean nothing anymore. Nothing ever will be believed that is written or said from a company that USED to put its drivers first above all else and I will just toss them in the trash as it will be nothing but corporate propaganda to me as well as to many of my fellow drivers. And this is coming from a driver of more than a decade who would do anything for the company as I have done many times in the past, but no longer. You will only get what is required of me and nothing more and I do not belive I am alone in this thinking.
Mr. Johnson, you can delete this e-mail or you can take it seriously, the choice is yours. But coming from someone with extensive management experience, it would unwise of Estes Express lines to go ahead with this policy without driver input and just "hope for the best" as many companies have done in the past. I am afraid it will just come back to bite the company in the butt later on and, in the long run, will be detrimential to the future success of Estes Express Lines.
I wonder if the "old man", if he were still alive today, would even consider such a drastic measure without driver input. Somehow I feel he would not even consider it as he always put the driver and their welfare first.
Than you for your time.
A Concerned Driver
Please , some old timer on a gravy run to Fla has NO CLUE.