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ABF | Abf North Little Rock, Ar Terminal Advise.

ABFer said:
Are you trying to scare him away?
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Maybe you're right. Let him witness the dregs of humanity at it's worst firsthand. He can finally find out what the term "lumper" means,......and he can add it to his other synonyms for "vermin".........
 
ABFer said:
The answer is, "yes they will", but they will send him to their own school for polishing. Then he is obligated for a while or he has to reimburse them for the schooling.
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I remember when they closed the school. The company at one time had high standards & required two years experience & a ticket could disqualify you. With the rest of the trucking industry increasing wages the difference in pay has narrowed. The company peed in it's own canteen the last contract with the vacation policy. It's difficult to attract good employees when a new hire has to wait two years for a vacation. The company never had to advertise for applicants especially at the NLR terminal.
I will caution anybody applying not try to hide anything. If you have had a traffic violation then put it on the application. The company has passed over an applicant once but hired that person later if they were truthful.
 
Hah! Peed in their own canteen is right! And the corporate people haven't a clue...,...Incrementally, the ability to hire will worsen, until about five years from now ,they'll be moaning about how the temp agencies like Labor Ready can't provide good qualified CDL drivers....

And they'll wonder why their reputation for quality has evaporated like a puddle in the sun........Look at the truckload side.....Your three biggest carriers in truckload have turnover rates of 95%.......and there isn't a truck driver with more than two years experience will touch those three with the proverbial ten foot pole......

Going to be a helluva thing when ABF becomes the JB Hunt of LTL.
 
Do everything in your power to be a UPS feeder driver. You might have to get laid off and be at the bottom for years, but you will be very happy down the road
 
I am actively looking for jobs in regional LTL, the pay is lower to start but will work its way up over a few years. I am not as impressed with abf as I thought I would be.
 
Well for one the purchased transportation, even though that was something we voted in. I was hired a month before the contract was ratified, so had no opportunity to vote.

Not a huge fan of my terminal management. We have been losing some accounts because the dispatcher can't get a driver up there when they call in a pickup.

And all the logistics acquisitions while the employees are on a give back. It's just things like that.

When I applied I thought this was the creme de la crème place to work. But it doesn't seem that way. It's not terrible, however I just don't feel like I am very proud of where I work.
 
norcal10 said:
Well for one the purchased transportation, even though that was something we voted in. I was hired a month before the contract was ratified, so had no opportunity to vote.

Not a huge fan of my terminal management. We have been losing some accounts because the dispatcher can't get a driver up there when they call in a pickup.

And all the logistics acquisitions while the employees are on a give back. It's just things like that.

When I applied I thought this was the creme de la crème place to work. But it doesn't seem that way. It's not terrible, however I just don't feel like I am very proud of where I work.
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Same issues at my place that's why I asked. They still want the filet mingot of the industry but are only willing to pay hot dog prices....
 
norcal10 said:
Well for one the purchased transportation, even though that was something we voted in. I was hired a month before the contract was ratified, so had no opportunity to vote.

Not a huge fan of my terminal management. We have been losing some accounts because the dispatcher can't get a driver up there when they call in a pickup.

And all the logistics acquisitions while the employees are on a give back. It's just things like that.

When I applied I thought this was the creme de la crème place to work. But it doesn't seem that way. It's not terrible, however I just don't feel like I am very proud of where I work.
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Losing recent hires to the competition is really making a statement. Good luck in finding what makes you comfortable, you are right, this place does not stand up to its reputation and it is making itself a new one.
 
Getting into UPS package as a feeder driver, off the street, is as difficult as it gets to get a good job. They have to satisfy their 6 to 1 hiring ratio of inside promotions and hirings before an outsider can be hired. I think they also want a minimum of 2 years verifiable experience and next to no accidents or tickets within the last 3 years. When you go online to fill out the application, you have to answer the qualifying questions before it approves you to fill out the application. I did the seasonal gig this past Christmas and I loved it. If a FT spot opened up where they can hire and outsider, I'm on it like white on rice. Until then, I'll keep humping my residentials on a beat up liftgate and then make the early close pickups... If you can get on with ABF as a rookie, do it. You can learn what a union LTL shop works like and get experience at peddling freight. ABFer was right about other avenues of trucking... I worked for a chemical plant on its private fleet delivering hazmat and plastic resin for almost 7 years. The only reason I left it was because I moved. Something like that is worth a shot but a lack of experience may hold you back. All things considered, ABF is not that bad. There is worse out there, way worse.
 
RonnieJames said:
Do everything in your power to be a UPS feeder driver. You might have to get laid off and be at the bottom for years, but you will be very happy down the road
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Do you think using ltl p&d experience would help me get a ups package delivery driver job? I want to start out in that so I can build seniority before becoming a feeder driver, because I know it's pretty damn good job too.What do you think?
 
Drake L. said:
Do you think using ltl p&d experience would help me get a ups package delivery driver job? I want to start out in that so I can build seniority before becoming a feeder driver, because I know it's pretty damn good job too.What do you think?
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Honestly, not really. It will help more if you were trying to go into Feeders. Most package car drivers were part time loaders at one point. In some UPS centers it can take a hell of a long time to get into driving. You could do seasonal for them and hope that it can lead into something FT, but again, it could take a while. Is there a UPS freight near you? You could apply there. They are the highest paid LTL drivers and you could always do line haul which would be similar to Feeders.
 
We have a very large UPS hub here, and until recently, it took about 7 years seasonal work before they would hire you steady. In fact, we had a guy who was disgusted with Feeder driver hiring,......all he wanted was a steady job, not jerked around for years on end,.....so he came to us as a casual.

Good guy, but he was totally flummoxed by what we do in LTL.........management was kind of feeding him some simple drop and hooks at a big customer so they wouldn't lose him,.....but we lost the big customer instead......imagine that,.........so I guess there's another one we won't see ever again.

I agree that UPS Freight is probably the way to go. Couple of dollars an hour more than us, small pension, but at least no one is trying to cut it yet,,...Contract stinks,.....allows outside contractors to run in existing lanes, no Local Rider conditions......some jobs don't have 8 hour guarantees even though they're ....."full time".......

All in all though, I think they are a better choice. If ABF's upper management would disengage their collective heads out of the corporate rectum and return to a more worldly view of what's going on,.........we might once again return to being a good company to work for,.....but right now all we exist for is to enrich the shareholders,....... to heck with that bulky freight, or those stinky trucks, and those whiny customers and employees...

All that gets in the way of ABF's true goal,......which is to make a select few of the upper management shareholders wealthy.......
 
Drake L. said:
I'm about to get my CDL from c1 truck driver training. I was planning on applying for city driver p&d, and was wondering is this a good company to work for? How's the wages, benefits, and life like working at this terminal?
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Hello Drake. I am one of the stewards at the NLR, AR terminal. They are currently looking for CDL qualified employees for the city/dock. You must have doubles/triples, hazmat, and tanker endorsements as well as your CDL class A license. If you do not have at least one year of verifiable driving (CDL) they will not hire you full-time. They will start you out as a casual (part-time) and require you to become hostling qualified by practicing on your own time with one of our bid hostlers. Once you become good enough to do all the hostling requirements (hook, drop, and backing trailers) you will then have to be tested by our Safety man. Once he has approved you, and you have a Class A CDL with all the required endorsements, you will be set up for driver training with our local trainer which is about a two week course. While in this local driver training, you will be paid at the casual rate of pay for all hours of training and you will probably be doing some dock work during this time as well. Once the trainer has approved you, you will then ride/drive with one of our bid city drivers for roughly a week. When this bid city driver say's you are ready, you will then be road tested by our Safety man. Once the Satety man approves you, you will then be moved to full-time. But, just so you understand, you will most likely be working the 11:00pm to 7:00am shift on the dock for a while with little if any chance to do city driving for several years. Your days off will most likely be Monday and Tuesday as we are 24/7 operation. All the dock, city, utility and hostling jobs as well as the start times and days off are bid twice a year by seniority. So, the city driving jobs are usually bid by the most senior employees as they are Monday thru Friday day shift jobs. The hostling jobs and the dock jobs with Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun off usually go high as well especially on the 07:00 to 15:00/ 15:00 to 23:00 shift. So, be prepared to work the night shift on the dock for at least a couple of years with no city driving. If you are a casual wanting on full-time without a CDL/Endorsements, you will also have to become hostling qualified on your own time first. They will then send you to the ABF Driving school in Fort Smith when an opening becomes available which could take several months. I know it sounds like a lot of hoops to jump thru, but because Article 16, Section 5. of our contract requires those that have the CDL and required endorsements to maintain their CDL's to remain employed, then everyone that is hired full-time is required to have it to keep it fair. We had to file a grievance that we won back in 2014 to get this done so that everyone was under the same set of rules. So, as of August of 2014, you cannot get hired full-time on the city/dock without the CDL and required endorsements. I hope this helps in your decision and I apologize for the length of this post.
 
Steward of the Rock said:
Hello Drake. I am one of the stewards at the NLR, AR terminal. They are currently looking for CDL qualified employees for the city/dock. You must have doubles/triples, hazmat, and tanker endorsements as well as your CDL class A license. If you do not have at least one year of verifiable driving (CDL) they will not hire you full-time. They will start you out as a casual (part-time) and require you to become hostling qualified by practicing on your own time with one of our bid hostlers. Once you become good enough to do all the hostling requirements (hook, drop, and backing trailers) you will then have to be tested by our Safety man. Once he has approved you, and you have a Class A CDL with all the required endorsements, you will be set up for driver training with our local trainer which is about a two week course. While in this local driver training, you will be paid at the casual rate of pay for all hours of training and you will probably be doing some dock work during this time as well. Once the trainer has approved you, you will then ride/drive with one of our bid city drivers for roughly a week. When this bid city driver say's you are ready, you will then be road tested by our Safety man. Once the Satety man approves you, you will then be moved to full-time. But, just so you understand, you will most likely be working the 11:00pm to 7:00am shift on the dock for a while with little if any chance to do city driving for several years. Your days off will most likely be Monday and Tuesday as we are 24/7 operation. All the dock, city, utility and hostling jobs as well as the start times and days off are bid twice a year by seniority. So, the city driving jobs are usually bid by the most senior employees as they are Monday thru Friday day shift jobs. The hostling jobs and the dock jobs with Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun off usually go high as well especially on the 07:00 to 15:00/ 15:00 to 23:00 shift. So, be prepared to work the night shift on the dock for at least a couple of years with no city driving. If you are a casual wanting on full-time without a CDL/Endorsements, you will also have to become hostling qualified on your own time first. They will then send you to the ABF Driving school in Fort Smith when an opening becomes available which could take several months. I know it sounds like a lot of hoops to jump thru, but because Article 16, Section 5. of our contract requires those that have the CDL and required endorsements to maintain their CDL's to remain employed, then everyone that is hired full-time is required to have it to keep it fair. We had to file a grievance that we won back in 2014 to get this done so that everyone was under the same set of rules. So, as of August of 2014, you cannot get hired full-time on the city/dock without the CDL and required endorsements. I hope this helps in your decision and I apologize for the length of this post.
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There you go... Good information right there. Can you possibly shed some light on the Memphis deal and what you think will happen with Little Rock? Understandable if you are not at liberty to discuss it....
 
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