What's new

Called in today

I called Jack Cooper this morning left a message for the recruiter. I told them that I am a Class A CLD driver I live in Cleveland, Ohio and I do not live very far away from there terminal in Sheffield, Ohio. The reason there terminal is in Sheffield, Ohio is because it is directly across the Street from Fords famous Ohio Assembly Plant where the new Ford Transit Cargo van is assembled and Norfolk Southern also has because of the Ford Plant an auto distribution loading yard right there.

I told them that I currently work for a beer/beverage distributor here in the greater Cleveland area and I know about working hard, and working safe. Lord knows I've made enough stupid mistakes that there are now all kinds of things that I was not conscious of that I am now conscious of.

Mistakes mean driving errors and also delivery mistakes as well. Jack Cooper employees teamster drivers, it said so when I called them.

Actually the terminal is easier for me to get to then my current work so much easier to drive in a straight line down I-90.

I would say that Jack Cooper is pretty much the top then garbage hauling and then GFS not that there is anything about GFS, but as Buffalo Bill said GFS and where I work now as far as the job goes and the dumb stuff that happens that's same circus different clowns. I do believe GFS is probably run better then where I work, but then there are smaller distributors that are run way better then where I work and where I work is big! Any how none of that is either here nor there.

So I did it and will see what they say.
 
MikeJ said:
I'm not sure what my ultimate goal anymore is either it has change some. Actually though I'm going to go and call the Jack Cooper Terminal and see what they have to say. Everybody says that is the way to go so I'll put a couple irons in the fire and see what happens.
Click to expand...


ultimate goal= to be compensated enough, with good enough benefits, to where you dont look around for a better job every weekend in the classifieds....
 
buffalobill said:
ultimate goal= to be compensated enough, with good enough benefits, to where you dont look around for a better job every weekend in the classifieds....
Click to expand...

I totally agree with that assessment, I just meant I didn't know what kind of work he wanted to do. Even a really good well paying job may not be worth it if your miserable, I was just curious what kind of work interested him. If you figure that out you can start looking for the best in that field.
 
i just figured its all driving a truck, so it will be similar enough, unless it involves delivery, like food and beverage, which suck, or carhaul, which union carhaul pays very well.

fwiw, i went from u suck foods to Holland. I have my own assigned truck, it rides nice, and the money and benefits are great. dont forget to ask how much the benefits cost, as most non union shops charge a hefty amount for mediocre benefits, family bennies at OD, Conway, and Fredex are running close to or over 100 a week....
 
But also if he pursues carhaul and maybe banker can chime in but ask about layoffs. Car hauling can go thru alot of layoffs. Idk if it's different working out of a plant or rail yard.

I have decent benefits at my work. Pay 65 dollars a week for everything. But it doesn't matter when you're hardly working and always getting cut
 
Really Bill, LTL Linehaul was my next choice. I wanted to try to work at Pitt-Ohio Washboard works there and he says that they have good benefits and they have some nice perks. He was joking said "Yeah I worked at Clover Hill food service for a month and that was enough."

I called Jack Cooper and also have an application in with a garbage hauler for front load commercial dumpster work. That would be a little bit of work at times, but it's no CODs or going to the grocery store and trying to check stuff in and figuring out all the dumb things the warehouse missed. The garbage haulers do just as well actually better then I do monetarily. Heck it is a shame because if the city hired me I would be working there right now, it's just the pay difference between them and my current work was to great, not for me, but for them. I would have been willing to work my way up through the pay grades at the city. The city had good vacation time to a million times better then the garbage for vacation I get now. This year I am eligible for 4 vacation days and 4 personal days that's it. Really I mean they couldn't even give me a week? Seriously? Then they make you kill you're 4 days off all in a row. So the vacation time where I work really lacks and they know it's bad.
 
Moneyman01 said:
But also if he pursues carhaul and maybe banker can chime in but ask about layoffs. Car hauling can go thru alot of layoffs. Idk if it's different working out of a plant or rail yard.

I have decent benefits at my work. Pay 65 dollars a week for everything. But it doesn't matter when you're hardly working and always getting cut
Click to expand...
You are right that carhaul has the potential for layoffs when car sales slow or historically 2weeks at 4th of July shutdown and 2 weeks at Christmas shutdown. Freight jobs are also effected directly by the economy as are all jobs. In the jobs I've had which were senority based from hauling freight, potato chips and then packages, when times were slow the top of the board could be working 60 hours and I could be one spot away nearly every day from working and might only get in on the weekend. In carhaul it is somewhat different in slow times. In a major ressesion you would be looking for another job, just like many drivers in other industries, but in normal slow times there are several options. They offer voluntary layoffs starting at the top of the board to the bottom. You would be surprised how many senior drivers love to take some time off now and then. Next if there is any other terminal that needs help they will give you the option of going to haul out of there for up to 30 days at a time. The 2 week's off at 4th of July and Xmas was one of the reasons I picked this job. If your working hard the rest of the year you can have plenty of money saved to enjoy your time off and then be refreshed when you go back to work. Times are great right now, but I'm sure before I retire I will see another slow down. You just have to save for a rainy day and then don't worry when it comes, stay home and enjoy your time off. In the short time I have been hauling cars, 3 years I have only been off one time for 2 weeks, this was at 4th of July. I had the option to work out of another terminal but I opted to stay off and enjoy the summer break.
 
Banker that sounds a heck of a lot better then what I have right now. I'm not so worried about saving up money, I have a few bottles berried in the back yard every pay check I go and berry some money in the back yard :)

I get no time off for Christmas now in fact that is when we are supposed to work harder same for New Years. However new years has come and gone and now we are getting into the slower season. Car Haul does sound about a million times better pay and vacation wise then where I work right now. I'm sure it has it's troubles, but where I work we have troubles too. Although you guys seem to speak highly of it. I don't see to many people going "Boy hauling beer was the best thing I ever did." On the contrary I hear a lot of "Yeah a year or two here and you can work where ever you want." In fact that is the first thing I was told by a shuttle driver at my work "Yeah a year or two here and you can work anywhere you want." What he was saying was, don't stick around here for the long haul there's no reason to.

The guy who said that he still works for the company, but he said he was looking to retire in a year or two, he had worked for other places for years before coming over to where I work, it was more or less a I got 2-3 years left and then it's time to retire I can finish my last 36 months here.

I never wanted to be a beer truck driver, but life takes you in funny directions. When I started this I either wanted to work for one of the big food companies like MBM or work for Decker Truck Line of Fort Dodge, Iowa, but Decker doesn't really haul a ton of freight in Ohio and the food companies didn't want me, so I went to the beer company. Wasn't a mistake, but I knew it would be one of those things that would run it's course to. Hey they used me and I used them we both used each other like in the Bob Seagar song Nightmoves.

My mom says to me and she's right it's about making money, to a certain extent and they want me to go faster so they can pay me less over time, well that's a double edged sward because okay it helps them on one hand save money and I get to go home earlier, but at the same time I'm working at break neck pace, and I am not really that slow, I get held up with stupid problems like disorganized customers, and other baloney like that. I work less hours saves them money, but that affects my pay check, well in the beginning it's fine, but I'm not sticking around where I work for the long haul for $40,000 a year. I mean sure I could eventually transfer up to bulk routes or bid another route, but none of that really interests me to be brutally honest. Bulk routes can suck too and I am just not interested.
 
Moneyman01 said:
But also if he pursues carhaul and maybe banker can chime in but ask about layoffs. Car hauling can go thru alot of layoffs. Idk if it's different working out of a plant or rail yard.

I have decent benefits at my work. Pay 65 dollars a week for everything. But it doesn't matter when you're hardly working and always getting cut
Click to expand...

it depends where you are at, i have a buddy that started at cassens in august, out of sterling heights michigan, and he hasnt sat a day yet.

carhaulers have it good because they have suitcase seniority, iirc. if their terminal is slow, they can go anywhere else in their companies system and work. that way you only have to worry about it for a year or two.
 
I told my dad last year I wanted to get into car hauling. He laughed at me. Said it's not a good job. Cuz you are responsible for all damages and stuff. The dealers are a pain to work with and they will always try and find something wrong. His friend use to haul cars and he's the one that told my dad about it all
 
no, i have a bad knee now, its not how heavy the product is, its repeated climbing thats the problem. if i still had a decent knee? maybe. depends on how their contract and work environment is.

my knee is one of the reasons i didnt go to work for jack cooper, im afraid to tear it up anymore. i was hired on and cancelled once Holland called.
 
Moneyman01 said:
I told my dad last year I wanted to get into car hauling. He laughed at me. Said it's not a good job. Cuz you are responsible for all damages and stuff. The dealers are a pain to work with and they will always try and find something wrong. His friend use to haul cars and he's the one that told my dad about it all
Click to expand...
Everyone's idea of a good job is different, so your Dads perfect job and mine may not be the same. What is a great job to me may very well suck to you and others. Most people thought I was Crazy for leaving 10 years of seniority at UPS. For most people they would probably be correct, but I like to stand out from the crowd even if they do think I'm crazy! Teamster Carhaulers are held accountable for their actions, but we are never financially liable for damages. This means if you continually cause damage due to negligance you will eventually be looking for a job. This does not mean when you tear stuff up learning your job, yes we have all torn stuff up, you will not pay for this damage or be fired because you damaged something. I have heard that some non union carhaulers pay for their damages, strictly hearsay and not fact. The dealers in my opinion are better than the rap that a car dealer is accused of by the car buying public. For the most part they are just doing a job like me. Some are more thorough than others and some don't even look at the car when they sign the delivery receipt. I deliverd a full load to one dealer who didn't even count how many I delivered much less inspect for damage. Occasionally I am held up a few minutes here and there, but I personally have had many more good experiences with dealers than bad. I like to look at the big picture and not dwell on 15 minutes here and there. My big picture is to work strictly days(no nights EVER AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME) be done occasioanlly at noon and most days be done by 5 or 6, make good money ($80,000-$100,000 more or less which is totally up to me), be gone from home no more than 1-2 nights at a time (usually), sleep in a hotel and not the rig and be home sat/sun nearly every week of the year. I still have friends at UPS that don't mind working 7pm to 7 am mon/fri or others that work a thurs/mon night schedule and these same friends are making $30,000-$40,000 a year more than me, but I DON'T CARE! I wouldn't go back to those odd hours if I could, but work schedule is more important to me than it is to most people.
 
fyulLFq.jpg

My first year loading Mustangs in Michigan after a fairly good snow at 25-35 below wind chill, I thought what the hell was I thinking leaving my steering wheel holding job! Now I just bundle up and think about how nice it is most of the year!
 
That's what makes me really nervous....loading and unloading in the winter and climbing around on the truck. I've heard of guys falling off the truck and breaking there backs and stuff
 
Moneyman01 said:
That's what makes me really nervous....loading and unloading in the winter and climbing around on the truck. I've heard of guys falling off the truck and breaking there backs and stuff
Click to expand...
Yes it does happen, but you could slip and fall on ice while hooking up a set on level ground too!
 
I've fallen off the side of the side loader, one of our senior drivers took a good fall trying to fetch a case of beer off a pallet that was built to high above the wheel.

In food service you can trip and fall off the ramp or fall on the ramp and hurt you're knee.
I would figure delivering car's is like delivering beer some dealerships are probably real anal retentive and others probably couldn't careless. They sign the bill don't even bother to look and move on to the next thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top