Company can't sell California properties for what they paid

[v for vendetta]

Real estate prices are down now from last year and the year before. With YRC merging there will likely be cheap terminal space available everywhere further eroding Oaks holdings value.
Can you say auction?

 

[imported_8ball]

You might want to check, but all the Ca terminals are leases, They were to expensive and torn down to buy

 

[ryerke]

There will undoubtedly be drivers and dock workers looking for work also. That is what happened when YRC's USF companies merged. We have several laid off USF people working for us now. There may be room for more. If they are hungry, they might just want to work up north for a while. I hear there are openings there.

 

[foster1662]

There will undoubtedly be drivers and dock workers looking for work also. That is what happened when YRC's USF companies merged. We have several laid off USF people working for us now. There may be room for more. If they are hungry, they might just want to work up north for a while. I hear there are openings there.

Wow that sounds like a grand idea

Are you not very smart or something?, most of the
drivers that came from out of the area got here
and found out they had been lied to and misled
very badly by this company.
For some reason the VP's thought they could
lie to these employees to get them here and
still expect them to do a quality job. Look at
the you tube videos drivers are sleeping while
getting paid.

There may be some that have gotten good treatment
from this company however I have yet to talk to one.
And yes they do talk to us, they even show us their
paperwork and ask for directions.

 

[ryerke]

Wow that sounds like a grand idea

Are you not very smart or something?, most of the
drivers that came from out of the area got here
and found out they had been lied to and misled
very badly by this company.
For some reason the VP's thought they could
lie to these employees to get them here and
still expect them to do a quality job. Look at
the you tube videos drivers are sleeping while
getting paid.

There may be some that have gotten good treatment
from this company however I have yet to talk to one.
And yes they do talk to us, they even show us their
paperwork and ask for directions.

Our drivers are coming back. We have several that are on their way up. The reports that they bring with them support the idea that Oak Harbor will recover. Much of what I have heard recently is even better than I had expected.

 

[ryerke]

Real estate prices are down now from last year and the year before. With YRC merging there will likely be cheap terminal space available everywhere further eroding Oaks holdings value.
Can you say auction?

Most people without serious speech problems should not have any problem saying 'auction.' If it gives you trouble, you may like to see a theripist.

Thanks to USF cutting down their forces, we not only have a nice facility that is owned by OHFL, but also several new drivers. YRC consolidated, offering us some real estate for lease where Roadway used to be. Both fetched a reasonable price.
I don't have any doubt that we can look forward to similar deals opening up elsewhere in California.
I would also like to thank those involved in making the Crescent yard available to us for such a great price. What ever happend to Crescent?

 

[airhorn4you]

i know that some believe every thing the vanderpoops say and yes it is true that the ca. terminals are leased they are leased to oak harbor freight lines from oak harbor leasing so the money all ends up in the same pocket these cali drivers dont pay attention to all the things going on around them they are too busy trying to make enough $ to be able to use the substandard health care that was forced on them and i hope that ohfl does get a lot of the usf and yellow\roadway guys down in cali then you weak guys wont have to worry about joining or not it'll just happen

 

[ryerke]

I have spent most of my driving years in non-union companies working next to former Willig, Di Salvo, Crescent, and Consolidated Freightways drivers and dock/office people. Only a half of a handful, if that, had any intention of rejoining the union. USF is non-union here and Roadway is all but gone. The only person that I know that went to a union company is currently management at Yellow so he's now in a non-bargaining position. Can you remember what happened to these companies? I don't think any of them were in the middle of negotiations when they diappeared. IOW they weren't put under by a strike, although the union was given as a reason for their demise.

 

[Shifterknob]

Right... the union was given as a reason for their demise... by whom?

Management?

It is a true fact that most of these companies went out of business for two reasons:

1.) They were intentionally run out of business, i.e. CF, NationsWay, etc: Anyone who has been around the freight business knows the story of how these companies were intentionally destroyed. Case in point is CF. They operated under the same labor agreement that Roadway, Yellow and ABF did, but there was never any attempt after the creation of the Con-Way franchise to run CF efficiently or productively. NationsWay was a case of the kid taking over the company from his father, and simply not caring about it enough to run the company properly. Sound familiar?

2.) They were mis-managed into bankruptcy: There are multiple examples of this from Crescent to Silver Eagle to Willig to P-I-E. In some cases, they refused to change to respond to the changes in the industry post-deregulation. In other cases, they simply had incompetent management who couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag. Crescent Truck Lines, for example, expanded too fast into territories where fierce competition existed. Willig was a good company that refused to adopt more efficient ways of moving freight. P-I-E couldn't figure out which market niche it wanted to fill, so it tried to fill them all with deplorable results.

In very few cases, was the union or the union workers to blame for the destruction of a freight company. It serves the union little purpose to destroy a company or to force it to run at a major competitive disadvantage where one can be proven.

But ex-management is always quick to point the finger at the "bad ol' union", because otherwise they would have to admit their own culpibility in the demise of their company. All the sailors doing the right thing on board a ship will not make up for the captain that is determined to run the ship onto the rocks.

But often one's perspective is flavored by one's own innate prejudices, and so I gather your "experience" is rather flavored by how you feel about unions. Having walked both sides of the fence in over twenty years in this business, I feel as if I perhaps have a little perspective on the situation...

 

[teamster in wa]

I've finally realized why unions should have never been created and should be put to rest for good.

If unions had never been created, there would have never been a middle class. That way ordinary people would have never been exposed to many of the creature comforts of the elite. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. We could all still be going to work in our childhoods, working 14 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. We would die young, allowing our jobs to be passed on to the next fortunate generation. This way our jobs wouldn't have had to be exported to China, where those lucky souls are getting to do this admirable labor. There would still be a place for the greedy and unscrupulous, there always is. ( I think we know a few of them, they are the ones that crossed the picket line aren't they?) We wouldn't have the time or energy to be corrupting our minds with things like religion or recreation. Without all these distractions, our lives would be so much simpler. This scenario, after all, is the ultimate goal of the multi-national corporate elite. They have particularly escalated their push toward this end during the past 30-odd years.

The only downside that I see with this is that everything around us would be different, in most cases nonexistent. I mean if we, the masses, didn't have any money or time, there would be no need for all the stores, homes , doctors, roads, you name it. So as this brave new world is systematically foisted upon us by the corporate elites, don't be so damned ungrateful. They are only looking out for your own good, after all.

But since we already have these pesky unions, we all need to join together and help bring them down. Consider this, 33% of American citizens are making less than $15,000 a year, and 75% of us are making less than $50,000 a year. Now how ungrateful can we be, to expect that kind of compensation, with days off in many cases, to boot. In 1970 the largest corporation in America was General Motors. They paid their labor well, provided them with excellent benefits, and allowed them to retire with dignity. Henry Ford had the stupid idea that he needed to pay his help enough so that they could afford his products. Today Walmart is America's largest corporation, where turnover is huge, pay is low, there are few or no benefits, and certainly no retirement. Can't you see where this is far superior to that of the recent past? If we can just keep heading in this direction for a little while longer, maybe we can get back to where we will be making so little and working under totally miserable conditions, that we can get back our basic means of production from China. Oh what a blessed thought, golly I can't wait.

I love this post. Damn Unions what have they ever done for us!

 

[imported_8ball]

I watched some of those Youtube vids and the person making them clearly stated he knew the driver that was sleeping and identified him by name. He was a union driver who crossed the line. So which is it, This is clearly something that is probably done on a regular basis because he wasn't bothered by the notion of being caught. So he is a line crossing ****, or just another union driver who thinks it is okay to sleep on company time. I am not ready to condem him yet since he is entitled to his breaks and lunch!

 

[truckchick1]

d.c. is a union driver with 19 years at ohfl who crossed the pickets. The reason you see him sleeping so much is the company is sending him out with a couple of deliveries and then he has no pick up untils at least 3 pm. When I spoke to him this week he said the dock in Portland is empty. He doesn't know how long the company can keep going.

 

[ryerke]

But often one's perspective is flavored by one's own innate prejudices, and so I gather your "experience" is rather flavored by how you feel about unions. Having walked both sides of the fence in over twenty years in this business, I feel as if I perhaps have a little perspective on the situation...

My experience, as I stated, is from working beside the former union members. Maybe they're bitter about something, I don't know. They did seem to have a unanimous opinion. I am merely repeating what I have heard. I could be faulted as having thought that one can take a Teamster at his word.

 

[Who Cares]

My experience, as I stated, is from working beside the former union members. Maybe they're bitter about something, I don't know. They did seem to have a unanimous opinion. I am merely repeating what I have heard. I could be faulted as having thought that one can take a Teamster at his word.

Ask one or all of the former, bitter workers how much they put in to the Union. It has been my observation that the ones that complain the loudest are the ones who never took the time to do anything but complain.

And how this thread about property got to this...

PS: Ed, The wooden shoes have dry rot.

 

[Shifterknob]

"...My experience, as I stated, is from working beside the former union members. Maybe they're bitter about something, I don't know. They did seem to have a unanimous opinion. I am merely repeating what I have heard. I could be faulted as having thought that one can take a Teamster at his word..."

A Teamster is still a human being, and is no more or less honest than anyone else, in my humble opinion. But I've known a few ex-Teamsters in my time very bitter about their union experience.

Of course, you start digging a little bit, and you find their story is often a bit different from reality, and often they are to blame for the "ex" part of the whole "ex-Teamster" thing. But as is often the case in human nature, we like to point the finger of blame everywhere but where it needs to be.

Like these line-crossers. They cross the picket line, work while we struggle on our and their behalf, and then they gripe and snivel at the way they are treated. And if the company goes bankrupt during the strike, these rats act like it's the union's fault they no longer have jobs.

WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, I've actually worked union and non-union, and my choice to be union is both an educated choice, and one borne of long experience in this industry.

So while I don't have your vast experience of working alongside losers who would rather point fingers and gripe about their misfortunes, I've only actually lived the experience.

Silly me...

 

[x475]

Ask one or all of the former, bitter workers how much they put in to the Union.

It has been my observation that the ones that complain the loudest are the ones who never took the time to do anything but complain.

And how this thread about property got to this...

PS: Ed, The wooden shoes have dry rot.

Very, very true!...They **** and moan in the drivers room, (or on the internet), but would never file a grievance and couldn't find their way to the union hall with a road map.

 

[ryerke]

A Teamster is still a human being, and is no more or less honest than anyone else, in my humble opinion. But I've known a few ex-Teamsters in my time very bitter about their union experience.

Of course, you start digging a little bit, and you find their story is often a bit different from reality, and often they are to blame for the "ex" part of the whole "ex-Teamster" thing. But as is often the case in human nature, we like to point the finger of blame everywhere but where it needs to be.

Like these line-crossers. They cross the picket line, work while we struggle on our and their behalf, and then they gripe and snivel at the way they are treated. And if the company goes bankrupt during the strike, these rats act like it's the union's fault they no longer have jobs.

WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, I've actually worked union and non-union, and my choice to be union is both an educated choice, and one borne of long experience in this industry.

So while I don't have your vast experience of working alongside losers who would rather point fingers and gripe about their misfortunes, I've only actually lived the experience.

Silly me...

The losers that you speak of are most of the employees that worked in our area for Willig and Crescent. You are bashing most of your brothers here. The only brothers left here are the few that work for Yellow and ABF.

 

[Shifterknob]

Oh, so all ex-Willig and ex-Crescent Teamsters whine and moan about the union?

C'mon now... I know you aren't going to try and sell that pile of crap, because I know more than a few of those guys, and I have never heard one of them blame the union for the downfall of their respective companies. And anyone that does, likely falls into the category I mentioned earlier. Whiners. COmplainers. Being a Teamster doesn't make you immune from the pitfalls of human nature.

Sell your story somewhere else, boy-o... we ain't buying it...

 

[ryerke]

Sell your story somewhere else, boy-o... we ain't buying it...

I didn't intend for anyone to buy anything. I know what I see and here in California there aren't many union shops left. Many of the former Teamsters (all but two that I know) that now work for non-union shops have found that they prefer not being part of the 'collective' and would rather be individuals.

 

[Shifterknob]

Well, you contradict yourself.

You say that there aren't many union shops left in California, which is true to some degree. Then you say any of the former Teamsters you know prefer it in a non-union barn.

Did they have a choice in the first place? Could it be they are making the best of the situation? I honestly have a hard time swallowing that a Teamster vested in his pension would prefer to go elsewhere instead of building on his pension, unless he really had no choice. A 401(k) is no match for a defined benefit pension, unless you are in a much higher tax bracket than most truck drivers are.

And healthcare? You mean these ex-Teamsters prefer to have to pay for their medical, in a plan that almost surely does not have the levels of benefits they used to enjoy?

And work rules? Instead of having work rules that are understood by both sides and a defined seniority list, these ex-Teamsters prefer the atmosphere that exists at many non-union companies where there are no rules, other than the rule of the asphalt jungle, i.e. butt-kissing and favoritism?

I don't mean to paint with a broad brush, but remember... I've been there. May have to go there again, too. May have to hang up my unio jacket long enough to get through these troubled times and wait for the dust to settle. But I sincerely doubt that I will ever prefer to live as an at-will employee instead of as a member of a collective bargaining unit.

And I've talked to many of my non-union bretheren at other freight companies, and you might just be surprised at how many want to go union. Very surprised...