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ABF | Do I have to be Old-School?

canaryinthemine said:
Maybe, Brother NextGen,....You are mistaking honest advice from older, experienced employees, ....for criticisim on your style of working. Maybe you perceive they are "demanding", when,....if you asked them, they would say they are trying to keep you from getting in trouble. Honest advice, as it were... How long have you worked in a Union job? Usually, everyone at a Union carrier has pretty much the same work ethic. You seem to be sticking out like a sore thumb there. As I had said, have you talked to any of your Union representatives? Speaking as a steward, I try to bend heaven and earth to get all of my guys to get along, because as we all know, management has a tendency to exploit personality conflicts. Makes s steward's job a lot easier if he,....as I had told you, tries to get everyone on the same page. Hard to answer "specifics' when you only have one side of the story. It would be your opinion that you were working "very safely, and not damaging any product." Would that be the consensus of everyone else on that dock?
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Read my post again brother Canary - the dockworker never even implied that I was reckless or damaging anything (I wasn't ), he SPECIFICALLY told me to slow down so that we would make more money
 
ABFer said:
I'll entertain you for a bit and act like I believe your assertions. BTW I already have all the proof I need that you are being less than up front and honest with us here and that irreparably costs you your credibility. I would tell anyone who tried to tell me how to work that everyone is responsible for themselves and their own work ethic. The only person who can make one look bad is themself and everyone has their own pace at work. I might even tell them to, "tend their trough and I'll tend mine". Or I might tell them that I take a break later on as well as the one I take on site and that they should do the same, it makes the day go faster. I'm not saying that there aren't those out there who might act as you say but I seriously doubt that it is anywhere near the level you say it is.
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I appreciate the highlighted part of this quote brother abfer. This is the closest anyone has come thus far of focusing on the post and giving their opinion without deliberately going off on a tangent to avoid the purpose of my post
 
Retread said:
From an Old-School City Driver:
1) It's okay to be faster at the job than someone else. Everyone works at a different pace.
2) Make sure that you thoroughly pre-trip and post-trip your equipment. Don't cut corners.
3) Take ALL of your breaks and lunches that were negotiated for you.
4) Don't speed or break traffic laws to get done quicker.
5) Don't dawdle, but spend enough time at the customers location that they feel like you are glad to be there and to have their business.
6)If you share equipment with another shift or driver, don't rush out of it until it is cleaned out and fueled, in order to save time.
7)Don't be the one to point out to Management that you are done so quick, or that "Others" are taking their time.
8) Do your job, be professional, and courteous and don't toot-toot your own horn.
9) All the rest will take care of itself. (Someday you may be 58 or 59 and still doing this job so keep up the pace as long as you can)
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Thank you brother Retread for your response. I agree with all of your well thought out points.
 
NextGen Teamster said:
I appreciate the highlighted part of this quote brother abfer. This is the closest anyone has come thus far of focusing on the post and giving their opinion without deliberately going off on a tangent to avoid the purpose of my post
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NextGen Teamster you can learn a lot from the older guys, they have been doing this for a long time. It is nice to be the fastest one but how long can you keep that pace up? They maybe telling you to slow down so that you can last in the freight bus. I do better than 11 to 20 plus stops a day on my peddle route. The more I do the more work I get on a daily bases. If you want to last you have to work the freight not let the freight work you. I was also told to .take my time by the older guys and not to be lazy but to last 20 plus years. I found this to be good advice the more work I do the more I get from operations. Now you can keep that pace up but sooner than later you will get worn out. I am the first one back everyday only to get sent right back out. Everyone works at their own pace and you must do what is best for you in the end. I have not seen any Teamsters at my barn trying to milk the clock. As you get older and someone comes along and does the job faster than you will that mean you are milking the clock? No I see as someone who works faster than you. The answer is all in the way you look at things not all people work the same..
 
I end up at 006 Shreveport three or four times a month when the utility drivers are doing there thing. I don't have any idea what time they leave their home terminal or how long it takes them to get back but I know one thing for certain. They work their ass off while on the dock at 006. They are so effective, management doesn't exist at the terminal while the utility guys are there.

If you worked here long enough, you should understand the ramifications of ABF not having some sort of manager on duty. To put it politely, ABF understands and trusts these gentlemen to do what is necessary in getting the job done.

If ABF management is happy with the effort put forth by the utility drivers, why do you need to be concerned about it?
 
I guess I'm old school with 35 years as a second generation Teamster. As a U.E. Driver I could only echo what the other brothers are saying.And where I run into I don't see any slackers. Usually were to dam busy to slack off on the job. I too take all my breaks on the way home just like most of the guys do.Dont get me wrong there are dogs no matter where you work union or not,but don't let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch as they say! Just show up and on time and give them a good days work and don't worry about what anybody else thinks. Be your own man! If somebody wants to dog the job that's on them! Give them enough rope and the'll hang themselves.
 
ABFer said:
I'll entertain you for a bit and act like I believe your assertions. BTW I already have all the proof I need that you are being less than up front and honest with us here and that irreparably costs you your credibility.
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ABFer said:
All indications are that he is not a Teamster.
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Just out of curiosity, do you have actual proof or just a conclusion from the preponderance of the evidence? I realize that while a picture of an ABF shirt (with no name) and some other stuff laying on the floor is not proof that he is a teamster, I have seen no indication from his posts that he is not. I would conclude from the posts I have read that he is a hotshot who may be interested in moving to management one of these days, but is currently hourly. While the contract negotiations were going on there were a few times that you accused posters of being company shills, and I am sure that you were probably correct in some instances, but if you have some proof that NextGen is a fraud as you say, I'm sure I am not the only one who would like to be privy to it. I am not trying to be argumentative, just would like the facts.
 
My advice next gen Teamster.. And I have 16 yrs.. I have done it the same way and learned from Old School guys.. Do your job and not give a sh*# what anyone says or thinks of you.. Safety is priority and be good to your union.. The more you do great, less someone else does,, we have no quota!! knock yourself out! If guys are saying something to you, they are guilty about something and thats on them,,, just be a man and dont let it bother you.. worry about what you can control.. When you are hauling but through the city or a trailer breaking freight and have issue, you might learn, if you are lucky enoughto never have issue, great job.. But know, this company cares nothing about you or what you do or how fast you do it.
 
NextGen Teamster, you may not have gotten the answers or arguments you were looking for. But IMO you have gotten some very sound advice from people who have "been there and done that". Like every other LTL carrier, union and non union, you may think that ABF does some pretty dumb things. But ABF has some very smart people in charge who know exactly what they are doing. To my knowledge our contracts never recognized production. But if there are as many slackers as you claim then ABF must be satisfied with their production. My advice would be for you to do your best and let ABF police the one's who don't
 
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