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ABF | Freight levels

Plenty of freight in Atlanta. We seem to be short drivers in several locations. I spent 15 hours waiting in Shreveport last trip because there were no drivers to pull the loads from Dallas to Shreveport, according to Central.

My understanding was Slagel was forced into retirement by the board of directors because he almost bankrupt the company trying to get us to vote on concessions. I was told that during a steward meeting where a couple of VP's from the fort were down to discuss Purchase transportation issues.
 
Steward of the Rock said:
I remember Roy Slagle well and wish everyday that I could forget him. Every time management complains about productivity or claims I use Roy in my response. "Bring back Roy and have him announce we are moving operations to Memphis again. That way, your so-called problem people will go away as well as 75% of the rest of us".
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Thanks to Roy Tforce gained good hands!
 
Im in the middle of my background check for city driver position in Phoenix and was worried about being laid off this winter. I saw my local terminal closed Saturday but parking lot was full during the day on sunday. Im guessing this would be a good sign for new hires as far as job security for this winter.
 
ov1127 said:
Im in the middle of my background check for city driver position in Phoenix and was worried about being laid off this winter. I saw my local terminal closed Saturday but parking lot was full during the day on sunday. Im guessing this would be a good sign for new hires as far as job security for this winter.
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I'm a retired city driver from abf phx. , lay off dosnt mean your not working, you might miss a couple days here and there , but usually dosnt stay slow very long, go for it !, p.s. wasn't closed on sat. Just not many work on sat.
 
abflocaldriver said:
I'm a retired city driver from abf phx. , lay off dosnt mean your not working, you might miss a couple days here and there , but usually dosnt stay slow very long, go for it !, p.s. wasn't closed on sat. Just not many work on sat.
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Oh ok. Thats how lay off was for Reddaway. I basically just lost my start time and went to extra board so I guess its the same idea. Good to know thanks
 
Steward of the Rock said:
Here at N. Little Rock we are covered up with freight. In the past two weeks we have had no less than 260 break-outs, and it has gone as high as 340 break-outs. Every bid dock/hostler is offered early start and shift extension pretty much every day as well as 6th/7th day work. They are offering double time pay for 6th or 7th day. We even have two to four Tulsa city drivers coming in to work every Saturday. And we still can't catch up. I am a bid hostler and usually hook. We used to have maybe five or six spot locations for the trailers to be hooked. We now have 13 to 14 spot locations. Our terminal sits on just under 40-acres, so I now spend about 25% of my time each evening just looking for the trailers I am supposed to be hooking. Empty trailers are pretty much non-existent. As soon as they are unloaded they are moved to another door to start re-loading. I have been here over 27-years and I have never seen it this busy.
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This is the first time I have seen all of the tractors & most of the trailers sold on the ABF Used Equipment site. There is a demand for equipment every where. I remember years ago the company sold some equipment during peak freight volume & had to lease them back from the buyer for a year.
The company has been selling equipment that needed repairs rather than making the repairs & utilizing it for a while longer. I noticed that even units involved in accidents have sold which means prospective buyers are prepared to spend dollars to have equipment. The new & used truck market is tight.
 
DCM_Doc said:
This is the first time I have seen all of the tractors & most of the trailers sold on the ABF Used Equipment site. There is a demand for equipment every where. I remember years ago the company sold some equipment during peak freight volume & had to lease them back from the buyer for a year.
The company has been selling equipment that needed repairs rather than making the repairs & utilizing it for a while longer. I noticed that even units involved in accidents have sold which means prospective buyers are prepared to spend dollars to have equipment. The new & used truck market is tight.
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I think they didn’t order enough equipment this year, if I remember right I thought the tractor order was always around 600? I think they only ordered 450 this year. We just hired 2 guys & no extra tractors, every day we have nothing to load into & their is no place to put the freight….
 
Homesick said:
Plenty of freight in Atlanta. We seem to be short drivers in several locations. I spent 15 hours waiting in Shreveport last trip because there were no drivers to pull the loads from Dallas to Shreveport, according to Central.

My understanding was Slagel was forced into retirement by the board of directors because he almost bankrupt the company trying to get us to vote on concessions. I was told that during a steward meeting where a couple of VP's from the fort were down to discuss Purchase transportation issues.
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Could be because he hired short drivers in those locations.
Always go for the taller guys, they make better drivers.
 
Steward of the Rock said:
Here at N. Little Rock we are covered up with freight. In the past two weeks we have had no less than 260 break-outs, and it has gone as high as 340 break-outs. Every bid dock/hostler is offered early start and shift extension pretty much every day as well as 6th/7th day work. They are offering double time pay for 6th or 7th day. We even have two to four Tulsa city drivers coming in to work every Saturday. And we still can't catch up. I am a bid hostler and usually hook. We used to have maybe five or six spot locations for the trailers to be hooked. We now have 13 to 14 spot locations. Our terminal sits on just under 40-acres, so I now spend about 25% of my time each evening just looking for the trailers I am supposed to be hooking. Empty trailers are pretty much non-existent. As soon as they are unloaded they are moved to another door to start re-loading. I have been here over 27-years and I have never seen it this busy.
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And are you still pre stringing 4 sets per hour, with tractor?
 
BIG R GUY said:
And are you still pre stringing 4 sets per hour, with tractor?
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I will generally hook (string) between 24 to 28 sets a night (with tractor). With all the different spot locations and trailer shopping, I loose an hour or more time each night just finding trailers on the yard. Seems it is too difficult to change spot locations as it requires pushing three to four buttons on the ELD (sarcasm).
 
GO40 said:
I think they didn’t order enough equipment this year, if I remember right I thought the tractor order was always around 600? I think they only ordered 450 this year. We just hired 2 guys & no extra tractors, every day we have nothing to load into & their is no place to put the freight….
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Also, the 450 tractors ordered this time are all single axle tractors. This means that as they start phasing out the Kenworths, we will have a lot less twin axle tractors needed to power the heavier trailers and vans.
 
Steward of the Rock said:
I will generally hook (string) between 24 to 28 sets a night (with tractor). With all the different spot locations and trailer shopping, I loose an hour or more time each night just finding trailers on the yard. Seems it is too difficult to change spot locations as it requires pushing three to four buttons on the ELD (sarcasm).
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Do they provide a, mirror safety staging area?
 
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