John Ward was in St. Paul last week

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Oh, I am sorry it was Al Toliver. I was confused as his message was the same as John Ward's. He says the company is not making money. The same contract negotiation lie we get every contract. The men in Waterloo and Dubuque have already taken their strike vote. BLO (St. Paul) will vote to strike. MIL, CHI, SBE, DEC, CRA, DSM, BUR, OSH, OTT, WRA, OWA will all stand strong.
The men at EMO see management every day and know better than the rest of us their lies. They have told us on our last two contracts management will say anything to keep our money in their pocket. The new contract will need to address pay, casual days, holidays, vacation pay, healthcare, and pension. Third rate outfits like Saia and Estes start line haul drivers at 8 cents per mile more .54 per mile most good carriers are at .60 to .68 per mile. Conway and Fed-Ex start new hires at $22 per hour.
We need pay and benefits to be comparable so we can be a DHL employer of choice. Who will come work here if they have better options?
For us already here if you are paid $300 per week or$15,000 per year less than you should that adds up to $300,000 over 20 years. That is a lot of money for your family or retirement.
We don't have enough people (space on a trailer) to handle a very busy day. What is the plan for growth? We have the same number of employees as 4 years ago when DHL bought this company.
Al Toliver says management is struggling to figure out how to run this LTL company. DHL operates LTL in 50 countries. DHL knows how.
Time to be strong. Get a good contract or go elsewhere. All LTL companies are hiring, as are ready mix and construction.
 
Lip service as usual if the company is not making money time to get rid of standard management. They took the company to bankruptcy before looks like they are on there way again.
 
Third rate outfits like Saia and Estes start line haul drivers at 8 cents per mile more .54 per mile most good carriers are at .60 to .68 per mile. Conway and Fed-Ex start new hires at $22 per hour.
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Just to be clear if Saia and Estes are 3rd rate companys.....Wouldn't that make you guys a 4th or 5th rate company.

I can't say I have ever heard a good thing about you guys from any one.
 
The customer love us. John Deere wants the lowest freight rates possible. They are nickel pinchers. They had us deliver freight for all plants to Dohrn Transfer in Waterloo. Dohrn was to cross dock and pull the trailers to all Deere plants. Dohrn wasn't up to the task. Deere pulled the business and gave it back to Standard to direct line haul from origin to destination terminal. Go to standardforwarding.com. You will see all the awards from customers and 3rd party logistics outfits. We give overnight service and have low claims. I was harsh in my comments for Estes, however most Saia drivers I talk to don't like them. They were offering a $5000 sign on bonus to attract drivers. I don't know if they still are.
 
I work for Saia and they are still paying the $5000 sign on bonus.

I have only been here for 8 months and they do have there issues but I knew about them before I signed on.

In the first 6 months I was here I grossed 39k not including the sign on bonus.
And my health insurance for me and the family cost $37 dollars a week. (It's free after 10 yrs)

They started me at .51 cpm and at 6 months I was at .5638 CPM. Plus $22.29 per hour for drops, breakdowns, and such. I should gross over 85k this year.

I really don't think they are a 3rd rate trucking company. That's just my opinion though.
 
The money is there, you have been there 8 months and like working there well enough to comment here. I have worked at top Teamster companies and bad companies. On any given day they are all the same, that is why there is a saying "same ::shit:: different colored trucks". I talk to Saia city drivers some of them whine, so do I.
 
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