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XPO | New Conway Freight driver with question about flexboard

I have been with Con-way for about 18 months now. The first year is hard. I worked most of the time from tuesday thur saturday. Seems like I was off every Monday. The way my SCM done it when it came to Saturday work was to offer to the guys that had had a day off that week. Which is fair. He told me to hang in there and that it would get better. There's always guys that quit, get fired and retire. In my first full year we lost 7 guys. 5 above me. So I moved up a little and it helped. Always ask for extra work. Believe me when things get busy they will work you to death. I took every extra run that I could get my hands on. It got to the point that they would put me on the saturday list with even asking me. because they know I wanted it. I still work a lot of saturdays. Some the new guys coming in don't want to work the weekends. Here's a little hint. Try to get on days. This way you will have the chance to work Saturdays. If you work nights you will come in on Saturdays and not have the chance to make up the day you missed.
 
pinocchio said:
I have been with Con-way for about 18 months now. The first year is hard. I worked most of the time from tuesday thur saturday. Seems like I was off every Monday. The way my SCM done it when it came to Saturday work was to offer to the guys that had had a day off that week. Which is fair. He told me to hang in there and that it would get better. There's always guys that quit, get fired and retire. In my first full year we lost 7 guys. 5 above me. So I moved up a little and it helped. Always ask for extra work. Believe me when things get busy they will work you to death. I took every extra run that I could get my hands on. It got to the point that they would put me on the saturday list with even asking me. because they know I wanted it. I still work a lot of saturdays. Some the new guys coming in don't want to work the weekends. Here's a little hint. Try to get on days. This way you will have the chance to work Saturdays. If you work nights you will come in on Saturdays and not have the chance to make up the day you missed.
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Goog advice
 
companyclown said:
I think you should look elsewhere as well......along with all the others who had the poorest excuse to vote ya off the island to make way for un-seasoned freight handlers......the new addition to the dream and the team. I am not saying you are not seasoned........I am referring to the apprentiship program as well as the "I cant back up to save my life" program.
Wheres my damn flashlight......I gotta make sure them jaws are around that kingpin!!!!!! WHY DID IT TAKE YOU 25 MINUTES TO HOOK?.....Looking for my flashlight sir.....please let go of my bag of goodies! I sincerely apologize for the 25 minutes....let me change it to 15 minutes paid and 10 minutes off duty........Thats stealing time.....UR FIRED! NEXT! Hurry up.....NEXT!
LMAO.......but its real. Thats Con-way.
I dont need to **** in the bottle either......
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That NOT the Conway I work for. I have never been questioned and I have never heard of anyone being questioned about "how come it took you so long to hook your set". It takes the time it takes to hook a set, sometimes it takes longer. If that is how it is for you guys in your part of the world, I feel upset for you because that is NOT right. It just goes to show you that things are NOT the same everywhere you go in the Conworld.

By the way, I have pissed in a bottle more times than I can remember but that was only because I REALLY HAD TO GO and there was no where for me to pull off.
 
It is different at some locations to others....but my point was how the company has changed into this slave labor type of environment. Ever had to poop real bad on the big road?I was once told the reason the guard rails are shaped the way they are so you can comfortably hang your butt over one and drop a duece!!!!!! Just remember a handful of those white paper towels found in the door pocket.
 
companyclown said:
It is different at some locations to others....but my point was how the company has changed into this slave labor type of environment. Ever had to poop real bad on the big road?I was once told the reason the guard rails are shaped the way they are so you can comfortably hang your butt over one and drop a duece!!!!!! Just remember a handful of those white paper towels found in the door pocket.
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I am a city kitty now so I do not have any need to carry around paper towels in the door pocket. I did **** in a bottle today. No lie, I really did.--------->
 
radman said:
I am a city kitty now so I do not have any need to carry around paper towels in the door pocket. I did **** in a bottle today. No lie, I really did.--------->
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Couldnt imagine what go would say if seen by someone.........even what I said previously. "you mean you pooped over a guardrail? really????"
 
companyclown said:
Couldnt imagine what go would say if seen by someone.........even what I said previously. "you mean you pooped over a guardrail? really????"
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I have gotten caught droppin a deuce on the side of the road .. i was squattin over box when a tropper came up on me ... It was 3 am near wheatland, wyoming on I-25 ... Trooper asked me what I was doing ... I told him I was laying an egg ...
 
companyclown said:
I think you should look elsewhere as well......along with all the others who had the poorest excuse to vote ya off the island to make way for un-seasoned freight handlers......the new addition to the dream and the team. I am not saying you are not seasoned........I am referring to the apprentiship program as well as the "I cant back up to save my life" program.
Wheres my damn flashlight......I gotta make sure them jaws are around that kingpin!!!!!! WHY DID IT TAKE YOU 25 MINUTES TO HOOK?.....Looking for my flashlight sir.....please let go of my bag of goodies! I sincerely apologize for the 25 minutes....let me change it to 15 minutes paid and 10 minutes off duty........Thats stealing time.....UR FIRED! NEXT! Hurry up.....NEXT!
LMAO.......but its real. Thats Con-way.
I dont need to **** in the bottle either......
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This is what I dont understand. About once a year they get a bug up their bum about hook times. If it is such a big deal, why dont they just go to a flat fee for hooking and dropping. Then you wouldnt have to worry about how long it took. Also, what is the message they use all the time "Safety First"?
 
radman said:
That NOT the Conway I work for. I have never been questioned and I have never heard of anyone being questioned about "how come it took you so long to hook your set". It takes the time it takes to hook a set, sometimes it takes longer. If that is how it is for you guys in your part of the world, I feel upset for you because that is NOT right. It just goes to show you that things are NOT the same everywhere you go in the Conworld.

By the way, I have pissed in a bottle more times than I can remember but that was only because I REALLY HAD TO GO and there was no where for me to pull off.
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I have been questioned several times at FAC. It all depends on who the SCM is.
 
I have witnessed supervisors and managers "question" drop and hook times well over 100 times, but probably less than 500 times in my couple of years here. It happens, but I expect that practice to become a non-issue in the very near future.
 
tonyb said:
Hi everyone. I've been driving for 2 1/2 years. Started out OTR and then got a local job. Changed companies a few times due to lack of work/hours. I got a job offer from Conway Freight in Milan, Ohio last month and was told that although they couldn't guarantee me full-time hours all the time, they were very busy. Also, I had been driving an hour each way on all of my prior jobs and this job is only 15 minutes from my house -- with the price of gas, being this close to work was an added bonus. So, I took the job. When I talked to the other guys at the terminal, they said they always take home decent paychecks and that the drivers who leave Conway don't leave because of lack of work/bad paychecks (at least not at this terminal). Even the newer guys with only a year said they worked pretty consistently all year. Well, I finished my training and have been on my own since April 25th. I was placed on night line-haul. My very first day "on my own," I got called off due to lack of loads. It was the day after Easter and the weather was really bad, so I assumed that was the reason. I worked the remaining 4 days that week. Then, this week, there was no work for me on Monday and now again, tonight, there isn't any work. I totally understand that I'm the new guy and at the bottom of the ladder. But, I just didn't expect to be off 3 days out of my first 8. This doesn't fare well for my expectations of full-time work. Is this pretty "normal"? Had I known this, I probably wouldn't have taken this job, as I just can't support my wife and 4 kids working 3 days a week. Any idea how long it takes to move up the ladder high enough to get at least 40 hours of work a week? Can I expect work to get more stable as we get into summer? I'm grateful to have a job, but the whole reason I've changed companies over the last 2 years was due to lack of work. I can probably handle working short weeks here and there, but definitely not on a consistent basis. Of course, my wife is freaking out about how we'll pay the bills on 3 day paychecks (and that's assuming that I'll work the remaining 3 days this week). Any words of encouragement or have I taken the wrong job to support a family of 6?
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Are you still with the company?
 
Yes, I'm still here for now. They just finished laying off all the temp dock workers. I don't get a lot of hours, but I' still here. My biggest issue with them right now is that I don't have the opportunity to do anything else to try and make ends meet. Even though I usually get a phone call to come in around 2:00 or 3:00, they have called me in as early as 11:00 a.m. and as late as 6:00 p.m. And, many times, I'm given less than an hour's notice as to when to be in. So, trying to work on the side to try and make up for the money I'm not making at Conway isn't an option, as I'm "on call" practicallythe whole day. I remember talking to a Con-Way driver a couple of years ago and asking him how it was driving for Con-Way and he told me you make really good money, but you don't have a life. Well, I see what he means about not having a life, but I'm certainly not "making a lot of money." I have to say, they seem to be trying to give us "some" hours, just not enough to make a decent living. I do have one question.....they say they're trying to cut expenses (as freight definitely isn't plentiful right now). With that being said, I don't understand why they allow the senior drivers to drive all day and then come back and work the docks at time and a half when they have the low men on the totem pole who make the bottom of the pay scale not even getting 6 hours a day. It seems to me that once they ensure that the senior drivers get their 8 hours, they'd send them home and work the low guys at half the wage that they're paying the senior drivers to work the docks???? I completely understand the concept of seniority, I'm just talking from a "business" stance -- it doesn't seem to be a very good business decision to pay $36/hr. for dock work when they can pay $18.75/hr.????? Oh well, for now, I'm still here -- not thrilled with it, but I at least need insurance for my family. I just keep hoping it'll get better, but to be honest, I don't think I can continue on this way for several more years.
 
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