Preston-- the 151 Line

jimmy g

(Kook)
PREMIUM
Credits
586
7 years ago, July 26th, 1999, we closed.

May God Bless everyone of you guys, my old friends and workmates!

I hope your life has worked out for the best. (Mine certainly did)
 
UnionTrucka said:
i wasn't around back then. what did the 151 stand for ?
Found this info on a web site :

The focus of this last century was vehicle technology and equipment acquisition. An example of this is the nickname Preston Trucking gave itself many years ago, "The 151 Line," alluding to how impressive Preston was for fielding 151 pieces of equipment. This year, with over 30,000 pieces of equipment, Preston went bankrupt.
 
Back in their hay day,they were..

in the top 100 United States companies to work for.
what happened to such a good LTL trucking company?

Preston started going into debt with their operation.
They would of went out of buisness a year,or two earlier than when Yellow purchased them.

Yellow took on all their debt but than the skimmed all their good money making acounts to be a part of Yellows customer base,than threw them away.
Oh well if you've got the money to purchase something,you also have every right to do with it what you want.

I know now with Yellows record of this sort of buisness practise,I'd much rather be a Yellow Freight driver than USF group,Roadway,or New Penn driver.

Its nice that Yellow is still keeping all these companies in tact,but who knows what will happen in the future?
 
I started with Preston in late 1987. They were debt free. Then, like you said-- they bought Saia. By Thanksgiving of 93 we should have closed our doors. That's when Yellow bought us. Yellow built our Richfield, Oh, 300 door terminal for us, and put Preston's name on it (although apparently keeping the deed in Yellow's name-- it went back to Yellow within a month after Preston closed). Yellow put Preston on its own, apart from Saia, so they could then put PTC real estate up for loan collateral.....and they wrote off PTC on their books as an IRS write-off. From 1993-1998,, PTC seemed to be guinia pigs for Yellow, perfecting next-day service. We worked for a wage concession-- ironically(?) equal to the same amount Yellow paid for us????? In 1998, Yellow sold PTC to 3 YFS VP's, and declared us debt-free. Yellow Corp got some cash out of the deal, but mainly the chance to write us off again......in 1999-- just about a month after the deadline where, if we closed, Yellow would have to absorb us and dovetail our seniority into their boards, PTC closed............(Yellow again refiled, and retook us off their taxes. Yellow took over our 600 refurbished 48' trailers we had on order, and the 600 pup trailers we had that had no name on the side.....)

Why would you ever be suspicious of Yellow?
 
Yellow knows how to make money...

at the expence of many good people.
With all these LTL companies going out of buisness why couldn't the Teamsters lobby congress to keep their members working?

After deregulation kicked in their was a lot of underhanded deals that took place by the biggest union LTL companies.
The discounting that destroyed the smaller LTL companies.

I know thats true,I had 17 &1/2 years with Hall's Motor Transit when they closed their doors for good March of 1986.
I worked as a spare for 11 more union LTL's to try to get my Teamsters years, but I was only able to get 20 years credit for my Teamsters pension.

Had I been able to get back with a union company fultime I'd of had 30 years credit in 1997.

But without the help of my local union hall.
I finaly gave up took a withdrawl
,and hired on with Overnite/UPS Freight now I'm in my 20th year with them,still working for at least another 2 &1/2 years to get a desent pension with them.

So believe me I can relate to all of you that worked for good trucking companies that are just history now.

Yes very sad times in the LTL trucking industry.
 
Apostolic said:
I know now with Yellows record of this sort of buisness practise,I'd much rather be a Yellow Freight driver than USF group,Roadway,or New Penn driver.

Its nice that Yellow is still keeping all these companies in tact,but who knows what will happen in the future?
No one knows what the future will bring. Just think .... a few short years ago, people watched as Overnite's equipment and facility's started a downward spiral as the company milked all their profits to feed their executive team and posted misleading profit numbers. Without the required investment in any companies basic infrastructure it will ultimately fail. That didn't happen and things now look like a new dawn for the old big O.
As for what division we would all like to work for within the YRC group, as long as we can post positive O/R's I feel we have a chance to survive. Each division is focused on it's own segment of transportation and that should allow each of us to compete within the industry and prosper.
 
Apostolic said:
With all these LTL companies going out of business why couldn't the Teamsters lobby congress to keep their members working?
The Teamsters have lobbied hard in an attempt to give the membership an even stance in the workplace. Part of our dues goes toward political action in Washington, however we are at the bottom in terms of money when it comes to " Big " business corporate money and the politicans who work for corporate America and NOT the average working class man or women in this country.
Yes very sad times in the LTL trucking industry.
Very sad times for all working men and women when you have people that can't afford health care or the basic necessities of life while the mega-corporations haul in billions in profits and compensate their executive teams outrageous amounts of money.
 
I offten wounder why the top C.E.O. types have to make so much money?

While the resturants I eat at their workers have to work,2,and 3 jobs just to keep up with todays rising economy?
I feel very blessed of God that I was able to stay in the LTL trucking trade,after the frustration of having my union company go belly up,and running into the old age issue,to get re-hired with anyother union trucking company.
I also am thankful of God allowing me to get hired on at Overnite.

They really shyed away from me with all the Teamster union years I had credit for.
It was the power of prayer in Jesus name by my pastor,and my church on my behalf that when I had a application on file the Overnite TM called me to come in.

He said he'd give me a chance to work for him,but that he didn't know why he was doing it?

Funny thing is I out lasted this TM that hired me.

I've heard all the claims of wide spread driver shortages,but its still very hard to get a fultime P & D driver job non-union,all the more harder to get a union job,in my local area.

Its really something I got my first Teamster trucking job in 1966,had my company stayed in buisness I would of had 30 years credit by 1997.
But thats life,all water under the bridge now,and you can't get one drop of life back after it passes.
 
I saw a Preston trailer earlier this week In western Illinois. Then what's really crazy is about 5 minutes later I saw a CF trailer, both still showing their logos. I wihs I had a camera to catch stuff like that.
 
I see a lot of old LTL company trailers used for storage..

some on farms,or at construction sites.

Once in awhile I see them being hauled by independents with light coats of paint over the logos,but you can still make out Preston,Hall's,St.Johnsbury,etc.

When some of these LTL companies went under they had just purchased brand new equipment.

Which leads me to say,WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

I do know that the deep discounting that the big three companies started to gain most of the buisness was the straw that broke most of these old bankrupt LTL companies.

Unfortunatly they were mostly Teamster union companies.

The big three being Yellow,Roadway,and consolidated Freightways.

You think the old saying what goes around comes around,at least in the case of two of these big three deep discounters.
Only Yellow has servived,
CF is history,Roadway is owned by Yellow.

But thats the nature of big American buisness,the rich,get richer,and to bad for the little guy.
 
Apostolic said:
You think the old saying what goes around comes around,at least in the case of two of these big three deep discounters.
Only Yellow has servived,
CF is history,Roadway is owned by Yellow.

But thats the nature of big American buisness,the rich,get richer,and to bad for the little guy.
Apo,
Yes, Yellow has survived and is doing fine......CF was run into the ground on purpose.....Roadway is also alive and well. If not for CNF's Union hating Mgmt., the Big 3 would all be alive and well.
 
I beleive Preston went down with the merger-mania at the start of De-reg. The original company was a well run class organization and the Pride of the Eastern Shore. Preston started the slow ride down with Shippers Despatch. About the same time frame as Wilson/Strickland, Associated/Eastern and later Ryder/PIE. Poor Consolidated got murdered by it's own Frankenstein creation. R.I.P
 
I thought the 151 line meant Preston workers put out a 151 percent. As far as what happen to all the Teamster regional carriers, Conway with their flexable work rules put most of them out of business after de-regulation.
 
Associated/Eastern was number one & the first to go.

I remember when Associated purchased Eastern.Associated also manufactured ther own trailers,and sold some to other companies as well.
They were called Brown trailers.

I thought Associated went out before deregulation?

I'm pretty sure they wen't out because of other reasons.
Than being able to servive the discount war amoung all the LTL companies,after deregulation.

I know the owner of New England Motor Freight,and Eastern Truckload is the same guy that owned Associated.

When he started NEMF he wanted to be unionized but didn't want anything to do with the Teamsters.

I'm not sure what union their in now?

They get less per mile,and per hour than UPS Freight but they get time,and a half after 8.

I know a lot of other things about this owner,but I'm not going to post them.
 
Associated Trucking closed before deregulation. It was as if they could see the future. They sold off their permits for millions and got out of trucking.
My first job as a truck driver was for a small carrier that leased space from Associated`s dock in Romulus Michigan. I was 22 years old and vowed I`d never be like those old AT Teamsters all bundled up for the cold on the dock. Now 33 years later on the dock in warm winter Albuquerque I`ve become one of those old bundled up Teamsters trying to stay warm.
 
:Sign-Cow:

I know the owner of New England Motor Freight,and Eastern Truckload is the same guy that owned Associated.

When he started NEMF he wanted to be unionized but didn't want anything to do with the Teamsters.

I'm not sure what union their in now?

They get less per mile,and per hour than UPS Freight but they get time,and a half after 8.

I know a lot of other things about this owner,but I'm not going to post them.[/QUOTE]

believe me, some of us know about the owner of NEMF and his shady dealings.

they're not TEAMSTERS because he didn't want it that way. they're member of a machinist union :puke:
 
One thing I heard about this NEMF owner..

he was away from the Teamster union after closing Asscociated long enough that he could have opened NEMF LTL,& Eastern Truckload as non-union.

But that he hated the Teamsters so bad from earlier dealings he had with them.
He joined his new company with another union.

But this could just be hear-say from old Teamster drivers that knew him.

I'm just passing it on the way I heard it from NEMF drivers when they opened their terminal in my up state New York town.
 
Apostolic said:
he was away from the Teamster union after closing Asscociated long enough that he could have opened NEMF LTL,& Eastern Truckload as non-union.

But that he hated the Teamsters so bad from earlier dealings he had with them.
He joined his new company with another union.

But this could just be hear-say from old Teamster drivers that knew him.

I'm just passing it on the way I heard it from NEMF drivers when they opened their terminal in my up state New York town.


look up member 2631 previous' posts about NEMF. he hits the nail right on the head.
 
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