I am starting this reply in a new thread as I think the orginal is getting somewhat off track.
ryerke, I don't doubt that you have gotten trailers that were not/missed placarded. I think every driver in the system at some time as gotten at least one.
This issue is not a non-Union vs Union one. This has been a problem system wide since I have been at Oak. I seriously doubt that any driver that cares about safety would intentionally drag one of these unmarked time bombs down the road.
This is severe problems that Oak has made a feeble attempt to correct but some every time it gets shrugged off about two weeks after a big crackdown.
First off there is a billing problem. The P&D driver picks HazMat up and it is not entered/billed into the Qualcomm as HazMat. If it is entered as HazMat it goes to the top of the pile to be entered. When it just sits in the to do box the trailer maybe loaded and down the road before anyone knows there is HazMat on board, except for the dock hand that cross-docked it. Some of these people have not been trained properly. The trailer get to the exchange point and by the time next driver picks it up it is finally in the system. He then gets a message kicked back that he has HazMat on the trailer.
Or say the P&D entered it as a pallet instead of a tote bin. In some cases a pallet wouldn't have been required for a automatic placard. There has been more than once I have seen a bill listed with one pallet and a weight of 5500 pounds. Damn big box on that pallet. I think you get my idea. The biggest problem I see is the P&D driver failing to make sure it is entered properly. Then again this is not a Union/non-Union thing. It is some one not doing the job right because they have not been trained right or are too lazy or incompetent to care.
Then there is the dock issue. IIRCC the company policy is that before a trailer is sealed a dock foreman is to review the loading and the paperwork. If there is HazMat loaded he is to see that the proper placards are in place. Either this rule is not being followed or again they have not been properly trained.
Another big problem is loads that have a mix of crap on them, one or more being in bulk or requiring placards for that class, and a few of a different class that would require a "Dangerous" placard. Most of the time the Dangerous is being flown but not the class of the bulk product.
I for one have brought this up to the (lack of) Safety more than once and it is never followed up on, or just shoved under the ever growing stack. After awhile I have learned to just cover my own butt, making sure that everything is in order, and charging them accordingly. Somehow though the money issues never surface when management is involved. I have a classic example of this how Central was willing to hang me but when they figured out it was management error the problem magically disappeared. (With my thanks to Larry B., former Portland Line Dispatcher)
From your past posts I take it that you were with Dead Oak before the strike.. You have to admit some of the "replacement" workers they have had really didn't/don't belong in a truck. And you got to agree with me that the brake dragging/locked up until the tire blows out video is a classic.
I could go on typing about this until the keyboard wears out but I am sure that you understand the point I am trying to make. Again I want to stress I am not making this a Union/non-union thing. It is a safety issue and all any of us want to do is to come home to our family and friends at the end of our shifts with a clear conscious that we did our best.
PS: Ed, the wooden shoes have dry rot.
I recall on more than one occasion getting trailers out of Medford that had been dropped by Portland drivers that had incorrect or missing placards. I would like to think that DOT or State Patrol had been watching. Not likely.
Maybe your local needs to pass out a copy of Title 49 so that you can be at least as good as we are.
ryerke, I don't doubt that you have gotten trailers that were not/missed placarded. I think every driver in the system at some time as gotten at least one.
This issue is not a non-Union vs Union one. This has been a problem system wide since I have been at Oak. I seriously doubt that any driver that cares about safety would intentionally drag one of these unmarked time bombs down the road.
This is severe problems that Oak has made a feeble attempt to correct but some every time it gets shrugged off about two weeks after a big crackdown.
First off there is a billing problem. The P&D driver picks HazMat up and it is not entered/billed into the Qualcomm as HazMat. If it is entered as HazMat it goes to the top of the pile to be entered. When it just sits in the to do box the trailer maybe loaded and down the road before anyone knows there is HazMat on board, except for the dock hand that cross-docked it. Some of these people have not been trained properly. The trailer get to the exchange point and by the time next driver picks it up it is finally in the system. He then gets a message kicked back that he has HazMat on the trailer.
Or say the P&D entered it as a pallet instead of a tote bin. In some cases a pallet wouldn't have been required for a automatic placard. There has been more than once I have seen a bill listed with one pallet and a weight of 5500 pounds. Damn big box on that pallet. I think you get my idea. The biggest problem I see is the P&D driver failing to make sure it is entered properly. Then again this is not a Union/non-Union thing. It is some one not doing the job right because they have not been trained right or are too lazy or incompetent to care.
Then there is the dock issue. IIRCC the company policy is that before a trailer is sealed a dock foreman is to review the loading and the paperwork. If there is HazMat loaded he is to see that the proper placards are in place. Either this rule is not being followed or again they have not been properly trained.
Another big problem is loads that have a mix of crap on them, one or more being in bulk or requiring placards for that class, and a few of a different class that would require a "Dangerous" placard. Most of the time the Dangerous is being flown but not the class of the bulk product.
I for one have brought this up to the (lack of) Safety more than once and it is never followed up on, or just shoved under the ever growing stack. After awhile I have learned to just cover my own butt, making sure that everything is in order, and charging them accordingly. Somehow though the money issues never surface when management is involved. I have a classic example of this how Central was willing to hang me but when they figured out it was management error the problem magically disappeared. (With my thanks to Larry B., former Portland Line Dispatcher)
From your past posts I take it that you were with Dead Oak before the strike.. You have to admit some of the "replacement" workers they have had really didn't/don't belong in a truck. And you got to agree with me that the brake dragging/locked up until the tire blows out video is a classic.
I could go on typing about this until the keyboard wears out but I am sure that you understand the point I am trying to make. Again I want to stress I am not making this a Union/non-union thing. It is a safety issue and all any of us want to do is to come home to our family and friends at the end of our shifts with a clear conscious that we did our best.
PS: Ed, the wooden shoes have dry rot.