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imported_eaglescout

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Its not easy changing jobs when you have a family and starting at the bottom at 48 is no picnic however I will take my chances. At SAIA the company policy is for a 30 minute lunch break and 2 ten minute paid breaks daily. However they would prefer you to work thru lunch and the two ten minute breaks were unkown. I only found out about them when I found a copy of the employee handbook, they did not provide us with one. I wonder how much money the company is saving over the course of a year by not giving those breaks? 20 minutes a day time x10 city drivers is 200 minutes times 5 days 1000 minutes or 16.6 hours per week. multiply by 52 weeks 863.2 hours @ 17.25 =$14424.00 nice chunck of change they are reaping. If you figure the amount of missed lunches which they dock your check it is quite a bit not too mention a person whom works 12 to 14 hours straight is a safety hazard. would not doubt if the bottom line contributes to the managers year end bonus. I paid over $1500 dollars for crappy insurance for my family in the year I worked there. In addition to the bs they throw at you. For example being on call 8:00 a.m. for a start time anytime up till noon for the whole year. Runs planned by the computer soo tight no time to stop for lunch, or a break therefore you could have too work 12 - 14 hours with out a lunch or break. "Got to make those numbers boys". Favoritism runs rampant the list goes on
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Hello from the Eaglesnest
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You're right and here's what I do

I caught on early on with SAIA that if you let them they will as a matter of practice, not policy, screw you over all in the name of getting the business at hand accomplished, and smile while they do it.

As for the lunches, I never give one up. I refuse to pay SAIA $10.50 for the privelege of not taking a lunch. Either they sign out a no lunch or I take it even at the end of the day BEFORE the freight gets back to the yard. As for the 10 minute breaks, at least one gets taken before the lunch break begins and somewhere in the day the other is taken.

Its a shame about the breaks being only 10 minutes especially when the industry standard is 15 minutes.
 
eagle scout i have worked at saia in the city for 4 years i follow the example brother trucker has shown you can ask him it is worth waiting until you are on your way in to take your lunch it just makes the out bound supervisor have to hurry that much more to meet his cut times when you get in 30to45min late.also a good way to get them back is to show up 30 min before your start time the next day and punch in wile they are busy doing something else that really confuses the numbers. i know we have to put up with alot of crap but you could be working in a plant making 8.00 an hour
 
Well I can tell you me and my Terminal manager went around and around about the lunch issue. He wanted me to take my lunch in between 1 and 3 pm and I was taking it when I got done with all deliveries and pickups sometimes 6 or 7 at night. But He told me quote "you can get back sooner if you take 30 mins in the middle of the day compared to taking it at the end of the day" I tried to explain to him that 30 mins is 30 mins regardless where you take it. And the way I have done it is take your full lunch and breaks,regardless the freight will be there the next day. 11 years city driver 2 in atlanta, 9 in jacksonville florida.:shout:
 
Drivers need to be taking there lunch breaks. If you are not doing that you really need to start. If the TM wishes to make an issue of it have him speak with HR. I do not know any driver who has been disciplined for taking there meal break. See page 25 of the Employee Manual. This also covers skiping your meal period.
The FLSA does not require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. Some states may have requirements for breaks or meal periods. If you work in a state which does not require breaks or meal periods, these benefits are a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee.
 
cstaats said:
Drivers need to be taking there lunch breaks. If you are not doing that you really need to start. If the TM wishes to make an issue of it have him speak with HR. I do not know any driver who has been disciplined for taking their meal break. See page 25 of the Employee Manual. This also covers skipping your meal period.
The FLSA does not require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. Some states may have requirements for breaks or meal periods. If you work in a state which does not require breaks or meal periods, these benefits are a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee.
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cstaats
First off, I restate these things are done as a matter of practice, not policy. The reason these things are done is because THE MANAGEMENT gives us a workload that can only be accomplished by working thru the breaks. AS LONG AS DELIVERIES ARE MADE AND PICKUPS ARE COMPLETED they don't give a rats rear end if we get a break or not.

IT IS ABOUT THE MONEY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE VIEW. If we don't take a lunch break then the company profits because they get a half hour of free labor per day. That means they can run with less manpower. It costs me over $50 per week if I don't take a lunch. All it does is make the production numbers look better and I guarantee you that the numbers take precedence over legality any day they don't get the government picking their pocket over various violations. I can cite several examples of that.

Secondly, it is a SAFETY ISSUE. Tired drivers are DANGEROUS drivers. That is a demonstrated FACT. That half hour that we take off (hopefully somewhere during the workday) may be the only time some of us get out of the stress and heat of the day (especially if you work in the southern climes) and/or the other extremes of the weather. I can tell a great difference in how tired I am the NEXT day when I have to take my lunch break at the end of the work day as opposed to taking the break between pickups and deliveries.

Thirdly, by management taking advantage of the employee in such a manner it speaks far louder than words do as exactly how the grunts (that's us hourly workers) are viewed. That's why I get really p*ssed when I ask to be paid for the half hour and being told no after having to work thru so I can go home and spend the extra time with my family. It costs the company exactly the same amount of money ($10.50 in my case) whether I am signed out or I take the break.

Btw, the company may not be legally required to give those breaks, but competetive pressure and other outside pressures ensure we at least get that
 
suicidejockey said:
eagle scout i have worked at saia in the city for 4 years i follow the example brother trucker has shown you can ask him it is worth waiting until you are on your way in to take your lunch it just makes the out bound supervisor have to hurry that much more to meet his cut times when you get in 30to45min late.also a good way to get them back is to show up 30 min before your start time the next day and punch in wile they are busy doing something else that really confuses the numbers. i know we have to put up with alot of crap but you could be working in a plant making 8.00 an hour
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My preference is to take my lunch break before I start my pickups. I don't care about the outbound freight. I don't get paid to do another man's job. There is a lot happens between the time I bump the dock with my pickups and the time the trailer is emptied, all of which I have no control. I let the geniuses that set the dock up take care of that. After all this up to date technology we have is supposed to speed up the process.
 
Brother Trucker I know the pressure you are under. I regularly ride with the drivers and the pick ups come in as soon as they have the last delivery off. Since they have me with them they get a free lunch so we stop and have a break. You are correct drivers need to take a break and the time between the last delivery and the first pickup is the ideal time to take a break. The drivers should push back if only for the safety reason for the fact it is the correct thing to do.
 
Welcome to LTL eaglescout.
I joined Saia in '04 and only lasted a year. I had previously worked for another LTL company out here on the west coast for about a decade.
And I have concluded that they are all the same. They'll run you into the ground.
If you don't take your breaks and lunches, you can only blame yourself. To get your breaks in you only have to be smarter than you average dispatcher, and since you were able to fill out an application for the job, this proves your smarter than your average dispatcher.
Remember, once you leave the yard, they can no longer see you. They only know whats going on if you tell them. It is important to be creative. Make sure you tap into the time wasting potential of delay time.
Traffic was backed up. There were four trucks ahead of me. Receiving was close breifly for a safety meeting. The guy in shipping doesn't speak english. These excuses and countless others should be used in your favor.
 
As you can see I am a ex Saia driver. 1 year was enough for me. I now work at Roadway and the numbers and taking a lunch are not a issue, it is assumed that you will take your lunch. A lot of the problem with Saia is local managemant. Some terminals are run different than others. I never had the recruiter visit our terminal in the year I was there. Another issue was the poor state of our pallet jacks and hand trucks the manager acted like a new pallet jack would come out of his check! I can tell you many days I came home and my back was blown out by pulling around a faulty jack or not having a lift gate to lower freight safely to the ground
 
well only a one time issue here, but as always every year time and time again when freight slowed down management would always find something wrong somewhere.. I HAVE NOW TRANSFERED BACK TO LINEHAUL FOR THE 2 TIME AND LAST KEEP THE CITY...:razz:
 
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