Redracer3136
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All good points and I can't say I disagree with any of them....except that some don't take every Friday, just the Friday's during the winter when the temp is above 70!!A couple things to remember:
We have something called the PSP philosophy. People, Service, Profit. People, said to come first, for good reason. I think that should apply here. Why force those who would prefer to be off, to work, while an equal number sit home wishing they could work? Obviously there must be a line somewhere. Everyone can't have every Friday off to play golf
As far as predicting freight levels, that is what they do all the time. They are actually pretty good at that. There is always a margin of error, due to several factors. But WITHIN that margin, there is no reason to deny unpaid days to one, while forcing unpaid time off on another.
Under your theory, the term company convenience means it is MOST convenient (for leadership) for vacation days to be burned during the slowest season. While it is easier to accommodate vacations, and might look great on paper, it is not realistic or compatible with a healthy work/personal life balance.
A key point to consider: What percentage of time off do you think is actually requested as unpaid? We must take it to the next logical step and ask what percentage of that number actually creates a conflict throughout the year. I suspect the terms rare and isolated would apply.
I think we all agree with the philosophy that people "should" come first. Agreed, when drivers are sitting, days off without pay should be granted...but, with the road (especially at hubs), enough drivers have to be kept on hold to make sure there's enough to cover the PM volume. Just because four drivers are sitting at home on the AM doesn't mean four can have the day off, with or without pay.
Agreed again, freight flow specialist and hub planners are good at what they do, no doubt, but there's always freight that's unpredictable which causes overflow/extra runs. At hubs, we also have to account for runs called against us from the other end. My guess is drivers being denied days off without pay and forcing other drivers off without pay is rare and the exception.
Not my theory but rather my opinion...and it forces drivers to decide on whether or not they want to burn their vacation during the slow months or use it for when they bid vacation later in the year.
For your "key point", I can only speak for our center and this past year it actually effected more drivers than you may realize. It was a very rare occurrence for a driver to get a day off without pay last year which lead to quite a few drivers not having enough vacaction days to cover their bid vacations later in the year (Oct-Dec) which resulted in drivers having to give up their bid vacations due to lack of time available which allowed junior drivers who were on standby for said week to slide in and get the week off....those same junior drivers that sat at home during the winter months.
NOTE: Please realize I'm not for or against this policy, just playing devils advocate for conversation. Personally, I usually keep enough vacaction time banked to cover any day I may want to take.
