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Truck speed..

Easyrider said:
Below is an announcement sent out to the terminal managers this evening. I am posting it here in an effort to have as many drivers hear about it from us versus someone else.

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After much discussion and research, WTVA will begin turning back the speed governors on our fleet to 65 mph. Many of our units are already set at 65 mph and will see no change but a portion of our fleet has the governors set at 68 mph and these units will be turned down to 65 mph.

The adjustment has only been made on a few units at this time but over the following days and weeks you will begin to see many more units have the adjustment made to them. All new units being purchased will be delivered set at 65 mph. The continual record setting price of fuel has made this a necessity in order to improve fuel conservation and reduce our overall fuel costs.

Please communicate this change with your employee groups, especially the Road Drivers and Shuttle Drivers, since they are the ones who will experience the change.
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What's next,
Have not had a raise in over 2 years. Did away with just about all bid runs (execpt for clt were every one has a bid run) Every time the new runs come out you take a major pay cut, Any one else in Wilson take a $10,000 pay cut every six too eight months.Wilson really do'nt contribute to the 401k anymore. Now they are cutting our tractors back to 65 mph. There is really now reward for longevity or loyalty any more, all it is a pay check
 
I am sure as our economic climate changes we will need to make changes for the sake of survival. For one, our fuel costs are up 57% compared to last year which is an additional cost of $5.5 million so far this year. Therefore, trying to reduce the amount of Our mileage and or hourly pay has not been cut back. If miles have been reduced that is strictly related to business levels only and not an attempt to cut your specific pay back. Could we possibly lay people off at some locations? Yes we could and that would spread a few miles around to others but we make every effort we can not to lay people off and do workforce reductions. Everyone has an opinion about that but we have chosen not to reduce the workforce. In the long run we feel that is the best thing for us to do. Can you tell me when the last time, if ever, that Wilson laid people off? I have asked around and no one can remember.

You are correct that their has not been an increase in a while or a contribution to the 401k. I can assure you that we dislike that as much as you do and it is our hope that the economy will turn around sooner than later so that can change. Not only has their not been a mileage increase the management salaries have not been increased either and they are working longer hours too.

This is a situation we would rather not be in but for now we have found ourselves in it. I have only been here for just over 6 months but I know without a doubt that Wilson cares a great deal for its employees.

If you would like to speak about your specifc situation in more detail I would hope that you will pick up the phone and call. You can call me or Leadfoot Ultra, I am sure you know exactly who each of us are. We would be more than happy to talk to you and listen to any ideas that you might have. You don't have to provide your name, that doesn't matter, we will still talk to you.

Best wishes getagrip.
 
I did not complete a sentence in the above reply.

Therefore, trying to reduce the amount of ............tractor idle time is something we feel help help us a little bit with both the P&D and Linehaul tractors. Every hour of idle time reduced should save one gallon of fuel. Over a period of time this could produce some savings.

Once again, please feel free to call if you would like.
 
thats something new , a super who isn't afraid to admit they sometimes do make mistakes , we may have a fighting chance after all , lol lol lol

everyone have a good week. the Bigbird's gone to the beach to post the following sign
"Shade 4 Sale" lol lol lol
 
dear Easyrider,

The cut on some of the runs i think is a direct atempt to comtrol income,
When atl had all of the mia runs, jeffery s. and the old term manger of atl said
"we had to do it, those drivers are making more money than we are". If that is not a atemp to control income what is.
I think wilson has a motto of doing less with more, I stead of holding supervisor to cut times we just cut miles and add drivers. that can not be saving the company any money, with the high cost of benifits. I see no reasion we have 350 mile 18 to 20 hour layover runs and 660 mile daylight turns home every day, we have turn runs that should be layovers and layovers that should be turns. And no i am not jealous of those term with big miles, because i could ask for a tranfer and wait my turn.
I hate to sound so negitive, i love my job, been here a long time i just think there is a need for a lot of changes
 
getagrip said:
dear Easyrider,      The cut on some of the runs i think is a direct atempt to comtrol income,When atl had all of the mia runs, jeffery s. and the old term manger of atl said"we had to do it, those drivers are making more money than we are".  If that is not a atemp to control income what is.  I think wilson has a motto of doing less with more, I stead of holding supervisor to cut times we just cut miles and add drivers. that can not be saving the company any money, with the high cost of benifits. I see no reasion we have 350 mile 18 to 20 hour layover runs and 660 mile daylight turns home every day, we have turn runs that should be layovers and layovers that should be turns. And no i am not jealous of those term with big miles, because i could ask for a tranfer and wait my turn.  I hate to sound so negitive, i love my job, been here a long time i just think there is a need for a lot of changes
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Getagrip,

I can't really comment on things said by people a while back before my time.  However, if that was said I do not agree with it.  What we would like to do at Wilson is control costs better in all that we do.  But controlling income is not one of them.  In the past I believe we over hired and hired in places we did not need drivers.  Now we are not hiring new drivers and only replacing a driver if truly needed in that specific location.  We are in a position now of letting the freight catch up with the drivers we hired.

Doing more with less?  I don't think that is a motto at all but in some cases here at Wilson we are capable of doing more with less because we over hired.  Same with salaried personnel.  We have been too fat with salaried personnel and as one leaves for one reason or another we are being selective in hiring a replacement.  We have cut six salaries this year that we did not replace and while that does not sound like much it is a start. 

Cut times.......big issue with me too.  This is not something we are very good at in my opinion and something that we do need to be very good at.  That is one of my objectives to get us much better at hitting cut times.......but we have a long way to go there to be honest with you. 

Do we need lots of changes?  Yes I think we do.  They won't come real quick either but I hope they will come.  Some things took a while to get the way they are and will take a while to get back on track.  I don't think you are a negative person, just frustrated, and in many ways probably rightfully so.  I promise you I get frustrated myself.  Six months ago I didn't have any gray hair but now I have a bunch of it. 

I will tell you this getagrip........I will always be honest with you.  If I don't know I will tell you I don't know.  I will tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.  You won't always like or agree with what I say but it will always be honest.  You are a long term employee and I want you to like working hear, I think you do.  I am a short timer but I like it here too and plan on being here a long time.  Please drive safe.
 
here at npme,i assume you have heard of us,we interline alot of freight with each other, and have been for years. they just decided to turn down our trucks from 65, to 63 mph,in the name of fuel saveings. we can't even pass a yellow or roadway truck anymore, but we have some pretty good drag races. be glad you still have 65mph, at least you can do the speed limit for the most part. well in the NE, 65 is highest speed limit gets.
 
I do remember when they had a lay off ,probably 10-15 years ago.They did it in as fair way as a lay off can be.By putting low seniority road drivers back to city, low seniority city back to dock,and part time dock were laid off.
What I don't understand is why you sit on a yard for hours at a time.So that dock workers can jamb pack a trailer.Watching the freight getting damaged or the possibility of it getting damaged. While at the same time you see 1 or 2 drivers sign in and out, pulling empties to the same destination that all that possibly damaged freight is going to.Why not let the first driver go when the next driver that is going to pull an empty to the same destination gets there .Half of the freight could be halfway there by the time the other half got to the originating terminal.
One other thing I have seen on this thread ,is that if we had an open door policy that has always been told.We would not be trying to air company matters on the Internet.
 
Slimeball,

10 to 15 years ago on the last layoff, that is a long time. Wait time is a bad deal and I am beginning to work on that because I don't want to see it. I wish I could snap my fingers and it go away tomorrow but it is not that easy. Oh, it's easy for me to say that it is going away tomorrow but reality is that it is going to take us a while to get rid of it. We definitely have some kinks to work out for sure.

As far as the open door policy I would have thought there had been one for a long time here. I am only trying to help further open the lines of communication. I don't want dirty laundry aired here either. I was only hoping to foster better communications with a valued group of employees. However, if you gentlemen prefer that I remove myself from the board then I will do that. Best wishes to each of you and please drive safely so that you return home to your families each day.
 
Stay Easyrider, do not let a couple of fools run you off..UNLESS..you have not got the basckbone to handle it.

I enjoy reading these posts.
 
Top Flight said:
Stay Easyrider, do not let a couple of fools run you off..UNLESS..you have not got the basckbone to handle it.

I enjoy reading these posts.
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I do not consider these men fools........................I also believe that many a good man has failed because he had his wishbone where his backbone should have been. I don't plan on failing!
 
Its great to have a top tier Wilson elite take time to communicate with the troops. Thx 4 ur time! :1036316054:

One thing is, anonymous people on here want to rant without having repercussions (which they shouldn't). We all get that, but just know its not always for the greater good if you hide behind a veil of secrecy. Matters can get solved w/o becoming a simpleton if posed in the right manner.

Hmmm, i think a memo should go out to at least the drivers about this forum. I just basically stumbled onto it the other day.

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Ok so this thread has veered away from its subject. :(
 
To me,having a backbone is a straight shooter that shoots from the hip.I have no reason to think otherwise about the posts involved in this thread and others.In a forum,such as this,one can make a well thought out response before it is put into words,not necessarily to sugar coat it but to find the most factual reply before responding.

As for the "dirty laundry",maybe that would be better served using the private message feature on this site.Open dialogue with drivers have definitely waned over the years but this forum is a good start to turning that around.
 
i'm back, i almost sold enough shade to retire on lol lol

let me say i for one am real happy with the forum, an old Wilson driver and myself were the first on trucking boards and i asked for us to have our own Wilson board because i felt like it would help all of us get things out in the open and chat with drivers we never see because of freight lanes

i am also very happy that easyrider and leadfoot ultra post on here, i also know that other Wilson supers look but never post, far as i can tell leadfoot and easyrider both have shown backbone and been open with us, this is a great "Open Door"
 
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