Holland/YRC still hasn’t figured it out. / excuse me they have, but will not change. If wages would have stayed consistent with the cost of living(especially in higher taxed markets) they would not be having the problems that they are facing recruiting new drivers that have experience. They would have retained drivers such as myself who finally just had enough of the BS coming from all angles and yes that included the Union as well.
It is not only the wages it is the retirement aspect as well. With no pension and no matching for a 401, you do not gain the long term commitment from a drivers perspective as you once had.
We who frequent this forum and those of us that have/or have any time in this industry know the problems occurring at Holland And YRC as a whole. Taking the dive and racing to the bottom that I see occurring and that has occurred with attempting, not to retain the experienced driver, but to focus on a program that all the companies such as Swift, JB, Schneider, Etc... has only goes to show that they will not be be the leaders that they once were.
The so called apprentice program is not like an apprentice program in any other trade. To get to the status of an Union Driver you and I and all who came before had to pay our dues so to say. I get they need warm bodies and that the pool of warm bodies wanting to jump into this industry is waning, but this is not aiming that occurred overnight. It is just another example of poor management and planing. Unfortunately the doors are not being bumrushed by applicants anylonger. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out why!
One of the harder decisions that I ever made was to walk away from Holland, I still have a good long time of service left in me that they could have utilized, but when I gave my notice the TM basically shrugged shoulders . Didn’t ask a reason why, or what they may do to retain me. Mind you I was a runner, yep a runner locally. I know not the “Union Way”, hell I was told to slow down you are making us look bad by many guys and I was super vocal about the lazy PITAS that even though they were making the same as me somehow it took two hours longer for them to get the same work done. I was vocal about the pieces of crap equipment that we drove everyday, I was vocal about how the Union seemed to only protect those who shouldn’t have been protected, you know the ones who were caught on tape sleeping but kept their jobs. Hell I was vocal about the way the company was being run from the local level to the upper management... why was I so vocal? Not because I am an a hole, but because I cared!
I cared, my personality fault to a tee! I cared because we were once the elite, we made it we were once the top dogs the rest of the industry looked up to. It was hard to get hired here back then and you had to sit on the bottom for a long time because guys didn’t leave. Well guys I know why the vets are trying to ride out their last few years and “waiting to see what the contract” has in store for them, but to be honest it’s just going to be another song and dance pony show protecting the company and the Unions interests not yours.
