ABF | Victims of a bad contract and poor leadership.

chowda

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We've lost one driver (4-1/2 yrs)and a second (1-1/2yrs)gave his 2 week notice past Monday. Both good hard workers and it was quick to see that they worked with a conscience. The type of worker that made yours and everyone's job easier each day. A strong attribute for todays truckdriver especially in LTL. Too often I see the "next guy's problem" attitude ya know...not wanting to get off the forklift or not strapping some freight, things of that nature. We now have a third who is on the fence. Two of the three spent the winter on layoff sometimes not working for 2-3 weeks at a time. Still on layoff even though we have been busy most every day. Many of us grew up this way in freight and sometimes prospered, sometimes suffered for it but todays driver will not put up with it for very long. The more senior driver just had "enough". Sometimes not enough help and working 13-14 hour days, sometimes had enough of driving a 958,000 mile driven tractor with no a/c, no floor heat and vibrated so bad you had a headache by lunch. We still have 4-5 of those tractors here. The overall trucking outlook so bad he made a career change at 45 years old. Add the prospect of no or little pension, poor Teamster leadership and I would think anyone with little time invested in the Union is having a long hard decision put in front of them. One they did not want to make...but they've been let down by both company and Union and for months now have worked wondering WTF is going on? Yeah sure we all went through this before... some many times... but most off the time we knew there was a better contract waiting for us on the other side and the National had our back. That is no longer the case and that is where these hard life changing decisions must be made for some of our Brothers and Sisters. I'm curious as to what percentage of drivers did ARCBEST think would be leaving the company after this contract and more importantly what caliber of driver do they think they can attract now?
 
Thats the business. No a/c they have 1 4 days to fix. If not out of service. Enforce your contract,we have descent equipment that is maintained.
 
Overtime after 8, free Cadillac benefits, pension, work rules,not going to get much bettter in this field.
 
Thats the business. No a/c they have 1 4 days to fix. If not out of service. Enforce your contract,we have descent equipment that is maintained.
Not at our terminal. If I sent you some pics of the terminal itself never mind the equipment you'd ::shit::. Big wigs here 3-4 months ago "we'll fix that pronto" couple of band-aids so far. Neglected to mention we have a few on comp with serious injuries maybe career ending partly due to these conditions. Now you say work rules, well you just saw this last contract gutted like the one before and the one before. Not sure where your local is but enforcing it isn't like it was even just 15 years ago. We have great management and have had to quell some guys from calling OSHA but unfortunately that is probably what's about to happen. A few guys have had enough and I don't blame them. Pension? You're kidding... right? It's all great in reading it but will we ever actually get it? Certainly not what we put into it...not if I live till 85! Medical? The best by a longshot. Work rules still better than anyone else but barely and at best slowly enforceable. As I said todays available drivers, someone you might want to hire for your own company will not live and work like this so ARCBEST is going to have those second and third class drivers or drivers fresh out of school. We've had two of those and as soon as layoffs started they were gone. AB went after one but no judge is gonna nail a family man who gets called in 1-2 days a week. AB trained 3 drivers over the past 8 years here to work for other companies, competitors at that. Thinking about it now I'm not sure who the victim is here. The driver who invested ?? time into this job thinking he had a job for life or AB losing an employee who made them money every day they punched in? I'm going for both but most employers will tell that it is very hard to replace a good employee.
 
Not at our terminal. If I sent you some pics of the terminal itself never mind the equipment you'd :::shit:::. Big wigs here 3-4 months ago "we'll fix that pronto" couple of band-aids so far. Neglected to mention we have a few on comp with serious injuries maybe career ending partly due to these conditions. Now you say work rules, well you just saw this last contract gutted like the one before and the one before. Not sure where your local is but enforcing it isn't like it was even just 15 years ago. We have great management and have had to quell some guys from calling OSHA but unfortunately that is probably what's about to happen. A few guys have had enough and I don't blame them. Pension? You're kidding... right? It's all great in reading it but will we ever actually get it? Certainly not what we put into it...not if I live till 85! Medical? The best by a longshot. Work rules still better than anyone else but barely and at best slowly enforceable. As I said todays available drivers, someone you might want to hire for your own company will not live and work like this so ARCBEST is going to have those second and third class drivers or drivers fresh out of school. We've had two of those and as soon as layoffs started they were gone. AB went after one but no judge is gonna nail a family man who gets called in 1-2 days a week. AB trained 3 drivers over the past 8 years here to work for other companies, competitors at that. Thinking about it now I'm not sure who the victim is here. The driver who invested ?? time into this job thinking he had a job for life or AB losing an employee who made them money every day they punched in? I'm going for both but most employers will tell that it is very hard to replace a good employee.
Are pension is in good shape and in three more years will be in the high 80 percent funded. Why are you driving these trucks if guys are getting hurt? I can tell you the company will spend whatever it takes to fix it right. We get new seats put in, a/c are fixed, flat bed just had a new cage put on, tires, wiper blades, whatever they need they fix it. Somethings not right there?
 
First you time stamp the VCR. In the case of say A/C you need to give them a reasonable time to repair( I think as per the contract is 2 wks) then just refuse to drive it. that's the biggest problem, one guy writes it up and refuses to drive, but the next guy will use it. If you see someone taking something that was wrote up, take the time to make sure he saw the write up, and explain to him it's his or her butt if something happens. This company or any other will not back you up. God forbid something really bad happens, They won't be sitting in jail to keep you company. This is why all these companies are putting cameras facing front and more and more facing the driver. Oh, we have proof he was picking his nose at the time of the accident, It was all his fault, sue him not us, we told him two hands must be on the steering wheel at all time.
 
First you time stamp the VCR. In the case of say A/C you need to give them a reasonable time to repair( I think as per the contract is 2 wks) then just refuse to drive it. that's the biggest problem, one guy writes it up and refuses to drive, but the next guy will use it. If you see someone taking something that was wrote up, take the time to make sure he saw the write up, and explain to him it's his or her butt if something happens. This company or any other will not back you up. God forbid something really bad happens, They won't be sitting in jail to keep you company. This is why all these companies are putting cameras facing front and more and more facing the driver. Oh, we have proof he was picking his nose at the time of the accident, It was all his fault, sue him not us, we told him two hands must be on the steering wheel at all time.

Below are some cases won by the driver relating to bad equipment. Scroll to near the bottom to see what was awarded. In all STA / OSHA cases under DOT & US title codes, the attorney fees were paid by the loser, his former employer. If you read the entire decision, you will understand why the driver won his case. Anyone having problems with management MUST & SHALL record, copy, & have a witness when ever possible. Proof other than he said she said, is what a Judge can go by & most likely base his decision on. Filing with under the STA Act is not the easiest route. But, sometimes the only one. von.von.

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...nc.Gordon.2-0050-12-027+tw+final+01.20.16.pdf
https://www.oalj.dol.gov/Decisions/...005STA00063_(MAY_05_2006)_154353_CADEC_SD.HTM
https://www.oalj.dol.gov/Decisions/...010STA00044_(APR_25_2011)_145304_CADEC_SD.HTM
 
First you time stamp the VCR. In the case of say A/C you need to give them a reasonable time to repair( I think as per the contract is 2 wks) then just refuse to drive it. that's the biggest problem, one guy writes it up and refuses to drive, but the next guy will use it. If you see someone taking something that was wrote up, take the time to make sure he saw the write up, and explain to him it's his or her butt if something happens. This company or any other will not back you up. God forbid something really bad happens, They won't be sitting in jail to keep you company. This is why all these companies are putting cameras facing front and more and more facing the driver. Oh, we have proof he was picking his nose at the time of the accident, It was all his fault, sue him not us, we told him two hands must be on the steering wheel at all time.
I like the time stamp. I did it myself every day, twice daily. Pre trip & post trip. And wrote on the VCR 'previous damage all units'. A little dent on the hood could cause you a lot of grief if not noted & the supervisor noted it on the VCR. Most of the time they would sign, never looking @ the equipment. On very obvious damage I made them look @ it. To protect me & them. A axle oil seal with signs of new or old grease leaking will get you shut down & some scale houses. Half our fleet suffered this problem but we all dragged it out of the yard anyway. Business as usual. von.
 
Bottom half of our list is new to LTL, some new to trucking altogether so experience is an issue here. As I said we have great management, they'll work with you in most any situation whether it's time off or a guy getting in a questionable at fault accident, they have always done what they could to back you up even when the Fort wanted a driver to blame! Some guys will take some of these problem tractors when they are reminded of this. A few of these guys have a pretty long list of previous problems so I understand where they are coming from. Guilty from time to time myself! I think honestly they are overwhelmed with the number of things wrong, broken and sometimes just unfixable. Our remaining Sterlings which are all coming up on a million miles are loaded with problems. Mirrors vibrating so badly you can't see 2 cars back, several the high beams flash on and off, intermittently. Too many problems to list here. The A/C and heat have been worked on and sometimes it will work OK for awhile and then ::shit:: the bed. Dash panels hanging off from being removed for work so many times. Not to mention the body condition The mechanics (vendor) have fixed and replaced these problems many times but they're back within weeks. The Macks are between 450k and 750k and their problems are now starting to mount. Now I've been in this business long enough to know that in a contract year it's hard if not impossible to the company to spend $$ on these kinda things. These vendors aren't cheap! I thought the injuries might kickstart them but it seems that means nothing to them. We do use road units from time to time but it seems they don't like that very much. Sometimes I wait at the Terminal an1hr=1-1/2 hr when I refuse an unsafe tractor. We also punch the VCR's, been telling the guys that for awhile, punch everything! some do some don't same as most everywhere. Most of our serious injuries have occurred at the terminal, yard poor shape dock is abysmal. 2/3 of the doors damaged 1/3 have to opened and closed with either 2 guys or a forklift. I myself had an injury due to these conditions that put me out 11 months resulting in surgery awhile back. Anyone who has ever gone through this for that long knows it's not much fun. As I said the brass came in a few times over the last 6-8 months and you could see it on their faces as to how bad it was here. Now they do have a plan to fix some of it but by what I'm being told it could take 5-6 years by my estimate at the rate they want to spend the $$. I'm hoping when the contract is finally squared away they'll give us a little more attention. ltl1 I'm in the NE pension and have not heard or read anything about 80% funding. They have told me things are looking up though. I'm guessing maybe in a different pension? Thanks for the input just trying to figure out if this was company wide now or just us.
 
It's a shame, but.....Liability ....is the biggest factor in trucking nowadays. The whole reason we have inflexible log laws and HOS rules,.....is because the lawyers who...insure the trucks,...don't want to get sued by the Public...

And here you thought it was for...."Safety".........

As a former steward , I always told my guys that,....the whole reason you're getting the..."Big Bucks"...in trucking,....has NOTHING to do with your driving skills,.........
and,..has EVERYTHING to do with your willingness to take on the Liability and responsibility the minute you cross off of company property and go on the Public streets.......

Ever watch some obvious 300 lb "newbie" at a food warehouse take 30 swings and a half hour to back in the truck in a wide-open dock? That company doesn't care if he,...or she,....has very little driving skills........All they worry about is; "did you deliver the load?"

And,....Once he,...or she,......is back out on public streets,......they count on the fact that ALL the liability rests SOLELY on the DRIVER,.......whether he,...or she,...is competent or not.

Have a wreck? Not our fault,....go see the driver.......He ...or she,...must have made an improper pre-trip,........or was distracted,.....or improperly loaded the truck........

Or any myriad of reasons to deflect the ...blame,...away from the company to...reduce...the insurance bill.....Blame the Driver......

Absolutely refuse equipment that has the slightest defect . There is a whole class of ambulance-chasing attorneys who will crucify a driver's slightest error in order to tap the companies' deep pockets,....and, increasingly,....that driver's personal homeowners liability insurance.

Who cares about the driver's wrecked family budget, loss of income, payments to lawyers , and ruined ability to work in this profession?

Insist that the company provide you with safe equipment....We are Union,....We can do that.......
 
Think about this---- someone runs a stop sign and you T-bone them with a brand new truck say 100 miles on it. Clearly not the drivers fault, however first thing they do check the truck, truck passes, then check to make sure driver wasn't on anything(drug test) then check his phone. Driver and phone come up clean. So you would think it's a done deal you're cleared. Not smart ass lawyer requests the onboard computer, finds driver was 5 miles over the speed limit 5min before the crash. Driver now sued because had he/she not have been speeding they would not have been there to T-bone said car. For the record this has happened. The first thing I would be teaching new drivers is Cover Your Ass.
 
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