Central Transport | What is the problem, and how do we cure it?

Not_wanted

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At my place, one word, MORALE. This is a statement, just just a whining paragraph.:crybaby:

Morale, well it has not improved since CK took over. Management is constantly being barked at from above for things out of their control. Drivers are told we need to step it up, but, each terminal has their screw offs who think this is all a joke, but they are not pulled aside and told their jobs are on the line. My routing is worse, running every which direction despite less freight on my trailer (which should make it easier?) Now by Noon dispatch is spitting nails, used to be 2pm. Repairs, or lack of, is a real problem. Maybe we should have a list of what it takes? 10th driver to write up truck, get it fixed. 5th driver to use a forklift to open his rear door, get it fixed. 20th driver to say a trailer tire is into the wear bars, fix it.

Forklift drivers, boy is that a story in itself since hours and benefits cut, the good ones try and hold their heads up and do what they can, but the idiots are acting worse, breaking skids doing 15 mph into a trailer using the skid in front for brakes, lifting 10 foot skids with 4 foot forks breaking skid and damaging product, stacking linehaul trailers when I walk by and can hear the bottom freight giving way just as they give it more throttle trying to squeeze something in where it shouldn't be.

i didn't think we had the best place before, but it was better than the last 3 months have shown me.

Whatta think?
 
Far be it from me to Monday morning quarter back, but I will share my thoughts.

There has to be raises and people fired.

The only thing that keeps Vitran in business is drivers willing to risk thier record driving out of service equipment. That is a cultural issue. We have top seniority drivers who never post or pre trip. On a weekly basis they each cause linehaul runs to depart late. If for only one night drivers did a good pretrip and refused to drive out of service equpment linehaul would shut down. If you doubt what I am writing when is the last time you crawled under the rear of a trailer and checked the brake shoes, drums, slack adjusters, lines, leafs/air bags and then checked the registration papers, licence plate, and maintenance sticker?

I cannot speak for other departments, but I assume there are similar systemic issues.

Since I have worked at Vitran our TM has told us time and again about pre and post trips, but our drivers cannot even punch the Kronos right, or do accurate trip sheets. No matter how many meetings we have, no matter how many threats they make, no matter what drivers refuse to do what they are told. As I see it the only thing that will change that is for some long-term "untouchable" driver, dock worker, etc to get fired over not doing their job. Then call a meeting and explain that there will be more.

Then, on the flip side, when they go to replace that driver there has to be a respectable benefit package and pay scale in place to get a good driver instead of more of the same. As it is workers do not take the job serious because there is not much to lose. If there was something more to lose folks may be more serious. I have something good to lose.

I am not sure what should come first; the chicken or the egg, but both raises and discipline have to come close together.

All in all the employees at Vitran need to be professional. No fuel, no placards, no light bulbs for trucks, uniforms cannot get washed and returned, yard lots that look like a war zone, bathrooms that smell like stale ass, dirty trucks, lack of respect for others, and not getting recognized for trying hard to be a good worker. There is more, but after so much disfunction it makes one wonder why they are trying. We need to be reminded why we are trying.
 
try this one of for size. senority at my barn has one good use. your vacation days and thats it. top guy good truck. no top guy good run. no. top guy respect haha no. I know vitran as a whole can get better. but it will take a long time to do so. and as the last guy said money and disipline will have to be the top prioritys on the list. do you remember your 1st day at vitran? I do. I ran my ass off did not take a lunch and even asked if I can help on the dock. some may call that brown nosing. I call that showing that Vitran had made a great choice in hiring me. Now back to my point, a guy started at my barn on tuesday. he went to make a pick-up at a g.m. facility, he go there at 1:55pm. the g.m. employee said "u r alil too late. I leave at 2pm I cant load you today. the new guy says" dont worry Im in no hurry I get paid by the hour. and this is the guys 1st day on the job. has it got to the point where no one and I mean no one that has a decent driving record or has any decent work ethec will work for vitran? r we really scrapping the bottom of the barrel? I will answer my own question. yes we have. cuz the same guy. has been driving a truck for 3 months ONLY!!!!!!!!!!! all of his LONG 3 months have been on the big road. I am glad to say and telll you all that I have a job waiting for me next friday with estes. I laughed 3 years ago when I was talking to a estes driver, about how does the linehaul system work? he said you will be on the extra board for a while and will be out all week. I laughed and said you will never see my big ass snoring at some "roach motel". well folks I am about to take my fat ass and sleep at those "roach motels" cuz in all honesty, I believe the company vitran will be like the company jevic. the name will still be on the side of the trl but another LTL company pulling it.
 
they should have done this when they merged pjax and vitran along with the intergrated computer system. company was run wrong for too long, too much in debt, employees morale will never turn around and customers already know of our service. it's not if we're going to close the doors in the u.s., it's when.
 
try this one of for size. senority at my barn has one good use. your vacation days and thats it. top guy good truck. no top guy good run. no. top guy respect haha no. I know vitran as a whole can get better. but it will take a long time to do so. and as the last guy said money and disipline will have to be the top prioritys on the list. do you remember your 1st day at vitran? I do. I ran my ass off did not take a lunch and even asked if I can help on the dock. some may call that brown nosing. I call that showing that Vitran had made a great choice in hiring me. Now back to my point, a guy started at my barn on tuesday. he went to make a pick-up at a g.m. facility, he go there at 1:55pm. the g.m. employee said "u r alil too late. I leave at 2pm I cant load you today. the new guy says" dont worry Im in no hurry I get paid by the hour. and this is the guys 1st day on the job. has it got to the point where no one and I mean no one that has a decent driving record or has any decent work ethec will work for vitran? r we really scrapping the bottom of the barrel? I will answer my own question. yes we have. cuz the same guy. has been driving a truck for 3 months ONLY!!!!!!!!!!! all of his LONG 3 months have been on the big road. I am glad to say and telll you all that I have a job waiting for me next friday with estes. I laughed 3 years ago when I was talking to a estes driver, about how does the linehaul system work? he said you will be on the extra board for a while and will be out all week. I laughed and said you will never see my big ass snoring at some "roach motel". well folks I am about to take my fat ass and sleep at those "roach motels" cuz in all honesty, I believe the company vitran will be like the company jevic. the name will still be on the side of the trl but another LTL company pulling it.
good luck at estes, i think you're making the move at the right time.
 
Great thread by the way.

Indeed, discipline and money are top issues. Quickly followed by proper equipment and for the love of all that is holy training.

When was the last time you heard about anyone being written up, for anything? I have heard all the threats before, if you guys don't start doing this then we'll start writing people up... But as everyone knows, it's all bark and no bite. There is a running joke that you actually have to plan something big to get fired from this job. I have seen people pulled from the dock, trailer doors ripped off, people puncturing all types of containers. And NOTHING is done. Now mind you these are not one time events, they happen multiple times with the same people. I am not advocating a flurry of N.F.I.'s for no reason but it has to start somewhere. If the guy does not know he is doing something wrong how can he fix it? This also leads into my next suggestion, proper training.

So now you have handed of the need for improvement, don't stop there. Re-train the person so he knows the right way to do things. In all of the hurry to hire all these new people, they have left out what they are supposed to do and the correct way it needs to be done. Dock guys are simply handed off to someone else to learn. Now a lot of these new hires do not even have experience driving a forklift let alone ever being on a trucking dock. Then they are given lessons by other team members who have been there 3-6 months? Can't imagine how this is going to turn out. Yet it's a shock that OSD rates and claims are pushing ever skywards? Have you ever seen the training videos, what a joke. A ten minute video on how to load/unload a truck? Which brings up a huge pet peeve of mine, proper equipment.

There is nothing that make me want to punch babies, burn kitten, and push the elderly down stairs then having to listen to them talk about making sure to properly secure the freight. And how am I supposed to do that, with hopes and dreams? I am sorry folks but cardboard alone is not the answer. Most days it's like an Easter egg hunt just to find one strap, let alone skids, 2x4's, plywood, or the freight gods willing a load bar. If I do not have the right equipment how can I be expected to do the job?

I have thought discussed these very issues with various management type personal in the past and it has all been for not. Even despite my years of experience, I do not wear a red shirt so my voice matters little. This has lead me to this conclusion; these problems are known and since they are not fixed, apparently this is the way they want it.
 
they should have done this when they merged pjax and vitran along with the intergrated computer system. company was run wrong for too long, too much in debt, employees morale will never turn around and customers already know of our service. it's not if we're going to close the doors in the u.s., it's when.
Well said. These changes should have happened five years ago. I agree-the morale has been terrible, and now it's rock bottom. The ones that are still here are burned out. Many are dusting off their resumes, and others say they'll ride down with the company when it crashes and burns. Not very many are saying, "you watch-we're coming back strong...."-just corporate. Kind of sucks, as I am sure CK is trying hard, but bad morale, rapid turnover, rapidly aging equipment, and the rest of the LTL world just waiting for our death rattle makes it harder.....
 
Thank you all for responding, We have lots of reads, so hopefully more will chime in. Each paragraph shows we can talk straight without sounding like a bunch of nagging ex wives (WAM, :chairshot: sorry honey, won't happen again)
 
Square peg, round hole. Square peg, round hole... Why the hell doesn't this work...Square peg, round hole. Square peg, round hole.

Main problem, no oe listens to the people who deal with this **** everyday.
 
Square peg, round hole. Square peg, round hole... Why the hell doesn't this work...Square peg, round hole. Square peg, round hole.

Main problem, no oe listens to the people who deal with this **** everyday.

Kind of like the Generals listening to the Colonels instead of the Corporal or Sergeants as to what is really going on
 
I have to say what I have said often. It applies to the eastern side. I was very disappointed when Chris K. settled in Pit. Most of us feel Pit is the root of many problems. The old Pjax virus. Guess the lure of the corporate boxes for the Steelers and Penguins was too much. Many of us hoped they'd centralize out of Indy. Not sure if that'd help, but sounded good at our late night bs sessions...
 
Or maybe they should have built that new building somewhere new, Cleveland, Dallas, ect. hired all new people to rid this p0lace of it's culture, then shut down Pitts, Indy, and Wichita....... well at least Wichita got it, surprised they have not done it also to Indy, but I don't know what even goes on out of that building anyway
 
Or maybe they should have built that new building somewhere new, Cleveland, Dallas, ect. hired all new people to rid this p0lace of it's culture, then shut down Pitts, Indy, and Wichita....... well at least Wichita got it, surprised they have not done it also to Indy, but I don't know what even goes on out of that building anyway

They moved the IT department out of the terminals basement and over to the old "corprate office".
 
Good, hope they have more room now. we need more IT here, pads were a good start, now next step is forklift arm mounted computers. If is doesn't even belong in this state, why is it on my trailer? And while they are at it, add a little zing to our website, BORING and generic. Compare us to OD or Conway,,,, not even a close call
 
Great thread NOT WANTED. But after awhile, all the downgrading,defeating, deaf ears just start to wear on you. I'm ready to throw in the towel. I've been looking real hard,too. Little over 1 1/2 years here but 26 years in the ltl business and I'm tired of "chasing greatness." C.K. picked the wrong tag line. Chasing is defeatest to begin with. "Creating greatness" would have given people a sense of hope, the feeling we could pull this off. Chasing is what my dog does to his tail. It just ain't never gonna happen. So long, southside stress--good luck over there.
 
Great thread NOT WANTED. But after awhile, all the downgrading,defeating, deaf ears just start to wear on you. I'm ready to throw in the towel. I've been looking real hard,too. Little over 1 1/2 years here but 26 years in the ltl business and I'm tired of "chasing greatness." C.K. picked the wrong tag line. Chasing is defeatest to begin with. "Creating greatness" would have given people a sense of hope, the feeling we could pull this off. Chasing is what my dog does to his tail. It just ain't never gonna happen. So long, southside stress--good luck over there.
Well said. "Chasing Greatness" is almost negative in sound. I tell outside people that, and they thinks it's funny. Chasing Fed-Ex's taillights is not a good motto. Achieving, Reaching, even Pursuing would have had less of a negative connotation. The way things seem to be going, perhaps "Hoping to Stumble into Greatness" might be better.
 
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