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Estes | Where are we going as drivers?

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damm yankee

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this is my first post. I hope it comes through.

I hired on at Estes over ten years ago, mainly because, at that time, we could choose what kind of job we wanted; city, extra, green board, hub, meet & turns, etc.

At my terminal, at least, green board has been eliminated, meet & turns are shrinking to nothing & being replaced by hub & so-called utility runs.

I understand the need to change with the times, but are we becoming dock-workers with a CDL, like Con-Way, Fed-Ex, etc? If so i do not want any part of it. I really thought i would retire from here, but i have doubts that i can make it 2 or 3 more years on the extra board.

I apologize for being such a downer.
 
I hear you yankee. Hopefully this economy thing and all these changes will be part of the past and things will get back to normal. I never understood how a truck driver became involved in that dock working stuff.
 
Damm Yankee said:
this is my first post. I hope it comes through.

I hired on at Estes over ten years ago, mainly because, at that time, we could choose what kind of job we wanted; city, extra, green board, hub, meet & turns, etc.

At my terminal, at least, green board has been eliminated, meet & turns are shrinking to nothing & being replaced by hub & so-called utility runs.

I understand the need to change with the times, but are we becoming dock-workers with a CDL, like Con-Way, Fed-Ex, etc? If so i do not want any part of it. I really thought i would retire from here, but i have doubts that i can make it 2 or 3 more years on the extra board.

I apologize for being such a downer.
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Yankee,first,welcome to The Boards..I,myself,came to Estes,to finish my career in trucking..And I still will..There are things that are coming down the pike,that may help some people and hurt others.I really don't know how many..It seems we are going to have more M/T's to move the freight faster..I can only speak from what I see with FedEx and Conway,the first two to thin-out extra board drivers..They still have extra drivers,but they call them "wild returns"..Daytime runs will be put on at certain terminals to keep the freight moving in the right direction..It seems to be working at Conway and FedEx..I would just like to know,for my own satisfaction,how much this company spends,per year, on motel cost..It's got to be astronomical..

All I can say,is, hold on and strap in,cause it's going to be a ride to remember..
 
drivers

as long as the same people in richmond keep running things we as driversare going nowheres. as long as theythey keep us seperate ( east and west) we east drivers are screwed. look at the vote we took , who counted? what were the numbers? they or i should say he just rammed it down our throats and said it failed. rob is makining a big mistake keeping us seperate.






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but are we becoming dock-workers with a CDL, like Con-Way, Fed-Ex, etc?
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Unfortunately I think this is here to stay with all LtL's. I don't believe any drivers belong on the dock. Its much cheaper to have the drivers work the dock for a few hours as apposed to hiring full time dock workers with benefits. In order to be competitive, all LtL companies will adopt the dock worker with a CDL.
 
Well, if you look at the others,Conway,FedEx(the old AF),Estes,Cooper, Averitt and I'm sure I might have left a couple out..All these companies take advantage of drivers being able to work the dock..I've done both..Most of the runs,whether it's a lay down or return run,they nornally give you plenty of time to do it..I liked working the dock in my younger years,but with sports and working the city as a background,I can't do it as fast as I once did..Knees and back won't let me do things I did before..

Buster,you got it right, when you said "to be competitive"..Everyone in business,has to find ways to accomplish that feat..

Happy Thanksgiving..Be cool..
 
FrkyBgStok said:
i personally like the dock work. breaks up the monotony of it all. but i understand most will disagree.
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If that's what you enjoy doing,what's "most will disagree" got to do with it..Enjoy your work..No matter what it is..

Happy Thanksgiving and Be cool..
 
I been hanging out in my corner of the TB world, good to hear from you, hope your Thanksgiving went well.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
i personally like the dock work. breaks up the monotony of it all. but i understand most will disagree.
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I don't disagree. I ran a hub run for a little over a year when I first started and I agree, it was kinda nice to get out and stretch the old bones for a couple of hours in the middle of the shift. But I'm gettin like Stark was sayin before, I don't move as fast as I used to.
 
my life song YouTube - Toby Keith - As Good As I Once Was

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Well the way i look at it , i would of stayed in P/D if i wanted to work the dock and lived a normal life in the daylight... oh but wait ,P/D dont work the dock, they have dock hands to do it for them at least at my terminal...
 
frogman6042 said:
Well the way i look at it , i would of stayed in P/D if i wanted to work the dock and lived a normal life in the daylight... oh but wait ,P/D dont work the dock, they have dock hands to do it for them at least at my terminal...
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I think that goes on at a lot of terminals, frogman. They use that to their advantage tho, you work x-tra on dock when we want you to, not when you want to
 
Having a line haul driver work the dock is equivalent to having the pilot of a commercial airliner load and unload the baggage as well as fly the plane safely.
 
I'm with you bibba. If a termial manager don't work the dock, that's ok, it's not his job. If a dispatcher don't work the dock, it's not his job either. If a truck driver don't want to work the dock, he's just a sorry, no good for nothing peice of dirt that don't want to do anything even though he has 200 plus miles of driving ahead of him and he better not be late or pull over and take a nap regardless of weather or traffic.
 
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