well i'm under the impression that outside of the ny/nj area everyone else is combo except for break bulk terminals whereas here we are not with the only exception being ABF, so those type of job classification changes are not an issue anymore on the national stage
the premium service provision negotiated last time around took care of the needs of the companies to compete regionally with the non-unions
so as far as that is concerned it was entirely and basically a formality to implement for them
ABF seems to be the only nationwide ltl carrier to take advantage of it as YRC has the usf and new penn networks to compete regionally for now while they iron out the sticking points at least in the metro area

what i think will be a hot topic is the participation in the multi employer funds namely central states
companies already are guaging their workers reaction to statements made by various company presidents and ceo's

raises also will be hot as their profits indicate they all can very well afford paying them

you very well may be correct that the upsf negotiations and results may serve as some sort of barometer or precursor to the upcoming NMFA negotiations

interestingly enough the companies i feel know and realize the last thing they need is a strike action as prompting a strike would seriously impact the large gains they have attained in regards to the non union segment of the industry
last strike conway profits were astronomical as well as the others

If you know any ABF guys ask them how there premium service drivers are doing and what they are doing.The one 's that I know are running linehaul to a certain point meet other drivers from other terms swap freight [work the dock]and return to their own term,This isn't what premium service driver was explained to me five years ago.Seems to me these guys are now doing the same thing as fedex conway and the rest of the nonunions are doing I guess it was a step backwards Only time will tell....CRAZY

the first thing to throw out is thr pay progression system.. that's one thing the non union co's didn't waste any time adopting from the contract...if roadway paid the rate to an experienced driver on the date of hire, they wouldn't have trouble keeping drivers like they do here in new england

i'm an abf driver and covered the pse last bid
it is not that bad as at least our pse guys make $1500-$1600 in 4 days with a 3 day weekend
at the end of the thurs shift we end up with 54 -55 hours and since pse does not run on friday they don't say nuthin to us when we don't come in as we are out of hours
you could come in and work the dock if you really wanted to but then you have to make sure you have enough hours for mon

our pse at night starts at 6pm
the ones that start later in other terminals i believe still do very well $$$$$wise

we have a scranton pa run, an orange ct run and a bayshore ny to avenel nj run which is like a meet and greet for winston loads

our day pse hasn't done much as of yet, mostly core work

the definition of premium freight is different from what we were led to believe initially as it has become any freight whose transit times have been reduced, so far 3 day lanes to 2 and 2 day lanes to next day
it really doesn't seem to be harmful for sure but will actually increase the amount of freight we handle for sure once it gets really going
more freight = more jobs = security and more jobs

check out the other threads pertaining to the pse as i got into more detail there :Banger-Cow:

jeff you are absolutely right brother
that problem is rampant everywhere and is not just a problem in your region
the union companys believe they are saving money with it but all they are doing is cutting off their noses to spite their faces :wounded1: