Why Conway will never be Union.

jakebrake12 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-23-2008, 02:47 AM

This is not meant to piss off any Teamsters. It is my take on why Conway will never be part of the Teamsters.

I think every driver at Conway would like to see some sort of protection regarding purchase transportation, and over-zealous management. Purchase has hurt morale at all the big terminals. If not for purchase, we would have 10-20 more drivers at my barn, moving me up 10-20 slots. It has gotten to the point where we are running Western Express 270 miles to eliminate line runs. That sucks. It sucks bad.

Management.... I have read the forklift survival story. I buy every word of it. I have worked at 2 barns that I believe are run better than most, but I know this is not the case at all centers. Still, a couple nights ago, an over-zealous FOS slammed and shattered his clipboard in the face of a driver, who had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Unacceptable. That should never happen. Ever. We are frustrated with this. It happens all to often.

The pension issue... I'm much younger than most Conway, or any LTL drivers for that matter. I cannot say what this change did to those close to retirement. I will not speak for them. For anyone with time left, you now have a 100% of 6% 401k. That is GREAT for any industry. To be objective, most companies would freeze the pension and not up the 401k. To Conway's credit, they made it the best in the industry.

To my point. We have one board, we bid based on company time, and we ALL are certified to do all jobs. No UE's at Conway. Line drivers on 600 mile runs hit the city out-bound to get their freight if need be. Line drivers can work the AM inbound if they so choose to make extra money. Sometimes they are forced. I've been there. It sucks. I'll take the Choice though. A Conway FAC is impressive. 100 drivers, say 58 doors (Clearfield, Pa) , 200 trailers, and its all done in 4 hours. I can split my set, work the dock, hostel, hook my set, and if need be, run one end of the dock and no one files a grievance. We can do whatever we are assigned to do. If we are short line drivers on night, city drivers can turn a short run. Everyone wins. Yeah, I've been screwed. I'll take it the way we have it any day though.

When I read the YRC boards about Velocity, all I read is "I walked slow", "not his freight", "I slept in my truck", he can't work that freight", and "we know who the UE's are". Those quotes are the exact reason Conway will NEVER be affiliated with the Teamsters. My senior co-workers help me, and I help them.

To all those who worked here and left for greener pastures, I can think of two on the boards that sound legit. The rest sound like bitter people that would ***** if given a solid gold truck. It would be too heavy. To you, you were addition by subtraction.

BusterNite · #2 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 12:17 PM

Keep in mind when viewing these boards by company and making your decisions based on the remarks of company employee's, These boards do NOT even make up 1% of the people employed at any particular company.

big steve · #3 (**permalink**) 09-12-2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakebrake12

This is not meant to piss off any Teamsters. It is my take on why Conway will never be part of the Teamsters.

I think every driver at Conway would like to see some sort of protection regarding purchase transportation, and over-zealous management. Purchase has hurt morale at all the big terminals. If not for purchase, we would have 10-20 more drivers at my barn, moving me up 10-20 slots. It has gotten to the point where we are running Western Express 270 miles to eliminate line runs. That sucks. It sucks bad.

Management.... I have read the forklift survival story. I buy every word of it. I have worked at 2 barns that I believe are run better than most, but I know this is not the case at all centers. Still, a couple nights ago, an over-zealous FOS slammed and shattered his clipboard in the face of a driver, who had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Unacceptable. That should never happen. Ever. We are frustrated with this. It happens all to often.

The pension issue... I'm much younger than most Conway, or any LTL drivers for that matter. I cannot say what this change did to those close to retirement. I will not speak for them. For anyone with time left, you now have a 100% of 6% 401k. That is GREAT for any industry. To be objective, most companies would freeze the pension and not up the 401k. To Conway's credit, they made it the best in the industry.

To my point. We have one board, we bid based on company time, and we ALL are certified to do all jobs. No UE's at Conway. Line drivers on 600 mile runs hit the city out-bound to get their freight if need be. Line drivers can work the AM inbound if they so choose to make extra money. Sometimes they are forced. I've been there. It sucks. I'll take the Choice though. A Conway FAC is impressive. 100 drivers, say 58 doors (Clearfield, Pa) , 200 trailers, and its all done in 4 hours. I can split my set, work the dock, hostel, hook my set, and if need be, run one end of the dock and no one files a grievance. We can do whatever we are assigned to do. If we are short line drivers on night, city drivers can turn a short run. Everyone wins. Yeah, I've been screwed. I'll take it the way we have it any day though.

When I read the YRC boards about Velocity, all I read is "I walked slow", "not his freight", "I slept in my truck", he can't work that freight", and "we know who the UE's are". Those quotes are the exact reason Conway will NEVER be affiliated with the Teamsters. My senior co-workers help me, and I help them.

To all those who worked here and left for greener pastures, I can think of two on the boards that sound legit. The rest sound like bitter people that would ***** if given a solid gold truck. It would be too heavy. To you, you were addition by subtraction.

sounds like lincoln forgot about these slaves

smilie_132: