ABF | Is work slow?

sandmanadream

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Got hired at ABF and after probation one month later laid off since august . Dont think I made the right Decision, I resigned from YRC after 12 years and thought I made the best move for a better retirement but now wondering if I should stay with ABF or just play the game andsee what happens. Hate to give up a job working 60 hours a week or be on call if work picks up? Got a new terminal manger and she is going by the numbers and dont care if your working. Hopefully after the contract april first work will pick up but looking at layoff around the corner again.Dont seem to picking up anytime soon just laid off the 4th driver on a 20 man barn. they got 1 retiring may but don't see any good signs of work picking up.Maybe company trying to slow down freight to scare driver for a better contract or cant get work because of pricing . Had XPO call me and Fed Ex also but not wanting to make that move.
 
I used to work at ABF. It got slow after summer of '16 and never picked back up. I finally made the jump to a non-union carrier, and we are busy busy. I have a scheduled linehaul run, and even in dead of winter, that run rolls. City guys get rotated, or option to take off, to let others work if it's slow. No BS layoffs.
 
I submitted that too quick. Terminal I used to work for is still slow..and we're coming up on heavy freight season of 2018...
 
Why would they hire you only to lay you off. I get it slowing down, but having nothing to do. Maybe this is par for the course in how they operate.
 
Got hired at ABF and after probation one month later laid off since august . Dont think I made the right Decision, I resigned from YRC after 12 years and thought I made the best move for a better retirement but now wondering if I should stay with ABF or just play the game andsee what happens. Hate to give up a job working 60 hours a week or be on call if work picks up? Got a new terminal manger and she is going by the numbers and dont care if your working. Hopefully after the contract april first work will pick up but looking at layoff around the corner again.Dont seem to picking up anytime soon just laid off the 4th driver on a 20 man barn. they got 1 retiring may but don't see any good signs of work picking up.Maybe company trying to slow down freight to scare driver for a better contract or cant get work because of pricing . Had XPO call me and Fed Ex also but not wanting to make that move.
I think the layoff was a nationwide thing. Corporate directive: Layoff at least one person everywhere no matter how busy. Could be scare tactics by the company...who knows. Heavy Freight season coming, not to mention U-Pack cranking up. There was a rate ‘restructuring’ not long ago too, that might have something to do with the slowdown.
 
IMO, this is similar to UPSF thread regarding starting pay. I understand paying your dues, i.e. worst start times, worst runs etc. I can't fathom recruiting GOOD drivers as long as the 10%er language and stepped pay rate is in place.
 
I think the layoff was a nationwide thing. Corporate directive: Layoff at least one person everywhere no matter how busy. Could be scare tactics by the company...who knows. Heavy Freight season coming, not to mention U-Pack cranking up. There was a rate ‘restructuring’ not long ago too, that might have something to do with the slowdown.
Not a nation wide thing. We have no one laid off.
 
Got hired at ABF and after probation one month later laid off since august . Dont think I made the right Decision, I resigned from YRC after 12 years and thought I made the best move for a better retirement but now wondering if I should stay with ABF or just play the game andsee what happens. Hate to give up a job working 60 hours a week or be on call if work picks up? Got a new terminal manger and she is going by the numbers and dont care if your working. Hopefully after the contract april first work will pick up but looking at layoff around the corner again.Dont seem to picking up anytime soon just laid off the 4th driver on a 20 man barn. they got 1 retiring may but don't see any good signs of work picking up.Maybe company trying to slow down freight to scare driver for a better contract or cant get work because of pricing . Had XPO call me and Fed Ex also but not wanting to make that move.
Stay away from XPO for sure!! That's one of the worst of Ltl "s and you would regret it.
 
Got hired at ABF and after probation one month later laid off since august . Dont think I made the right Decision, I resigned from YRC after 12 years and thought I made the best move for a better retirement but now wondering if I should stay with ABF or just play the game andsee what happens. Hate to give up a job working 60 hours a week or be on call if work picks up? Got a new terminal manger and she is going by the numbers and dont care if your working. Hopefully after the contract april first work will pick up but looking at layoff around the corner again.Dont seem to picking up anytime soon just laid off the 4th driver on a 20 man barn. they got 1 retiring may but don't see any good signs of work picking up.Maybe company trying to slow down freight to scare driver for a better contract or cant get work because of pricing . Had XPO call me and Fed Ex also but not wanting to make that move.
LIFE UNION BARN 10% on lay off.
 
As long as you can get guys to work 60 hours a week, while the bottom of the board is laid off,......we’ll have this problem forever.

And a way to get a guy to work 60 hours a week is to underpay him.......groceries go up 10%........his pay only goes up 1%.......there’s his......justification......for working more overtime.....

Many industries have apprentice programs,....where they deliberately reserve work for new hires so they don’t get starved out. Why not trucking?

Non-Union trucking is a daily popularity contest ....with management.
Even after 20 or so years.......you can lose that ....daily contest under Employment-at-Will.......and your career evaporates in a day.....

No thanks........I don’t want to fawn over some lower level management type just so I could feed my family......
 
As long as you can get guys to work 60 hours a week, while the bottom of the board is laid off,......we’ll have this problem forever.

And a way to get a guy to work 60 hours a week is to underpay him.......groceries go up 10%........his pay only goes up 1%.......there’s his......justification......for working more overtime.....

Many industries have apprentice programs,....where they deliberately reserve work for new hires so they don’t get starved out. Why not trucking?

Non-Union trucking is a daily popularity contest ....with management.
Even after 20 or so years.......you can lose that ....daily contest under Employment-at-Will.......and your career evaporates in a day.....

No thanks........I don’t want to fawn over some lower level management type just so I could feed my family......
Good post, canary. That ‘daily popularity contest’ is RAMPANT at my place. Top that off with the route ‘assingner’ is the...’shop steward’...and I use that term VERY loosely...and it’s a ‘walking on eggshells’ routine everyday. I called him out on several things years ago and he hasn’t ‘liked me’ (not that I gave a crap) ever since.
 
Non-union carrier a popularity contest .

Non-union carrier isn't a bad thing.

I’ve had friends of mine at non-Union companies fired for .......”expediency”........for things that would only warrant a warning letter at a Union company.........for arguing with a dispatcher’s unreasonable “order”.......

Employment-at-Will is a terrible thing, Brother.

And........it’s not the employees at non-Union companies that are the ....”enemy”........

It’s the employers who use unreasonable tactics against their employees to insure a quiet and docile workforce.

I regard the non-Union guys as my .......”unorganized” ......Brothers.

And I support them retaining their First Amendment rights at work......
 
I live in an at will/right to work state, have been in the work force for 22 years, and have never had a problem. Do your job, don't be a cry baby, or part of the gossip girl clique, and you won't have problems. Management doesn't just pick fights with you.

I did 2.5 years at ABF, and finally had to leave, inconsistent hours, pay, slow not getting to work, layoffs..you can't provude for a family on that type of environment.
 
I live in an at will/right to work state, have been in the work force for 22 years, and have never had a problem. Do your job, don't be a cry baby, or part of the gossip girl clique, and you won't have problems. Management doesn't just pick fights with you.

I did 2.5 years at ABF, and finally had to leave, inconsistent hours, pay, slow not getting to work, layoffs..you can't provude for a family on that type of environment.


I'd say most of the non-Union guys don't have many problems at work...........but, at the turn of the 19th century,...it was commonplace to ..."tip"...your foreman on Friday to get a good job on Monday.

Loss of Labor rights and the ability to speak up at work is the proverbial slippery slope.....It starts with tiny, little things,....like XPO's recent decision to hand out raises on an...."individual"...basis. Sounds reasonable,....reward the hard workers, punish the slackers....

Do you see a chance for management to...."exploit"....that in an unscrupulous way? It will start small,...........and then 20 years from now, it will be an accepted practice.........To discriminate, classify, and expect "favors",....in return for those raises....

Anyone from XPO care to comment?

Management never starts anti-Labor campaigns with the "full avalanche"...........they start with a few tiny "pebbles"......so most of their guys shrug, and say; "That's not so bad....".........(....like driver-facing cameras...).......

It's a shame that ABF made it intolerable for you to stay,......and completely understandable. I was an O/O for 9 years because I couldn't afford to be "on call" for years at a time.......

Union carriers have their own set of problems.......being the highest wage in the industry for the last thirty years,....(...until recently..)....made management at Union carriers arrogant as far as their hiring to the "club" went. Negotiating teams created two and three-tier wages and casual/preferred casual/new-hire "hoops"....to jump through,.........only because they knew Union jobs were highly preferred by drivers.

But,...once on at a Union carrier,.........discrimination,....in ALL forms,......is a violation of law. Companies hate that,.....because they feel they have the.."right"..to adjust your pay,..adjust their work force,....and adjust their health insurance and benefits........SOLELY to suit their needs. Without sounding insulting,....they kind of feel..."ownership"...for their Labor force,.......instead of a..."partnership"....

The rules for getting hired at a union carrier are....archaic,...to say the least. They are a holdover from the last.."century"....when guys would put their families "on hold" for several years at a time,...knowing the eventual payoff.......Arrogant local managers used and abused many guys,.....KNOWING that, once on and a dues-paying member,.......there would be no more abuse,.....without consequenses.....

Good luck, Brother,....and thank you for your perspective.....
 
I just put in an application for road driver at South Chicago terminal in Chicago. Now I am feeling depressed..sigh...
 
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