ABF | ABF and Amazon

I always explained to homeowners that we....(..the freight company.)...were exactly the same as UPS, or FedEx.....except we did the bigger things that UPS,DHL, and FedEx didn't handle. Most people could understand package and parcel delivery,...so it became an easy analogy for them to comprehend.
UPS was going to toss the package on your porch,....I was going to place it in your garage.......

That being said.....I was on many "kid-glove" service deliveries ABF had contracted. As steward, I felt that since each delivery of that type had it's own unique...."problems".....we, as Union people,....had the right to accept and determine the parameters of each delivery,...as far as safety of the employees went.....

Never had a problem with ABF questioning our judgement,....even when it meant a re-delivery with added costs.....(...or a refused delivery because of conditions..).....

We had a delivery one time,...in a fancy plan of homes, that required two men to hand-carry an elliptical into the home, assemble it, and place it at the customer's choice of spot.

Me and another guy showed up in two trucks,.....and were greeted at the door by the homeowner,..who said :"No Shoes! I just got new hardwood floors installed!"
We said: "No delivery!".....but there was a drapery installer on site who said we could use his floor tarps that were already on the floor. O.K. with the homeowner? Sure?.....

We carried in the various pieces of the elliptical......along with the detailed delivery and assembly instructions ABF had provided,...along with hand tools the TM had purchased the day before.....

........and us two "brain surgeon/engineers" started ......putting it together.........slowly............

Two hours,......and two polite,...but increasingly frantic calls from the TM on our progress,.......later,......we had the elliptical assembled.......
But the homeowner insisted we plug it in and turn it on.......Sure,...we can do that.......

BOOM!...........the circuit breaker for that side of the house in a new construction blew out..........TV, computer,......all dark......

Turns out that the amps being drawn by the elliptical motor pretty much required a dedicated line........

At that point,....the TM had to come to the site,.......and get on a conference call with the manufacturer, homeowner, and his boss.....

Later on,.....he told me that the charge for two of us to ....be there and assemble the elliptical,......was almost double the cost of the machine itself......But she wrote the check out......

We went on many...."assembly" deliveries........treadmills, chiropractic beds, sunglass displays.......and the cost was never an issue with the customers........The "professionalism" of the delivering crew was ....paramount....to the customers...Cost be damned.....

I'm sure there are many homeowners who only care about the....cheapest cost to get their "free shipping" item in the house......
....But after a delivery by Larry, Daryll, and Daryll,.......or worse,....Moe, Larry, and Curly.........I think many homeowners might want to pay a few dollars more.......for a more...."quality"....delivery team....

And.......Company reputation will be.....everything....
I still think the Ft Smith clown show is setting you guys up the same way the corporate HQ did Corn Flake and Big R. Not being provocative , there history is what it is.
 
So what are the new warehouses von was talking about in Indiana? Trailer sleds or Amazon? Why would an LTL need warehouse space?
Go on page 2 of this board look at the thread “trailer sleds” they are combining 2 city terminals together & will be kicking off this new loading procedure. I don’t know how warehousing amazon became the main topic....
 
I still think the Ft Smith clown show is setting you guys up the same way the corporate HQ did Corn Flake and Big R. Not being provocative , there history is what it is.
I heard R&l purchased 600 new 53ft liftgate trailers to gear up for the new amazon business that they under bid from Abf? I don’t know how a non union guy age 45-50 years old who work out of a eol terminal is going to go to these yuppie neighborhoods and put these ítems in a 2nd floor room? Not being provocative....
 
I'll be sure to find the ABF terminal info in my area and give it to my service center manager. Maybe he'll get it so the next P I T A delivery I come across I can drop it at ABF dock so I can go home.
Sadly, we would probably deliver it...regardless of what it is or what ‘unimproved road’ the customer lives on. The ‘powers that be’ decide which type of freight and deliveries we make. And...sadly...never see, or care enough to see, the other side of the process. It’s all about the money those types of deliveries generate. And...sadly...our hourly wage never changes based on that. It might soften the blow that these PITA deliveries are if they’d cut us in for a piece of the pie.
 
I heard R&l purchased 600 new 53ft liftgate trailers to gear up for the new amazon business that they under bid from Abf? I don’t know how a non union guy age 45-50 years old who work out of a eol terminal is going to go to these yuppie neighborhoods and put these ítems in a 2nd floor room? Not being provocative....
Picked up several new 48' lifts and no Amazon in sight. The day it is , I'll go back to fuel hauling.
 
I heard R&l purchased 600 new 53ft liftgate trailers to gear up for the new amazon business that they under bid from Abf? I don’t know how a non union guy age 45-50 years old who work out of a eol terminal is going to go to these yuppie neighborhoods and put these ítems in a 2nd floor room? Not being provocative....
I made non of the claims . I was after clarification
 
Go on page 2 of this board look at the thread “trailer sleds” they are combining 2 city terminals together & will be kicking off this new loading procedure. I don’t know how warehousing amazon became the main topic....
It became the topic when I said I was glad R&L told Amazon to shove their cheap freight. We don't haul crap for free.
 
.............And one other thing.......
NEVER give away freight! NEVER!
We are Teamsters,...We won the "intelligence test" about getting hired........So,...ACT like we are the BEST at delivering.....anything.......

That's what we do.........If there was profit in driving truck only,.......we'd all be bob-tailing down the road...Who needs those nasty trailers?

We are supposed to be the top-of-the-line in our profession.......WE can deliver anything........

I fought tooth'n'nail with a few yobboes in our terminal, who grumbled continuously about Relo-Cubes......and how they were..."Freight drivers".....and should never have to chain or strap a load down......."It's Dangerous!".......

And right after I retired,.......the company yanked out our Relo-Cube flatbed..........We don't "do them" anymore........

And a guy sits at home now..........Of course, it's not one of the "complainers"......

I always said never give up any work even if it is undesirable. When I first started in this business I saw the company give work to vendors because men on the day shift didn't want to do certain jobs. Then when layoffs came the same ones cried about the company farming out work.
 
So what are the new warehouses von was talking about in Indiana? Trailer sleds or Amazon? Why would an LTL need warehouse space?
That service center would be Indianapolis 050. It’s towards the north side of town. Never seen it myself but was told about it. Never heard of anything else in Indiana as far as warehouses.
 
It became the topic when I said I was glad R&L told Amazon to shove their cheap freight. We don't haul crap for free.
It"s more like an obsession with you now, you even turned the final mile thread on the xpo board into abf/amazon.... No collusion Ted give it a rest....
 
It became the topic when I said I was glad R&L told Amazon to shove their cheap freight. We don't haul crap for free.
But you will handle Golden technology & Pride mobility both accounts loaded & unloaded with hand trucks (they are suppose to be) most are liftgate & inside delivery along with a single shipment charge of something like $35....sounds pretty cheap to me, abf lasted a month at Golden before we pulled out. Now i see r&l low balled their way into Intermetro industries where they started spotting trailers, only problem is they can only be loaded on fair weather days because if it does rain it looks like a sprinkler system is going off. Maybe it" time you looked a little deeper at your own company & let us worry about abf....Not being provocative....
 
I heard R&l purchased 600 new 53ft liftgate trailers to gear up for the new amazon business that they under bid from Abf? I don’t know how a non union guy age 45-50 years old who work out of a eol terminal is going to go to these yuppie neighborhoods and put these ítems in a 2nd floor room? Not being provocative....


STAA of 1984,....which allowed the use of 53'ers....delineates clearly where they can be used. They are "Highway Use Only "trailers,...and each state designates where the ..."highways" are.
Here in Pa....the State DOT has a website with all the designated "highways" for 53'ers.......and a very large disclaimer stating that the DRIVER will be responsible,...and fined $300 per incident,...for being "off-route" with a 53' trailer.

When ABF started useing 53'ers for UE/Premium Service use,......the local TM was slavering over the idea that he could use 53'er for....peddle runs.
We quickly disabused him of that notion,....and we printed the STAA of 1984 law, and Penna's exclusions as to where a 53'er is legal. It is still.....as far as I know,.....in the breakroom of GBG-310, for any driver to.....verify he is legal with a 53' trailer.

What was stunning to me was seeing many non-Union drivers peddling........off-route.......with 53'ers. Why? The law clearly states that the DRIVER,....not the company,...will be fined and held for any liability involved......

Trying to impress the TM? Loyalty to the non-Union company is more important that the Laws of the Commonwealth?

Hard to figure that out in the context of ...."professional"...driving.....
 
STAA of 1984,....which allowed the use of 53'ers....delineates clearly where they can be used. They are "Highway Use Only "trailers,...and each state designates where the ..."highways" are.
Here in Pa....the State DOT has a website with all the designated "highways" for 53'ers.......and a very large disclaimer stating that the DRIVER will be responsible,...and fined $300 per incident,...for being "off-route" with a 53' trailer.

When ABF started useing 53'ers for UE/Premium Service use,......the local TM was slavering over the idea that he could use 53'er for....peddle runs.
We quickly disabused him of that notion,....and we printed the STAA of 1984 law, and Penna's exclusions as to where a 53'er is legal. It is still.....as far as I know,.....in the breakroom of GBG-310, for any driver to.....verify he is legal with a 53' trailer.

What was stunning to me was seeing many non-Union drivers peddling........off-route.......with 53'ers. Why? The law clearly states that the DRIVER,....not the company,...will be fined and held for any liability involved......

Trying to impress the TM? Loyalty to the non-Union company is more important that the Laws of the Commonwealth?

Hard to figure that out in the context of ...."professional"...driving.....
I was only busting balls, I don’t think they made that purchase. Saying a 40 liftgate was to believable....
 
I was only busting balls, I don’t think they made that purchase. Saying a 40 liftgate was to believable....

That's O.K brother.........But it's true that guys will nod their heads and take a 53' on a peddle run......(..I believe XPO has 53' liftgates..)....
.....With their only defense, in the event of a knocked-down pole, or a damaged auto......"My Dispatcher told me to,....so I had to do it...
 
That's O.K brother.........But it's true that guys will nod their heads and take a 53' on a peddle run......(..I believe XPO has 53' liftgates..)....
.....With their only defense, in the event of a knocked-down pole, or a damaged auto......"My Dispatcher told me to,....so I had to do it...
Oh I know it’s true....
 
But you will handle Golden technology & Pride mobility both accounts loaded & unloaded with hand trucks (they are suppose to be) most are liftgate & inside delivery along with a single shipment charge of something like $35....sounds pretty cheap to me, abf lasted a month at Golden before we pulled out. Now i see r&l low balled their way into Intermetro industries where they started spotting trailers, only problem is they can only be loaded on fair weather days because if it does rain it looks like a sprinkler system is going off. Maybe it" time you looked a little deeper at your own company & let us worry about abf....Not being provocative....
Never heard of any of those accounts. Lots of new equipment rolling in daily. I was looking to have an intelligent conversation about how LTL is morphing and changing to a beast I don't like because of cheap econmerce freight that delivers to places that have no idea of the difference between household goods, LTL, parcel, container , TL, or food service deliveries. I have not attacked ABF or the union. I am stunned given my time with CFCC and the time away from LTL that these kind of setup deliveries were being done. I was also curious about the warehouse structures that Von described and why an LTL would need that kind of facility. You guys seem touchy. I'm not going to get in a pissing contest about hourly pay, equipment, my company is better than your company etc. I wish you the best and hope the scenario I see developing does not hurt you or anyone else on this forum .
 
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