ABF | Cold Weather..(warming-up Policy)

arkansawman33

TB Lurker
Credits
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What ARTICLE protects us at a terminal with a 'open dock'.. and weather drops in the 'teens'..?

Chicago-034 / Dayton-064 (remember I am in the Southern REGION)!!

Back in the 80's / 90's (we had a 'warming trailer'...THAT blew DIESEL fumes inside of a empty trailer to keep us WARM... (GOD, only knows the 'damage' from inhailing these FUMES...)
 
There is no Article that guarantees........heat on an open-air dock.
One of the many gray areas.......

Common sense is all we got.....When you get extremely cold,...you go inside. Management has....prudently.....never made an issue about warming up.

Open air docks are one of the.....peculiairities of our industry that has younger people shaking their heads and saying “no”.

Something about .....working in the 18th Century....
 
There is no Article that guarantees........heat on an open-air dock.
One of the many gray areas.......

Common sense is all we got.....When you get extremely cold,...you go inside. Management has....prudently.....never made an issue about warming up.

Open air docks are one of the.....peculiairities of our industry that has younger people shaking their heads and saying “no”.

Something about .....working in the 18th Century....
Well if Judy and crew have their way, open air docks will be a thing of the past. with them changing over to the temp controlled warehouses
 
There is no Article that guarantees........heat on an open-air dock.
One of the many gray areas.......

Common sense is all we got.....When you get extremely cold,...you go inside. Management has....prudently.....never made an issue about warming up.

Open air docks are one of the.....peculiairities of our industry that has younger people shaking their heads and saying “no”.

Something about .....working in the 18th Century....
I believe New England has a supplement where they have to keep the dock at a certain temperature for the winter months....
 
There is no Article that guarantees........heat on an open-air dock.
One of the many gray areas.......

Common sense is all we got.....When you get extremely cold,...you go inside. Management has....prudently.....never made an issue about warming up.

Open air docks are one of the.....peculiairities of our industry that has younger people shaking their heads and saying “no”.

Something about .....working in the 18th Century....

I remember the old days, they would burn pallets or anything that could be salvaged in 55 gal. barrels, they had kerosene burning salamanders.
I walked across the dock to dispatch office and wondered how the guys could work in those conditions.
Today, OSHA or insurance would never allow these fires.
The Carolinas were bad, but nothing like guys had to endure up north.
Grateful I never had to do this, some of our tractors had no heaters, but we were still away from the wind.
 
About 6 years ago I called the ABF barn in Fargo/Moorhead. The clerk said the dock worker was allowed a 10 minute warm up period every hour when the temp dropped below 20 or high winds. She said they gave the workers a lot of lee way. They had had in the past several frostbite cases that required a trip to the clinic. Maybe they thought it cheaper to allow thawing each hour than ER visit's. von.
 
Woke up this morning to...snow on the ground in W. Penna. 29 degrees outside,...Wind chill about 10......

I think I'll sit inside and drink coffee today,......maybe wear my old insulated coveralls and Elmer Fudd hat,....just for nostalgia......
Nothing can compare to the cement floor of an open air dock at 3 in the morning with the temps in the teens and the wind blowing. Well, maybe dropping and hooking at a closed terminal under the same conditions and being all alone and throw in some blowing snow for good measure.
 
Nothing can compare to the cement floor of an open air dock at 3 in the morning with the temps in the teens and the wind blowing. Well, maybe dropping and hooking at a closed terminal under the same conditions and being all alone and throw in some blowing snow for good measure.

Not just dropping and hooking but how about stringing a set under those conditions. So cold one time the lead trailer glad hand snapped right off when I tried to connect my lines. What fun!!
 
And then driving a set through a white-knuckle snow storm......putting duct tape on all the leaky holes in the cab.....

And,......I’ve got a well-practiced “sympathetic” chuckle I use, when some office desk jockey tells me how......”worn out” ......they are, at the end of their work day......
 
And then driving a set through a white-knuckle snow storm......putting duct tape on all the leaky holes in the cab.....

And,......I’ve got a well-practiced “sympathetic” chuckle I use, when some office desk jockey tells me how......”worn out” ......they are, at the end of their work day......

Good thing I wore a long sleeved shirt on this trip....

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Nothing can compare to the cement floor of an open air dock at 3 in the morning with the temps in the teens and the wind blowing. Well, maybe dropping and hooking at a closed terminal under the same conditions and being all alone and throw in some blowing snow for good measure.
I used to roll through PTL-145. They had a deep freeze up there one winter a few years back...below zero for several days. Doors on the dock, but a 24/7 terminal, so they were never closed. When it finally got above freezing, the concrete dock began to sweat for several days. Fun times!!!
 
I used to roll through PTL-145. They had a deep freeze up there one winter a few years back...below zero for several days. Doors on the dock, but a 24/7 terminal, so they were never closed. When it finally got above freezing, the concrete dock began to sweat for several days. Fun times!!!
Yeah and then someone comes up with the idea of throwing shovels full of speedie dry all around!
 
I remember well all the above thinking they never paid me enough to work in this ::shit:: cold weather.
On Sunday... And even Saturday of this past weekend it was in the 70's.
Come Monday and by the time I "would have" gone to work the wind chill was in the teens!
It had (and I've been through it before) to be miserable on the dock.
I couldn't put enough clothes on to even stay a little warm.
Had I had to go in last night. Or even tonight after being gone 10 months I'd say F-no and quit. Lol.
Cold hurts. And I feel for the guys who work strickly dock. Cause it's pure misery in this cold weather.
And just think. It's only November.
This is one part I whole heartedly do.... not....miss one bit.
 
I remember well all the above thinking they never paid me enough to work in this :::shit::: cold weather.
On Sunday... And even Saturday of this past weekend it was in the 70's.
Come Monday and by the time I "would have" gone to work the wind chill was in the teens!
It had (and I've been through it before) to be miserable on the dock.
I couldn't put enough clothes on to even stay a little warm.
Had I had to go in last night. Or even tonight after being gone 10 months I'd say F-no and quit. Lol.
Cold hurts. And I feel for the guys who work strickly dock. Cause it's pure misery in this cold weather.
And just think. It's only November.
This is one part I whole heartedly do.... not....miss one bit.
Isn’t retirement....warm and fuzzy???
 
Isn’t retirement....warm and fuzzy???


Sitting here watching my wife switch between ABC news and QVC.....Wrapped up in one of those snugglies,...with a cuppa coffee so hot, I’d blister my thumb if I stuck it in there......

Big warm Steelers slippers,.....and a nice pillow for my back.....
......and a great view of about 2 inches of snow out the back deck......

Whup! Here comes my second cup....with buttered raisin toast.....
Pardon me while I use both hands........
 
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