FedEx Freight | What Would You Do?

Streaker69

The Influencer
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I get the best advice on how to handle this politics BS here, so here I am again.

Here's my issue:

I work inbound with a CDSA that has seniority over me. He's one of those guys that feels like he can do whatever he wants because he has some seniority (30 of 75) and he's buddies with the OM.

The inbound supervisor is one of those strictly by the books guy, but also a corporate yesman. About a month ago this CDSA got written up for texting while on a forklift and he hasn't come in to work the dock since. He has an FMLA, also known as an attendence pass so there are no attendence consequences.

I've been noticing that he shows up when a decent run pops up. He doesn't clock in or talk to anybody, he goes to straight to road dispatch. This morning, I called them out on it. I said this isn't a coincidence. How does he know to go straight to road dispatch and no other driver on the dock knows about these runs? The answer I got was "well the gate time is 545 as long as he's here by 515 he can take it". Didn't answer my question at all. So, I repeated the question and the gist I got was "prove it".

They're right. I can't prove it. I spoke to some senior CDSA's that I trust and they basically told me there was nothing I could do about it .They said they would be surprised if he lasted much longer. He's on the dock because he caught a critical (not sure for what) working the city and he played it safe and stuck to the dock . I'd have no issues if he were on the dock and the run popped it and he took it. That's how it works, but it's pretty clear somebody is calling him at home and offering him these runs when they're supposed to go down the list of the guys on the dock. If he's not on the dock because he's on leave, how is it ok for him to Pop up and take a run?

Not the first time this has happened. This same CDSA got caught in a storm for coming in 4 hours earlier for road runs. Naturally, the guys that were on that shift didn't take too kindly to this and made a big stink about it.

Is it worth it to go to ethics about this? I can't prove any of this is happening, but I'm smart enough to put 2 and 2 together.
 
So I’m trying to understand your issue...you’re all CDSA’s who are working the dock (except for the individual in question) and he’s being offered work ahead of you guys even though he’s “allegedly” using FMLA instead of working the dock??

Question...why are you working the dock in the first place?? Is it slow and you’re working to get a check or is dock work part of your tour/shift/duties??

If you’re volunteering for dockwork to draw a check then the driver in question still gets called first for road runs because he has seniority. If you’re required to work the dock and he’s not coming in, then he should get passed over for the next driver in seniority.

I say “allegedly” using FMLA because there’s only two people who knows if he is in fact using FMLA and neither has to say for sure. If he is using it, then he has to use it for the whole day (not just certain work) and there’s a cap on how many days he can take in one year...it’s not an unlimited vacation.
 
So I’m trying to understand your issue...you’re all CDSA’s who are working the dock (except for the individual in question) and he’s being offered work ahead of you guys even though he’s “allegedly” using FMLA instead of working the dock??

Question...why are you working the dock in the first place?? Is it slow and you’re working to get a check or is dock work part of your tour/shift/duties??

If you’re volunteering for dockwork to draw a check then the driver in question still gets called first for road runs because he has seniority. If you’re required to work the dock and he’s not coming in, then he should get passed over for the next driver in seniority.

I say “allegedly” using FMLA because there’s only two people who knows if he is in fact using FMLA and neither has to say for sure. If he is using it, then he has to use it for the whole day (not just certain work) and there’s a cap on how many days he can take in one year...it’s not an unlimited vacation.

We are both assigned to the dock. He only shows up when there's a run available and he's the only one that knows about it. He does not report to the dock and clock in, he goes straight to dispatch.

Prior to him getting written up, he would report to the dock on time everyday .After this write up he doesn't come in, except for the situation stated above.
 
That TM needs to be reported.
Better be documenting this stuff driver.
Dates , times , who said what , ect...

I am, but I can't prove anything. It's all a theory at this point .I text myself everytime i notice something.. Speaking to some drivers that I trust, they say it's a hard sell without solid proof.

My issue here is that i know what's happening, but I can't prove it. I'm afraid that reporting these issues would have no results and major blowback.
 
I am, but I can't prove anything. It's all a theory at this point .I text myself everytime i notice something.. Speaking to some drivers that I trust, they say it's a hard sell without solid proof.

My issue here is that i know what's happening, but I can't prove it. I'm afraid that reporting these issues would have no results and major blowback.

You’re right about having little results and major blow back, even if you did it anonymously you have already said something to them about it so they will have a good idea of who it was. For now I would keep my mouth shut and roll with it. His fmla won’t last forever and from the sounds of things he’s a screw up, it won’t take long for them to screw things up again on their own.
 
True Holo , that TM probably has some other skeletons that are about to come out.
 
They clean up a lot of messes here and they're good at it. If they were just half as good at being an LTL company they'd have those profit margins they want.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The things I've seen and heard about this building and it's supervisors, I've never seen anything like it.

I'll take the advice I got here and from city drivers I trust and I'll keep it quiet because there isn't much I can do. I'll document everything and keep my eyes open. I'm waiting for the day for one to fall because he'll take everybody down with him. No honor amongst thieves.
 
They clean up a lot of messes here and they're good at it. If they were just half as good at being an LTL company they'd have those profit margins they want.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The things I've seen and heard about this building and it's supervisors, I've never seen anything like it.

I'll take the advice I got here and from city drivers I trust and I'll keep it quiet because there isn't much I can do. I'll document everything and keep my eyes open. I'm waiting for the day for one to fall because he'll take everybody down with him. No honor amongst thieves.
 
Yes we had a similar problem at our center. Calls were made and it was completely spun back on employees that wanted to right the wrong. They also said employees that wanted to do the right thing were deemed as negative employees and center manager is and has been on the warpath since then and situations have gotten worse with no end in sight. Complete retaliation for trying to do what was right .
 
We are both assigned to the dock. He only shows up when there's a run available and he's the only one that knows about it. He does not report to the dock and clock in, he goes straight to dispatch.

Prior to him getting written up, he would report to the dock on time everyday .After this write up he doesn't come in, except for the situation stated above.
I still don’t think you have an argument and here’s why....

His write up may or may not have lead to an agreement between he and local management that it’s probably best for both parties if he stays off the dock...right or wrong...but allowing him to still be available for other work. By forcing him to work the dock, you’re putting a potentially disgruntled, unproductive, liability in the way while preventing a junior employee who wants to work from working...and we can’t discipline for performance (or lack thereof) or half the system would be let go!! He has seniority so either way (whether he works the dock or not) he’s gonna get called for the road run first anyways. Also, by forcing him to work the dock now when he doesn’t care to could potentially lead to him being forced to work the dock this Jan-Mar while it forces you to sit at home from lack of work!!

I’d say don’t bother with it cause it could bite you in the ass in the long run!! Be careful what you wish for because wishes have unintended consequences!!
 
So I'll start a ::shit:: storm, been here 30 years as local and line and dock, since the influx of national drivers that couldn't have been hired viking and Conway management who r all about making sure you get your 14 there's been huge move to the buddy system with management and hr and a few suck ass drivers ( the chosen ones ) you rattle cages around here and you get a star in front of your name. Dont talk to tm's or hr send co email to your regional manager , copy in your scm and hr so every one knows and it will be handled quickly. I had some issues with a ops manager who is no longer here. Write it well explain the actual facts no percieved ones. Document everything and go after their balls
 
I still don’t think you have an argument and here’s why....

His write up may or may not have lead to an agreement between he and local management that it’s probably best for both parties if he stays off the dock...right or wrong...but allowing him to still be available for other work. By forcing him to work the dock, you’re putting a potentially disgruntled, unproductive, liability in the way while preventing a junior employee who wants to work from working...and we can’t discipline for performance (or lack thereof) or half the system would be let go!! He has seniority so either way (whether he works the dock or not) he’s gonna get called for the road run first anyways. Also, by forcing him to work the dock now when he doesn’t care to could potentially lead to him being forced to work the dock this Jan-Mar while it forces you to sit at home from lack of work!!

I’d say don’t bother with it cause it could bite you in the ass in the long run!! Be careful what you wish for because wishes have unintended consequences!!

There are a lot of wrongs here.

I know he would take the run if he were present and I'd have no issues with that. That's the way it's always been. However, an employee that isn't present wouldn't be called to come in for a run. That's preferential treatment. Seniority or not, no city driver gets called in when they don't come in for a run.

An employee would never get the ok to sit at home due to a write up because you're giving the green light to other employees to sit at home when they're disciplined. That's opening the company up to all kinds of discrimination issues if you say no to them after saying yes to somebody else. Also, any manager that says ok to that is dumb as can be. They're opening themselves up to be terminated and let's be honest, they're not getting an OM position or salary anywhere else.

This whole building is filled with disgruntled workers. Reason being, the favoritism that's blatantly obvious. 3 months ago I was running 7 bills per hour on the dock. Now, it's 1.6 or something like that. The reason is, I can't start for my full 8 hours. Hours gets deposited into the bank, not BPH. Why am I going to help you kick me out early? Thats not just CDSA'S, it's also full time dock employees.

As for sitting at home due to lack of work, it will never happen. In order for that to happen you'd have to sit out a bunch of part time dock workers, they're not doing that because they're buddies with the dock supervisors . If anything, I wish they would tell me to stay home and bring in some part time dock workers because then I'd have a legitimate claim.
 
So I'll start a :::shit::: storm, been here 30 years as local and line and dock, since the influx of national drivers that couldn't have been hired viking and Conway management who r all about making sure you get your 14 there's been huge move to the buddy system with management and hr and a few suck ass drivers ( the chosen ones ) you rattle cages around here and you get a star in front of your name. Dont talk to tm's or hr send co email to your regional manager , copy in your scm and hr so every one knows and it will be handled quickly. I had some issues with a ops manager who is no longer here. Write it well explain the actual facts no percieved ones. Document everything and go after their balls

That's a good idea. I've decided to let sleeping dogs lie for the time being because we're bidding again in a couple of weeks and I'll be off of this shift and I have no tangible evidence. However, going forward I will definitely use this method. Is there an e mail for HR? I have all the others saved in my phone, but I don't see one for HR.
 
This whole building is filled with disgruntled workers. Reason being, the favoritism that's blatantly obvious.
This statement alone, if true, warrants H/R action. When leadership is above board, following policy, the above is never true.

We've already covered how to press the matter. Truth is, if "the building is filled with disgruntled employees", something needs corrective action.

If you can encourage those effected to call, in significant numbers, they'll be forced to do something. You won't even need evidence of specific policy violation.

The fact that local leadership has that many disgruntled, lacking confidence, etc. demonstrates poor and ineffective leadership. The solutions are either education or removal.

When they finally do one or the other, the only question should be, what took so long?
 
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