There are many facets of the inspector / W&I (Weights & Inspections) discussion. Due to paranoia, I'm not going to divulge if I am an inspector, or not, or just know one really well through conversation.
Before this latest surge in their number, there were about 80 inspectors. One of John L's last acts was to decree that 200 more were going to be added. The thinking being that if 80 inspectors generated "X" amount of dollars in revenue, then 280 would generate X times 3.5 dollars in revenue found. Don't bother telling me that is faulty thinking, I agree with you.
So, the last few months have seen a flurry of hiring in the inspector ranks. From what I understand, these new people have come from both within and without Con-Way. Most have had one week of training, and are still 'getting their feet wet.'
What baffles me is the redundancy in their placement, and the seemingly arbitrary way in which the prjoected revenue these people are supposed to generate is determined.
First of all, there are now many inspectors working Outbound in locations that never had them.
Second, most FACs have seen their number of inspectors double or triple.
I ask you, if there are inspectors getting stuff on Outbound, what are all those inspectors at the FAC going to look at when the freight arrives there?
Much of it has already been looked at, at origin.
If you ask me (and admittedly, no one did), they should have put people in one place or the other.
The goals that each service center has been saddled with, again--in my opinion, are unrealistic. I won't get into specific numbers here, ask an inspector if you have access to one (they aren't bad people), but from what I understand these goals serve only to de-motivate people because they seem unattainable. I've had inspectors tell me that, "... there is no way they can achieve their goal, so what's the use?"
Now, in the wake of JL's departure, I understand the brakes have been thrown on his plan to some extent, but the people in place are going to remain there (for the time being), and the department is going to continue its current state of operation.
Someone here commented on 'what an inspector makes' and 'what a driver makes', and referenced how we've been told that most inspectors should pay for their own salary.
That is true, even the poorest producing inspector still probably pays his/her own annual salary in a month or two, the rest being profit for Con-Way.
I would like to think the gentleman was trying to make the point that we all 'make' money for Con-Way, via our contribution to the company's daily operations, no matter what our job.
I realize that without all of us, none of us would have a job. But, with that said, an inspector is one of, if not the, only people in the company who can point to a definitive dollar amount and say, "This is what I brought into the company today."
I agree with an other poster who mentioned the cycle of futility that inspectors are only a small part of:
Shipper ships freight; inspector corrects it accurately and the cost of shipping goes up; shipper complains to A/E; A/E goes to pricing dept. gets a price break and adjusts shippers rates, thus eliminating future revenue potential via corrections for an inspector; inspector looks elsewhere for inaccurately classified freight.
But these people are opposite ends of a delicate scale. An A/E is trying to get freight on our trucks, and all an inspector is doing is making that freight is classified correctly, and consequently, Con-Way is paid commensurately for the work we perform. Inspectors do not set prices. The classify freight. You could have identical shipments, from two different shippers, same origin & destination, and still have two different prices to ship that material. I've seen drivers chastise inspectors as 'chasing off customers', and I think that isn't quite fair. Those people are trying to do a job, just like we all are. Not to portray all drivers as jerks, I've seen many be supportive and helpful to inspectors.
The sad fact is, I feel for a lot of these new inspectors who might lose their job in the next 12-18 months, if not sooner, when having almost 300 isn't the latest fad in management, and most are released.
Just like always, Con-Way's answer isn't to proceed cautiously and hire in small increments, gradually judging where & when more inspectors might be the most advantageous, but rather to go from one extreme (80) to the other (280+)
I will also add this: I think some of the hostility toward inspectors is that much of their role is misunderstood. Comments like, "I saw one, just standing around" give the impression that some DSR's think inspectors do nothing, or don't serve a function, and I'd like to think that most of us realize that isn't the case.
Obviously, I do not have all the answers, I'm merely offering my opinion.
Thanks.