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ABF | It has to be so, cause RB says so

Razorblade said:
I have made a vow to be kinder, gentler and less confrontational. However, I don't understand that attitude.
I get that the labor movement's beginnings were, in part, to give the front line worker a return on his investment of time and talent. Time and talent being as important as capital investing but with less risk. The question is how much is the job worth? That, in my view, is a question answered by the labor marketplace. ABF is paying double time because that is what it takes to get the job done. They don't pay double because they want to. They don't pay double because they have been extorted to do so. They pay double because that is what the free market requires to get the job done. They pay hiring bonuses because the labor market requires them to do so in order to hire qualified people.
I also don't get it when management, including the management of labor resources, gets no credit for the success of ABF. How is it that the disaster called YRC is all the fault of management with no responsibility accepted by the union workforce but a very successful ABF gets no respect from union labor for being exceptionally well run?
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You are a tard. Hard to believe you can even type.
 
Razorblade said:
I can't help myself. I can't read the uninformed nonsense on this board without responding.

The most intelligent among us are always hated by the masses. The Walton family, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are on that list. Those who create millions of jobs, provide goods and services at reasonable prices and raise people out of poverty are routinely accused of exploiting labor.

Some who point out that a seemingly successful transportation company cannot survive long-term operating at 8% gross profit when the competition shows operating ratios in the 70s and low 80s are deemed to be idiots. 40 years of history and 600+ bankruptcies may show us to be correct but the masses who demand more of that meager 8% for themselves still refuse to believe. They continue to condemn corporate greed but fail to see the greed in a six-figure salary for unskilled labor delivering little brown boxes from a little brown truck. They don't see the folly of paying the same hourly wage to a dock worker and a CDL driver. When the system that was doomed from the beginning fails, they expect the government to bail them out because they lacked the self-discipline to provide for their future.

Reject my UNSOLICITED ADVICE at your own peril.
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well crap! here we go again! PLEASE, RB Don't refer to teamsters as unskilled labor. I resent the hell out of that! A lot of us have 40+years of road savvy under our belts that allow us to safely operate expensive and dangerous equipment under all kinds of different road, traffic and weather conditions in the midst of an oblivious motoring public that often doesn't help with the general safety. And we receive a mediocre wage for doing it. A journeyman plumber on the other hand gets $169.00/ hr for soldering pipes together. If he screws up, they just call a cleanup crew to suck up the water. If we screw up, we make the CBS Evening News. I'm sorry, but that is called skilled labor, dude,and you will pay to get it.
 
hangbelly said:
well crap! here we go again! PLEASE, RB Don't refer to teamsters as unskilled labor. I resent the hell out of that! A lot of us have 40+years of road savvy under our belts that allow us to safely operate expensive and dangerous equipment under all kinds of different road, traffic and weather conditions in the midst of an oblivious motoring public that often doesn't help with the general safety. And we receive a mediocre wage for doing it. A journeyman plumber on the other hand gets $169.00/ hr for soldering pipes together. If he screws up, they just call a cleanup crew to suck up the water. If we screw up, we make the CBS Evening News. I'm sorry, but that is called skilled labor, dude,and you will pay to get it.
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Maybe it will take AI and self-driving trucks to prove to America that this job can't be faked by Automotive engineers who never touched a steering wheel. If you think Elon Musk was wrong with his self-driving cars, wait until the blood is knee deep on the highways when these arrogant jackasses try it with trucks. How do you program AI to respond to weather, traffic,and road conditions that literally change by the mile? Short answer, you can't. And if you try it, the carnage will be mind-numbing. Maybe that will be what it takes to prove the value of an experienced, well trained and responsible American behind the wheel, sharing the highway with your precious family.
 
hangbelly said:
well crap! here we go again! PLEASE, RB Don't refer to teamsters as unskilled labor. I resent the hell out of that! A lot of us have 40+years of road savvy under our belts that allow us to safely operate expensive and dangerous equipment under all kinds of different road, traffic and weather conditions in the midst of an oblivious motoring public that often doesn't help with the general safety. And we receive a mediocre wage for doing it. A journeyman plumber on the other hand gets $169.00/ hr for soldering pipes together. If he screws up, they just call a cleanup crew to suck up the water. If we screw up, we make the CBS Evening News. I'm sorry, but that is called skilled labor, dude,and you will pay to get it.
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Amazes me that some will read the posts and only comprehend what they want to see. Yes, the linehaul driver and the city driver are skilled positions. The hazmat endorsement alone is enough to call yourself skilled. Doubles, triples and tanker as well.
I clearly made points that none have addressed or disputed. The UPS package car driver needs no CDL, no hazmat training and no special training to deliver little brown boxes. UPS uses college kids for part time hub work. No skills or experience required.
To say that the freight dock worker has as valuable a skillset as a CDL city driver and should demand the same hourly wage is ludicrous. Same as the UPS example. Hire a casual dock guy off the street, let him work an hour next to a full timer and he is fully trained.
Go back, read my original post again and respond to what I actually said.
 
Razorblade said:
Amazes me that some will read the posts and only comprehend what they want to see. Yes, the linehaul driver and the city driver are skilled positions. The hazmat endorsement alone is enough to call yourself skilled. Doubles, triples and tanker as well.
I clearly made points that none have addressed or disputed. The UPS package car driver needs no CDL, no hazmat training and no special training to deliver little brown boxes. UPS uses college kids for part time hub work. No skills or experience required.
To say that the freight dock worker has as valuable a skillset as a CDL city driver and should demand the same hourly wage is ludicrous. Same as the UPS example. Hire a casual dock guy off the street, let him work an hour next to a full timer and he is fully trained.
Go back, read my original post again and respond to what I actually said.
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Yeah, I got the jest of your post. Now you tell me if you think a journeyman plumber is worth $169.00 an hour, because that is damn well the going rate! America is dying a painful death right now, but the teamsters didn't cause it damn it! You conveniently ignore the real issues here. BTW: what is the payrate for dock workers at Old Dominion? Just wondering...
 
Razorblade said:
Not true. It's the fools who rely on paychecks that get left behind. Those who save and invest, those who become shareholders and owners of the banks and businesses will always be successful. Those who spend every dollar and save nothing choose to fail.
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Oh Jesus RB! That is so archaic, 20th century that it is laughable. You see that light at the end of the tunnel? Well, run, because it's a train! The !% have set us up for a takedown, and you aren't invited to participate this time. You will be considered a useful idiot for the rich. Our currency has been debased. All the old saws about economics no longer apply. When this goes down, it will happen so fast that you will be dumbfounded. Why do you think a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum or Dogecoin are doing so well when they have no intrinsic value? This whole thing is a house of cards. But Americans that have marketable useful labor skills and are willing to roll up their sleeves and rebuild the wreckage of this republic will always be in demand. They may not be called Teamsters anymore, but the heart and soul of American organized labor will endure, make no mistake about that. Why? Because it is still a very real, intrinsicly valuable part of Americana and will always be recognized as such, unlike the wealthy scum that you seem to be so enthralled with. There aren't any more captains of American industry out there waiting to rebuild America back better. Chinese theft of our tech and industry with the willing complicity of your friends on Wall street have insured that. The era of Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan and Henry Ford is gone. Now it is just carpetbaggers like Gates and Zuckerberg, and Bezos and Soros and Dorcey waiting to steal every thing that isn't nailed down. And that includes your hard earned wealth as well, my brother...
 
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I don't expect you to agree with me RB, but I don't really care. I'll check back in a day or two. I have to go to bed now, because I have to get up in the morning and take a load of mail from Boise to Portland. Yeah, I went back to work again. America needs qualified drivers right now and I'm trying to do do my share for this country I love. And yeah, it's a Teamster job....
 
Razorblade said:
Amazes me that some will read the posts and only comprehend what they want to see. Yes, the linehaul driver and the city driver are skilled positions. The hazmat endorsement alone is enough to call yourself skilled. Doubles, triples and tanker as well.
I clearly made points that none have addressed or disputed. The UPS package car driver needs no CDL, no hazmat training and no special training to deliver little brown boxes. UPS uses college kids for part time hub work. No skills or experience required.
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No one has addressed or disputed your example using UPS package because package has nothing to do with freight. Two totally different animals.
Razorblade said:
Hire a casual dock guy off the street, let him work an hour next to a full timer and he is fully trained.
Go back, read my original post again and respond to what I actually said.
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It is obvious that you have been out of the game for way to long. And you apparently have never worked at a breakbulk. Here at the Rock, all new casuals and full time city, dock, and hostle employees are trained on the dock for ten days before working on their own. Just learning the basics of using the PDA, properly unloading/loading freight, weighing every shipment, entering damages/shortages in the PDA, creating no-bills, splitting a shipment (A and B bills) using the PDA, etc., etc……takes many months and sometimes years to learn it all. Not to mention loading to a mobile platform which is completely different than loading to a trailer. I can go on and on, but I know it is falling on deaf ears with you as you will only hear what you want hear.
 
Razorblade said:
There will be clues. Longer tractor service intervals, smaller tire banks at large terminals and none at the smaller ones. Fewer mechanics. Keeping power units longer and putting more miles on them. Combining terminals to create more direct load opportunities and reduce breakbulk costs. Meet turns leading to all turns to reduce and eliminate motels and layover expense.
Same with the dock operation. Older forklifts with less maintenance. Ragged yard horses. No building maintenance. Lights out that don't get fixed. No cardboard dunnage. Potholes in the yards and an end to snow removal.
Before there was Yellow-Roadway Corp., Big R sold nearly all their pups to a leasing company and then rented them back. They created an infusion of cash out of thin air.
We have differing opinions, but you are a smart guy. Pay attention and you will see it slowly creeping up on you.
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This sounds like you are describing XPO Logistics ( old Con-way )
 
Steward of the Rock said:
No one has addressed or disputed your example using UPS package because package has nothing to do with freight. Two totally different animals.

It is obvious that you have been out of the game for way to long. And you apparently have never worked at a breakbulk. Here at the Rock, all new casuals and full time city, dock, and hostle employees are trained on the dock for ten days before working on their own. Just learning the basics of using the PDA, properly unloading/loading freight, weighing every shipment, entering damages/shortages in the PDA, creating no-bills, splitting a shipment (A and B bills) using the PDA, etc., etc……takes many months and sometimes years to learn it all. Not to mention loading to a mobile platform which is completely different than loading to a trailer. I can go on and on, but I know it is falling on deaf ears with you as you will only hear what you want hear.
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Hearing what you want to hear yourself. Remember that. The guy makes good points and uses good examples. You don’t have to agree. And you can disagree all you like. But you can’t disregard his thoughts or their accuracy.
 
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