R&L | Screw them like they do us

[NOTA ROBERTS]

I feel it is time that we start to treat wilmington the way they treat us. You know like we are only here to fill their pockets with money, well they are only there to write our checks. Everyone needs to start taking your breaks and run the speed limit, screw them if you dont get it done then to dam bad. If they keep screwing with you then just keep everything they do on record, start taping all your talks with dispatch and your tm and with all others needed then get a lawyer on retainer. Mine has told me that with all i have they are only a couple moves from a millon dollar law suit. **** i hope they do it.

 

[Aladdin Sane]

Yeah, bein' vindictive solves everything...

 

[bullwagon]

I feel it is time that we start to treat wilmington the way they treat us. You know like we are only here to fill their pockets with money, well they are only there to write our checks. Everyone needs to start taking your breaks and run the speed limit, screw them if you dont get it done then to dam bad. If they keep screwing with you then just keep everything they do on record, start taping all your talks with dispatch and your tm and with all others needed then get a lawyer on retainer. Mine has told me that with all i have they are only a couple moves from a millon dollar law suit. **** i hope they do it.

I have a couple hours of tape still from the TM and his right hand man, threatening to retaliate and just all the lies he told. I ended up quitting but I still have them for just in case. You do need to check your local laws on recording conversations before you do it though...........

 

[BIGFOOT]

How have they screwed you? Have your paychecks bounced? You refer to a location like it is a single person. That's like blaming the moon because it got dark last night.

 

[R&L_PHI]

Why wouldn't you take your breaks?? And it's against the law to go over the speed limit. As far as how a dispatcher or TM talk to you, That is because you let them do that.....just sayin

 

[makaveli]

Why wouldn't you take your breaks?? And it's against the law to go over the speed limit. As far as how a dispatcher or TM talk to you, That is because you let them do that.....just sayin

I was going to start a new thread to ask a question, but maybe I could ask it now. Our dispatchers don't won't let us take breaks and if we do take our breaks, they will set you up by putting a forklift in a trailer, hide it in the yard and say the driver stold it, and sold it to a customer. That really happened, and dispatch got away with lieing. They have been putting haz mat on trailers with no paperwork, giving drivers paperwork and not putting haz mat on manifest or trailer. Haz mat on trailers that is not properly marked. How can it go threw R&L system and nobody catch it. If the driver catches it and says something to dock supervisors or dispatchers, they look at him as a trouble maker and will mess with the driver any chance they get. We get 2 trailers a day going to an acct and its haz mat load. You might have 20 bills in your possession and placarded. Out of the 20 bills, only 15 are physically on your trailer. The other trailer has the 5 bills, and its not on that manifest. If a driver says something about it, he is a trouble maker. Dispatch talks down to certain drivers, and blame them for everything, if they did it or not. It was funny one day because 2 drivers were saying dispatch/management blame them for global warming, snow storms hit the area they just blame the drivers and say it was our fault, we did a snow dance to slow up there operation. Before dispatch puts haz mat on my trailer without bills, or not properly packaged, labeled, or I have bills but no haz mat on trailer, my question is, who do I call in a situation like that? Do I call safety? Then wait for retailation from dispatch. Or do I call OSHA? They keep my name private from what I was told and no retailiation from dispatch. When I watch all this, I just get the assumption that they don't know nothing in that office. Or they don't care and are looking to set drivers up. There not trying to be trouble makers or let dispatch get away with it or let them do drivers like that. When there back is up against the wall should safety be called or OSHA?

 

[bullwagon]

I was going to start a new thread to ask a question, but maybe I could ask it now. Our dispatchers don't won't let us take breaks and if we do take our breaks, they will set you up by putting a forklift in a trailer, hide it in the yard and say the driver stold it, and sold it to a customer. That really happened, and dispatch got away with lieing. They have been putting haz mat on trailers with no paperwork, giving drivers paperwork and not putting haz mat on manifest or trailer. Haz mat on trailers that is not properly marked. How can it go threw R&L system and nobody catch it. If the driver catches it and says something to dock supervisors or dispatchers, they look at him as a trouble maker and will mess with the driver any chance they get. We get 2 trailers a day going to an acct and its haz mat load. You might have 20 bills in your possession and placarded. Out of the 20 bills, only 15 are physically on your trailer. The other trailer has the 5 bills, and its not on that manifest. If a driver says something about it, he is a trouble maker. Dispatch talks down to certain drivers, and blame them for everything, if they did it or not. It was funny one day because 2 drivers were saying dispatch/management blame them for global warming, snow storms hit the area they just blame the drivers and say it was our fault, we did a snow dance to slow up there operation. Before dispatch puts haz mat on my trailer without bills, or not properly packaged, labeled, or I have bills but no haz mat on trailer, my question is, who do I call in a situation like that? Do I call safety? Then wait for retailation from dispatch. Or do I call OSHA? They keep my name private from what I was told and no retailiation from dispatch. When I watch all this, I just get the assumption that they don't know nothing in that office. Or they don't care and are looking to set drivers up. There not trying to be trouble makers or let dispatch get away with it or let them do drivers like that. When there back is up against the wall should safety be called or OSHA?

I know from personal experience that if you call anyone in corporate they will let your TM know as well as your regional manager. They do not have your back, they all stick together, I called corporate with legitimate reasons a few times and was told that “do not worry we are here to help”, very next day the retaliation starts and they are all asking why did I call corporate. Tell me how they know when I told no one that I called. The culture is from corporate down to each terminal, it’s all the same. Good luck

 

[makaveli]

I know from personal experience that if you call anyone in corporate they will let your TM know as well as your regional manager. They do not have your back, they all stick together, I called corporate with legitimate reasons a few times and was told that “do not worry we are here to help”, very next day the retaliation starts and they are all asking why did I call corporate. Tell me how they know when I told no one that I called. The culture is from corporate down to each terminal, it’s all the same. Good luck

Thank you for the reply bullwagon, that helps. I guess we have to do unto others as they do unto us. DOT, DOL, EEOC, etc. Somebody will help us at my terminal. Thank you

 

[slugbug]

I know from personal experience that if you call anyone in corporate they will let your TM know as well as your regional manager. They do not have your back, they all stick together, I called corporate with legitimate reasons a few times and was told that “do not worry we are here to help”, very next day the retaliation starts and they are all asking why did I call corporate. Tell me how they know when I told no one that I called. The culture is from corporate down to each terminal, it’s all the same. Good luck

I was going to start a new thread to ask a question, but maybe I could ask it now. Our dispatchers don't won't let us take breaks and if we do take our breaks, they will set you up by putting a forklift in a trailer, hide it in the yard and say the driver stold it, and sold it to a customer. That really happened, and dispatch got away with lieing. They have been putting haz mat on trailers with no paperwork, giving drivers paperwork and not putting haz mat on manifest or trailer. Haz mat on trailers that is not properly marked. How can it go threw R&L system and nobody catch it. If the driver catches it and says something to dock supervisors or dispatchers, they look at him as a trouble maker and will mess with the driver any chance they get. We get 2 trailers a day going to an acct and its haz mat load. You might have 20 bills in your possession and placarded. Out of the 20 bills, only 15 are physically on your trailer. The other trailer has the 5 bills, and its not on that manifest. If a driver says something about it, he is a trouble maker. Dispatch talks down to certain drivers, and blame them for everything, if they did it or not. It was funny one day because 2 drivers were saying dispatch/management blame them for global warming, snow storms hit the area they just blame the drivers and say it was our fault, we did a snow dance to slow up there operation. Before dispatch puts haz mat on my trailer without bills, or not properly packaged, labeled, or I have bills but no haz mat on trailer, my question is, who do I call in a situation like that? Do I call safety? Then wait for retailation from dispatch. Or do I call OSHA? They keep my name private from what I was told and no retailiation from dispatch. When I watch all this, I just get the assumption that they don't know nothing in that office. Or they don't care and are looking to set drivers up. There not trying to be trouble makers or let dispatch get away with it or let them do drivers like that. When there back is up against the wall should safety be called or OSHA?

Why wouldn't you take your breaks?? And it's against the law to go over the speed limit. As far as how a dispatcher or TM talk to you, That is because you let them do that.....just sayin

How have they screwed you? Have your paychecks bounced? You refer to a location like it is a single person. That's like blaming the moon because it got dark last night.

I have a couple hours of tape still from the TM and his right hand man, threatening to retaliate and just all the lies he told. I ended up quitting but I still have them for just in case. You do need to check your local laws on recording conversations before you do it though...........

Yeah, bein' vindictive solves everything...

Thank you for the reply bullwagon, that helps. I guess we have to do unto others as they do unto us. DOT, DOL, EEOC, etc. Somebody will help us at my terminal. Thank you

I took moment to take a quick peak at the small portions my peeps at R+L might be saying. I see alot of it relates to a huge thread that got beat down by moderator because he didn't like the fact that it was turning into a heated forum....sometimes a persons' passion on a particular thread is justified. If you do take a break...especially when you are feeling stressed and dispatch feels you are being non productive by the end of the day they are pulling stuff on you with ultra late pick up adds at like 630....then 7PM....I am at the point in my life where I can still set the pace....but I just don't want to anymore. I want to take some time to let my mind relax and take 5 or 10 here or there. it's like we are at war with the people who tell us what to do. today I am literally ran almost 100 miles out of my route for 2 deliveries and when I finally make it back to my original area dispatch throws late pickups on me into a different area apparantly not satisfied that I once again got all my work done. He sends me to a dead end construction area in the dark on a narrow windy road with nowhere to turn around....when I call him to say I can't get there he puts another one 25 miles the other way to pick up after I am done metting this residential customer. Atthat moment i called my wife and told her when dispatch called me back I was quitting on the spot. I can't take it anymore. R+L just doesn't know when to say when. I run 350 miles when I should have only run like 225....get it all done and its not enough. when I got done telling my wife I was quitting the dispatcher actually pulled the pickup off my list.....I was waiting for him to call me so I could say adios but he never called back.....and by then he had removed the pickup. as I look at my words I am wondering if I can really hold on. R+L is not driver friendly. in their minds we are lower than dogpoo and smaller than toad stools. they pacify you with an atta boy while they laugh as they go hme and you spend another 2 hours out there finishing up their blunders. pulled the same thing on me wednesday before turkey day but I rebuffed that crud my sayin I couldnt hold it due to all my over sized freight that I refused to stack on....I have decided to be customer friendly....keeps it real. You all have to make time to take 2 15 min breaks everyday...and your lunch. we all have to bond on that thought. the freight can wait...even if to tomrrow. good night.

 

[sapper]

I look at it this way, my reputation with the customers is more important than R/L's. If I ever have to get another driving job, the customers will remember my integrity, not the former employers...

 

[Gideon129]

just a heads up, in most states its illegal to record a phone conversation without telling the other person.
i know Pennsylvania is a 2 party state, you record a phone call and don't tell the other person, you could end up in jail on wiretapping charges.same deal in almost every workplace as they are not considered public.
the only place in PA you can record video and audio is in place that is considered public where the other party wouldn't have a expectation of privacy.
there are a handful of states that are one party and you don't need to notify the other person. it all depends where you are located.

 

[makaveli]

I look at it this way, my reputation with the customers is more important than R/L's. If I ever have to get another driving job, the customers will remember my integrity, not the former employers...

I agree, but certain management have black balled a lot of our drivers because of there friends in management they know from other companies.

 

[R&L_PHI]

The retaliation you guys experience is natural. It also means what you are telling Wimington is not falling on deaf ears. Wilmington is there for you. Trust me . You need to build a relationship with Wilmington to right the situation at your terminal. Never break the law, especially regarding Haz Mat shipments. Call safety,Call Human resources. Tell them about the retailiation too. Of course your supervisors are not gonna like what your doing,but it is against the law to put Haz Mat on a trailer without proper paperwork. If you get into an accident it's your fault as a driver for driving the trailer without proper documents. I dont think your TM or Dispatcher is gonna pay that fine for you.Building a good relationship in Wilmington is the best thing you could do. And that is what they are there for. Remember ,they get these calls all the time.Takes a while to build a good trusting relationship with them but it is DEFINITELY worth it. And when situation is fixed,they will call you occasionally to see how things are and make sure everything is running good. You are their eyes and ears.

 

[Recap Slinger]

It's not the same as it was a few years ago.....calling the big house now just gets you a big bulls-eye on your back!
When your local management finds out, they will make life so unbearable on the poor soul that you usually run into
him a few months later working for another company. I'll offer to buy him lunch or maybe a cup of coffee and congratulate
him on his new job.

I'll never forget what an old timer told me when I first started in this business......"take you're #@%$&%@ breaks!!!!"
So in over 20 years I have honored that commandment.

 

[EX396]

The retaliation you guys experience is natural. It also means what you are telling Wimington is not falling on deaf ears. Wilmington is there for you. Trust me . You need to build a relationship with Wilmington to right the situation at your terminal. Never break the law, especially regarding Haz Mat shipments. Call safety,Call Human resources. Tell them about the retailiation too. Of course your supervisors are not gonna like what your doing,but it is against the law to put Haz Mat on a trailer without proper paperwork. If you get into an accident it's your fault as a driver for driving the trailer without proper documents. I dont think your TM or Dispatcher is gonna pay that fine for you.Building a good relationship in Wilmington is the best thing you could do. And that is what they are there for. Remember ,they get these calls all the time.Takes a while to build a good trusting relationship with them but it is DEFINITELY worth it. And when situation is fixed,they will call you occasionally to see how things are and make sure everything is running good. You are their eyes and ears.

They aren't there to protect you. They are there to protect the company from lawsuits, fines and penalties. They are checking on you, making sure things have changed, that you are happy, etc. because they want to make certain you aren't going to sue or file a complaint with some other body. In the end, things are changed so that you are happy, but make no mistake about their purpose and motivation.

 

[bullwagon]

The retaliation you guys experience is natural. It also means what you are telling Wimington is not falling on deaf ears. Wilmington is there for you. Trust me . You need to build a relationship with Wilmington to right the situation at your terminal. Never break the law, especially regarding Haz Mat shipments. Call safety,Call Human resources. Tell them about the retailiation too. Of course your supervisors are not gonna like what your doing,but it is against the law to put Haz Mat on a trailer without proper paperwork. If you get into an accident it's your fault as a driver for driving the trailer without proper documents. I dont think your TM or Dispatcher is gonna pay that fine for you.Building a good relationship in Wilmington is the best thing you could do. And that is what they are there for. Remember ,they get these calls all the time.Takes a while to build a good trusting relationship with them but it is DEFINITELY worth it. And when situation is fixed,they will call you occasionally to see how things are and make sure everything is running good. You are their eyes and ears.

They did nothing for my term for the 10 years I was there, I was also 1 of about 5 that would call in. They did nothing but make life harder on us, that is why the 5 of us have all quit. Calling corp does NOT work, I speak from experience.

 

[slugbug]

first of all...if a dispatcher ever tells you that you are his best driver that mean he sees you running yourself into the ground....and every early pickup he gives you...you run and grab it.....just like a real go-getter......we have all been there....not a problem....where the problems arise is when you finally say I have had enough of him running me into the ground. you take a break....or a lunch and you find yourself doing pickups at 6 pm that were ready at 12 cuz the dispatcher knows they are open late....even though before you left the area you were 2 miles from that pickup? Thats ridiculous but it happens everyday. These creeps want you to keep their stress level down by running hard to do early closer and they will even fake early ones just to amp you up. I never did that to drivers when I was a dispatcher because I had been a driver....other dispatchers hated me....they said screw the drivers.....I said screw u bud....until you finall start slwoing down and taking breaks it will continue. we all need to stick together....lets get some camaradre going here......don't look to those who post 150 times a day...they have their own agenda....they want to be superman....amongst real men....we do the job without boasting about it....other talk like they are the only ones who know how to do the job....I am getting heated up again folks.....don't let humpty dumpty ruin the chain. stick together...say no when its right...then you have ground to stand on. talk later

 

[scully]

Smartest thing I've heard in a while Sapper. As for some of this other stuff here goes a little rant.

The company is the company and the employee is the employee. Not perfect but you will find this same thread in just about every forum on Trucking boards or any other business model you could imagine. As for the retaliation thing I hear so much about I personally think its a cop out. What, Are they going to line you up for a firing squad? Make you work a bunch of overtime? A lot of people are complaining about working too much or not enough, nobody is going to be satisfied, at least not all. What, you complain to corporate about your dispatcher or TM and expect them not to go to the root of the problem. Are they just supposed to fire everyone based on one persons complaint I don't have the answers but I know after all the years I've been here (Only 9) I still see mostly the same people that were here when I started, still giving the same effort, trying to take it one day at a time and not take it personal. I've said it before on here and I will say it again, a lot of you know you can go directly to J.C. in HR and he will give you a fair share. Send your issues to him In writing if you are worried about a paper trail. Just make sure your problems are legitimate and I would bet a fair resolution will come of it. Sneaking around with tape recorders and cameras trying to get something started will only make you look like a trouble maker and does not do much for your co workers moral. As for the ones blaming the company on the high cost of insurance, do a little industry research. As a company R&L took a major hit on this in the last few years and have absorbed a much larger percentage of the increases than the employees. No insurance increase last year, most everyone got at least a 3% raise. Not much but I was glad to have it. And for you manager bashers, think what you want, I am not a manager, simply a person that made a deal with the company a long time ago to work for a wage as long as they pay me what we agreed on I will continue to give 100% and when I stop feeling like they have taken advantage of the deal we made I will start looking for that greener grass. I enjoy the people I work with and I enjoy meeting new friends that work for R&L while on vacation, try to have fun at work and leave the job at the job when I go home.

Merry Christmas my friends and I hope everyone of us have a happy and prosperous New Year. (PS Please vote for some real change in the 2014 midterms)
Scully

 

[bullwagon]

Smartest thing I've heard in a while Sapper. As for some of this other stuff here goes a little rant.

The company is the company and the employee is the employee. Not perfect but you will find this same thread in just about every forum on Trucking boards or any other business model you could imagine. As for the retaliation thing I hear so much about I personally think its a cop out. What, Are they going to line you up for a firing squad? Make you work a bunch of overtime? A lot of people are complaining about working too much or not enough, nobody is going to be satisfied, at least not all. What, you complain to corporate about your dispatcher or TM and expect them not to go to the root of the problem. Are they just supposed to fire everyone based on one persons complaint I don't have the answers but I know after all the years I've been here (Only 9) I still see mostly the same people that were here when I started, still giving the same effort, trying to take it one day at a time and not take it personal. I've said it before on here and I will say it again, a lot of you know you can go directly to J.C. in HR and he will give you a fair share. Send your issues to him In writing if you are worried about a paper trail. Just make sure your problems are legitimate and I would bet a fair resolution will come of it. Sneaking around with tape recorders and cameras trying to get something started will only make you look like a trouble maker and does not do much for your co workers moral. As for the ones blaming the company on the high cost of insurance, do a little industry research. As a company R&L took a major hit on this in the last few years and have absorbed a much larger percentage of the increases than the employees. No insurance increase last year, most everyone got at least a 3% raise. Not much but I was glad to have it. And for you manager bashers, think what you want, I am not a manager, simply a person that made a deal with the company a long time ago to work for a wage as long as they pay me what we agreed on I will continue to give 100% and when I stop feeling like they have taken advantage of the deal we made I will start looking for that greener grass. I enjoy the people I work with and I enjoy meeting new friends that work for R&L while on vacation, try to have fun at work and leave the job at the job when I go home.

Merry Christmas my friends and I hope everyone of us have a happy and prosperous New Year. (PS Please vote for some real change in the 2014 midterms)
Scully

Part of the retaliation is starving you out, I don't know about you but that is a problem when they start to starve me out and I can’t put food on the table because some manager has it out for me. I did contact JC and JF in HR, nothing positive happened for me or the others that called in with documentation and proof that there was wrong doing. Also you need tape recorders when your manager tells you in private that he is cutting your hours for calling as punishment, you have to prove it somehow because it is his word against yours, not sure how that ruins co-workers moral but......ok. I wish I was in your world because it must be pretty good there, but over here in the real world bad things do happen to good people, just because you complain does not mean it is not legit. I am also on R+L's side on the insurance costs, so I am not 100% anti R+L, I am actually pro R+L, it used to be a great company and still can be if they fire some key people and go back to how senior ran the place.

 

[aiaslfdo]

R&L is a great privately held company. The key word being privately held. If you feel otherwise go to CT or Estes. Enough said on my part. No place is perfect, but I can tell you this, R&L has its employees needs and concerns at heart. And, no I am not in Wilmington, a Roberts, or, even an employee of the company. Take a look at what R&L provides to the customer. In the long term, that is all that matters, and will matter most. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.