LTL vs foodservice

[Graymist]

I'm keen to know the difference between LTL and foodservice, in regard to the nature of the work, pay, hours of work, job prospects, and anything else that they may entail. I'd really appreciate some inputs here. Thanks.

[Ian Williams]

I'm keen to know the difference between LTL and foodservice, in regard to the nature of the work, pay, hours of work, job prospects, and anything else that they may entail. I'd really appreciate some inputs here. Thanks.

Both fall under the "single stack &window in the back" category and are going to be better than the vast majority of OTR gigs.

Starting off the foodservice will pay a bit better. Here in Reno LTL starts at 16-18hr and the FS starts at 19ish. LTL tops out at 21-22/hr city and .53-55cpm road after 2-5 years. I don't know what food service tops at.

You have more options to bid the road or the city in LTL land.

As a blanket statement FS is going to be harder on your body. A LTL route is considered "tough" if you have to finderprint 1/3 of your stops.

[Jackrabbit379]

Well, it's almost the same, but most LTL companies are union. Both usually offer good benefits. Ian Williams is hitting the nail with the pay, and hours.

Throwing groceries is solid labor. You unload each piece with a 2-wheel dolly. Lots of multi stops, and it's high paced. Tight schedule. Most LTL deliveries are unloaded with a pallet jack, or forklift.

[Ian Williams]

Well, it's almost the same, but most LTL companies are union. Both usually offer good benefits. Ian Williams is hitting the nail with the pay, and hours.

Throwing groceries is solid labor. You unload each piece with a 2-wheel dolly. Lots of multi stops, and it's high paced. Tight schedule. Most LTL deliveries are unloaded with a pallet jack, or forklift.

Actually there are only really 2 surviving LTLs that are Union. Yellow/Roadway (same parent corp) and ABF. ABF is likely to become part of the Brown empire after the next contract. Parts of Motor Cargo are union but they don't fall under the NMFA.

LTL companies with their terminal structure are much more vulnerable to being organized that OTR outfits. Given that they want to remain non-union many companies keep wages within spitting distance of NMFA wages, albeit with less bennies.

[BigWheels]

One difference is that in many LTL, you will load your freight in the trailer with a fork lift (not true for all LTL companies). And you may have to unload the freight you picked up as well. Many groceries outfits, on the other hand, will have the trailer loaded for you prior to you arriving.

LTL Unions companies (and some non-union companies) have a call board based on seniority. Expect to be on-call when first starting out. Some carriers will also have you working more dock hours than driving at the beginning.

Both LTL & Food service can have 1st, 2nd, & 3rd shift positions. Seniority determines the choice of shift & route in most cases.

BTW: Here's a link to all the subsidary companies Yellow (or YRC) has:
http://www.yrcw.com/services/index.html

All the best in your decision!

[Snowman7]

Actually there are only really 2 surviving LTLs that are Union. Yellow/Roadway (same parent corp) and ABF. ABF is likely to become part of the Brown empire after the next contract. Parts of Motor Cargo are union but they don't fall under the NMFA.

There is no more Motor Cargo. They were aquired by Overnite which was aquired by UPS and the whole thing will be union within a year.

The ABF rumors are flying around but I'll believe it when I see it. TNT and Estes are supposed to be targets too. Depends on what day it is.

Conway was a target for years before getting Overnite. UPS is very slow and methodical about these decisions.

BTW New Penn and USF Holland (both YRC as you know) are part of NMFA. New England Motor Freight and Alvan Motor Freight are union but not NMFA.

[Graymist]

Thanks for your prompt responses. You mentioned something about working the docks and loading / unloading trailers....does that involve working with forklifts and palletjacks, or handbombing as well ? How does one unload trailers which are loaded without pallets ? How hard is that on the body ? The reason I ask is that I have an injured knee ( torn ligament ) from a work accident about a year ago, and even though it's on the mend, I wouldn't want to exert too much strain on it.

[GMAN]

If cargo isn't on pallets, they are often placed on pallets before unloading. The pallet is unloaded using either a forklift or pallet jack. Some receivers don't accept freight on pallets, at least part of their shipments. I recall one toy company who receives basketballs individually. Each one is in a box but must be stacked on pallets before unloading. The product isn't heavy, but can be physically taxing due to the number of balls. Imagine a 53' trailer packed full of basketballs? Most carriers don't require driver assist or unloading. Those who do usually pay extra for your time. Most don't pay enough for your time, but it is extra money.

[BigWheels]

Thanks for your prompt responses. You mentioned something about working the docks and loading / unloading trailers....does that involve working with forklifts and palletjacks, or handbombing as well?...The reason I ask is that I have an injured knee ( torn ligament ) from a work accident about a year ago, and even though it's on the mend, I wouldn't want to exert too much strain on it.

Keep in mind that if you work for an LTL city position P/D (pick-up and delivery), you will be operating a fork lift as well as a pallet jack. From time to time you will also fingerprint some of the load you are delivering/picking up. Generally, your responsibility in LTL ends at the back of the truck. In other words, as soon as the freight is off the truck, you don't touch it anymore. However, if the receiver is paying extra for you to deliver it inside their building, you of course will be unloading freight to wherever they want it.

In addition, some of your stops won't have a dock which means you will either have a pallet jack and bring the pallet(s) to the back of the truck and break them down--or worse--not have a pallet jack, break them down and carry the freight to the back of the truck. However, many delivery locations have a pallet jack that they can lift up into the truck (by forklift) if you don't have a pallet jack so that you can move the pallet to the back of the truck and then break it down.

At times LTL can be a physically demanding job--but not usually as demanding as grocery deliveries. Whether LTL or grocery, you will be in better shape physically than in an OTR position (unless you exersize regularily which is tough to do in OTR).

Frankly, if you apply at an LTL or grocery carrier, they may not hire you because of your relatively recent knee injury. I suspect the odds would be in your favor in considering an LTL outfit more so than a grocery outfit.

[SwervynMervyn]

I have done OTR, foodservice and LTL.

Foodservice and LTL are very time consuming jobs. Both were pretty much 12 to 14 hour days Monday thru Friday.

Foodservice consists of unloading groceries down a ramp with a handcart. Depending on your route could be 350 miles with 10 - 15 stops.

P & D in LTL can be the same way far as hours, but not as much unloading. There were times where I had to hand down 10,000 pounds of dog food to 4 guys at a kennel out in the country.

Both have their issues with parking in less than adequate spaces, but you find a way and learn your own tricks as you do it over and over.

Doing linehaul for an LTL comapny is the best far as I'm concerned. I have an interview this week running from Madison, WI to Cedar Rapids, IA and back. Maybe 2 hours on the dock to swap out freight. It's a mix of mileage pay and hourly pay. Works out pretty good.

Not many LTL jobs up here are union. Most don't pay overtime either. And seniority means nothing.

With OTR I got more sleep than LTL, only drawback is your gone from home.

So, they all have their good points and their drawbacks, just depends on what suits you.....good luck.

[Jackrabbit379]

Yeah, I forget that Yellow owns all those companies.
So, the clowns are gonna buy ABF? Thats interesting. 8)

[ben45750]

A LTL route is considered "tough" if you have to finderprint 1/3 of your stops.

When I worked for Conway fingerprinting freight was a courtesy unless they paid for that specific service. Walmart was the worst, I sat at many docks waiting for them to get their freight off my truck. If they didn’t like it I had them sign the bill as refused freight and they could come pick it up at our terminal or we can ship it back to the shipper. If they had an attitide with me I gave it right back to them.

[ben45750]

Roadway uses the same hotel that ABF uses in Chicago, so we share the same van. They are talking all the time about who's going to buy them. Most of them say DHL is the one looking pretty hard to buy a freight company. At Conway that was the big thing, DHL was going to buy Conway. You can bet though if UPS does buy out someone again FEDEX will be right there buying someone else out. UPS and FEDEX are in a big pissing contest on who can be the biggest.

[lucky13]

Thanks for your prompt responses. You mentioned something about working the docks and loading / unloading trailers....does that involve working with forklifts and palletjacks, or handbombing as well ? How does one unload trailers which are loaded without pallets ? How hard is that on the body ? from a work accident about a year ago, and even though it's on the mend, I wouldnThe reason I ask is that I have an injured knee ( torn ligament )'t want to exert too much strain on it.

If you have a bad knee food service will not help it get better going down ramps with heavy loads on a two wheeler,ltl could be tough also with all the in and out of the truck all day.

[ben45750]

If you have a bad knee food service will not help it get better going down ramps with heavy loads on a two wheeler,ltl could be tough also with all the in and out of the truck all day.

It wouldn't be to bad if you could get on as a road driver with Roadway, Yellow, Holland or UPS. Not much getting in and out, just get to the terminal.

[Ian Williams]

When I worked for Conway fingerprinting freight was a courtesy unless they paid for that specific service. Walmart was the worst, I sat at many docks waiting for them to get their freight off my truck. If they didn’t like it I had them sign the bill as refused freight and they could come pick it up at our terminal or we can ship it back to the shipper. If they had an attitide with me I gave it right back to them.

Yes WM can be a real PITA. I seems to vary from store to store though. Some are a cool, some are jerks. Once a few months agoI had one of their employees try and tell me they were not accepting deliveries @1:50pm when the sign on their door said Reciving hours XXX-2:00. Once I asked for her to per her name on the bill for refusal she changed her mind and they were magically open.

Unlike OTR where you can be forced to play BS games with shippers and consignees we have the trump card of saying "take it or I'm leaving" or if they waste your time on a regular basis they start getting billed for it.

On friday I spent ~40min a one outbound customer here in town thats notorious for wasting time. I sat there on the clock with the other LTL guys from USF, FedEx, Saia and someone else from my barn having social hour.

[Ian Williams]

It wouldn't be to bad if you could get on as a road driver with Roadway, Yellow, Holland or UPS. Not much getting in and out, just get to the terminal.

Being a roadman for Con-Way is not too bad either. The whole linehaul system is designed so that everyone is home every night; there are no lay downs by design, its all meet & turns.

You will do more dock work relative to the rest of LTL, but can earn more as well. In some locations it can be drive 2 hrs, work 6-8 of dock and then drive home.

You can only drive 11 hrs in a day but you can work 14.