WhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The point was (for those without an agenda) was that you MAY someday be required to unload truck and that most trucking companies will insist that you sign to the fact that someday you MAY have to do so. This does not mean that you MUST unload everything at anytime all the time. Get real! This looks more like the victim class raising their pointy heads again ready to cry about anything.

Question: Wil I have to unload trucks at XYZ trucking company

Answer: Someday you MAY have to.

Now you boys flock to the kotex machine and get your fix! cripes!!!!

It's like this you crybaby.. I hauled tires for three years, went to hauling loads of Clorox products into various DCs and stores, not to mention home deliveries, From babyfood to building products, I've unloaded it and it never killed me AND I made money doing so. If you want to sit on your ass and cry WAITING when you can make some easy money unloading freight, knock yourself out. Just because you are lightweight victim, doesn't mean everyone else is..

You can be first in line to the tampax...

AGAIN for those not suffering from PMS, Generally speaking it takes about two hours to unload a trailer of GENERAL FREIGHT. Now I'm sure the Pamprin brigade will dream up some more nightmareish loads to scare you into being afraid to unload anything.. but give it a try once or twice and it may surprise you... you may like it.

Lumping freight is for junkies and supertruckers. They do it best and they can keep the extra 10 bucks.

Hey Fozzy, are you man enough to admit you're way overboard here with the name calling?
I'm a 49 yo out of shape big man that has resorted to driving for a living because the trade I've done for the last 30 years went the way of computerization. In that job, I wasn't afraid of physical labor and quite often moved several tons an hour by hand. This whole thread was originally about unloading a truck, which I've done and will do if I'm PAYED accordingly. YOU took this thread a different direction by claiming some of us are lazy, crippled or both. We are truck drivers, not lumpers and this has been stated by several other posters. So I suggest you keep your thoughts and name calling and assumptions to yourself if you can't play fair. I've seen you're attitude on another board and it just goes against the grain of "getting along".

That's a lie... The thread was about a new guy asking for information about whether or not he would be required to unload trucks. Then came all of the truck stop experts about why unloading is someone else's job and how THEY wouldn't couldn't, shouldn't unload be cause of this, that and the other thing, I offered the answer that YES freight outfits will require that you must be able/willing to be able to unload freight. That is a fact, most outfits will not hire someone who declares themselves unfit or unwilling to unload freight if required.

In this mix the driver is the prostitute! The shipper / receiver is the "john" and of course the trucking company is the pimp, the DRIVER does not decide whether or not the freight will be unloaded by the driver. The shipper / receiver and the trucking company (your boss) decides this.

The general freight is the rule not the strange outsized freight that is hard if not impossible to unload. Generally there is nothing too strenuous about unloading general freight. I too have my horror stories, but this is an example where a straight answer seems unwelcome by people with their victim mentality.


You are what your employer decides that you are. Simple as that. If you are needed to unload freight for some reason and you refuse, you should be fired.


You dont like my attitude? Don't play the victim and use asinine examples.

Shit I'm in good shape ,and I feel that my job is limited to the operations of the truck/trailer and getting the load delivered , And ends with the signing of the bills at it's final destination ...How that freight gets on ,and off that trailer is completely the responsibilty of those at the shipper/receiver . Of course If I was paid $20.00 and up per hour with a 2 hour minimum I would feel different , But at $10.00 HR I just have ZERO ambition to be taken advantage of .

If it's once in awhile like couple time a year fine ,But you find it happening 1 per week ...Just send this message over the Qualcom...I feel the load is unsafe for me to be unloading I feel I'm at the risk of personal injury ,as the load poses the following slips ,trips, ,falls , strains/sprains ,And falling object dangers , and there is no way to avoid these dangers in the un loading process ,And I don't feel safe doing so ...Then ask the dispatcher if they insist you unload the freight with the possible dangers of physical injury it is unlikely that your FM or night/weekends dispatch is going to tell you to do this over the Qualcom after you stated it was dangerous , as this puts them at liability for forcing you to work in an unsafe situation . ...Always remind them that an injury could put you out of work for months/weeks collecting workmans comp...And that any re-occuring injury to an injury from a workmans comp injury is the responsibilty of the company for the life of that injury ,which could be forever...Remeber comanies are trying to get you to do the work ,because it's cheap labor , and nothing scares a company more than paying you to do NOTHING while on workmans comp . :wink:

You are what your employer decides that you are. Simple as that.

I am what my employer hired - a driver. Simple as that.

If you are needed to unload freight for some reason and you refuse, you should be fired.

There is no forced dispatch with my employer, thus I can refuse any load at any time. Your opinion that I should be fired is very "asinine"!

And refusing to the job could get you fired. If I ran the company and had a driver continually threaten me with a workmans comp claim, I'd fire them to protect myself and the other employees. Again, why leave your house if you are so afraid of work?

You bet I'm afraid of doing someone elses work for $10.00 HR , But then again you have to smart enough to be afraid :wink: ...

Maybe Fuzzy likes to be pimped out to the lowest paying John?

If he's anything like the guys that I hear talking about their superior work ethic ,because they are willing to double as a dock worker for $10.00HR in addition to driving ,which already has tons of free labor involved in it without wearing an extra hat as a dock worker for close to free as well ...then he probably hits the showwers 2x a week at best , and always looks like he should be standing on the corner with a sign . :wink:

I guess as long as you plan on shooting for making nothing, you can call yourself a success. $10 an hour beats making zero. MOST of the time the unloading pay is well above this magical $10.00 an hour you seem to be fixated on. A driver making the time pay ANYTHING is wiser than the one who just sits on their butts whining about things. All you seem to have plenty of is excuses and a poor attitude. MOST outfits pay at least 60 for a n unload.. even if the whole process takes 3 hours.. its more than $10.00 an hour. I guess wanting to be able to send more money home never crosses the BBR's mind? They may even get some sweat on their sweatpants and even have to wear something other than house shoes for a few hours.

Well, I wasn't feeling much like getting in the middle of this high-minded debate, but I have to disagree here. We're allowed 70 hours of work in an eight day period. That's 8.75 hours a day. Each of us makes a certain average weekly wage. It will vary from person to person and from week to week, but we all have a pretty good idea of how many hours we work and how much money we make. (Another hint for the new folks - I don't work anywhere close to the 80-100 hours you read about sometimes.) If you know how much you earn for an average hour of work, you know whether or not it's profitable to work for whatever your unload pay will be. Unloading three hours at $10/hr would prevent you from driving three hours at $20+/hr, eight days from now. Bad move.

As I mentioned before, we (CFI) are paid $17.50/hr with a two hour minimum. It's typically not my choice whether or not to unload. I took a load of cell phones (4 pallets) to Fort Worth once and was told that I had to unload them with a pallet jack. Four pallets - five minutes - $35. I showed up in Memphis with a load of Red Bull to a place with no dock, so I had to tailgate the load, again with a pallet jack. 20 pallets - half an hour - $35. Those were well worth my time. Those are also the only two times I've had to touch freight in a year and a half. I have no intention of lumping freight when there are people who are paid to do that.

Regarding the Swift recruiters telling people about a once per week average, I think it's time for another recruiting lesson: Swift has a lot of trucks. I don't know how many, but it's a lot. Several of those trucks run dedicated accounts. Let's say, for the sake of example, that a single dedicated truck makes thirty stops a week. That means that the next 29 OTR trucks can make zero stops a week, but the "average" for the whole 30-truck group in question is one stop per week. See what's going on here? So-called factual information can mislead you pretty bedly if you let it.

I wear Timberland boots not house shoes , And I don't wear sweat pants... :wink: As for the lumping of loads it all depends on the outfit ,as to weather I'll do it or not ...if the work is profitable to me then I'll do it if it's not then I'm getting a lumper ...However there are going to be a few loads that require driver assistance that are not going to offer lumpers , and I'm not going to have a choice in that case as long as the out fit I'm working for pays me well for the time ,and it's a rare deal then I have no issue with it , But if I'm at the customers dock ,and I'm going to have to burn 2-4 hours there and only average 10.00 Hr for the time spent ...I'm getting an EFS check ang hiring a lumper ...Or if you're there I'll sub contract to you for $5.00 an hr "SENOIR" Fozzy

That's why I drive a flatbed.Don't have to worry about loading or unloading.Might have to tarp,but you get paid for that.Jeepster,just one question.Don't want to start a fight,but how long have you been driving?

about 2.5 years ...I don't like to call them fights I'd like to think of them as DEBATES agruing varied opinions . :wink:

Well shoot,you should jump on the band wagon and run for president.

yeah me ,and the guy from Boston .

HAH thats funny.... i've had 2 driver unload loads and both times i have hired lumpers and been reimburesed for them..... SEE MY DIARY!

I drive for Swift and I don't touch freight. I did take a load of tires to a truck stop once and I got a message over the Qualcomm asking me to lend a hand unloading since the customer was short on help. I was paid $100. to stand in the middle of the trailer to help keep the tires rolling outta the trailer's doors. :lol:

Re: Unload your own truck at Swift?
 

be a good way to stay in shape and make a little extra cash..

I also drive for swift and have yet to have a driver unload or assist unload, mostly drop and hook, but there are the tire runs, and dollar general, and a few others that are driver unload, but they are usually covered by dedicated

Lumper Racket
 

I got screwed out of $190 when the Quaalcom satelite was having problems. I was on the phone with Swift's home office and told them I was ready to drive out the gate whether it was open or not.
I had a 3 stop load ending in San Antonio that was not supposed to be driver unload. The first 2 went ok with the receivers unloading but the third was lumpers. I only had about a third of the trailer left and I said I would unload it. Well I took my own sweet time and as the sun came up the lumpers wanted to go home. They started helping and asked me how much Swift paid their company to unload. I lied and said I didn't know as Swift takes care of that. (They DON'T) Anyway, I got unloaded and the parasitic lumpers didn't get a friggin dime. Screw 'em. I knew I'd never be back there again.