[Maniac373]

I have been working for UPS Freight (formerly Overnite), for almost 13 years. I was a dockworker for the first 2, a yard spotter for the next 10, and about 6 months ago, I got my class A CDL, and became a P&D driver.

I am very dissatisfied with what UPS has done since purchasing Overnite. I am paying out around $60 a week for benefits, and make $21 an hour. I don't get overtime until 43 hours..

There has been talks of Teamster organization, but nothing solid yet. ALSO-- there has been talks that we will be moving to a new terminal in less than 5 years. This new location will be within 15 miles of my home (compared to the 51 miles/one way that I drive now)..

Maybe I am just overwhelmed by the whole driving thing, but UPS has not announced a pay raise, and our benefits are going up again.. I am seriously thinking of applying elsewhere.. Just to see if I am getting shafted or not..

[protrkdriver]

hi. im working for central transport in the s.e..
top pay is 19hr here.noovertime til 55hrs.
but i get at least 50 --55hrs a week.
also got my owne trk sitting in the yard sece feburary...
thats for back up .....lol

[Snowman7]

I would stay where you are. Seniority is everything in LTL and you'll regret it. I'm waiting for my background check to clear and will be starting at UPSF. What terminal are you in?

Originally Posted by Maniac373

I am very dissatisfied with what UPS has done since purchasing Overnite. I am paying out around $60 a week for benefits, and make $21 an hour. I don't get overtime until 43 hours.

Sounds like a raw deal to me. 60 bones a week for medical? That's kinda steep. I paid less than that pullin' for an outlaw outfit with a reefer on my back.

Still, I'd stick it out as it looks the Teamsters will get you guys a sqaure deal over there. The UPSF Indianapolis guys signed the card, so the rest of the barns will probably fall like dominoes once the negotiations get rolling. If so, you'll then fall under Master Freight wages and bennies, which means zero out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. That's a heckuva deal in this day and age when medical costs are rocketing skyward year after year.

If you jump ship now, you might miss the boat and lose out whatever seniority you've built up. I'd wait and see how the whole deal pans out before making a move. Just my humble opinion, tho.

[stinkyfinger]

Still, I'd stick it out as it looks the Teamsters will get you guys a sqaure deal over there. The UPSF Indianapolis guys signed the card, so the rest of the barns will probably fall like dominoes once the negotiations get rolling. If so, you'll then fall under Master Freight wages and bennies, which means zero out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. That's a heckuva deal in this day and age when medical costs are rocketing skyward year after year.



Can anybody comment on this Master Freight thing? I don;t know anything about it. I always ASSUMED that the teamsters might have had some sort of "tiered" benifit clause in the contract. Do new hires or newly "accquired" drivers/companies get the "old timers" bennies and such?

[Maniac373]

I am throwing around a time frame of staying on 3 more years.. I was planning on sticking it out, and hoping that Indy gets a decent contract.

I was told that the union companies use a "master seniority" list. I have close to 13 years, but I am 2 from the bottom on the P&D bid board. I am 3 from the top for company seniority, but since I wasn't a driver the whole time I was employed there-- I am near the bottom. I am #23 now.

How will that work if we go union? Will I become #3, or stay #23?

[Maniac373]

Originally Posted by protrkdriver

hi. im working for central transport in the s.e..
top pay is 19hr here.noovertime til 55hrs.
but i get at least 50 --55hrs a week.
also got my owne trk sitting in the yard sece feburary...
thats for back up .....lol

I was working Part-Time at Central Transport, when the management at UPSF cut our overtime (when I was a spotter).. I wasn't impressed with the pay at all. I was talking to a driver who pulled the double 48s from Hammond, Indiana-- out to Cleveland.. He thought he was raking in the cash @ $.40 a mile.. Are you kidding me? The top pay at UPSF is $.5388 a mile, and 90% of those guys are home every night.

Originally Posted by Maniac373

I was working Part-Time at Central Transport, when the management at UPSF cut our overtime (when I was a spotter).. I wasn't impressed with the pay at all. I was talking to a driver who pulled the double 48s from Hammond, Indiana-- out to Cleveland.. He thought he was raking in the cash @ $.40 a mile.. Are you kidding me? The top pay at UPSF is $.5388 a mile, and 90% of those guys are home every night.

Central (AKA: "Mello Yello") runs an ad in the Sunday classifieds here like clockwork everyweek. That's a major red flag right there - especially for an LTL carrier.

Not hard to figure out why, just talk with some of their drivers. Haven't met one yet that had a kind word to say about em'. P&D guys complain about peddling freight dragging 53' monstrosities with swing doors in the city. Not enough pallet jacks or two-wheelers to go around. Boatloads of cheap freight piled up on the dock. Worthless 401k's. Low-down, high deductable insurance with big out-of-pocket expenses. No uniforms.

Ugh no thanks!

[Adam9315]

what does 'spotter' mean in the world of LTL?

[BigAtrukn]

I am also a spotter/dock worker for UPSF in orange county, CA. A spotter is one who moves trailers around the yard. I just got my hazmat so I put my papers in to be a shuttle driver last week. If this doesnt work out ill probly end up goin otr again