Teamsters, past or present, got a question for you

[Redneck]

Pros and Cons? Tell me why it would be a good decision or bad. I am stuck in CDL hell, there is probably no other job I could ever do that will pay the bills. After 10 years I have nothing to show for what I have done, there is a possibilty of going with Roadway. I am scared to give up my "cowboy" persona but there is no future in it.

[Remington597]

Can you elaborate more, I need more information to give you advice.

[sluggermn]

if you are refering to joining a union I would avoid it if at all possible.
in my experience they do demand higher pay and better benifits BUT they also steal your money every paycheck
for example the place I worked was a "closed" shop, you had to join the union, no choice, or you were not hired. what did my weekly dues get me... nothing! it did however get the plant union president a new desk and furniture and carpet for his office. but when it came time for layoffs they did not do a thing to help any of the workers!!
the union also (in my experience) tends to breed lazyness and the attitude that "its not my job" they reward only seniority and not ambition or skill.
for exmple when we ran out of parts for our line due to the forklift operators being extreemly busy the manager (who was not union) found a unoccupied forklift and had another mgr. lift him up to grab one box to keep us running until the forklift driver (union guy) could get the pallet of parts down for us. In my opinion he was doing what it takes to keep the line going and did a good job of this. one of the union guys bitched about a NONunion guy (mgr) doing a union persons job.. the manager had to go back to the whole assembly line and appoligise for doing a union persons job. WTF???
I have also never heard " that's not my job " so many times in my life. union workers tend to be a pain in the a$$ when it comes to job description and what they are and are not supposed to do on the job.
that's my .02 cents worth hopefully you feel you got your moneys worth
( besides it wasnt my job any way)
Slugger

[punchie]

Lonnie
You know my feelings already. Better than average pay, great Health, Welfare and Pension that are company paid and someone to represent your interests. Some of the bad parts are going to be the numerous layoffs (especially at holiday times) for junior employees and a Union that is more worried about its own existance than yours. Will they mess with you and screw you over, sure, but not as bad as most non-union companies and you know what I mean.

Learn the system and let the system work for you instead of against you. Work within the system, you ain't gonna come up with anything new that hasn't been tried before. There are enough 'concrete cowboys' that you won't feel out of place.

Some more things to look forward to would be some real crappy equipment and very strict rules. Remember you ain't buying them, they are and they are paying quite well for you to follow their rules. If the rules are completely unreasonable you at least have a system in place to protest them.

[Redneck]

Remy, what kind of info do you need? Let's see if this helps, I am a truckdriver who has spent most of his carreer in his own truck doing as he damned well pleased. I ran hard, broke just about every log book rule known to man, logged a million plus miles with nothing more than one speeding ticket and three tickets for having straight pipes in Cal. I have run with the big boys, taken part in some small high speed convoys that scared the crap out of car drivers and driven a truck faster than some would dare go in a car As far as the truck goes I was told at an early age that "it is quite fine to be a cowboy, but ya gotta learn how to ride that horse first", I spent most of my short 10 year carreer learning how to ride that horse! I hate to brag and this will make me sound like a snob but I consider myself an above average truck driver because I know I can handle that horse quite well and not too many things on the road scare me, I'll ride Donner Pass on irons no matter how deep that snow is any day while alot of truckers won't even run it on dry road. I can take a long hood Pete with a 53' van and put it in places these guys with thier little tiny frieghtshakers have trouble getting into. Once again I hate to brag but man I know what I can do and yes I am proud of it.

But what has all that gotten me? Road rash on the ass! What do I have to show for it? Nothing. my last truck burnt up on me on 02/18/03, I have lost interest in trucking but there is nothing else I can do that will support the family. I would love to own another truck but that will be a problem and I do not look forward to getting back on the road.

The company driver jobs for one is a shot to my pride, I know that is my own problem and I need to get over it but it is hard, I am now "one of them" when I used to be "one of those guys", I feel demoted. Also as a company driver you do what you are told and do it right now or you will starve. You go where they say and when, do not complain or you will starve, once a company driver they own you. The job I have right now is thru the largest trucking company in the country, Swift. Swift hires 80% students and drivers with less than one year experince and lets those with 6 months total trucking experiance train school grads!!!! Now I do not "drive" for them, I yard jockey at a Target whse and I refuse to drive one of their trucks, one of the guys I work with on my shift came out of truck school, maybe delivered three loads on his own after training and in one month qualifies to train others!! Scary huh?! But Swift is a crooked company that screws its drivers, example. On Christmas Day I have to go to work at Target whse to move trailers, I do not get paid extra and was told if I do not show up I lose my job!! Wanna hear some major profanity? I am ready to cuss like a sailor over that! I quit driving and took that job to avoid not being home on important days, I was just told I have to up and leave my home on Christmas day and if I do not I lose my job, HEY SWIFT GFYS!!!

What am I looking to achieve? I want a job with structure, I need benifits and good pay and I need that retirement pension. As of right now I have zero put back for retirement and I am 34 with a wife and three kids. I know SS will be worthless when I get to retirement age and a 401K is a scary investment and does dry up.

I need a job that I can schedule a life with, I do not want to worry about being 100 miles from home on a Friday and then be told I have to go 500 miles and deliver a load on Saturday anymore, I'll sell my house and go on welfare first! I feel that strongly about it.

I have always had a dislike for factory unions mainly because I have had to deal with them and I have seen the worthless lazy siode of them, but I have no experiance with the teamster trucking union other than having to do a quick lane change to keep from running over thier slow arses or putting up with thier drivers with thier 1 million gigawatt CBs while they drive 1 truck length apart drowning out all other cb traffic

Anyhow, I can go on and on, I am a cranky trucker needing a change, needing a future and am tired of always getting the short end of a dispatchers stick when he feels the need to screw over a driver on a Friday! Did I mention I would love to see that $60K a year paycheck?

[ryan_marine]

My dad drove for over 35years. He had 30 in the teamsters. Now he is retired and brings home $40K+ a year in retirement. That is not too bad.

Ray

[Neil]

I have nothing good to say about unions other than If you can manage to stay working there pension plans put 401k's to shame. I was in the Boilermakers shipbuilders union for over a year and got royaly hosed so I'm pretty anti union.....Over paid people doing shotty work is what I encountered.

[ibtrukn]

RN, any chance to drive for a "private" company in your area? Not a trucking co. but a manufacturer. I knew cupple dudes that drove for "FOrmica" and wild horses couldn't get them out. That was several years ago and things do change. I drove for 45+ yrs, never union. Got by, did not live high on the hog. 15 yrs O.O., the rest for smaller companies. Best job was "sand box" work, U B surprised when U show up in Kally. wif a 1 stack mack no shack in da back pullin a dumper. Got the bizness from the longnose drivers at all the Tstops until I pointed out that I slept in a motel every nite betwen clean sheets w. running water and a potty. also made sure a bar an cafe was attached or VERY near by. U gotta remember the glass is 1/2 FULL. I no this dont work for everbody but if U actually "like to ride" chek out the private co. jobs if available.....IB

[Roughrdr]

I am also thinking about getting off the road, fuel, insurance, and the low rates on are killing me, even though I generally don't haul cheap freight or go to california. Looking to drive a little daycab in the oil patch hauling crude or salt water, pay is ok, but money for me is not a concern when I can be home everynight, and not have to bust my a$$. No more traffic jams, rude city drivers, and more time for my race car.
Friend of mine works for Big R, couldn't drag him away, he will be retiring in a few years. If you have a chance to get in the door, I say go for it. After a few years, you get to choose the runs you want to take as you build senority.
As for unions, I personally have little use for them, end of story.