Can you be fired for load quality?

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

Very hard to prove. We've had a few guys load a truck backwards just to teach a driver a lesson.

I would unload entire truck and reload it at a safe pace.

 

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

Long packages especially heavy ones stacked out are asking for an injury. Plus they can fall over and dent or scratch the trucks.

Denting and Scratching the truck isn't a concern of the preload.

 

[rown_oser]

I just got switched to preload and everyone seems to hate me.
All of the other part-timers are morose and sullen. They just stare listlessly at the belt and don't talk to each other. No one really told me how to load or anything.
When the drivers came and saw their trucks they seemed to be steaming.
I loaded 3 trucks, one driver just avoided the entire area until I left, another just glared at me without saying anything, and the 3rd took one look at the truck and then stormed off to complain about me to the sup.
I'm not sure what I did that was so wrong but I loaded everything where it was supposed to go, unless the shelf was full, in which case I stuck it on the floor.
I don't see it getting any better since no one talks to me or tells me what I'm supposed to do. Can you get fired just for load quality?

Don't take it personally. It's very stressful as you know and you're the new one; the easy target. Do apologize to the drivers but let them know what's going on with you as you're a rook so you're going to make silly and easy mistakes. Be proactive with the drivers though and ask them for a break down of their shelf order. Ask them in the morning for feedback from the previous day to see how you're improving but also to help build a relationship with the driver. See past their negativity and don't feed into it. Ignore their rude comments and remarks (those will go away as you earn respect), keep doing your job as best as you can and be the 'bigger' person if anyone is calling you out by ignoring them or killing them with kindness. Perhaps tell your supe you still don't quite have everything down and you're overwhelmed and are making mistakes as you're still so new, and maybe you can load 1 less car or whatever until you're ready to take on more. Use Post-It notes and a Sharpie for the first week or so until you get down the shelf/floor locations. After all, we're Union brothers and sisters and as a driver, I understand their frustration but throwing a sissy fit and not addressing the problem solves nothing and perpetuates the problem. Basically- do everything and show your other coworkers that you do care a lot about the job and want to improve so maybe one day you can be a driver or a manager or whatever you see yourself doing.

You're not going to get fired for what you're asking but start speaking up and show that you do give a damn.

Bonus advice — become best friends with a crayon so you can quickly mark boxes with their shelf number to have it visible from the aisle. I know I love when preloaders do that. It makes the day significantly better as hardly any time is wasted searching for a package.

 

[PT Stewie]

I doubt any of the other part-timers knows what "morose" actually means.

Hope this helps.

We have some real wordsmiths in my area They would say things like "be pacific" or to quote Jeff Foxworthy "it was pandelerium" So we started a word for each night. Last nights word was vociferous

 

[P700slave]

That’s some horrible advice . Just do your best .

agreed. You go messing with a veteran drivers load and you will be caught up in a storm. Don't believe me ? Keep it up and Ill be waiting here for the I told you so post.

 

[Indecisi0n]

I just got switched to preload and everyone seems to hate me.
All of the other part-timers are morose and sullen. They just stare listlessly at the belt and don't talk to each other. No one really told me how to load or anything.
When the drivers came and saw their trucks they seemed to be steaming.
I loaded 3 trucks, one driver just avoided the entire area until I left, another just glared at me without saying anything, and the 3rd took one look at the truck and then stormed off to complain about me to the sup.
I'm not sure what I did that was so wrong but I loaded everything where it was supposed to go, unless the shelf was full, in which case I stuck it on the floor.
I don't see it getting any better since no one talks to me or tells me what I'm supposed to do. Can you get fired just for load quality?

Best way to defuse a pissed off driver is to just let him know "I'm sorry I'm new and haven't been trained can you just tell me what I did wrong and how I can make it better for future loads" . That right there should work. If not then the next day drop a deuce in his vents in the cab .

 

[PTPeanuts]

One thing that is really annoying me is I keep getting pulled off of my pull every single day, so no matter how strong I start, my trucks always end up getting ED UP by the end.
I'm the newest one so they consider me a "floater" which means around 7-7:30 they pull me from my trucks to go help someone else or to go into the trailer.
Then I lose an hour and go back and all my stuff is stacked out to hell and I basically just have to start throwing it everywhere. Right when I get back to my trucks is when the drivers come in, and all they see is 300 packages stacked out everywhere and just assume I'm complete crap not realizing that I've been in the trailer for the past hour with all my stuff building up and no one doing it.
Is this normal?
Can they not give me ONE (1) day of just leaving me alone and letting me do my trucks from start to finish to at least get the chance to see what how it should be done?

IDK.
Feels like I'm being set up to fail every day and it's quite frustrating.

 

[Indecisi0n]

One thing that is really annoying me is I keep getting pulled off of my pull every single day, so no matter how strong I start, my trucks always end up getting ED UP by the end.
I'm the newest one so they consider me a "floater" which means around 7-7:30 they pull me from my trucks to go help someone else or to go into the trailer.
Then I lose an hour and go back and all my stuff is stacked out to hell and I basically just have to start throwing it everywhere. Right when I get back to my trucks is when the drivers come in, and all they see is 300 packages stacked out everywhere and just assume I'm complete crap not realizing that I've been in the trailer for the past hour with all my stuff building up and no one doing it.
Is this normal?
Can they not give me ONE (1) day of just leaving me alone and letting me do my trucks from start to finish to at least get the chance to see what how it should be done?

IDK.
Feels like I'm being set up to fail every day and it's quite frustrating.

There is no need to throw your packages everywhere . Do it properly and take your time . If a driver walks in and sees a crazy stack and you just throwing crap everywhere he is going to get pissed . If a driver walks in , seeings a crazy stack and you loading it properly and say to him "they pulled me off my trucks to help someone else now I'm ed" he will understand.

If they sent someone else help then they can send you help . If you keep making up time by throwing stuff and they never have to help you they will keep pulling you . They don't care what the loads look like n

 

[UselessPeopleSupervising]

I'm still not sure what I did that was so bad to that guy's truck. I'm pretty sure I got everything on the correct shelf.
How big of a deal is it for the packages to literally be in counting order? Like 1000 at the front of the 1000 shelf and 1900 at the end of the 1000 shelf?
Because I started out trying to do that but towards the end I had no more room and it wasn't possible to do anymore without stopping and rearranging the entire shelf, which really isn't an option.

Try and get 1000-4000 in as close to stop to stop order as you can. If you’re able to, don’t load your next day airs. Put them under your belt in a tote. Allows you to not have to load them on the truck and helps out the drivers as there’s no digging for air.

Also, if you’re bricking out the truck when wrapping. Leave a few feet near the bulkhead (front) and try to leave the RDC spot free. Fill up the middle walkway between the wheel well. That way we have easy access to our first couple sections in the front and in the back for early bulk stops.

Stacking out is also a tool. An experienced loader knows how to stack to their advantage. My strategy was that if I was getting killed, I’d purposely stack 1 truck (your last truck) well cleaning up/keeping the other 2 or 3 alive. Then when you have a break with packages on the belt you can clean up that last truck.

 

[PTPeanuts]

There is no need to throw your packages everywhere . Do it properly and take your time . If a driver walks in and sees a crazy stack and you just throwing crap everywhere he is going to get pissed . If a driver walks in , seeings a crazy stack and you loading it properly and say to him "they pulled me off my trucks to help someone else now I'm ed" he will understand.

If they sent someone else help then they can send you help . If you keep making up time by throwing stuff and they never have to help you they will keep pulling you . They don't care what the loads look like n

Yeah I'm just kind of upset because I felt like I learned a lot yesterday and was ready to put it all to good use.
My trucks were perfect up until about 7:30 when they pulled me to go to the trailer.
It sucks to spend all morning feeling good about the load you are doing, and then get pulled and it all goes to at the last minute.
There's really nothing I can do because they are telling me that we are done by 9:00 no matter what. If everything is stacked out to hell then the drivers are to take over.
So either I rush the last part and do it sub-optimally, or let the drivers do the entire thing by themselves.
Today was just a bummer to watch the driver's come in with that sad look on their faces when they see the huge stack out and their truck, when I know how perfect it was for the majority of the morning. Made me feel bad.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Yeah I'm just kind of upset because I felt like I learned a lot yesterday and was ready to put it all to good use.
My trucks were perfect up until about 7:30 when they pulled me to go to the trailer.
It sucks to spend all morning feeling good about the load you are doing, and then get pulled and it all goes to at the last minute.
There's really nothing I can do because they are telling me that we are done by 9:00 no matter what. If everything is stacked out to hell then the drivers are to take over.
So either I rush the last part and do it sub-optimally, or let the drivers do the entire thing by themselves.
Today was just a bummer to watch the driver's come in with that sad look on their faces when they see the huge stack out and their truck, when I know how perfect it was for the majority of the morning. Made me feel bad.

Drivers will always come in with a sad look on their faces. Its call depression and this job gives it out for free.

 

[eats packages]

Also what is the deal with the numbering anyways?
Who decides that?
I had like 30 packages that were supposed to go on the 5000 shelf, and they were all medium to big sized boxes.
I put like 7 on there and the entire 5000 shelf was already full.
So my sup walks over and says "Well look at your plan, see how the floor has 0 packages planned on it, just start putting them there."
Ok? So then why didn't they do that on the plan in the first place?
And why did I have a 120 pound box scheduled to go on the 7000 shelf?
I don't get it.

Don't worry about it for now. Hardest part of preload is getting to know how to pack things in while staying organized (lots of snaking and bulk movement). You can start by observing the total height of the top shelf versus the middle shelf. It's a good %40 taller if things were stacked to the ceiling.
So a good strategy. Especially for bulk routes. Is to cram bulk up the top shelves and then move a portion of resis/small stuff back down the the middle shelf. floor is for heavy *** and even more bulk.

Honestly I would prefer your dispatch afaik because then I get to make the decision to move something to RDL,etc. and the numbers more closely match sequence.

 

[PT4Lyfe]

Firstly, what the driver's say or think(unless constructive criticism). They are over paid babies who want to on you, because they are on themselves. It's how rolls I guess. Sabotaging their trucks usually works, they'll beg for you loads after you really show them what a ed up day is. I recommend heavies on the top shelf, burying envelops and lables facing back. I sucked when I first started too as I also was not trained and the good drivers who gave me good advice made me a decent loader. The ones who hate their life because there wives got bored and left them got those special loads. As for sups, just keep asking them to demonstrate. This usually makes them annoyed and will leave you alone.

 

[PTPeanuts]

I'm pretty sure my sup does not care about the load quality at all.
This morning I was pro-active and actually went up to him and asked him for feedback on how to improve because I know the drivers were not satisfied with the quality yesterday. He just kind of shrugged his shoulders and was like "meh they are always like that, as long as there are no misloads you are good."
We technically don't have a PT sup right now the on-road sup is covering the shift until we hire someone. I thought he would actually care about load quality since he is the on-road sup but I guess not. Seems like all he cares about is no misloads.

 

[DR PUMP]

I'm pretty sure my sup does not care about the load quality at all.
This morning I was pro-active and actually went up to him and asked him for feedback on how to improve because I know the drivers were not satisfied with the quality yesterday. He just kind of shrugged his shoulders and was like "meh they are always like that, as long as there are no misloads you are good."
We technically don't have a PT sup right now the on-road sup is covering the shift until we hire someone. I thought he would actually care about load quality since he is the on-road sup but I guess not. Seems like all he cares about is no misloads.

You're right, he probably doesn't give a . He's not the one who has to find the packages in the truck. For future reference, if you ask any supervisors for loading advice, they're just going to tell you some generic company methods. Ask the drivers or other loaders if you care enough. You're loading for the driver, not the sup.