Full time driving advice

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
well in that case I figured you wouldn't like feeders... did you ever consider getting some of those things done before work? Maybe breakfast with family or drive kids to school

I honestly don't care about any other job than my own. And I do get some stuff done before work but cutting grass and edging isn't really a feasible thing to do at 6am neither is it feasible to do at midnight, just as one example. No wife or kids so the responsibilities fall on me. I clean, do dishes and laundry on my weekends, among other things like grocery shopping and all the stuff i put off during the week. Oil changes in my truck, tending to what once was a garden (completely overgrown now due to neglect). Can't take the dog to the vet at midnight. There's lots of reasons why someone might not want to be out til midnight. The money is good but if you never have the time to spend it what good is it? I guess the money isn't as important to me as the free time. *shrug*
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
And to @BadIdeaGuy 's point, I think if management was competent enough to see them stacking out and saying "hey, maybe we should hire more ppl", that they would say the same thing seeing a driver going through their truck. "Hey, we have drivers going through their trucks, maybe we should hire more ppl so they dont have to". I just don't see management thinking like that. I see them waiting for ppl to quit with the hopes of replacing them with someone who gets all 7 trucks loaded everyday
 

NAHimGOOD

Nothing to see here.... Move along.
It’ll never happen because you go in and do it for free lol.


You’re new I get it but you’re just making excuses. Tens of thousands of drivers nationwide manage to show up 5 min before start time and never see their truck prior to start time.
I prefer not knowing anything about operations until I have diad in hand.
h13.gif
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
Back to the topic at hand. Another bit of advice. When I'm driving down narrow streets that have parking on both sides and it's kinda tight, I tend to hug the left side of the street a little more because those vehicles are facing me, and if a driver is inside, all they have to do is look forward to see me which is natural. The people on the right side would have to look in their mirror which is very unnatural to do before opening a car door. This strategy saved my ass a week ago actually
 

JoesUPSacct

Swollen Member
as a new 22.4 who's only been on the seniority list now for 2 months, as well as a new never before union member, this thread has been both entertaining and enlightening.

where i work, there are drivers on the verge of retirement who show up an hour early to put their shelves together. off the clock. while i was qualifying i was right there next to them an hour early getting my shelves straight. i've read quite a few posts on here and see the point about not working off the clock and i'm doing my best to wean myself off of it. when i got my first route after qualifying it was a real beyotch. i read posts on here and swore to stick to the methods and not let mgmt push me to run because of what someone else did on the route prior to me. the first two weeks on the route they were sending 1 and sometimes 2 trucks to help me out because my truck was getting over 350 packages a day and they regularly could not load my truck before i left (bulk stops include fabric shops, carpet stores, auto parts/tires, veterinarians and marinas and of course two separate huge apt complexes that just get dumped on the floor).

after 2 weeks of consistent over allowed and a talk with the manager about "getting my over allowed down" where i told him to follow my stops, i'm working as fast as i safely can while using the methods, my dispatch started getting cut down from 200/day to 180 and then the last couple of days last week were 160/165 but still with 300 packages (brake rotors, boat anchors, rolls of carpet and fabric etc).

anyway, from what i can see it appears as though we don't have a particularly strong union presence locally if the guys that have been there 20+ years are fixing their shelves for an hour off the clock. not much i can do about that but i'll do my best tomorrow to show up with just enough time to clock in and see what happens.
 

Seymour Packages

Well-Known Member
as a new 22.4 who's only been on the seniority list now for 2 months, as well as a new never before union member, this thread has been both entertaining and enlightening.

where i work, there are drivers on the verge of retirement who show up an hour early to put their shelves together. off the clock. while i was qualifying i was right there next to them an hour early getting my shelves straight. i've read quite a few posts on here and see the point about not working off the clock and i'm doing my best to wean myself off of it. when i got my first route after qualifying it was a real beyotch. i read posts on here and swore to stick to the methods and not let mgmt push me to run because of what someone else did on the route prior to me. the first two weeks on the route they were sending 1 and sometimes 2 trucks to help me out because my truck was getting over 350 packages a day and they regularly could not load my truck before i left (bulk stops include fabric shops, carpet stores, auto parts/tires, veterinarians and marinas and of course two separate huge apt complexes that just get dumped on the floor).

after 2 weeks of consistent over allowed and a talk with the manager about "getting my over allowed down" where i told him to follow my stops, i'm working as fast as i safely can while using the methods, my dispatch started getting cut down from 200/day to 180 and then the last couple of days last week were 160/165 but still with 300 packages (brake rotors, boat anchors, rolls of carpet and fabric etc).

anyway, from what i can see it appears as though we don't have a particularly strong union presence locally if the guys that have been there 20+ years are fixing their shelves for an hour off the clock. not much i can do about that but i'll do my best tomorrow to show up with just enough time to clock in and see what happens.
You hold a route as a 22.4?
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
only in the sense that it's not a bid route and no one else there wants anything to do with it so i'm stuck with it.

They have me on a split route pretty regularly, but they make sure to take me off of it before 30 consecutive days, because if someone runs a split route for 30 consecutive days you can file for it to become a full time job position/route. Though Id be willing to bet that the "scamdemic" has added all kinds of loopholes to the contract norms
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
i still have no clue how these routes work, i'll probably retire before i do.

RPCDs can bid on routes. As those routes grow, new businesses pop up on the route, new houses getting built, and the RPCD goes from having 180 stops (8 hour day possibly), to 380 stops, they create whats called a split, and they then usually give that "extra" work to a 22.4. Youve likely been running a split which you recognize as being "your" route just because youre on it with a fair bit of consistency, but its not really your route in the sense that they can put you on any route that they need you on. If they keep needing you on that route then youll likely keep running it until theyre forced to add another RPCD position.

Of course, management would prefer to keep you as a 22.4 driver because then you dont have any 9.5 grievance protection. Which most of these vets here may score about an extra $1000 a week when they are able to file them lol. They have to work over 9.5 hours 3 days in a row inorder to file a 9.5 grievance.
 

MisplacedRailWorker

an absolute *ing disgrace of a human being.
Back to the topic at hand. Another bit of advice. When I'm driving down narrow streets that have parking on both sides and it's kinda tight, I tend to hug the left side of the street a little more because those vehicles are facing me, and if a driver is inside, all they have to do is look forward to see me which is natural. The people on the right side would have to look in their mirror which is very unnatural to do before opening a car door. This strategy saved my ass a week ago actually
These methods to depend on other drivers doing something naturally or not, as a matter fact they don't depend on other drivers doing anything at all except the worst possible. @MisterMisload trust me it is your responsibility to:

scan the steering wheels of parked cars for signs of life
don't gamble + communicate in and out of traffic! use your horn
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
RPCDs can bid on routes. As those routes grow, new businesses pop up on the route, new houses getting built, and the RPCD goes from having 180 stops (8 hour day possibly), to 380 stops,
Holy hell 180 stops for an 8 hour day. Glad I’m not in your center
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
Holy hell 180 stops for an 8 hour day. Glad I’m not in your center

Depends on the route. On the split I normally run Im happy as hell to see 180. This past week was pretty light the whole week. I was done in under 8 all but Wednesday and Saturday.

Was gonna say thats another reason why I think these vets hate on 22.4s going through their trucks. They have that 9.5 hour grievance, so dispatch is actually working to try and get them under 9.5, while at the same time dispatch is working to give me 14 hours lol. Its a different struggle. They have every incentive to sit outside and get paid for a :censored2: load. I dont.
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
Depends on the route. On the split I normally run Im happy as hell to see 180. This past week was pretty light the whole week. I was done in under 8 all but Wednesday and Saturday.

Was gonna say thats another reason why I think these vets hate on 22.4s going through their trucks. They have that 9.5 hour grievance, so dispatch is actually working to try and get them under 9.5, while at the same time dispatch is working to give me 14 hours lol. Its a different struggle. They have every incentive to sit outside and get paid for a :censored2: load. I dont.
Lol you literally just keep moving the goal posts and making excuses.
 

JJinVA

Well-Known Member
Lol you literally just keep moving the goal posts and making excuses.

You know I have a point youre just too proud to admit it. You know when you walk into a truck that has a billion packages that are on every shelf except for the one theyre supposed to be on, that extra check is coming. I, on the other hand, just get a 14 hour day.......... you know thats the truth. Dont fight it
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
You know I have a point youre just too proud to admit it. You know when you walk into a truck that has a billion packages that are on every shelf except for the one theyre supposed to be on, that extra check is coming. I, on the other hand, just get a 14 hour day.......... you know thats the truth. Dont fight it

You're talking to a guy who's highest town population he delivers to is 2000. ;)
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
You know I have a point youre just too proud to admit it. You know when you walk into a truck that has a billion packages that are on every shelf except for the one theyre supposed to be on, that extra check is coming. I, on the other hand, just get a 14 hour day.......... you know thats the truth. Dont fight it

No literally no one except other runners think you have a point.


This is what runners do you twist and contort things to justify doing what you know isn’t right. There’s always an excuse to try and justify it. Oh my wife is working late. Oh my kid has a ball game. Oh I’ve got dinner plans.

Sooner you figure out they own you til 11pm every night and accept it the better you’ll be.
 
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