HomeDelivery
Well-Known Member
i don't count my load/sort times when i pre-load my package car... if i did, i'll be at/over my 14 hour limit for a few routes that i cover, so OP is correct that it does happen
New here - venting about Ground
- Thread starter Epoisode7
- Start date
STFXG
Well-Known Member
And you should be disqualified from driving for it. Falsifying a DOT document.
HomeDelivery
Well-Known Member
turn me in then! that way i can finally get a push out the door for better pastures & an hourly pay job.
i'm just saying it does happen as the OP has stated & when it leads to them having a successful day, they don't give a $h!t
better yet, a novel idea & it might work, have the routes that are as bad as a few that i'm covering in HD and the OPs service areas pre-loaded like Ground so we save our hours for actual on-the-road duties instead.
when i'm back to being paid by the hour during peak season instead of under a contractor, i'm sure to enter my start & return times correctly. w/ some of these routes, it's a 50 to 70 stop day to keep the hourlies at under 10 hours per day
i'm just saying it does happen as the OP has stated & when it leads to them having a successful day, they don't give a $h!t
better yet, a novel idea & it might work, have the routes that are as bad as a few that i'm covering in HD and the OPs service areas pre-loaded like Ground so we save our hours for actual on-the-road duties instead.
when i'm back to being paid by the hour during peak season instead of under a contractor, i'm sure to enter my start & return times correctly. w/ some of these routes, it's a 50 to 70 stop day to keep the hourlies at under 10 hours per day
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Preloading your HD route could be a problem. You are always saying how you need to rearrange the stops while you load since the computer messes them up. That wouldn't be a problem in a step van, but in a cargo van it would be. You lose almost as much time digging for a box out of order than it takes to drive the messed up sequence.
HomeDelivery
Well-Known Member
Box, some routes the drivers work w/ management to streamline/straightline their service areas to maximize their efficiency, so when i cover those areas, it's a non-issue.
other routes have drivers who don't give a $h!t & has a stepvan to skip stops as they see fit w/out telling management to zone-it so it can be run their way & not the vehicle-route-plan's way... those are the routes i cheat on w/ the on-off duty times or else there will be a 2-digit DNA packages on the way back to the morning audit.
I'm going to tell those crappy contractors if he wants me to be DOT-compliant, to preload my van &/or fix the route to maximize my SPORH & not have me driving back on the same street THREE TIMES in a given day.
either that or have cover drivers use those newer utilitimaster ford p700 stepvans as the vehicle of choice so i can just scan/shelve/and get out of the building ASAP!
other routes have drivers who don't give a $h!t & has a stepvan to skip stops as they see fit w/out telling management to zone-it so it can be run their way & not the vehicle-route-plan's way... those are the routes i cheat on w/ the on-off duty times or else there will be a 2-digit DNA packages on the way back to the morning audit.
I'm going to tell those crappy contractors if he wants me to be DOT-compliant, to preload my van &/or fix the route to maximize my SPORH & not have me driving back on the same street THREE TIMES in a given day.
either that or have cover drivers use those newer utilitimaster ford p700 stepvans as the vehicle of choice so i can just scan/shelve/and get out of the building ASAP!
Thank you for vindicating my experience, HD. What they wanted us to do was a bit worse. Here's how much work time had lapsed before we even logged in:
1) We keep our vehicles at home and drive about 90 minutes to the terminal in the AM: 1.5 hours
2) Pack our town trucks as the package handler unloads the Ground trailer: 1 hour (or more)
3) Print out manifests, grab call tags, listen to the terminal manager
rattle on about some incident that happened 400 miles away, gas up, etc. 30 minutes
4) Drive 90 minutes back to the edge of our routes 1.5 hours
5) Call CPC for a remote login password, log in, organize stops on manifest 15 minutes
On average, we cheated the scanner/DOT times by an average of 4 hours, 45 minutes every single day. I do consider this an extreme case because we are so small and remote. If we logged in at 5am when we leave home, I think it's a real possibility we would violate DOT timeframes much more than the allowed 6 times per year.
By logging in remotely, it gives whoever views this information the illusion that we are somehow loading here and not driving 170 miles round trip everyday. Not only that, but once a week we'd take turns running all the outbound packages back to the terminal, so it was a double drive of 340 miles + route milage of about 40, resulting in 380 miles of driving, even on a light day. On these days we'd log in remotely, then log out before we made the trip to the terminal. Very shady.
1) We keep our vehicles at home and drive about 90 minutes to the terminal in the AM: 1.5 hours
2) Pack our town trucks as the package handler unloads the Ground trailer: 1 hour (or more)
3) Print out manifests, grab call tags, listen to the terminal manager
rattle on about some incident that happened 400 miles away, gas up, etc. 30 minutes
4) Drive 90 minutes back to the edge of our routes 1.5 hours
5) Call CPC for a remote login password, log in, organize stops on manifest 15 minutes
On average, we cheated the scanner/DOT times by an average of 4 hours, 45 minutes every single day. I do consider this an extreme case because we are so small and remote. If we logged in at 5am when we leave home, I think it's a real possibility we would violate DOT timeframes much more than the allowed 6 times per year.
By logging in remotely, it gives whoever views this information the illusion that we are somehow loading here and not driving 170 miles round trip everyday. Not only that, but once a week we'd take turns running all the outbound packages back to the terminal, so it was a double drive of 340 miles + route milage of about 40, resulting in 380 miles of driving, even on a light day. On these days we'd log in remotely, then log out before we made the trip to the terminal. Very shady.
northbound
Well-Known Member
Wow that's crazy. You wouldn't get away with that around here.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
Time to make a call to the DOT and FMCSA. I think there needs to be a full-fledged investigation into Ground/HD practices.
Someone who does that will get fired and then the contractor will likely get terminated (in a NY minute).. seriously, I don't know what is worse A) people talking about or nearly admitting this shady stuff or B) that as a contractor you feel like you are constantly being watched & targeted especially if you have a lucrative route that one of the terminal managers friends, relative or a favored person (someone who kisses ass the right way) can get it.
Really, Nick. Your SM is a pen-pushing-near-no ody. You really need to contact contractor relations and start rattling the saber. They will take it seriously because the things you describe are the things that make lawsuits. They aren't going to protect a SM and bis henchmen. Takes more guts than posting your angst here, uy may be with it.
What!? Contractor relations? they are equivalent to HR, appear to be on the 'side' of the employee but in reality be on the side of the company... I don't know who this specific contract relations person is but I will tell you that I won't take the bait if they do try to initiate contact with me first.
hypo hanna
Well-Known Member
can he report it anonymously?
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
I'm surprised you didn't respond to my comment calling for an investigation into Ground contractor practices as pertaining to the DOT and FMCSA. Although you "play by the rules" it seems apparent that a lot of contractors do not. For years, Express played a similar game when it came to going over hours, because it wasn't rigidly enforced and because they could convince some people to work for free.
When I was an RTD I had several 17-18 hour days. When I protested that I would be over DOT hours, they simply used the "operational necessity" clause and forced me to work the extra hours. Remember, this is before the 10 consecutive hours off rule. Management would try to con me into having hours added (at straight time, of course) to my check so they could try and cover it up. I refused, and insisted on the OT. Now, they watch it like hawks, and going over 14 is a mandatory letter for both you and your manager.
Ground is a perfect setup for abusing the system in terms of exceeding hours of service and working for free off the clock. I think that a DOT/FMCSA investigation would actually benefit the good contractors by weeding-out the shady ones, but FedEx could be on the hook for some major fines.
STFXG
Well-Known Member
You don't even know who your contractor relations person is? You are sounding more and more like the bad contractors we talk about on here. Maybe there's a valid reason they want to get rid of you...
I believe he could. Would probably bring a surprise audit very quickly.
I would still like to know how many actual terminations Nick has seen and how many he has seen scared into selling fast. My hunch is far more of the latter.
Furthermore,as I have stated before, I think Ground is heading toward thinning the number of contractors anyway. Constant evaluation.
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