First...I'll register later tonight.
Time studies the old way are over, our center was scheduled for one in February. Never happened and was canceled as they will now be using GPS as the predominate tool for doing them.
A recent one (last couple years) in a localish area actually gained that center MORE time allowed to drivers and brought their numbers more inline with what we see daily.
Who knows what will happen now.
As for lunches? I'm one of the drivers given a warning letter for failure to work as directed for not taking a lunch.
My beef and defense was that you can not enforce the contract on us if you are not honestly enforcing it. My take was that if the center was allowing drivers to run all day and either take lunch parked at the local gas station or the center then I was going to run all day and go home and spend that time with my kids. Then I get to see them at night and for breakfast in the morning.
So we were being instructed that we HAD to take our lunch as the contract states but didn't have to take it when the contract also states.
I fought and fought, then it became you had to "post" something so we were not on the reports. Now it's become I have to work as directed regardless of my dispatch and other drivers were still only posting partial lunches or none at all.
It boiled over with me Friday......I was ripe and ready to start filing, they had a center meeting and the drivers who were not taking full lunches were now instructed to take them. I'll see how it turns out.
I STILL contend that they can't enforce one part of the lunch language on us and turn their back on another. Regarding taking and the times it needs be taken. I'm a fair person and fully understand we are not all able to stop the trucks at exactly the 4th hour for multiple reasons that are valid. Though within reason they need to be taken in the middle of the day not at the end when all the work is completed. That is exactly the same as not taking a lunch in my mind.
As it is - I'd rather have that hour with my kids - but do understand it's in the contract and will abide as long as it is followed by management as to the time's it's to be taken. Other wise we still are out on routes that were not written with a lunch hour figured in. Commercial del scheduled in your PM area, Apex routes who are over dispatched and pick up air etc....
Am I off my rocker or what? How far can I go since I've already been given my warning letter?