Question for old timer/experienced drivers...

rod

Retired 22 years
I've heard stories of old timers taking 2-3 hour lunches and punching in liscense plate numbers as shipper numbers for fake deliveries.


There was a short period of time when I did get at least 2 hours of break in a day but that was because of the way my route was set up. I claimed an hour and just included the other dead time in my delivery day. They knew about it and tried to dispatch me accordingly but the harder they tried the more mess up it got. Either I was late getting to where I was going because I was over dispatched or ran out of work before I was scheduled to arrive. I enjoyed it while it lasted. I won't lie---I "made up a few stops" in my day.
 

Johney

Well-Known Member
And don't forget the carbon paper and needing to switch pages for different delivery areas. I used 2 or 3 clipboards with paper because of switching around.
I get a blank stare from the youngsters when I tell them about having to know when one area ended and another began.
I've heard stories of old timers taking 2-3 hour lunches and punching in liscense plate numbers as shipper numbers for fake deliveries.
323-999 J C Penney that was an all time favorite.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
I was an air exception driver .( $10/hr )
That meant I needed a new paper page for each stop , many stops were in different towns . They had no cars for me , so I used my own with a month expense account for mileage ( $.10 per mile ) and tolls .
Darn I was changing my oil monthly .
My biggest problem was finding carbon paper , all the unused sheeting paper already had the carbons removed .

No one overseeing me , I would call in to the center when I wanted to end my day .
I loved inbound mis-loads , for everyday was going to be an adventure trying to find the proper address .
They actually paid me to travel around Mass. , RI , CT , VT , NH , & ME .
Best job I ever had .
 

oldupsman

Well-Known Member
Before NDA drivers would stop and have breakfast on the way to their first stop.

Some days we would have as many as 8 guys at breakfast.

There was a short period of time when I did get at least 2 hours of break in a day but that was because of the way my route was set up. I claimed an hour and just included the other dead time in my delivery day. They knew about it and tried to dispatch me accordingly but the harder they tried the more mess up it got. Either I was late getting to where I was going because I was over dispatched or ran out of work before I was scheduled to arrive. I enjoyed it while it lasted. I won't lie---I "made up a few stops" in my day.

I would only make up stops the days I was dispatched under 8. I was in a bonus center and more than one guy got caught
making up stops to make bonus money. But center manager's never checked on guys who made up stops to make 8. That kept them
out of trouble.

I used to love DR audits. They never really did them. They would just take your paper records from the day before and record 10
stops and then have you sign the paper stating they had checked the stops being DR properly. One time my center manager gave me the
sheet to sign and I noticed it was a day I had made up stops to make an 8 hour dispatch. So he was signing off on stops that didn't
exist. Ya had to love that.
 

retiredTxfeeder

cap'n crunch
We used to meet on Fridays for Chinese food. Sometimes there would be 5 or 6 drivers there. About the only guy who didn't regularly stop was the guy whose area the restaurant was in.

I was in a sort and load center. No preload. We would count every stop we loaded as we loaded it. You knew approximately how much of a planned day by your final stop count. Management would walk around and ask you how many you had. If you were a little light, well, Sometimes there was some creative sheet writing to be done. lol
 
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rod

Retired 22 years
Before NDA drivers would stop and have breakfast on the way to their first stop.


Six or 7 of us used to stop at the same little dinner every morning for breakfast. Actually it worked out good for the company because some manager was always swinging by and dumping off a few pkgs that got left in the building for directions. He would just leave them in our trucks in the cab. We would all watch him out the window and piss and moan if he was headed toward your particular truck thinking "Damn--another stop". Also a lot of info was exchanged during that time (directions to rural stops) and packages were traded back and forth in the parking lot after break was over. Then one year right before the contract was due they came out with the rule that no more than 3 drivers could be at the same break spot at once. I guess they assumed we spent our time there plotting against them. I think at least half the drivers got warning letters for that rule. It hurt the company in the long run but I'm sure some desk jockey got a gold ribbon for coming up with the idea. For many years I took a half hour breakfast break in the morning and a half hour at night when I got back to town (NOT at the center) when I was done delivering. I know I could count on one hand the number of times I donated some brake time to the company in 30 years. Come to think of it I remember taking a few minutes more on following days to make up for the time I had skipped before. It all worked out in the end.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
We used to meet on Fridays for Chinese food. Sometimes there would be 5 or 6 drivers there. About the only guy who didn't regularly stop was the guy whose area the restaurant was in.

I was in a sort and load center. No preload. We would count every stop we loaded as we loaded it. You knew approximately how much of a planned day by your final stop count. Management would walk around and ask you how many you had. If you were a little light, well, Sometimes there was some creative sheet writing to be done. lol

When they stopped the drivers sort and went to a pre load system the pre-loaders would just make a hash mark on a piece of paper taped to the rear of your truck. When we went to our trucks after the AM the first thing I would do would be add about 10 or 20 hash marks depending on what my load looked like. I usually ended up a lot closer to what the actual number was than what the pre-loader had scored---imagine that:-)
 

retiredTxfeeder

cap'n crunch
I was amazed daily that a college student (used to be that way anyway. That was the rule to be hired part time) couldn't count to 100. I could look in my car and guess within 4 or 5 stops what the count would be.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
These were great with bad dogs.....
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