Getting Really Frustrated At My Job - Not Enough Work To Keep Me Happy

I did talk to one of my dispatchers about it this morning and he understood and seemed to immediately start to make more of an effort to get me moving more so I’m hopeful things change

You've made a great case as to why you deserve a bigger share of the pie. If you made your case well with dispatch, hopefully it will pay off. Just remember, it doesn't last. Lobbying for more work is a never-ending thing. Keep doing great work and keep pushing them for more.

I don't like the idea of directly threatening to leave your employer, like, "Give me more work or I'm out of here!" What I do like is to present your case in a way that says you may have no choice, like, "Look, I love it here. You guys are awesome. I'll retire from here if I can. But I'm simply not making enough to pay my bills, and something has to happen quickly. What can I do to get more work? If I can make [give them your number] money per week, I'm good, but anything less than that and I'm in trouble. It's not an option for me. I have to make it happen."

Everyone has bills to pay. They'll understand that message. No one can fault you for looking around at other jobs after you've told your current employer they're not giving you enough work to pay your bills. Put a little pressure on them in a professional way and keep it on.

You might also remind them that giving everyone the same amount of work is not fair, considering some people are harder-working and more reliable than others. If someone outperforms someone else, they deserve more. It's unfair to treat everyone as if they're performing equally, when they're not. Believe it or not, many people don't see it that way until you point that out.

I’ve been thinking about looking around but I’m not sure how much better things will be elsewhere with the economy the way it is

That's true. You really don't know unless they put some sort of guarantee in writing, which is pretty rare. Leaving could be a gamble, but if you're not able to pay your bills, then you already have a losing hand. Leaving may be the only option.

i just need to accept that this job just isn’t the same as when I started here and it’s not going to go back to that.

Not anytime soon, it seems. I've been saying for a long time that they're lying to us about the economy. It's much, much worse than they're admitting, and almost everyone is feeling it. I would expect things to get worse as this year goes on, and the second half of this year will be worse than it is now. After that is anyone's guess at this point.

Sorry I’m way late to the party here. I don’t want to interrupt the thread now that it’s started taking a different direction but I do want to update you guys on how it’s been going.

Long story short, after my conversation with that dispatcher my day went a lot better that day and the next day I ran so hard I got back to my yard with only 4 minutes left on my clock. They kept me running the rest of the week. I also took matters into my own hands last week at one point (can’t remember if it was before or after I talked to my dispatcher) and sent a message to our dispatcher/planner for a different division I’ve hauled loads for here and there and he threw some loads at me too. I’m actually running for the other guy all this week since he needs help and my division is slow this week.

Brett, I don’t think I handled the conversation with that dispatcher quite as well as I would’ve liked but I didn’t threaten to quit and I think that helped my case a lot like you said. You’re absolutely right that lobbying for more work is a recurring thing—I’ve gotten so comfortable here I think I’ve started to forget that sometimes.

I also messed up with my timing because it turns out last week I got one of the biggest paychecks I’ve gotten here. So I wasn’t doing as bad as I thought by any means. Maybe not a good idea to compare myself to other drivers so much lol

Pianoman, something I was thinking about the other day is how corporations behave when they find it necessary to trim labor costs. Some companies put people on furlough or lay people off. Other companies look for individuals who are marginal to fire. One thing I remember from back in the early 2000s when trimming labor costs was a significant thing, it was people with seniority who often got let go first. The reason being is that a company sees raw positional numbers, rather than productivity. 10 employees in a given position are equal, in the eyes of executives, whether the productivity is equal or not. That said, the easiest way to save money on labor costs is to let the people go who are getting paid the most per unit of payment, whether that is by the hour, mile, month, etc. It's possible that your company is trying to help you decide to quit without having to lay you off because laying you off allows you to collect unemployment benefits. If you quit, you likely won't qualify for unemployment benefits. Corporate executives see you as another driver, no matter how productive you are compared to the newer drivers that you have trained. That said, replacing you with a driver who has less experience is seen as saving money on labor. It's a short-sighted and flawed view, but it's a view some companies choose to use in handling labor management.

Pianoman, something I was thinking about the other day is how corporations behave when they find it necessary to trim labor costs. Some companies put people on furlough or lay people off. Other companies look for individuals who are marginal to fire. One thing I remember from back in the early 2000s when trimming labor costs was a significant thing, it was people with seniority who often got let go first. The reason being is that a company sees raw positional numbers, rather than productivity. 10 employees in a given position are equal, in the eyes of executives, whether the productivity is equal or not. That said, the easiest way to save money on labor costs is to let the people go who are getting paid the most per unit of payment, whether that is by the hour, mile, month, etc. It's possible that your company is trying to help you decide to quit without having to lay you off because laying you off allows you to collect unemployment benefits. If you quit, you likely won't qualify for unemployment benefits. Corporate executives see you as another driver, no matter how productive you are compared to the newer drivers that you have trained. That said, replacing you with a driver who has less experience is seen as saving money on labor. It's a short-sighted and flawed view, but it's a view some companies choose to use in handling labor management.

Good point Ryan. In this situation it was just oversight on the part of the dispatchers. As soon as they realized I was unsatisfied with the amount of work I was getting they started keeping me busier. The day after I talked to that dispatcher , I talked to him again thanking him for keeping me moving better and I told him I understand they have to “spread the wealth.” His exact response was “well some people deserve it more than others.”

Also in my case, we all make the same amount per load. The drivers that are faster and more productive make more because they accomplish more. We can also make more by training new hires.

Sorry about the earlier derailment of the thread Pianoman.

Interestingly enough, I had a some discussion with my DM , she popped a 1979 mile load on me followed by a 1200 mile load. I told her after I come back from vacation I'm down to run anything, especially those. She said that most of the other drivers never complete the long loads, they T Call them so the planners are interested in drivers that will actually complete them on time.

Pianoman, something I was thinking about the other day is how corporations behave when they find it necessary to trim labor costs. Some companies put people on furlough or lay people off. Other companies look for individuals who are marginal to fire. One thing I remember from back in the early 2000s when trimming labor costs was a significant thing, it was people with seniority who often got let go first. The reason being is that a company sees raw positional numbers, rather than productivity. 10 employees in a given position are equal, in the eyes of executives, whether the productivity is equal or not. That said, the easiest way to save money on labor costs is to let the people go who are getting paid the most per unit of payment, whether that is by the hour, mile, month, etc. It's possible that your company is trying to help you decide to quit without having to lay you off because laying you off allows you to collect unemployment benefits. If you quit, you likely won't qualify for unemployment benefits. Corporate executives see you as another driver, no matter how productive you are compared to the newer drivers that you have trained. That said, replacing you with a driver who has less experience is seen as saving money on labor. It's a short-sighted and flawed view, but it's a view some companies choose to use in handling labor management.

Good point Ryan. In this situation it was just oversight on the part of the dispatchers. As soon as they realized I was unsatisfied with the amount of work I was getting they started keeping me busier. The day after I talked to that dispatcher , I talked to him again thanking him for keeping me moving better and I told him I understand they have to “spread the wealth.” His exact response was “well some people deserve it more than others.”

Also in my case, we all make the same amount per load. The drivers that are faster and more productive make more because they accomplish more. We can also make more by training new hires.

Really good to read that it was an "oops" thing rather than a "boot" thing. Hopefully they can keep you moving.