the Tobe looks at the bright side; isn't going to complain to the boss yet

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018921645

Oh my.

And I see it's "hearts" time on Skins's island; the Tobe's already got four of 'em.

Tobin S. (9,282 posts)     Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:28 AM

I'll start my third week in a row of 63 hour work weeks later today.
 
I work nights, too, usually 4pm to anywhere from 1:30am to 4am depending on the day. That means I get one day off, Sunday, and then I'm back to it. I don't really get to spend much quality time with my wife on my day off because I have to keep with the hours of my work schedule to ensure that I get enough rest. I'm a trucker and getting enough sleep is very important for my job.

I started the job last summer and it was supposed to be a 4 day 42 hour work week. It turned into 5 day work weeks right after I signed on. I happily took that on because I can use the extra cash and that's another $11,000 a year. Then they lost a driver last month leaving us short-handed. A couple of other drivers and I have had to pick up the slack. It's not usually hard to fill a position like that, but I guess they are taking their time to make sure they have someone good.

I'm not going to complain to the boss just yet, but they are going to have to get someone in there within the next month or so. I'm getting too old to work that hard for long. When I was younger, I put in those kinds of hours, or more, for years. I'm okay with 10-12 hours a day, but I do need two consecutive days off a week to feel good and have a little leisure time.

On the bright side, the money is good. 

<<<wonders why the Tobe isn't looking for a social services job, like he said he would.

Sherman A1 (19,026 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:34 AM

1. That's a whole lot of hours for anyone for that length of time
 
You definitely need to talk with the boss to get some help. The body just can't do that much, for that long. You will end up sick and they will end up short staffed again if they do not deal with the issue. 

Tobin S. (9,282 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:41 AM

2. 10-4, Sherman.
 
Those are the kinds of hours truckers routinely are asked to work. Legally, they can work us up to 70 hours in an 8 day period and be within the hours of service regulations (log books). In the old days, many truckers actually ran two log books so they could work even more. That was illegal of course. It still happens, but with most fleets being required to change to electronic logs that also monitor the truck's activity it is becoming a thing of the past.

But, yeah, I think you have to be at least a little crazy to be a trucker. The workload is draconian at times. 

Sherman A1 (19,026 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 05:14 AM

5. I understand about trucker hours
 
and all. Just retired as a Grocery Store Receiver last August. I spent more time with the drivers and vendor sales reps and merchandisers than I did with the store employees. Most of the guys I dealt with were local routes and got to know them pretty well over the years depending upon the routes they bid as those came up. I did get some over the road guys from time to time, but that was pretty rare. I was in that job for 20+ years and helped write the company policy manual for Receivers got to a point I could tell who was backing up just by listening to the truck back up warning sound and the engine noise, never had to look out the door to check. 

TexasTowelie (34,245 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:51 AM

3. I'm sorry that you are going through all of that,
 
but at least you are getting paid hourly.

I went through one stretch at my last job where every week I worked at least 70 hours for three months straight and topped out at 83 hours during one week. I arrived at the office at 6:15 a.m. and on several days didn't get home until 10:15 p.m. By the time that I ironed clothes for the next day, ate and unwound it was nearly 1 a.m. and I would have to wake up the next day at 5 a.m. to repeat the process.

In addition to working full days Monday through Saturday I also worked half days on Sunday. The worst part was that I was classified as FLSA exempt since I was in IT and an administrative employee so I did not receive any overtime pay. For that particular year I averaged 53 hours per week. I eventually cracked mentally from the strain and told my supervisor that I couldn't continue at that pace so she put a target on my back and I was terminated the following year after putting in 10 years with the company.

Tobin S. (9,282 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 05:03 AM

4. That's rough stuff, Tex.
 
I'm sort of paid hourly, but I don't get overtime pay. It's actually based on the mileage I run. I go 500 to 520 miles a night and they tell me it should take 10.25 to 10.75 hours with my stops and that's what they pay me for no matter how long it takes. They give me $19.65 an hour straight time for all hours worked. I don't know how they get away with that, but apparently it's legal.

Fortunately for me, it usually doesn't take much more time than what they pay me for after you factor in a break. The shippers are contracted to have to have me back on the road in less than an hour. If they take longer than that, I get paid for the time they detain me. 

Sherman A1 (19,026 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 05:20 AM

6. I too am sorry to hear about what they did to you
 
I got a target on my back last year, something to do with gray hair, top rate, 43 years in and 5 weeks vacation. They wanted a less expensive worker in my place to eventually move up into management. So I got the message that I had overstayed my welcome and retired and let them to get through the Christmas season with a lazy kid who did cost them less, but I could work circles around.

I was happy to give them exactly what they thought they wanted.

Tobin S. (9,282 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 05:39 AM

7. I think age discrimination is the hardest to prove.
 
I have a bachelor's degree, but I graduated when I was 42. Guess what? I'm still a trucker 2 years later, and it's not for lack of trying to find something else. I'm just going with the flow right now. You can be middle aged or older and still get a job in trucking. Drivers are almost always in demand. Society is telling me I have to stay being a trucker right now. It's not right, but it's reality. 

Sherman A1 (19,026 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 06:02 AM

8. I agree it is hard to make a case that will stick
 
But it really isn't hard to see in the workplace for anyone that looks at all as we both know. Trucking is a hard job and worthy of great respect. I'm happy that you are getting a decent pay package and have something. The degree may still come into play for you at some point and they can't take it away from you.

<<<am starting to have cordial feelings about the Sherman tank primitive.

democrank (7,249 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 06:25 AM

9. Hang in there.
 
Hope you get a couple days off real soon.

TexasProgresive (8,995 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 07:28 AM

10. I feel for you. I've worked both night shift and long hours
 
The begin to wear you down, especially as one gets a bit older. I'm retired now and don't miss the long hours and being on call. I feel for those I left behind, they are working longer hours, are on call at least 1 week per month and have little or no tech support.

Laffy Kat (4,195 posts)      Tue Feb 7, 2017, 03:26 PM

11. Feel you pain.
 
I've been working 50-hour, six-day work weeks for three weeks. This week I FINALLY have all but one day off. Whew. The $$$ is nice, no? I feel like I was just working and sleeping and missing out on almost everything else. 

And then Attila Marc the Hun shows up:

DFW (22,717 posts)      Wed Feb 8, 2017, 06:28 PM

12. I'd love to get my hours down to 63.
 
Probably not in the cards for me though. 

Well Marc, you're not seeing something here though.

All these other primitives have, or had, no control over their working times and working hours.

You, on the other hand, given your position, can freely decide how many hours you're going to work, and how much pressure you're going to bear.  I, franksolich, have no doubt you work a lot of hours under a great deal of pressure.....but it's all self-imposed. 

<<<has been in both sorts of situations. 

[I_B_Perky]

Well that explains why Tubbs is still employed.  I figured he would have gotten canned last month.  At any rate after he goes and complains to the boss they are going to hire his replacement with the next batch of new guys.

[I_B_Perky]

I had an after thought... to all those dummies getting great OT, save and invest every penny of it. Then when you get to 60-65 you will have a nice little nest egg to retire on.

I suspect most of us here wish we got OT pay... all we get is the extra hours and those will probably go up once Trump gets all the obumbles admin hurdles out of the way of businesses.

[thundley4]

Wasn't Tobin the DUmmie whose job it was just to move rigs around the yard?

[Ralph Wiggum]

This "story" doesn't hold water.  So many tall tales from the tubbster, it is hard to determine what is factual and what isn't.

[franksolich]

Wasn't Tobin the DUmmie whose job it was just to move rigs around the yard?

Yeah.

[BattleHymn]

Wasn't Tobin the DUmmie whose job it was just to move rigs around the yard?

He got shitcanned from that one. 

Now's he's driving back and forth between Ohio and Indiana, I think.

[BattleHymn]

Thu Jan 5, 2017, 01:26 PM
Star Member Tobin S. (9,282 posts)
13. I am in small town Indiana, however

I can commute to larger cities. I currently commute to Dayton, Ohio for work which is a pretty good sized town. Indianapolis and Cincinnati are also possibilities with the right opportunity.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018913724

[jukin]

If he is on the road, he is breaking the law and putting people on the road in real danger.

HOWEVER

Since this all a lie because DUmmys don't do work much less  physical work this is a lie.

[diesel driver]

Tobin is a pansy!

70-100 hours a week, 7 days a week, was considered LOAFING on a farm...

No OT, either!

[freedumb2003b]

He got shitcanned from that one. 

Now's he's driving back and forth between Ohio and Indiana, I think.

Was that the one where there was some sort of incident where he cussed out his boss or his boss' wife or something like that?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Was that the one where there was some sort of incident where he cussed out his boss or his boss' wife or something like that?

Sleeping on the job, IIRC.  And of course, the bosses' wife was a right winger.  Probably a thread here about that.

[Carl]

Tobe has his numbers off...still think he is in an adult retard facility and just makes up the story as he goes along.

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/new-hours-service-safety-regulations-reduce-truck-driver-fatigue-begin-today

[FiddyBeowulf]

TexasTowelie (34,245 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:51 AM

3. I'm sorry that you are going through all of that,
 
but at least you are getting paid hourly.

I went through one stretch at my last job where every week I worked at least 70 hours for three months straight and topped out at 83 hours during one week. I arrived at the office at 6:15 a.m. and on several days didn't get home until 10:15 p.m. By the time that I ironed clothes for the next day, ate and unwound it was nearly 1 a.m. and I would have to wake up the next day at 5 a.m. to repeat the process.

In addition to working full days Monday through Saturday I also worked half days on Sunday. The worst part was that I was classified as FLSA exempt since I was in IT and an administrative employee so I did not receive any overtime pay. For that particular year I averaged 53 hours per week. I eventually cracked mentally from the strain and told my supervisor that I couldn't continue at that pace so she put a target on my back and I was terminated the following year after putting in 10 years with the company.

The thought of quiting a job they did not like never entered its head and went crazy (or crazier) because of it. 

[FaC]

The thought of quiting a job they did not like never entered its head and went crazy (or crazier) because of it. 

In order to quit a job don't you have to have a job to quit in the first place?   

[SVPete]

TexasTowelie (34,245 posts)      Mon Feb 6, 2017, 04:51 AM

3. I'm sorry that you are going through all of that,
 
but at least you are getting paid hourly.

I went through one stretch at my last job where every week I worked at least 70 hours for three months straight and topped out at 83 hours during one week. I arrived at the office at 6:15 a.m. and on several days didn't get home until 10:15 p.m. By the time that I ironed clothes for the next day, ate and unwound it was nearly 1 a.m. and I would have to wake up the next day at 5 a.m. to repeat the process. ...

The thought of quiting a job they did not like never entered its head and went crazy (or crazier) because of it. 

  There's a very large computer equipment company here in Silicon Valley where 70-90 hours a week is pretty much the norm for engineers. It isn't Apple Computers, BTW. At the company I refer to, an "Excellent" rating on your annual review means your job is in trouble. I usually don't apply for jobs with that company during job searches. In 2002, when I was out of work for 9 months due to the DotBomb recession - desperation station - I sent my resume' to them. And I've taken a few jobs with long commutes (one was 75 miles round-trip in SF Bay Area traffic) and lousy facilities (one, in 2002, was like walking back into 1978, and they knew where to position benches and buckets to avoid damage and catch drips during a rainstorm). But, yeah. If TT wasn't in a desperation station survival job (s)he should have found another job and split (without burning bridges).

Back on topic, maybe Tobers should give a little thought to the way the Feds, and maybe IN, have made hiring new people difficult, expensive, and risky. Regs re drivers' licensing and safety records are common sense. The huge $$ burden of adding a new employee, the bureaucratic "I"-dotting and ethnic-head-counting, and the difficulty of firing some one who isn't working out (Or who isn't working! Or who is of one or more of the several "protected" classes! * ) is reprehensible. And if Tobers works in a union shop, that adds a whole 'nother set of layers that discourage hiring a new driver. Not that Tobers would acknowledge - let alone care about - his employer's need to operate at a profit.

* Some one I know had a coworker who in a 6-9 month period may have had a less than 50% attendance record. But the person was not canned, because the person was "disabled", and is a homosexual (I won't say whether anatomically male or female). Finally the person was placed on unpaid indefinite administrative leave. A person not of a PC-Protected class would have been canned after a month of that kind of @#$%!

[franksolich]

* Some one I know had a coworker who in a 6-9 month period may have had a less than 50% attendance record. But the person was not canned, because the person was "disabled", and is a homosexual (I won't say whether anatomically male or female). Finally the person was placed on unpaid indefinite administrative leave. A person not of a PC-Protected class would have been canned after a month of that kind of @#$%!

I don't have to worry about it any more, having hung up my hat and shaken off my boots, but yeah, that was pretty much the story of my working life since passage of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) in 1993.

It used to be that the "handicapped" were considered just like everybody else, nothing special about us, and if one was qualified to do a job, he usually got hired for it. 

That was my working life, when I first started out, and remained that way until ADA.

But now having become a "protected class," we're seen as liabilities by potential employers, like the guy you described. 

And the way they get around it is by simply not hiring the "handicapped" at all.