Comments By Banks

At some point I'd like to see you offer an idea instead of just shooting down hope. I get it, there's a history of corruption in unions.

I'm not though. In simply asked what can the union do to stop the board and the CEOs from lining their pockets? From buybacks that artificially increase stock price and make them even more money?

Like I explained earlier

Any corporation that adds more expenses will just raise prices to offset it. Fuel goes up, prices go up. Tolls go up, prices go up. Interest on loans go up, prices go up. They'll never eat the cost, so when does the bubble stop being inflated?

If asking that question makes me "hopeless", than we have different definitions of the word. I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me when the bubble stops getting inflated.

At some point I'd like to see you offer an idea instead of just shooting down hope. I get it, there's a history of corruption in unions.

I'd also like to see an idea instead of relying on one corrupt organization to correct another corrupt organization. That never works out.

Ok, then what do you propose we do?

I have no problem with the way things are. Maybe it's because it's all I know, but I made good financial decisions early and I'm comfortable. I don't sit around moping because Raj Subramaniam makes millions and I make 34/hr. To me, that's a miserable existence and pocket watching was always frowned upon when I was growing up.

But I do know unions no longer offer any real value to employees and they certainly don't do anything to close the gap between CEOs and employees. People work for what they're willing to work for. If I felt underpaid, I'd find another job or learn another trade. I can't fault a business owner for paying minimum wage if they're able to get employees at that pay rate. McDonald's doesn't pay 15/hr because they're kind. They pay it because that's the lowest number they can pay and still have a work force, but the caveat is the price of a big Mac today versus 10 years ago.

Businesses don't eat these costs, consumers do.

I'm not even really complaining or griping. I'm just pointing out some of the inequities the working class face in our current workforce environment. It can't be changed by an individual. It takes representation by a collective multitude.

Those inequities will always exist. Unions can't change it. Yellow went under and their execs got bonuses on the way out. I'm sure they still hold a bunch of stock that will also pay them well once all their assets are liquidated and if they're successful in their lawsuit against the teamsters.

My question continues to be what do you expect a union to do regarding the inequities that exist? The answer from corporate is always a price increase or a reduction in quantity for the same price.

What is the end goal?

Interesting. So, on his watch, in 2023, Brendan Whitworth allowed a marketing campaign that destroyed the company's brand and cost the company 3 BILLION DOLLARS in earnings and that number grows by the day because sales have not returned yet.

And that's my point. Greed and the need to make more will never go away. The unions can't do anything about that. The board decides CEO pay and they're all buddies that care about the same thing.... Lining their pockets.

Any corporation that adds more expenses will just raise prices to offset it. Fuel goes up, prices go up. Tolls go up, prices go up. Interest on loans go up, prices go up. They'll never eat the cost, so when does the bubble stop being inflated?

That's what has happened to American workers over the years. You guys just don't get what's being done to you, even when I give you one outrageous example after another.

There are a lot of union companies that don't pay well. Airport employees start at 10/hr in most places and I got a message on indeed offering my 17/hr to drive for a union outfit.

You point to the extreme success of athletes and UPS employees, while ignoring all the failures. There's a reason Amazon voted them out and XPO voted them out... They did nothing for them, but we're talking money every week

Unions had a place once in history, but they've become a corporation that's only interested in their benefit like all the ones they claim to be taking on to benefit common employees.

A common response I hear when talking about this is "Well, look what they did to YRC!"

But I think I heard that YRC was already on shaky ground.

Then you weren't paying attention to what was happening.

Yellow over leveraged themselves buying companies to expand their network. They were waiting for the current contract to expire, instead of opening it up to amendments, but when the economy started to tank and interest rates went up they couldn't wait and had to open the contract.

They needed to change work duties, set some seniority rules with dove tailing and following the work.

The teamsters said they'd be willing to open the contract, but wanted to discuss pay as well. Yellow said they couldn't afford to change pay rates, but would revisit it when the contract expired. They were running out of money and needed to integrate these companies fast. Union said no.

By the end of July, O'Brien was telling everybody that yellow was going under. Doesn't help with customer when they don't want their property behind locked gates.

Then yellow said we don't have the money for central pensions and benefits. O'Brien said pay or we strike. Yellow stopped picking up freight and cleared all their freight lanes by Friday evening anticipating a walk out. On Sunday night O'Brien says no strike central will give you extension. Damage already done.

My gut tells me O'Brien knew about the extension before announcing it and yellow could've kept moving freight, but once you stop and customers don't trust you... There's no coming back from that. O'Brien wanted to teach Hawkins who the bigger man was 30k people lost their jobs as a result.

The worst part is, if you talk to those former yellow employees the union isn't there to help them. No job leads or information on what's next. They are discarded like they didn't matter from the company and abandoned by the people they paid to protect their interest.

What keeps me away from UPS is I had a former driver for them tell me the only way to really drive for them is to start at the bottom,

Seniority rules come with the union. It's how it all works.

It's definitely the worst I've ever seen in my 5 years at FedEx. I see no light at the end of this tunnel.

I sat out the last 2 weeks and I haven't worked this week. They're offering dock work and I'm probably going to have to take them up on that.

Buildings being union vary by location. Some are, some aren't.

Pepsi has decent benefits. Coca Cola may just be a distributor and you may not be working directly for Coca cola. For example, in Pennsylvania Abarta Coca cola Distributors has the rights to sell coke products here and in some Ohio territories.

I don't know anything about Dr pepper as they have no distribution points in my area. Dr pepper is distributed by pepsico or abarta coca cola and they don't overlap.

FedEx is running April 8 runs on April 6 so they don't have to send anybody out that day. The concern is a bunch of drivers running out of hours due to traffic.

Your story is super inspiring. From ripping off axels to a million safe miles. I've enjoyed following along and I'm looking forward to the stories the next million brings. Congratulations on the major feat.

It shouldn't be an issue in Florida because you're under 26,001 pounds and it's recreational use.

The cheapest easy option might be to trade your trailer for one with a lower GVWR, if they're giving you that much of a hard time over it.