Current Grievance

Current greivance is over a month old. The same grievances below have been requested by other members and have taken months to process. Because of the amount of time and work it takes to get paid, many members just take the loss and not to pursue their pay in fear of retaliation and/or harrassment.

On July 1^st 2006, a grievance was forwarded to the IAM union notifying them of the improper distribution of new Volvo trucks in Jacksonville. These trucks were not given out to drivers based on seniority, but rather a biased approach.

The new trucks were given to drivers with less seniority as well as to non union driver(s). In the meantime, those with seniority have taken a huge financial loss because of all the breakdowns. See below.

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Breakdown(s) – February 1st – 28th (UNPAID)

• Feb 1, 2007 – Was instructed to come in to work to drive my truck to Westside Diesel to repair the turbo line.
• Feb 2, 2007 – Was instructed to come back to work to pick the truck back up from Westside Diesel.
• Feb 6, 2007 – Changed two flat tires in Marianna, Fl.
• Feb 13, 2007 – On route to Miami/Tampa I had experienced faulty electrical problem(s) with the truck, as well as, the fan stopping causing the truck to overheat. I had called John at a rest area. He instructed me to continue to Jacksonville even though the engine light was on and the truck was overheating. Requested: 100 Miles Reroute from Tampa to Jacksonville.
• Feb 14, 2007 – I was instructed to bring the spare truck to Westside Diesel to be repaired.
• Feb 15, 2007 – Delivery of truck was postponed this morning due to the exhaust manifold being rusted out on the spare truck. The exhaust was loud and the fumes were entering the cab causing me to become lightheaded. John told me to wait around the terminal for 4 hours while he ordered a new exhaust manifold and installed it.
• Feb 20, 2007 – Delivery of trucks postponed again due to the gas filter being plugged up. The truck was stalling on route to Miami in traffic which had forced me to stop and get the truck serviced. Apparently the truck had not been serviced for quite awhile. Due to this problem, my delivery to Miami was delayed causing me to lose 200 miles (to Tampa) for the day.
• Feb 27, 2007 – On my trip to Apopka/Pompano Beach on Feb 26^th, fumes had been entering the cab of the truck due to another exhaust manifold leak. I had called John and told him about it that afternoon and that I would be bringing the truck back to the terminal to be repaired.
• Feb 28, 2007 – This afternoon I was instructed that the truck was ready and that I need to come into work and get it from ABS.

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March 3, 2007 (542-703-0075) (UNPAID)

ABS alignment told me to retighten axle bolts within 10 days. On a trip, I stopped to have them retightened as instructed. I was told to drop my trailer and wait until repairs were completed. Payroll refused to pay the two hours because the repairs were not logged. Regardless, this was not a breakdown and both the dates and times are on the receipts.

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March 8, 2007 (542-703-0042) (UNPAID)

1. Charlotte, NC – Delivered to a location that was not suitable for commercial trucks due to multiple railroad crossings. A former driver (in Baltimore) was fired at this same location, after his truck was hit by an oncoming train. After leaving the same delivery location, I had come to a different set of tracks and had to wait to be escorted and rerouted by the local police.

1. Colfax, NC – Dealer refused to sign for trucks due to a meeting that was being held by the managers. After waiting around for two hours, the dealer finally came out to tell me that I need to shuttle the five trucks to a different location. Out of five “logged hours” only three were requested.

*Gary was called and notified of both of these delays. Payroll had refused to pay either one of them even though they were logged.

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March 13, 2007 (542-703-0253) (UNPAID)
Called to authorize two out of route trips, due to hauling two separate oversize trucks that were not legal for secondary roads. Gary authorized both trips. Payroll only paid for one.

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April 4, 2006 (542-703-0185) (UNPAID)
I had a PM Service performed on the truck, as well as replaced two flat tires on the trailer. Both of these requests were done at two separate locations due to Speed Co. not having a Bridgestone account, as required by ATT. After turning in the receipts, with both dates and times, payroll had refused to pay either one of them.

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April 23, 2007 (542-704-0042)
Payroll knows that we are lowboy drivers and that we do not fly. They ended up shorting me 996 miles from TX to Fl on 4/23. Gary advised me that he and payroll had both talked about it previously, but never had done anything about it. PAID a month and a half late on 6/4

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May 16 – 25, 2007 (542-705-0061) (UNPAID)
The items below were handed in with logs. Today is June 24, 2007, almost a month later and they still not have been paid.

• May 16^th - Breakdown, Drug test, PM Service, etc.
• May 17^th – Picked up truck from shop and brakes were still locked up.
• May 18^th – Brakes still are locking up. Was instructed to drive to tire shop to replace tire.
• May 19^th – Came to work, truck in shop and do not have a spare to drive.
• May 21^st – Came to work, truck in shop and do not have a spare to drive.
• May 22^nd – Instructed to bring truck to shop and pickup spare. Spare had exhaust leak.
• May 23^rd – Came to work, truck and spare truck are both in shop.
• May 24^th – 542-705-0095 – Can not deliver trucks due to dealer being closed over weekend.
• May 25^th – 542-705-0095 – Can not deliver trucks due to dealer being closed over weekend.

Gary had failed to authorize the above request prior to submitting it to payroll, resulting in only 26.5 out of the requested 64 hours. Recieved this partial pay via overnight mail from UPS on Monday July 2nd … over one month later.

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Trip Number 542-705-0095 (UNPAID)
On this trip, the brakes started smoking and/or overheating in Tennessee due to a damaged brake caliper. I was later instructed to bring the truck to a shop in Dickson, TN for further repairs where I was told to undeck and wait in line for repairs. Requested breakdown on June 4^th.

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California Speed Trap (UNPAID)
I was found guilty of passing a slow moving vehicle while coming into a speed zone, at 55mph on a 6 lane highway. I do not see this as being unsafe and/or reckless driving, but rather speed trap revenue for the state of California. Therefore, I request that this be paid as a company related expense as other terminals do for their drivers. If refused, I will bring up a discrimination grievance, due to other drivers’ tickets being paid.

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June 4 – 18th Breakdown Pay: (UNPAID)
On May 22^nd, I was instructed to bring my truck to Tommy Allen’s for further repairs. Tommy had given Gary a quote to fix these repairs more then three weeks ago.

On Monday June 4th, I was told that the truck would be ready on Wednesday. I had called Tommy Thursday morning to ask if he had completed the repairs. He told me that neither Gary or John had even authorized the work to begin. As it stands, both my truck and the spare truck(s) are broke down causing me to be out of work for three consecutive weeks.

Update: After posting this grievance Gary gave Tommy the go ahead to repair the truck. The truck was repaired on Monday and was brought back to the terminal by another driver. Truck was ready for a tuesday dispatch.

Note: It took one day to repair the truck, yet almost one month to approve the repairs!