‘I found a way to get paid 50% while doing nothing': New boss revokes trucker's ‘home daily’ rights, demands employees confirm trucking loads, cue malicious compliance

Advertisement
  • 01
    Font - r/r/MaliciousCompliance Posted by u/atzerem 2 18 hours ago Confirm work or I "don't get to do it"? Cool, then I "don't get to do it" L OC My fiance (27m) and I work for the same company - and this actually happened to him a few days ago, but thought someone might get a kick out of it.
  • 02
    Font - We work for a trucking company that has dedicated contracted work. I found the job posting, showed it to him, and we both decided to apply for it. The job posting was listed as "home daily." When we did the joke of a phone interview, we were told "home daily." When we finished our initial training and spoke to the account manager, we were told "home daily."
  • 03
    Font - That was all nearly four years ago. Flash forward three years (roughly a year ago), and things start falling apart. The company we work for is rather large, and the account manager has very little sway over the contracts that the company negotiates with the client - it's done by a regional manager. So during the yearly contract update in 2022, the client makes more demands and offers less pay - the district manager just wants to keep the client as a customer and
  • 04
    Font - agrees blindly without thorough consideration. The biggest change that matters for the story is there were new stores added to the contract to be covered by the account and 2 out of 4 of the new stores are NOT home daily.
  • 05
    Font - There were many other changes that happened, that's just the one that most directly affects the next series of events. Due to some other changes that drastically messed up the life of the office workers for the account, the account manager (who had been working for the company for 10+ years), quits without warning. We get a new account manager, "Sarah." A few months later, one of the two supervisors (who
  • 06
    Font - had been with the company for 10+ years) quits without warning. We get a new supervisor - more on him in a tic. Two months after that, the second supervisor (who had been with the company for 10+ years) quits without warning. (See a pattern here?) So now, the account is left with an account manager and a supervisor who both have less than a year's experience, flailing to figure everything out.
  • 07
    Font - Back to the bit about "home daily" - about six months ago, my fiance started getting the loads that were not "home daily." It took him a day and a half to complete one of the new stores. Day 1 he would go up to the store, day 2 he would come back and do a super short run to conclude his shift before coming home. The first time he got the new store, he called the supervisor to ask about it.
  • 08
    Font - The supervisor was confused what needed clarification. My fiance: "Will I be getting home? It's a lot of miles for a single day's run..." Supervisor: "No, you'll be sleeping roughly at [truck stop about 4 hours away from home]." My fiance: "I thought I was home daily?" Supervisor: "Who said that?"
  • 09
    Font - My fiance: "The job was posted as home daily, I was told home daily during the interview, and I was told home daily by the previous account manager at training..." Supervisor: "Well, I don't know anything about that. I wasn't here for any of that. What I do know is that Sarah looked at everyone's contracts, and nobody has 'home daily' in the contract, so everyone is expected to take equal share of the new stores to make it fair."
  • 10
    Font - My fiance: "Okay, but I know there are some guys who were hired 'home weekends' because they sleep at the operating center in their trucks, and go home for four days every so often." Supervisor: "Yeah, we have some guys who live out of state." My fiance: "So why aren't they doing the new stores since they don't need to go home every night?"
  • 11
    Font - Supervisor: "As I said, everyone is expected to take equal share to make it fair - and nobody's contracts state 'home daily' or 'weekend hometime' or whatever. That was never part of the deal." My fiance: "I have a family. I took this job thinking I'd have time with them. I wouldn't have taken the job if I knew it 'wasn't in my contract' that I'd be home daily."
  • 12
    Font - Supervisor: "Well, you're free to get another job if you like, but without 10 day notice you'll be blacklisted and ineligible for rehire - so are you quitting or not?" My fiance angrily did the load thinking it was going to be a once-every-now-and- then-thing. Turns out, they sent him twice a week, bare minimum. On top of that, most of the miles for the load are back roads up and down windy mountainous roads posted at 35mph.
  • 13
    Font - We are paid by the miles. He drives an additional 4 hrs for this new store for 0 extra pay because the store is in the middle of no where with no major highways. He takes a major pay loss on top of the inconvenience of not being able to come home, sleep in his own bed, and be with his family.
  • 14
    Font - Then, about three months ago, the supervisor messages both my fiance and I to say that going forward, we will be expected to confirm all loads/work, or we won't get loads. We receive our work/loads 12-24 hours in advance, so we do have some time to confirm them - but it was never a concern before and we already had a lot of duties to fulfill that it wasn't a priority each day to make sure we typed a message "confirm store 1124" at the end of our shifts each day.
  • 15
    Font - The supervisor called us both out on it and said that this was an important part of the workflow process. I asked him why it was suddenly so important. He insisted it was always important. I told him that I had never had to confirm loads each day, and I have never failed to show up for work - and on the super odd occassion where I am unable to do a load, it's because of something like a flat tire/truck breakdown that I'm waiting for repairs, and I was always sure to contact the office and
  • 16
    Font - The boss insists once more it is and please just do it. At that point, I gave up the argument. Maybe 60% of the time I remembered to confirm loads. My fiance, even less. Both my fiance and I receive angry messages on our work tablets stating that going forward, if we do not confirm a load, it will be assumed that we are not able to work the load and it will be pulled from us and we will be placed on standby (paid at 50% average day's load pay if we aren't called in).
  • 17
    Font - Well, over winter, most of the loads for this new store cancelled because of it getting drowned in snow. Now, my fiance is getting loads for it again. He got a notification that he was supposed to go to this new store on Sunday. Guess who "forgot" to confirm his load on Saturday. Sunday, he wakes up - no load and an angry message from the supervisor: "Because of your failure to confirm your load, it has been taken off of you and given to someone else who actually wants the work. You're on
  • 18
    Font - Fiance rejoices. Tuesday - he's once more given the new store and "forgets" to confirm his load and wakes up to no load and an angry message that says basically the same and concludes with "Call me." So my fiance calls the supervisor and the supervisor wants to know "why it's so hard" to confirm loads. My fiance just kinda dismisses it with a shrug and ends the call.
  • 19
    Font - We found out Friday after talking to some other drivers that all previously "home daily" drivers are now doing the same thing - get a store they don't like (mostly these two new stores)? Just don't confirm. If we have to confirm to get to do the store, we just won't confirm. edit tl;dr: boss wants us to confirm loads or we don't work and get put on standby, fiance gets a store that he feels is in violation of his promise of "home daily" and 'forgets' to confirm it so he gets paid 50% stan
  • 20
    Font - Cybermals +3 - 17 hr. ago Your fiancé & those other "home daily" drivers are geniuses. Let's see that supervisor get off their de das & come out to do those loads. Onk Vote Reply Share Academic_Nectarine94 +3 16 hr. ago Yeah, right. Management never does anything, and they would never stoop to actually going out of their way.
  • 21
    Font - RandomBoomer +2 17 hr. ago Have you actually looked at the contracts that supposedly don't say "home daily"? Cause I'm not so sure I believe them. Vote Reply Share
  • 22
    Font - atzerem OP 16 hr. ago Our "contracts" at hire were extremely short from what I remember. It was about a page and listed mostly job responsibilities. Can't remember for sure if it listed specifications on "home daily." We weren't offered a copy, but could request one if needed. I didn't think much of it (first trucking job, didn't think the boss would try to mess around with my schedule so much). Now, I wish I had requested a copy - because about two weeks ago, I got my HAZMAT (trying to g
  • 23
    Font - background check for the HAZMAT. The lady at the DOT office recognized my company and shook her head, saying "I worked for them for 7 years before hanging up my keys..." I mentioned about the contract issue, and she said "Yup, they'll change your contract w'**_ lly without telling you to 'suit business needs.' When I started, they offered all drivers a physical copy of the contract, but my husband who still works there said his new co-workers sign a digital copy and then have to request a
  • 24
    Font - It made me curious enough to ask for a copy. Guess what email they can "only" email it to? Vote Reply Share MilkshakeBoy78 +1 - 16 hr. ago you never bothered to get access to your work email? and always get a copy of a contract, doesn't matter what the contract is for... Reply Share Vote
  • 25
    Font - atzerem OP. 16 hr. ago i never said i "never bothered", i said drivers don't have access to it. tbh i didn't even know we had a work email until this whole sh: storm came up and i asked about the contract, only to be told that it would be sent 'to my work email.' i thought that meant the email that i used to apply for the job. turns out, the
  • 26
    Font - company uses the driver number (employee number) to make an email in the company's server. truckers use ELDS (electronic logging devices) per federal regulations. we need a way to communicate with the office without using phones since there are a lot of strict regulations in some states with phone use in trucks (a co-
  • 27
    Font - worker recieved a fine in the state of NY for using his phone to call his wife while off duty/not working, but sitting in the driver seat, because of 'intent to drive,' ie he had keys on him). the messaging app on our ELDS (basically a tablet) functions like texting, but is in fact an email system. so yes, they can attach a pdf and send the contract, but it will not load
  • 28
    Font - properly in the messaging app, and whenever we call to ask how to download the pdf we can't click on in the messaging app on the tablet, we are told to contact support. i called support. they went through a process and put a ticket out on it. eventually, they contacted me again and told me that if i go through a verification process, that i can go use a computer in an
  • 29
    Font - operating center to log on to my work email. i tried to do this verification process. aaaand i have to do the verification process FROM MY WORK EMAIL. so now there's a ticket to on that and i'm waiting further instruction. it's a system where you chase your tail forever and a day to get to the end, with my employer meanwhile hoping
  • 30
    Font - that you give up because of how many hoops it takes. i'm still slowly slogging through getting this contract (almost two weeks later) and i'm no closer than i was before i even started. and yeah, i mean, i think the whole point here is i learned the value of getting an actual contract. Vote Reply Share

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article