'As a joke I put in... two extra zeros': Trucker gets paid $1500 an hour to unload his own trailer

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 23, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

This person managed to make a true American dream come true: making four figures per hour. 

Making $1500 per hour is something that most people dream about, but never achieve. Just think of what you could do with that kind of money. First, you could buy and eat probably like ten burritos. Then, you could buy a new game console. Then, you take all your friends to the movies and to laser tag. Then, once your first day of fun is over, you start saving up for down payments on houses or cars. Life could be so simple and perfect if you made five figures per day. 

This guy got to experience every worker's dream. They share that their secret to success was seeing their $15/hour wage, and just popping two zeros onto the end. That way, when they had to do the part of the job they didn't like (unloading boxes), the on-site manager would realize what a ridiculous fee it would be, and wouldn't ask them to do that. Going from $15 per hour to $1500 per hour is just so righteous. Even if only for an afternoon, this person got to save for vacation and savor every second of work (because they'd be making 41 cents per second, or $25 per minute. Yes!!! Yes!!!). 

Next up, these college students were left in the cold all winter long, so they finally decided to sue their landlord. 

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  • 01
    'He was completely understaffed... I'd have to do it myself IMPROVING MALL
    via Ismael Paramo on Unsplash
  • 02
    Want me to unload my own trailer? Ok, I needed a vacation anyway.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 03
    So I was a trucker for a while, and that comes with plenty of stories of crazy things in so many places. One of my favorite stories, however, comes from a piece of malicious compliance that came together just perfectly.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 04
    The setup: I tend to be a bit on the lazy side when I can get away with it, and I searched for quite some time to find a company that would keep me far away from unloading the trailers myself. I found a good one that had a 95% drop and hook rate (Drop off a trailer full of goods, then grab a new one. that's either loaded or to take to the next pickup). 4.9% of them
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 05
    are either handled by the receiving dock or by lumpers (dockworkers hired by warehouse companies specifically to unload trucks). That .1% is a list of places that just want to watch you work, or be convinced that you really shouldn't operate their lifts.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 06
    In my contract, I saw that there was a place where your hourly rate for unloading was stated. Not for the hours that you were sitting and waiting to be unloaded but for when you were the one unloading your own. trailer. I also saw that the contract allowed for alterations to be made to the price of this service to be charged to the
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 07
    customer. As a joke I put in not one, but two extra zeroes. $1500 an hour for unloading a trailer? Should deter most people. Most people saw that, got a good laugh, then pulled in someone to unload for me.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 08
    The event: Most people, like I said, were smart. This run was set to arrive at 0300 to a certain clothing store in the mall, let's call 'em I.B. Nickeled. I'd been to this store a few times before and it was always the same manager, Mr. Dime, receiving me, and it was always the same runaround. If I
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 09
    wanted to get unloaded I had to wait for someone to get there, then I'd have to sit and wait while the poor kid back there got the load off, then I'd have to wait for traffic to ease up to get out since it was always almost 1030 by the time I finally left, leaving me with only a couple of hours left on my clock to get to a truck stop for the day.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 10
    I got there and, yep, Mr. Dime had come in to accept the load. It was always hard to be smart at 0300, and I can only imagine that was part of Mr. Dime's usual runaround. This time was a bit different for a few reasons. One, he smelled like there was a bit of an herbal calming remedy about him to settle his nerves for the night. Two, he said that he was
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 11
    completely understaffed and there was no one around to unload me, so I'd have to do it myself. Three, I couldn't stay to my usual time because he had to leave before 0500. To be fair to him, I did try and say, "sure, but my contract says- ||
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 12
    "I don't give a what your contract states! I don't have anyone in until the store opens, and I've got an appointment that's more important than some trucker's contract! Just unload it yourself!"
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 13
    I considered it for a moment and went back up to my truck to get my tablet (This was in 2019 before the virus and the company had just swapped over to tablets for certain things, like signing off on expenses or getting permissions.) Mr. Dime was fuming when I came back and handed him the tablet. "Just read through and sign with your finger."
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 14
    He didn't read through. I had twenty pallets at one and a half thousand pounds each. The only available tool to unload was a manual pallet jack. I started my work clock and began unloading at 0315. At 0500 Mr. Dime looks on in satisfaction to see me about three quarters of the way through as he's out the door. At 0515, Mr.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 15
    Dime's replacement, Mr. Quarter of the day shift, comes running in with his face white as a sheet to see me taking off the fourth to last pallet. "Please tell me that I'm reading this wrong," he pled fruitlessly.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 16
    "I wish I could," I lied, knowing that Mr. Dime was about to be up a muddy creek with a spoon. "I even tried telling Mr. Dime what he was getting into, but he just skimmed and signed." He slumped. "Wait here. I need to call my district manager."
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 17
    "Better be quick. I want to be out of this lot by 0630 to beat the morning rush and get a good breakfast." He ran back and I continued unloading. When I finally got the last pallet off at 0550, I turned off my time clock as the district manager came in, We'll call him Mr. Dollar just to keep consistent,
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 18
    followed both by Mr. Quarter who was looking somewhat relieved and by Mr. Dime who was somewhere between terrified and furious. "You're Mr. Aero?" Mr. Dollar asked, holding a printout and looking to it for the name.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 19
    "That's me," I agreed. "I take it they sent over the contract Mr. Dime signed?" "Yes, and that's just it. Mr. Dime is accusing you of forging his signature on this since there's no way he'd sign off on a multi- thousand dollar contract just to unload a trailer. Especially since he claims you insisted on unloading it yourself."
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 20
    I whistled. "That's a heck of an accusation. Hey, is that CCTV I see up in that corner over there?" I asked, knowing full well that the entire loading dock was covered by a slew of cameras. The one I pointed out was positioned just right to catch the whole conversation at the door.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 21
    "Mr. Quarter, get the footage," Mr. Dollar said. "We don't have audio but we do have visual on them." Mr. Dime lost his fury and now just looked petrified.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 22
    The Fallout: One review later and I was grinning like a loon back to my truck. I called my manager, booked some home time, and walked away with enough money to last to the end of the month.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 23
    The next time I went into that IB Nickeled there was a new, much more sensible manager who always had a man on staff to unload the trucks. Edits: Some typos. And to clarify a few things: 1: Yes, I milked it a bit, though not as much as some people might think. Like I said, I was regularly there from 0300 to 1030 at the latest. Throw on top of that the fact that I've never been the
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 24
    healthiest of individuals and it took me that long to keep from hurting myself. This was during the summer in SoCal, and even at night it was still ~90f outside, hotter in the trailer without any air conditioning. A fat man with no AC is going to take all the time he wants.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 25
    2: Why didn't Mr. Dime do any of this himself and why did he lie? Truckers tend to get the short end of the stick, even when we're regulars to a place. This was the fifth or sixth time I'd been there spread out over the course of four months or so, so I was familiar enough that I was recognized at the dock but not so much that they really cared to keep track of it. The manager figured he could probably get away with shafting me since he
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 26
    claimed I didn't like how long I was waiting. I feel like he's made other truckers get to that point but none of them had hourly rates like mine on their contract. He's just one of many that thought he could get away with blaming it on 'that trucker' when it went wrong for him.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 27
    3: What happened while we watched the video was pretty anticlimactic. The recording was on Mr. Quarter's phone when he came back and was pretty low quality, but you could still make out that I argued with him about unloading for a minute before coming back and he did indeed sign it. Mr. Dollar said, "You can go, Aero. Mr. Dime, go wait in the office. Now." I got going while the going was good.
    via u/Aero-the-Observer
  • 28
    CptGetchagearoff If you something up, it can be fixed (most times) and can be used as a learning experience... You lie about up? Well now that's a whole new issue in itself. Forget whatever it was that was messed up.
    via u/CptGetchagearoff
  • 29
    Had a technician at my current job essentially cause $8k in direct costs and costed the customer upwards of $70k. He was brought to a meeting with managers etc, the problem was found and a procedure made for it.
    via u/CptGetchagearoff
  • 30
    Had another guy lie about having done an oil change and brakes during a general service, and he was let go. It like parents always say, tell me and I'll be upset. Lie to me and I'll be angry
    via u/CptGetchagearoff
  • 31
    GlassHalfSmashed And this, kids, is why you don't double down on your error when you make a mistake. Genuine mistakes can be explained away with maybe a warning.
    via u/GlassHalfSmashed
  • 32
    Outright lying on top of the mistake easily escalates it to gross neglegence and is easily a friable offense. Good MC with extra petrol needlessly poured on top!
    via u/GlassHalfSmashed

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getting fired boss fired manager boxes malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit mistakes truck mistake malicious compliance reddit trucks
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