Letting a city driver work Monday through Tuesday or Wednesday in his/her normal role as a city driver, then notifying him/her at 6 am while getting ready to go to work, that they now have to stay home and try to sleep all day in order to run an open shuttle run that night. Huge safety issue. I understand that city drivers have to fill road runs when needed, but this just can't be right. I have been done like this several times now. To be clear, this is not for lack of city freight and doing the city driver a favor.
FedEx Freight | City Driver covering Shuttle runs
- Thread starter Salty
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I'm not understanding the safety issue. If said driver has the hours available what's the problem?
The problem is where he slept all night, then expected to sleep all day to cover a night run. Just because he’s off work doesn’t mean he’s getting sleep. Take a fatigue drop. If they try to discipline you call the DOT.
Thanks for clarifying the safety issue with it. Here's the kicker.. The shuttle run I was supposed to cover got cancelled. (good thing because I didn't get any sleep) Now I missed a day of work for no reason. Plus, the city side was under manned today and didn't get all the pickups.
If said company tries to force you to run, when you claim fatigue, it is a violation of FMCR. DOT definitely can do something.
Where a company is all about safety you should have at least a 24 hour notice. Listen, I have been with the company since 2004. Been city and road. I know how the game works. There are alternatives to getting the shuttle run made. Don't talk to me like I am some rookie that hasn't done or seen it.
Yes they can. Can’t force you to drive tired.
One question: Do you have a bid start time? The rules, as I understand them, state that they can move a bid up to 2 hours forward or back. If you are unassigned/extra, then you have to be a bit more flexible. Not to the extreme, but flexible. I seem to recall 2 hour notice during a specific window. I honestly don't know the details for that case, but since you say this begins on Monday, every effort should be mode to notify you of such a work schedule change, well in advance. If this is happening again and again, safety, H/R, etc should be brought in.
If this causes you a fatigue problem, you can NOT be dispatched per FMCSA. Don't use this provision often. Repeated use could be used against you. BUT, any reasonable person would agree, the Company shouldn't let it happen often.
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For the record:
§392.3 Ill or fatigued operator.
"No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver's ability or alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness, or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle. However, in a case of grave emergency where the hazard to occupants of the commercial motor vehicle or other users of the highway would be increased by compliance with this section, the driver may continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle to the nearest place at which that hazard is removed."
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&=PART&n=pt49.5.392#se49.5.392_13
§392.3 Ill or fatigued operator.
"No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver's ability or alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness, or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle. However, in a case of grave emergency where the hazard to occupants of the commercial motor vehicle or other users of the highway would be increased by compliance with this section, the driver may continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle to the nearest place at which that hazard is removed."
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&=PART&n=pt49.5.392#se49.5.392_13
Crazy Trucker
Busting Clowns daily!!!!
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Simple fix to this problem. Do not answer your phone if your not on call and you have a bid start time in city, show up like normal and act like you never got the call. I had a supervisor who used to wake me up at least 1 or 2 times a week wanting to know if i could come in early, i did it for a while till i got tired of getting woke up early, went in and talked to scm haven't been called since.
truckingBORED
Careering down the road to AUTONOMY!
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Please stop this nonsense! OTR guys are laughing themselves to sleep as they read this. Are we really all this soft now? "I'm too tired to stay up and work at night." After being given a 24 hour notice? SMH.
He didn’t have a 24 hour notice. That’s the point. He got up to work morning shift and got called to work night shift. Read.
We've had that happen in our yard. Red shirts called a city driver in the morning telling him he needs to be in the evening to cover. Driver didn't feel comfortable, expressed his concern that he wouldn't have enough rest. They pressured him to do it. During the (night) shift, he had an incident in a yard.
Anything less than 24hr notice is bs and a safety issue.
Anything less than 24hr notice is bs and a safety issue.
truckingBORED
Careering down the road to AUTONOMY!
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Got BURN!
Honestly,
How is this different than the life of an extra board road driver, or countless others in the industry?
Monday rolls around, you're rested, waiting for a call in hopes of getting a day road run to start the week. Nope. Everyone above you grabbed one. It's off to the night board for you, back to bed...
Guys do this week in and week out. It's part of the deal... A better quality of life happens by building enough seniority to avoid the crap that rolls downhill.
Or if you are sick, and you feel it will impair your ability to drive safely..,
Perhaps you missed this quote:
Now, there is a lot we've still not been told. What kind of bid is he on? Even if unassigned, he's probably NOT at the bottom, last extra. If not at the bottom, he should be able to pass. If at the bottom, he may have to deal with it, while stressing the need to know ASAP of this "emergency" situation.
We need more info, but based on the recurring (Monday) situation, there is a problem at that location. Again, he is a city driver, NOT road.
Anyone can suck it up, but it's NOT the safest practice for the man to be set up to be awake 24 hours and driving. He can decline to drive, BUT let's be real, fatigue won't be a problem on the trip out, it's the return flight that might kill you...
I just don’t think a city guy should be forced into a night road run. It’s dangerous. I’m a road guy but I’m used to the hours and the extra board. City guys are used to a schedule is all I’m saying and that makes it dangerous in my opinion.
I am unassigned and the bottom guy. I left FedEx and come back losing my seniority. I ran road and was laid off in the 2009 lay offs. I come back as a city driver for 2 years and things got real slow again, so I had to jump ship with another company. I jumped back on board when things picked up again, and for the most part I am very satisfied with the city hours I am getting now. And to be clear about running shuttle. I don't mind running it. I did it for years.. My whole beef is not telling me until the morning of that I am being switched to nights after sleeping all night. I just feel that a 24 hour minimum notice should be given to allow a CITY driver to adjust. I know extra board ROAD drivers at the bottom get kicked around. Been there too. That's why I chose to stay in the city and not go back to a road position.
Update on the shuttle run I was supposed to take. It got cancelled.. Good thing it did, because I did not get the rest I needed. So, I missed an entire days work for nothing. And the city side was short handed and did not get all their pickups.
I did file a complaint through the alert line, to try and get some sort of resolution. Talking to management hasn't worked. As a matter of fact, I got snapped at for voicing my concerns of not being to sleep that day because I had already slept all night.. Anyway, I called today to see what time I needed to be there for my city run, to be told I wasn't needed today and to enjoy my day off. So now I feel I am being retaliated against.
