Archived Has anyone managed to get out being a truck unloader?

[Kompa]

Every time Im scheduled for flow I end up being put on the truck unload. Literally only me and two other TMs on the team are capable of throwing the truck. I try to weasel out but I keep being told that no one else can do it or "everyone has a place" One time me ETL put someone on for their first time (one of those only push HBA people) and he started wheezing half a panel in so I think that scared him into not doing that any more.

If this position is so hard to do, then the people that can do should get certified and get a raise for something (lol yeah right)

It sucks because if you're one of the 3 people and the other two aren't there, you're going to be stuck on the unload with someone who is complete trash and end up basically doing the whole truck yourself.

I would fake an injury but i'd probably get tossed on softlines

 

[Circle9]

You're going to be stuck in there until you're no longer flow, sorry. My store's the same way; the same two TMs unload every truck. They tried a couple variations so there's some backup TMs but because the main 2 throw a high case per minute no way is the TL going to risk that metric dropping. The whole team's set up like that too: if you're good at a spot you're going to work that spot every single truck.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Best practice is to rotate every 15 minutes.

Print it up and staple it to your team leads forehead.

 

[konk]

Early morning BR used to unload and then pull autos. Me and another guy. One day it just stopped. Thank god!

 

[Mhugh220]

Best practice is to rotate every 15 minutes.

Print it up and staple it to your team leads forehead.

Best Practice was 30min rotations - making it 4 unloaders per truck. Did they lower it to 15min? You're also supposed to use stools. My team hated stools - when they complained about the rotation issue I fixed it but I made them use stools then - I didn't always have a good amount of throwers. My team was once plagued by old men with back problems or 60 lb ladies in their 60s. Who the fuck hired them for flow?

Keeping the same unloaders makes the numbers consistent but it's not fair for the TMs. Since pay is the same then everyone should essentially be able to throw. I had this issue with my team. I had a group of young shits heads who said their place was upstairs on the unload line. So naturally I put that on blast during a huddle and questioned why the upstairs team is entitled to not throw the truck? After reading the core roles to the entire team I started rotating my throwers and dismantled the upstairs team. Those that couldn't handle it were warned that it was a part of their performance. Some tried pulling the "I can't do it" card.

Yes - I've unloaded several trucks. Which sucks because I have to open the doors for some of my TMs and deal with other LoD shit while unloading the truck. As a TL or ETL you'll learn that you can't please everyone. Everyone does have a place but that doesn't mean they should be thrown to do the same job every night.

I did use some positions as a reason for TMs to get more hours. For example - electronics flow, throwers, HBA break out, pFresh team, and SL got consistent hours because I need those teams every night. Become good at one of those and you won't have to worry about hours. Complain about doing it all the time and you risk losing that spot and consistent hours.

Suggestion: go up the chain and see if they can create a better rotation. I agree that it's not fair to throw every time while fat shit Steve sweats it up at the end of the line. I used to get mad when this one guy breathed all our air - such a waste.

 

[tgtguy]

I have only unloaded one truck in 18 and a half years and that was one too many. I don't see how people do that truck after truck...they have my respect that's for sure.

 

[anathema]

Yet your pay raise will be equivalent to the TMs that can barely make a case per minute on the floor. It's a fool's job, one that I'm glad I got out of, for sure. I wouldn't bank on moving elsewhere until they actually hire someone worth anything, and in my experience, it takes a few months of 'we're hiring someone for the truck' before anything happens.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

@Mhugh220 , if I recall it was lowered to 15m last year. I always had 4 throwers, Noone ever threw more than 2 trucks in a row unless they wanted to.

My team hated the stools too.

 

[Mhugh220]

@60SecondsRemaining - thanks for sharing. 15 min rotations seems like overkill. Some TMs got offended when I rotated them out - they took it personal. Glad I had some who didn't mind doing it.

I got our store a new line that was motorized. That was my response to the GOL when they started saying all unloads had to be under 60 min. He saw our line and process and saw how it would never make the goal time unless the line was fixed.

Stools sucked. So did pallets of dog food and rock salt on top of toilet paper.

 

[ElectronicsTM]

When leadership finds young, strong individuals who can do it they will not change it up. We usually do three panels in and one or both throwers might switch out to being on the line or bumping boxes out of the truck.

I somewhat enjoy it. I throw just about every truck and then go straight to pushing electronics. Getting a nice unload is a great way to start the day and my leaders don't forget it. It would be nice to have a motorized line though, and that's something I am pushing for. All four of our lines are awful and very broken.

 

[On6]

Best practice is still 30 minute rotation. Just had a safety meeting with the logistics leaders about it last week.

Our store takes doubles a good chunk of the year so sometimes it's hard to have enough throwers.

 

[Mister Bulky]

Our store just started rotating throwers this week after about 6 months of not doing it. We go in little bursts of doing things best practice and then it fades away. I'm not sure how other's docks and lines are set up, but we use the non-motorized gravity flex track and a Y for doubles. Since we started unloading simultaneous doubles about 10 years ago there'd be 2 throwers in one truck (the one with the straight shot down the line) and 1 in the truck which utilizes the Y section. There's a pusher stuck in the middle that is supposed to direct the freight flow through the Y bottleneck. The thrower who is by himself gets help when the other truck done. Again, rarely rotating throwers.

At our store, If you're good at it, you're going to be stuck there until you get hurt (and even that doesn't matter sometimes) or you start making the cartons-per-minute goal suffer. If you're hurt, ETL's at my store will tell you to basically man up. If you cause the goal to not be met, expect a coaching. Crappy bulk pallets coming out of the truck slowing you down? Throw faster to make up.

Our ETL's say that everyone who works on the unload should be able to throw a truck... but there are the core people who they like to have do it because they are fast. Our store's 35 cartons a minute goal has to be reached somehow, they say. Be damned the one thrower with 3 concussions from walls falling on him this year...

Here's another blast from the past of my store's dubious safety history (not related to throwing per-say but related to unloads) ....on doubles, those on the backstock side of the line used to have to walk on a floor completely made of the wood pallets our store used to use for backstock. For years our ETL's essentially boxed in the backstock side of the line with push custom blocks so no pallets could be brought out. Every available piece of floor was used to lay pallets down and fill them up with backstock. You walked on the pallets filling them up as you go. This went on for years until just a couple years ago...even during overnight visits. Amazing no one cracked an ankle...

 

[SFSFun]

@jb08045
Best Practice is 30 minute rotations for the unloaders. If your TL won't move you off of throwing, casually mention to your AP leader how its wearing you out and ask if there is supposed to be rotation.

We have 1 guy in his 60s who does it every single truck and he busts ass and never complains. ETL-LOG often recognizes him at huddles for his efforts.

When we had a Flow TL, he would be the other thrower and rotate out after 30 mins. Any new Flow TM was the thrower for their first week (or until they quit, whichever was sooner). I haven't worked the unload recently, but I believe there are a few TMs who switch up throwing each shift (except for the guy who does it every time).

@Mhugh220
Out of curiosity, did your store have a conveyer that took freight freight from the receiving dock on the ground floor up to the unload line on the second floor? That just seems like it would be asking for problems...

 

[semantics]

Really I rather throw the truck everyday than work on the line, especially the front, personally. We just change sides every panel i never found it hard to do but you really need a good person next to you else they can just drop shit and make life hard.

 

[Mhugh220]

@SFSFun - yes we did - and it was known to break down. The worst case was when the freight elevator was broken and the conveyor was broken at the same time.

Some stores have more sophisticated conveyors that can take pallets up - ours was limited to certain box sizes. Also some stores have multiple freight elevators. I saw one store where the entire third floor was a backroom, and they still had back rooms on the other two floors.

 

[anflor93]

Every time Im scheduled for flow I end up being put on the truck unload. Literally only me and two other TMs on the team are capable of throwing the truck. I try to weasel out but I keep being told that no one else can do it or "everyone has a place" One time me ETL put someone on for their first time (one of those only push HBA people) and he started wheezing half a panel in so I think that scared him into not doing that any more.

If this position is so hard to do, then the people that can do should get certified and get a raise for something (lol yeah right)

It sucks because if you're one of the 3 people and the other two aren't there, you're going to be stuck on the unload with someone who is complete trash and end up basically doing the whole truck yourself.

I would fake an injury but i'd probably get tossed on softlines

I feel you bro its either cause you fast or fit im basically that guy sometimes I feel like im going to die of lung cancer because of all the dust in the truck no lie I clean my nose and its all dust

 

[SLRebel]

I asked HR if i can be on the Sales floor because i like to interact with people and being backstage is not my thing. She literally said she will change me to Softlines right away.

 

[Fairybolt]

*delurk*

I'd rather throw the truck than work first position on the line or bowl in certain parts of the store, and I say this as someone who weighs 115 pounds soaking wet. That first position is just brutal -- though not as bad since they changed it to something other than market -- and when I bowl I inevitably end up stuck with the two older (older than me, maybe in their 40s) ladies who leave me to bowl chemicals or market by myself while they order around everyone on flow like they're a TL or ETL.