Things Every Trucker Should Know About Lumpers

[@stevenandrews6627]

What a coincidence that you should address this practice. I had a rather heated interaction with a receiver in Upper New York 4 days ago and just as you stated, it was at a large grocery chain's warehouse. I've got it in writing in my contract that I will never be required to pay for the services of a "lumper". The dock foreman at this location actually threatened me. I always record my interactions with shippers and receivers. I advised the foreman that if they would not unload my truck as required in my contract, they wouldn't be getting the product. A warehouse supervisor got involved and had my truck blocked by a forklift. I called the police. I played the recording back to the officer. He immediately arrested the foreman, the supervisor and a lumper who also attempted to intimidate me. Then the warehouse manager got involved. Apologies we're given to me, my truck was immediately unloaded and the best part......the officer held firm with his decision to prosecute the 3 men. I informed my shipper and my employer. They both are standing with me.

[@michaelcaplan3532]

Steven Andrews that's a rare situation where the driver finally wins. I wish there was a way to unite drivers and stop all deliveries to grocery warehouses, and then and only then will "Lumpers" cease to exist

[@SmartTrucking]

Excellent! I love it when crooks get their just deserves! Dave

[@stevenandrews6627]

An hour ago I finished a teleconference interview with the district attorney of the county this interaction took place. I learned that the police officer of record for my case has an uncle who is a trucker. This uncle has mentioned these common place practices to his nephew. It looks like we've an Allie who wears a badge!

[@25mfd]

I wish I could give you a hundred thumbs up on your comment. From a legal aspect, not allowing you to leave is false imprisonment. Ridiculous. The thing that confuses me is that it's their freight. but YOU have to pay to unload their freight. Textbook definition of bizzaro world where everything is in reverse. .

[@rxlo1062]

Wow! Glad I came across your message. I’m a police officer and they are about to build a large food warehouse in my patrol area. I will make sure I inform my fellow officers of these practices by these firms. Thanks for the info. I sure hope the judge sides with you in your case.🤞

[@dcrabbit]

Every new truck driver should watch your vids as part of their training.

[@rolandclark1844]

I'm a broker, if one of our loads requires a lumper, we get the total cost from the driver and a receipt and we add it to the rate on the confirmation. I was a driver and would never want to screw over the drivers. This guy is right, beware!

[@KaimarRedcloud]

Always make sure your dispatcher knows CDL doesn't mean "Combination Driver Lumper". When I used to pull reefers, I was upfront with my dispatcher. I DON"T unload/restack pallets and I don't negotiate w/ lumpers. It wasn't my job. The first time he told me he couldn't pay what the lumper wanted (it was a load of cosmetics that had to be broken down. On the trailer it was a pallet of eye shadow, for example and the warehouse wanted broken down into a pallet of blue eye shadow a pallet of brown etc.) and the lumper wanted $300. Dispatch said that was too much and I would have to do it. I'm an O/O pulling a co trailer. I told him what door his trailer would be parked at and that I would be bobtailing to the nearest yard. He paid the lumper.

[@SmartTrucking]

Good job! Laughed right out loud at what CDL stood for! Hadn't heard that before! Loved it! Thanks! Dave

[@johnsadventures6783]

CDL = Carry Dis Load

[@jonnymac8925]

I ran long haul for a local company of about 50 trucks for over 3 years. All of the scams you mentioned before were very popular. Wait times unpaid, blah blah this, blah blah that. They also tried the old lumper fee bull with me, but I told them straight up I will never have money with me to pay it so I want a company credit card number to pay the lumping fee if need be, and sure enough I was given one. It's bad enough we have to babysit someone else's truck when we are on the road without being compensated, but there's no way I'm going to start using my own money to pay for this stuff. They expected us to not run our trucks in the winter in Canada unless we absolutely had to, and didn't want us to run them in the summer. I left my truck running all the time, I didn't care about the extra .03 cents per mile for keeping my idle time down, but they still didn't care. They would call me and ask me to stop running the truck. And I would say "no that's fine I need my sleep I'll just skip the .03/mile and live more comfortable" in which they replied with saying they would put an idle shut off on my truck (go ahead I'll just idle the truck up to keep it from shutting off). Luckily there was almost no sitting time between loads (maybe one day every month or two) the pay for a 24 hour wait was a pathetic $100 for the day. With all the bullshit that long haul companies give their drivers I eventually had enough and went to work for a local company that pays me by the hour, for every hour I work. They have all kinds of benefits, and paid vacation, along with lots of hours every week and time and a half after 8 hours each day (even if I was only to work one day, anything over the 8th hour is 1 1/2 the pay). This small company I work for now has 3 trucks and 3 drivers and they treat us amazing. I get to sleep in my bed every night and they don't try to bullshit us. Christmas this year came with a $400 bonus and a 25 pound turkey, and supper at work on the last day before Christmas break. The longhaul company gave us $200 for Christmas, but they also milked us for everything. I'll never do long haul again, it's one big scam. Local and small is where it's at for me.

[@captainkangaroo4301]

I learned my lesson about the lumper scam 35 years ago at Nash Finch in Lumberton, NC. I showed up a couple hours early for my appointment. They wanted me to hire their lumper. I said no thanks because as a young healthy man sometimes I wanted to earn the extra money by humping the freight myself. So as I broke the load down to the right tie and height their forklift driver took his sweet time in removing the pallets as I stacked them. At 4:00 the receiving clerk told me that I had to stop unloading because they were done receiving for the day and I needed to schedule a new appointment to finish unloading. They wouldn’t give me another appointment for two days. So because I wouldn’t use their lumper it took me three days to get unloaded. I never went there again.

[@AlA-ok5jh]

That was just plain EVIL what they did to you. No team work there but friction. Bet you felt like a victim, more than a semi driver...for a few days. Not good for the blood pressure.

[@texasgonzo67]

CDL is NOT an acronym for "Combination Driver Lumper", but some companies seem to think so. I once had a 53ft load of med supplies, stacked floor to ceiling, and not even on pallets that the receiver expected me to unload when I barely made it to their dock before running out of hours. My response was "the doors are open, and its on the dock... you want the freight, YOU unload it. I'll be in my sleeper, let me know when you're done. Otherwise, I have no problem dropping the trailer at the nearest Swift yard, and yall can hash it out". They tried to coerce me by saying I HAD to verify load count during offload... I countered with "I didn't verify the loading, and won't be held responsible, period. I'm out of hours, would you like to discuss this with the DOT?" I went to bed, and 3 hours later, my trailer was empty. Don't be bullied drivers!!! And btw, before I get slammed for being stupid enough to drive for Swift, that lasted exactly 9 days before I quit and went on to [mostly] dedicated drop and hook, Memphis to LA runs in a REAL truck (ftr, a 1993 extended 379 Pete with a double walk-in). It sure beat those 57 mph eye-slammin freightslimers at swift.

[@richardcontinijr9661]

I picked up a load of rum in Florida about 8 years ago and took it to the liquor board some place around Philly. They had the nerve to tell me it was $650 to unload the truck. No restacking pallets or anything else. Just a simple fork off count and place it on their shelf. My company laughed when I Q commed them for lumper pay. I had a forklift license so I went in and said I'd do it myself. They said sure, need to check your union card first. I told them I'm not in a union and they said their a union shop so I can't unload. My response was ok bye. They tried to tell me I couldn't leave the trailer there and bt out and I couldn't take the load with me. I said watch me it's a short drive to the north side and I'm sure I can get rid of 44,000 lbs of rum really quick in North Philly. They changed their attitude real quick and had me unloaded in 25 minutes.

[@AndyParadise561]

More reasons to stay away from grocery warehouses...

[@johnross1947]

Hell ya! Just say no.

[@jeffouellette9946]

So right because it also burns your time up to. They don't care how long you're there. They don't care it when you go pick up if you're going to be late or not either.

[@slappy8941]

When I was a rookie, I carried a blind broker load of cereal, with nothing but a load count slip. Got to the warehouse and they knew nothing about the load, and said they didn't order it. Turns out the broker was trying to push this load onto someone, and it wasn't a legally documented load, because my company didn't have a contract or bills, and neither the broker nor my company wanted to help me with this problem, so as the driver in possession, I technically owned it, and so made a deal with the warehouse manager. Two weeks later, someone finally asked about the load, and I told them I had dropped the trailer in a dropyard, which was true.

[@MotivativeThinking2]

I never understood this lumper 💩 and went to the flatbed side & love it! That’s like me trying to charge UPS/FedEx/USPS for unloading my mail or packages when they deliver to my 🏡!

[@needles_sub3307]

Because of food warehouse's and lumpers, I chose to pull only tankers. Best decision of my life.

[@MarkPalmer1000]

I only dealt with this a few times as an o/o, and what a ruckus! Why should a truck driver be responsible for unloading a consignee's freight and re-palletizing it to their liking? YOUR warehouse is not MY problem.

[@SmartTrucking]

It's unbelievable what they try to get away with, isn't it? Dave

[@bluedevil0072]

I carry "Com Checks" to pay for Lumpers. The company I would drive for would have to Authorize the amount of the Check before they would unload. If they expect me to pay out of pocket, I'll drop the trailer or leave until they figure out who is going to pay them. I've known drivers who were charged $400 to unload a trailer. I say if they ordered the freight, they can pay to unload their freight.

[@LikeTheTruck]

Rookie driver here and I’m glad I’ve found this channel. Very informative.

[@andrewperrin6135]

If you want your freight, take it off my truck. If you don't want it, then I'm out. I'll sell it to someone who does.

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

Then you get donefor theft, not clever bud.

[@scottmueller5995]

Never give up the BL until unloaded . The load is yours and you can leave if you want if there is a problem . I have been stopped at the gates and the cop sided with me !

[@garrettreven5144]

My company will pay me to unload an entire 53' a whole $40... Or I can cut a lumper a COMPANY CHECK for 200. Why not just make it worth my while, and we can both make money?

[@SmartTrucking]

Kind of a slap in the head that the company thinks your time and effort is worth less than a lumpers'. Dave

[@PleasePancakeGD]

Asked to deliver a dishwasher to a customer, no lift gate, off the back with a dolly and ramp. don't worry someone will be there to help you. No gets up on Saturday before 9 am. off the truck it goes and I dropped it into the middle of the restaurant. no one complained

[@ILovedThe90s1]

I've only been trucking for a year now, and I encountered the lumper fee once. I called dispatch, they sent me a P.O. over the Qualcomm and I wrote them a comdata check. That was it. Great story at the end, I enjoy hearing old stories like that.

[@DeannaBaileytheRavensFan]

I'm glad I'm watching this before I got my CDL permit. My class starts Monday. Gotta love how every industry has con men within it that try to rip off hard-working folks within said industry.

[@wealthyblackman2655]

Unloaded at a warehouse in Phoenix, AZ... they said 450.00. "what???? never heard of such a high rate. Give me a stack sheet I will do it myself." they said" what is a stack sheet??" I said " If you do not know what a stack sheet is, and you cannot produce one then I am calling the cops! "

[@davidmeissner5010]

Drivers who are told that they cannot be unloaded because the driver does not lump the load should simply tell the receiver to sign the bills refused or get the truck unloaded.

[@SmartTrucking]

Yup! Dave

[@jsj297]

Man oh man, I'm not a driver, you guys get screwed every way imaginable!!! Holy cow. Who the hell would wanna keep putting up with that bs! Unreal. Much respect.

[@randyhutchinson9910]

jsj297 America, our home, needs us, and yet, doesn't know it

[@jsj297]

Randy Hutchinson Brother, believe me, i know, and i appreciate you and all the other professsional Truckers!!!!

[@oldmanprostte3574]

Most of us drivers like the pain lol

[@theonelson3112]

Talk in bout RIPOFFS! Yesterday morning dropped off 4 pallets dairy product, mostly milk. Some skim milk, chocolate, 2% and regular milk. So I rolled off the pallets myself and figured this should be easy without a LUMPER Fee. Not! TW Lumpers charged me $130 for restacking to a 5 roll stack because the shipper stacked too high! This was at Albertsons/Safeway DC in Salt Lake, Ut. The milk came from a Safeway Milk Plant any way and they loaded it. I just took my bills and drove off! Let the companies fight over this Bull Shit! Restacking Fees? You got to be kidding!

[@SmartTrucking]

It's hard to believe they even have the nerve to come out with stupid stuff sometimes, isn't it? Dave

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

You were lucky they did not charge you for the pallet, watch your paycheck, pallets can be expensive.

[@vernonpetterson6771]

I have never understood why we or our company should pay to have freight unloaded that that company ordered

[@SmartTrucking]

Me either. Just a scam. Dave

[@stephenmaddaloni1280]

Yeah, I'm confused about lumpers also. My carrier paid me 60 dollars too unload my trailer but they'll pay 300 dollars to lumpers. The math don't add up.

[@SmartTrucking]

No kidding! You should ask your carrier about that! See if the carrier figures the lumpers' time is worth more than yours! Dave

[@jdcustom4655]

Yup. Lumpers would give you a soc.sec. number as required for the reimbersment by your company but it wasnt theirs and, since your company couldnt verify it they would take it out of your check or didnt reimberse you. Another issue is pallets. Wouldnt it be great if you could do your job without constantly having to check your back for knives? Especially from the company that you work for.

[@SmartTrucking]

I hear you on that! Dave

[@ericvondumb2838]

Back in the late 70s I was getting $7.50 an hour driving or just sitting around at the customer. I pulled into a warehouse and was informed I had to be a union member to get unloaded. I could join the union right there or I could unload it myself. Couldn't use their "union" dollies, had to break it down and put it on their "union" pallets on the dock plate. No problem! After unloading for 8 hours and taking my breaks and lunch and approaching dinner, they decided to unload the remaining half of the load because I was blocking their "union" dock. Was a good day for me.

[@SmartTrucking]

Good story! Dave

[@ericvondumb2838]

I got a million of them. Trucker from 78 thru 15. The good old outlaw days, when we stopped to help each other out, to the robo days, when we now need to be good little trucking Nazis. Miss the job, but glad I'm retired. Keep spreading the good word. God Bless

[@JW-ut7uk]

Should be illegal how much they charge and the time it takes them.

[@michaely8980]

Make damn sure they aren't union either...it would take 5x as much and 10x longer.

[@MrNCereghino]

so wrong, lol if you only knew the truth

[@cameltanker1286]

Cut my teeth with dry freight. Spent five years being extorted by food warehouses. One day I saw an ad for a chemical hauler. I applied, was hired and spent the next 20 years never looking back.

[@GDCTT]

After spending the night and getting a full 10 hr. break at a customer in East Sacramento Ca., I checked in early and got a door. The workers were more concerned with goofing off and shootin’ the breeze, then the fact I still had another drop in Rocklin Ca., 80 miles away. I was late for my final and had to reschedule. I was charged a $250.00 late fee, a $300.00 rescheduling fee, $82.00 to unload their 2 pallets and a $3.00 check fee since I didn’t have cash. The name of that customer is UNFI. However, if they hold you up 4 or 5 hrs. past your appointment, all you get is “oops, our bad”. Took them 7 hrs. and 17 minutes to unload those 2 pallets.

[@mobilehomemaven3859]

I threatened to leave a Kroger watehouse with the frozen meat load they wanted $200 for the lumpers to take off this gloor load........said if you want it it better be off by 6pm.....it was off by 6pm. I PROMISED them id sell it to mexican markets all over Phoenix....they unloaded it and banned me for life from there....iven been back dozens of times since then with another carrier and as an owner operator.

[@rhamblin71]

Had a bad experience in Olympia, Washington with a major grocery chain at the frozen food dock. Very rude people and scammed me for 150 which I never got back. You learn one thing for sure driving over the road, there is no one on the truck driver's side out there no one. From the truck stops to the dot, the warehouses and the carriers themselves are all set up to scam the driver. Just my experience, maybe someone has had better, I did work for a private owner for a while that at least wasn't too bad on his end but everything else out there still the same.

[@stickersb1236]

I've been asked by receivers if I wanted to unload myself when I was OTR. I would have totally done this and pocketed the lumper fee my company was going to pay but this where they get you....In order to lump your own freight you have to go through their safety (which is watching a 30 minute video) and then you have to know where in the warehouse your product goes or they can charge you for misplacing it. Sounds like a monopoly to me to get O/Os to pay to me

[@Backyardmech1]

Unless the contract says you unload on occasions, you just haul the load from point A to B. Anything beyond that with loading and unloading is between the loader and the unloader. Don’t do any free labor when you can be paid for what warehouse people are supposed to do anyway. Great video.

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

But they can make you sit for hours, and hours. Fraud. by another name, thats why I quit driving to US from Canada.

[@cledussnow3935]

Dislikes must be Company’s & Warehouse’s. People that screw drivers are the ones that hate the truth.

[@MrShuntking]

Pricechoppers tried to pull the lumper crap on me. 43000 lbs of bleach. Up a grade and told I could hire a lumper or do it myself. If I did it I could only use a manual pump jack. And that the pallets would than have to be re-stacked from 5 high to 3 high so it would fit in their racking. After a long 14 hour day I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the crap and told him to f off. And explained that as a former warehouse worker I never once told a driver they had to unload themselves. He called my boss. Lucky for me my boss explained how his company was a no touch freight company and that they could just mark on the BOL refused and he would be more then happy to charge them for the refusal plus return cost. (Receivers mistake calling on speaker phone in front of me) Being Canadian I've never once run into this issue north of the border. Seems to be an American issue. Thankfully I am now strictly local . Work for a unionized shop and my role is driver. Not warehouse employee. Only thing I have to do in check to make sure I have the right load (at the start of my day), and supervise it coming off the back, which just involves checking off the pallet ID sticker on the BOL. BTW you should add this tip about Lumper fees. Never pay out of pocket and be reimbursed by the company you work for. Why should you be out of pocket 1 penny until that money is added to your paycheck. So you have to wait for the company to first get your receipt then process it. Then add it to your next pay. Fantastic you are now out X number of dollars for how long? 1 week? 2 weeks? And if your company doesn't mark it down right on your pay as a reimbursement you may end up also paying taxes on it. Same with companies wanting drivers to use their personal cells phones for work related stuff. F that, if you want me calling in and what not. The company can provide one in the truck. They can check the bill and make sure I'm not making personal calls on their phone, not the other way around. Me providing my phone bill with any personal calls and number listed on it for them to go through for reimbursement.

[@scottied67]

Docked and paid lumper fee, they said they would unload and walk my paper work back out when they were done. I went to bed for several hours, then they knocked and handed me a bunch of papers and told me to leave because they had other trucks waiting. Only later the next day when prepping to scan the papers, did I discover there was no receipt for the $235 lumper fee. It was deducted from my settlement and with no receipt I was out of pocket on it, nothing I could do about it.

[@SmartTrucking]

Ouch, that hurts! Bet you won't make that mistake again. Dave

[@garyfunderburk7233]

scottied67 Bro this happens to me too. Lost $200 lost my receipt. Still mad about that thang.

[@scottied67]

Now I triple check for the receipt and clip it to the paperwork associated with that trip lol.

[@phreenom]

I take photos with my phone of all receipts immediately, I've lost one before, never again.

[@wendellmcclurg5044]

yep i got screwed with a couple of lumper loads, the company would pay the driver $25 to unload the trailer, but if you were tired and used a lumper the company would pay them $60. Just show's how much they love their driver's. be safe, peace out.

[@Dragon_rls]

Not allowed to take work away from an American? Are you joking? It's not only acceptable, it's rewarded. That's all these American corporations, and small, to midsize businesses can think of. Getting some hard working cut rate foreigner, legal, or not to come in, so they can pay them a rock bottom wage, and still get work out of them. You are so lucky to be a Canadian.

[@rondye9398]

This crap has been going on since trucking got deregulated in the 1970's and I was there for it all. Grocery warehouses and frozen food warehouses. Even if a broker tells you the load is on boards you can count on the receiver wanting the load handshaked onto their boards with their stack count to fit their racks. Don't go to these warehouses, especially if you've got a split load, it will take you forever to make the appts. Frozen foods are the worst for this. A frozen pie company will load 5 stops onto your truck and it will take a week to get them off! Even a TransCon load like this is a loser. Thanks Dave for passing on your experience.

[@mitchbennett6019]

I don't deal with lumpers.....i pull up...heres the load..take it or I leave....you can reschedule me next week...for a fee of course...and I tell the brokers this ahead of time...amazing how they go ahead and deal with it instead of leaving it up to me .....which is how they screw it up 98% of these new refrigerated rookie drivers ....they don't know what they're doing when it comes to lumpers... you do have rights and you can tell him to kiss your foot.

[@samanthaanne246]

I've always read phrases like " x % No touch freight"...and good thing you mentioned the food industry; The food industry seems to be the biggest crook of all. They don't want to pay for anything, and demand penalties if late.

[@luissanjuan1072]

I'm a trucker OTR ! And can't still not understand why as trucking companies have to pay for lumper fee!

[@SmartTrucking]

Because they allow their customers to get away with it! It's a scam! Dave

[@tdodson42]

Back when I did OTR I was hauling a grocery load. I was told the lumpers are backed up and I will be schedulded to start unload in 4 hours I met my scheduled delivery time. They gave me the choice to unload myself (sarcasticly), and said I could rent a pallet jack for $25 or an electric pallet jack for $75 and I would have to down stack the pallets as well, or just wait for the lumpers to get to me. I told them I will ask what my company wants to do and walked away. The lumpers were on a union break so I grabbed a pallet jack and started pulling pallets out of the trailer. One of the lumpers was walking by and told me nobody can pull pallets while they are break, I just ignored him and kept working. In no time at all I had the trailer empty (I did not downstack) and went to the booth and said they were done. I got my papers signed and I was out of there. I figured they could do whatever they wanted with it now it was in the wearhouse. Screw sitting for hours waiting for them to downstack as they unload for 3 or 4 hours let alone waiting 4 hours to even start, plus it got me out of the truck and moving and they were super light pallets anyway.

[@SmartTrucking]

Some of these places are just unbelievable aren't they? Dave

[@quevillm]

The truth for company drivers is, if a dispatch knows he's sending a driver to a place that uses lumpers, then he better find a way to pay in advance for that lumper fee, it's the office's job and NOT the truck driver's job to negotiate and waste his time with lumper fees, otherwise it's the last load I'm pulling for that company, my next move will be parking the truck and turning in the keys on the boss's desk, period.

[@cruiserdog9913]

When I was a company driver for, (Yea I'll name them.) Knight Transportation, I never had a problem with them paying for the lumpers with a comcheck. The only thing that troubled me was at a huge grocery chain warehouse the lumping company wanted $750 to unload the truck. I called Knight and told them "I'll unload the truck myself for $750." Knight told me that they'd pay me $50 to do it. LMAO, nope, send the check.

[@nycsubwayrats2212]

Dam, i really wanted to be a trucker...... nevermind, im not interested anymore.. thanks for the info.

[@lbennhtx6072]

I really feel for you drivers and all of the bs you have to put up with. I work for a shipper and we ship to grocery warehouses. We reimburse for lumper fees. More and more receivers are requiring lumpers and now we are seeing grocery chains and distributors deducting from our invoices for unloading fees when they do not require the driver to use a lumper. Total scam all the way around. We now pay close attention to all freight costs to deliver and not just line haul and fuel surcharge so that we can hopefully factor into our price for customers that hit us with these ridiculous charges. Keep up the great work drivers!!!!

[@anthonyroberts2678]

Kroger is a big one for lumpers. Especially in Colorado 700.00 lumper and 13 hrs detention as they did individual piece count. Dillions in Fountain Colorado did this!!! Never delivered there again!!

[@robertcollins6170]

Yes. Lumping fees at our company, called unloading fee. When I was at swift, they were crap. They would pay a lumper more than us as a driver...

[@billyboi57]

They do that to discourage the driver from unloading. I don't think most drivers want to unload their freight, I certainly don't. I'll use that time to get some rest or do paperwork.

[@robertcollins6170]

I hired lumper 1 time. Warehouse came and told me he was too slow. If I didn't help him, I would need to come back the next day. Now I think that could have been a scam.

[@pamelasharp9294]

Robert Collins in

[@invertednoise4728]

I'm not a trucker, but have worked in a warehouse that used these scumbags. The first day on the job, I noticed a truck pull in at the beginning of my shift and speak to the lead lumper. Shortly thereafter another truck pulled in and spoke to him. that truck was unloaded. A second truck pulled in, same thing. the first trucker came in and asked the lead guy when they were going to unload him, he was there first. The lumper told him the other trucks were "hot shots" that had to be unloaded first. Yet another truck came in and was unloaded. When no other trucks arrived, the first truck was unloaded. I found out at the end of the shift, the first three truckers that were unloaded bribed the lead lumper. For fifty bucks, the first trucker could have been put on the "hot shot" list, too.

[@SmartTrucking]

Yup! Lumpers are a dirty deal! Dave

[@howardfortyfive9676]

Instead of going out the *gate go out through the fence.*

[@rons.6683]

I recently discovered your channel. From what you say drivers are treated shabbily in Canada. 26 year CDL holder and a great deal of the mistreatment you describe, I’ve never come across here in the U S. I will continue to view with interest.

[@davidmarkersnr.1888]

Well you finished on a high note Dave, but I'll give you another. 1966, running down from Scotland to Liverpool docks with cases of whisky on a flat trailer, roped and sheeted (tarped). Got there early evening and decided to unload in the morning, I'd done enough, but the dockers were on a bonus, the ship was closing and they insisted I tip there and then. However, no pallets in those days, all handballed, and they said I would have to pay for a man to help. OK I said but I only have big notes so will have to go and get change. I stripped the ropes and sheets and set off for the dock road and into the first pub. As it seemed rude to ask for change without buying a pint, and as there was a TV with a World Cup football match on, I lingered awhile. When I thought enough time had elapsed I went back to the wagon, and lo and behold, surprise surprise, it was empty. I handed over the tenner willingly, there was no help, they had done it all themselves. Thing is, I knew that, I knew it was a scam. Scammers scammed. Parked up with a very good feeling. ;-))

[@SmartTrucking]

Excellent story! Thank you! Dave

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

Nice one Jock. I am a Brit, that used to truck to US from Canada, its all a scam mate, if ya dont pay ya just sit there for hours, ya not allowed on dock as not insured, ya not able to pull off with red light, so kinda buggered. Welcome to the USA.

[@brucecar100]

Good vidio, Here in the UK some grocery chains mainly from Germany make drivers unload there own truck and the way they get round it is buy telling you the driver, if you don't like it take the load away as there are plenty more trucks coming into the warehouse with the same goods. You get to use their equipment for unloading but what if you have an accident, who pays, not the grocery warehouse, your boss will say you should not have been using their gear as your not insured to.

[@jasonduke3608]

Man Dave, I sure wish I knew you were around a few years ago when I started. One of my very 1st long hauls was from Kentucky to Louisiana to a food lion. I remember this very well it was canned peaches 44890 worth. I didn't even know what a plumper was until I got there. I thought they were trying to screw me over they wanted $220 to unload the truck. I told them there nuts. I called my dispatch they told me they will pay or if I want I can do it.. I figured I wasn't going to let them get one over me. I used to work at home depot doing that kind of stuff. Dave they gave me the crappyest pallet Jack I ever used. I had to pull each pallet which seemed 1/4 mile through this massive building, separate the small boxes to another pallet from the big boxes. I really believe they made me move the pallets that distance to discourage me from doing it. It really messed me up. Haven't done that kind of work in a while. Man the things I wasn't taught in school! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@SmartTrucking]

Thanks for writing in Jason! Dave

[@jeffhewitt8994]

Another side of lumper scams is they damage or refuse your product in hopes of buying it or getting it off you free in the parking lot..lots of lumpers know that when product gets refused the driver throws it away so they will try to get you before you trash it

[@SmartTrucking]

Yup! Seen that! Dave

[@Iamsmallfry]

I loaded at a frozen fish warehouse down on the south side of Boston last year, and on the shipping office wall it said, “This is a driver load and unload facility. Drivers are responsible for counting.” I didn’t load it. The lumper paid to get it loaded. I delivered it to the same company in Chicago, and no lumper was needed. All I did was bump the dock. Go figure that out.

[@SmartTrucking]

Just a racket. Dave

[@geno55912]

one time in the early 1990's when I was a company driver, about 12 of us drivers stopped at a truckstop in Nebraska and the restaurant was leased from the truck stop. We were sitting there having coffee when we decided to order steaks as well, the cook who was leasing the restaurant came out and complained how us truck drivers did was drink coffee and take up take space for customers who wanted to order a meal. We paid for our coffee and left, than the cook realized as we was leaving he had 12 steaks on the grill.

[@SmartTrucking]

Good one! Do you remember where in Nebraska that was? Dave

[@milohrnic2023]

This is something every driver new to food hauling needs to know. Thank you for sharing

[@MarantMarant-vk1mz]

I did reefer a while back, and when ever I got to do my delivery, I asked the lumper how much? Called dispatcher and gave him the amount and until he sent me the comcheck with the lumpers money I did not move the truck, it worked perfectly every time!!

[@SmartTrucking]

Good plan! Dave

[@shawnjarman9860]

Only had this issue with van trailers, both dry and refer, but never with flatbed Another scam is how companies pay you on mileage, when they pay you the shortest way possible, even when they know there’s no way you can go that way! I just remembered a time when I got to a receiver, they begin to tell me that I need to unload this trailer, when I promptly tell them, NOT happening! After about 3 minutes going back and forth, I said, well, I’ll be in my truck! This guy literally follows me to my truck and as I get in, he’s try’s this scare tactic “I’m calling your company, and you are out of a job” my only reply was, good luck, let me know when my trailer is empty, about 10 minutes goes by and what do you know, my trailer starts bouncing around, and guess who is NOT unloading it

[@TheCalgarydoug]

In the mid 90s I did a city delivery run with a small truck and I was paid a set amount per drop. One customer wanted me to separate each item onto separate pallets so on pallet became fourteen, and they would not sign the bills until the receiver agreed that it was done right. I told them I'd do it just once then never again. They weren't happy about it but I never delivered to them again.

[@mrdave777]

I’m now at a receiver. I’ve overheard prices of $400 to unload per lumper. Are you serious?!

[@tylerbuckley7409]

That's one reason I turn down dollar general when I drove for swift as an owner operator they never reimbursed me unlike their company drivers plus I also learned how to tell when dollar general was a Lumpur load when ya look at the BOL and it says pre paid its I live unload and they charge lumping fees for that

[@uknowwhodontyou921]

Tyler Buckley they would do the same thing at Werner.

[@andrewbrown1769]

I'm a reefer driver and my company pays lumped fees and I am reimbursed whatever the lumped fee is hell there have been times I've been reimbursed over $500 at one time just from one lumper

[@the_other_seto_kaiba]

Have them keep the receipt from here on and see what happens.

[@daveroberts936]

I'm a Canadian driver who always drives to the US. I have been asked periodically to unload my own freight. I have always refused, because there is another law at issue. Immigration and naturalization laws prohibit a Canadian driver performing work in the US that can be performed by an American.

[@DanielGarcia-zz9eg]

Sometimes as a company driver u can ask dispatch to pay u rather then a lumper. I had over 12 loads where it's was easy to off load . Only if it's easy

[@MrMan-ol4ic]

About a month ago I had a run to Delaware to a pottery place. So I get there 30m early. Dispatch tells me don't be late etc they ''hired'' help to of load the pottery. I'm waiting one of the two guys shows up they both did though,but the first guy comes up to me while I'm sitting in my truck doing paperwork etc. And says you ready? Lol,and said ready for what? He said are you ready to help of load and says I'll run the fork lift and you run pallet jack and load pallets etc. I LMAO and said no. He looked at me like I was crazy. I told him this is no touch freight I do not touch the freight couse if something happens we are not and I am not liable. You and the outer worker are hired to off load this not me. And he just looked at me kinda shocked. They off loaded it though.

[@SmartTrucking]

I guess they gotta try, right? Dave

[@m.miller2374]

And the grocers dont have to pay workers comp if they get hurt

[@robertcollins6170]

Yes all of the money should be done between seller, buyer and broker. Let us do our job. I on the other hand have been there. Now I am paid to unload. Restaurant delivery service. Our drawback is telling us we have to wait." Only come here twice a week for last 40 plus years." How can you not be ready. Lol!.. And it's not our job to take the trash out and clean you're cooler and freezer. We all have our downsides.

[@SmartTrucking]

10-4! Dave

[@leonandrews7180]

I am thinking about trucking, and trying to learn.... If I send a load to a supermarket chain or warehouse, aren’t they responsible for unloading the vehicle? WTF are “lumpers”? People paid to unload the freight? Ok, shouldn’t the supermarket pay for that? I’m not unloading it, I’m the driver.

[@hollywoodsaint57]

Safeway, Alberstons,Vons, Kroger, Fred Meyers, Smiths , Bashas....just to name a few.....ask for a tax ID number from the lumper company

[@SmartTrucking]

That's right!!

[@robertcethridge]

I have a couple of problems with lumpen service, first of all they always look like they just got out of the pin, so when they ask me for my ID I am very reluctant to give it to them, second ,and this just happened yesterday, They tell me that the Com data service was down, and I have to pay using my CC or personal check, well for one who uses personal checks anymore and 2 there ain’t no way in hell your getting my cc number,So they had me set there after about an hour I called my dispatch and of course he has been on the phone with com data who is reporting to him that they have no known issues at the time, and that he has issued several in the past hour to other drivers,So I am a company driver is it illegal for them to ask me for my cc info so that I can pay out of pocket? Long story short I sett there for 14 hrs till another crew came in and took my com data check. The whole thing should have never happened like that, I think they where just scamming cards, and there was a lot of drivers just handing over there info,cause they already had their cdl info.I am sure it was some kinda scam.What do you think?

[@SmartTrucking]

I think the whole thing is a scam! Tell your dispatcher you want to be paid for all your time there. Dave

[@drivesthecar3247]

I'm with you 100%! But, there's another side to that lumper scam. I had lost my job and was working for a Mexican temp company in Ralston NE. (I know it's Mexican because the only English I ever heard was only spoken to me.) They sent me to the Shopko Warehouse northeast of highways 370 and 50. They told me it should take 6 hours to unload this truck, at $9 an hour. I finished in three!!! My handler told me he's going to be generous and pay me for 4 hours, I found out later that they're required to pay you for 4 hours on any job they send you out on. That just adds to the lies these temp companies tell! Anyway, the trucker was getting angry that I was just a temp and he was not going to write a check for $200 until he got a receipt!! At which point my dumb a$$ added it up that I was going to get an entire $36... $48 less taxes!! And the temp company took $164 off of my back!! I never worked for them again!!

[@Ringele5574]

I was at a grocery store warehouse years ago. I had two pallets of Pop Tarts to be unloaded. They wanted me to pay about $100. I thought that was crazy. I decided to unload myself. I grabbed a pallet jack, and was promptly stopped because I didn't pay a $50 rental fee. I pulled off the dock and called my dispatcher. That's crazy.

[@SmartTrucking]

Unbelievable! And then some of them will close the gate so you can't leave! Dave

[@DaveG7920]

The more I watch your and others videos the more I realise how inefficient and flat out weird the North American trucking industry is. Great info, enjoy watching you.

[@SmartTrucking]

Thank you Dave! Dave

[@a-10warthogbooyahbigbabbyb32]

My favorite trucker. You deserve an award sir. You protect truckers integrity that has to be worth something

[@MrLocknid]

I do flatbed, but I took a dryvan load to get back home. Never knew what lumpers were before that. biggest scam and disgrace there is. I don't get how a warehouse can hire one dude to sit in an office, take the money, yet then supposedly give it to these quite possible illegal immigrants who are actually doing the work.

[@Greg3070]

Lumpers used to be dudes down on their luck who would unload you for a few bucks. Now they are employees of private companies paying them minimum wage and charging the trucking companies several hundred dollars. Corporate greed at it's finest

[@mrj-charles6383]

Grocery warehouses are the worst. Not only do they charge too unload but the have excessive wait times. Shoprite and Aldi have large parking areas for the trucks because they know you are going to be there at minimum your 10 hour break. Most I have been charged is $450. I worked for Landstar Rocor back in the 90s. They used to give us the option of unloading ourselves for $150 for fingerprint load and $75 for roll off. I used to unload everything myself. Places like Family Dollar are now using lumpier services so it is spreading to the all types of warehousing.

[@exclamationthoughts5734]

The most I payed is 900 in Cali to off load yogurt

[@bbruuse]

COOP in Saskatoon - Driver arrives at Coop Warehouse, receiver refuses to accept load unless taken off 4x4 pallets and placed onto Coop 3x3 pallets. After 3 hrs. of extremely "Hard" work, receiver signs bills and you are on your way. ( Here's another scam, sign in for delivery @ 6:30 delivery time) receiver has their own lumpers, with 70 trucks in line waiting to unload. "Hire a lumper, get unloaded ASAP; "Refuse to hire a lumper" wait and wait and wait some more, watch trucks come in and unload, leave while your still waiting for a door?

[@castlem0re]

The stories about your time otr trucking are the best!

[@tctarheelfarmin358]

19 year old farm kid here. I got a question. Many laborers that have been abused since the beginning of time, carpenters, Smiths, steamfitters, Boilermakers, construction workers, have unionized. Why hasnt this happened in the trucking industry?

[@SmartTrucking]

Good question! For many years an awful lot of drivers were unionized by the teamsters. Jimmy Hoffa ran the teamsters. Turned out Hoffa was lending and giving money to organized crime and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy took him to task on it, Hoffa ending up in jail. The money Hoffa was using was coming out of teamster pension fund accounts, so lots of drivers had a problem with that naturally. Some teamster actions and protests were ugly and violent to the point they turned public opinion against the organization. In the meantime, you know companies didn't want teamsters because it was costing them time and money so they began efforts not to use union drivers. With all this working against them, the teamsters gradually lost power and membership numbers over the years to the point that today, the teamsters still exist, but are just a shadow of their former selves. Today, most truckers would like to be unionized but have become such a diverse group they're unable to organize. Dave

[@tctarheelfarmin358]

@@SmartTrucking thank you for your reply. Hopefully, something can happen. Unions today are way better than they used to be, and there's less violence. These truckers can only take so much for this boils over

[@breadmerc5360]

Sadly I learned this a little bit after starting my career, glad you're doing the series of videos should definitely help some of the newbies out there.

[@ACE-LH6]

This is why I don't want to do trucking god bless you men who do

[@mojavedesert2610]

So, they will "load your trailer" without charging but charge to unload! Yep, it is a crooked business...

[@SmartTrucking]

Sure can be! Dave

[@sucellos8621]

Fortunately a lot of warehouses will sign the bol/del. rec. before you unload so if you have problems with lumpers or just getting unloaded in general you just throw their freight on the dock (or anywhere for that matter) and let them deal with it.

[@startrek91481]

Walmart is the absolute worst. They charge you $50 for their employees to unload the truck

[@bkrgls]

Shawn Hall Yep...I never understood it. How did this even start in the first place?

[@johnross1947]

Greed.

[@johnmarshall4442]

Good story , I agree with the idea that new truck drivers should watch your videos. Can't beat a life time of experience !

[@charlie2b-d335]

You also notice that big warehouses don't allow you to record @ their premises, Walmart is very specific about that, if they catch you filming they'll kick you out.

[@Keith_KC8TCQ]

those warehouses already have people working for them, who's job it is, to load and unload. I'm not paying anyone to do a job that is already being paid. Period.

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

Enjoy your day sitting on a hot dock,,, I am an EX trucker, I know.

[@kenneychappuis1853]

Growing up in the Salinas Valley CA we would load lettuce trucks. As lumpers we had to pay off people at the sheds to be able to work generally 25%. It as like working for the mob

[@thegods2622]

Lol I remember off loading a load and they wanted me to break it down I said to them once it off my trailer it's not my problem. They sit there and try to refuse to sign the bills and i tell them don't worry I got a copy I'll sign for you and drive away.

[@tonyfurneaux7670]

Yeah but they wont give you a green light to pull off the dock, they dont allow you on the dock, and if you pull off the dock on red light you get banned from site.

[@supremekingjesus425]

Michael Jurkiewicz lol. I remember back in 2014 it was my first year of trucking and my trainer warned me about them lumpers scams, when I graduated trucking school I went on my own up in New Jersey I can't remember the grocery warehouse name.. but I learned to always have two copies of the bills.. some Lumber was trying to charge me $250 to unload so I called the company and they told me they would pay me 175 to just unload it, once I unloaded it a foreman came up to me telling me they will still have to charge me $100 just to count it.. I told him good luck that's not my problem they also refused to sign the bills, I told him I had another copy in my truck and I would sign for them.. as soon as I was barely leaving the dock some forklift driver was trying to block me from leaving but it was already too late I have already close both doors but as soon as I got to security, that b**** didn't want to let me go so I told her either you let me go or I'll take matters in my own hands by calling the authorities she quickly open up that gate and I left.. I'll never ever go back to that stupid Warehouse again there nothing but scammers if you don't hire them if you do the work yourself, they will try to steal scam you. but I'm not stupid

[@pyroman6000]

Why would you WANT to go back?? Fine, ban me- you'll save me some trouble and aggravation!

[@potawatadingdong]

Not to throw names around, but Capstone is the worst. They always take hours to unload. I've gotten a 10 hour reset twice while waiting to unload thanks to Capstone at two different locations.

[@melvindewtc]

I'm at Performance FS-Lester. Dont even ask or mention about a lumper. After unloaded, they tell me its going to be 425. If it wasnt for needing the paperwork. I would have drove off.

[@stardustdreamfactory1947]

An interesting subject. I rarely used lumpers and the last (and most memorable) 'event' was around 20 years back at a general warehouse company in Roanoke, VA. Trailer load of canned meat on slip sheets, a Kroger load. Wrong height, had to be on pallets and the slip sheet forklift device had just conveniently broken. My employer wanted me to fingerprint the load, I refused. Lumpers had already left for the morning, dock supervisor made a phone call and two magically appeared. Wanted $100 a piece before the price magically ballooned to $300 total - it was too obvious who was getting the extra $100. The two older guys knocked it out in short order - paid by comchek - never went back. Was sent to make a pickup at a bedding company in Danville, VA. Load wasn't ready nor had it been started. Warehouse super couldn't give me a 'ready' time and my employer told me to stay with it (driving a day cab). Asked for permission to use a hotel and get reimbursed - refused. Load was ready the next morning at daybreak. Drove back to the yard (saturday morning), turned in my paperwork ,keys and never returned. Found a new job within a week shuttling food service doubles between warehouses - did that for about 3 years before being released (new owner - facility consolidation).

[@fatalritte1550]

Plenty of illegal things going on in the lumper business... Those lumpers sure do get mad when you tell them you’ll unload yourself. Loved the bunk story. Just another one of those things...😉👍🏾👍🏾

[@billjohnsonseattle]

This is amazing, eye opening stuff. I had been thinking about getting my CDL and possibly driving a truck, but after watching just a few of these videos, there's just no way. You can actually make more money at McDonalds, have less responsibility, and be home every night.