PalletGirl

Today I am venting about a long term issue with this business...or maybe any business. Employees. I was one for 16 years and even though sometimes things were not as I thought they should be, fair or not fair, I was alway appreciative of the job and new that my paycheck was compensation for my work and that if my boss said he needed me to do something, I did it. My gripe today is for those people who think I am lucky they work for me. (Even though they see people in and out of here weekly begging for jobs). When did it become that I or any company for that matter owes them a check each week. How is it that they think they should get compensated for just showing up. I have been pondering a sliding pay scale. You know kind of like a grading scale. "A" days are worth this and "D" days are worth something less.

You know, if they come in Monday hung over and take a longer time to do anything they are asked, or make repeated trips to the bathroom; that would be a "D" day. If they do what there supposed to in a reasonable amount of time then that would be "B" day and if they gave extroidinary efforts, they should be rewarded over the others. Probably more work for me to monitor and keep up but maybe worth looking into.

It is so frustrating to hand out those checks and know that this one individual is just not worthy. Another example is that we have a certain customer that we can build a complete load for in one day. We do it repeatativley. We let them know that the job has to be done prior to leaving or they will be working over. You know giving them some heads up that they may have to work over....Guess what? 3:30 roles around and they are short of completion. They start cleaning up and we are like no, keep building until you are done. Now they are mad because they have to stay over. They just drug their butts all day and thought they could milk it and get OT. Do they not realize that if they want to keep their jobs the Company has to make money, and if they consistantly go over on labor that eats into the profits? Yep, they know that and they just do not care. Can I fire them? Yes, but I also have to deal with unemployment issues. Lots of paperwork, and the chance that the unemployment office will not find that they were fired for just cause. So, that means I have to document every warning, issue, etc. I have to have things in writing, signed by the employee, and blah blah blah. and besides, it generally sucks to have to fire someone...even if they aren't doing a good job.

I 'd rather reform them. Anyone have any good ideas?

This is a real gripe for just about anyone I know...gas prices...GRRRR Well when your in a business and you spend quite a lot of money on fuel to deliver your product it can become larger than GGRRRRR. For some time I have watched the diffence with the gas vs. diesel price and it fluctuates in opposite directions. If gas goes up, diesel down and vice versa. Right now in NC, IN the gas is down to 2.49 from about 2.89 and the diesel is upto 3.30 from 3.04

WHAT? This may very well be a blonde female moment for me but I just do not understand. Wouldn't you think they would rise and fall together?

My theory is that their formula for pricing is based upon the differnece in mileage per gallon with regards to gas and diesel. They want to make sure they get the same...no breaks

you would not believe how many company's pay to dump perfectly good pallets into a landfill. I have been tempted to try to work out something with the landfill to sort them out before they go in. Pallet companies who recycle, mine included almost cringe when they see dumpsters with pallets sticking out of them. That is like flushing dollar bills to us!

When I got into this business I decided I was going to do everything I could to try and save the natural resources we have available. My truck is always returning with unwanted pallets that we tear down and re-use the parts. I have a lot of fun trying to find homes for the good ones....more to come