I got another job offer today. Like everything, there are advantages and disadvantages. My current (and still relatively new) employer of Frito Lay can offer me the ability to earn over $70,000 a year. A few of the senior guys even flirt with six figures. But I have been worried about the ongoing possibility of injury, and the hours have been killing me. Working odd hours is one thing. But working odd hours that are inconsistent from one day to the next is absolutely brutal.

The job offer I received today will give me an annual salary in the high 40's. That is a pay-cut for me, even compared to my previous job driving long-haul over-the-road. But there are also several advantages. Primarily among them is the fact that the job is, for the most part, normal waking hours. And it is STRICTLY Monday through Friday. Weekends off. WEEKENDS OFF. That is amazing. I've never had a job with such normal hours. Hell, I could even have a social life. Actually go on dates again.

This new job offer is paid hourly. That means if I am sitting in traffic, driving, or unloading I'm getting paid the same. In the end, it doesn't work out to a bottom line that is as much money as I was making over-the-road... but I'm sure if you broke it down by actual hours it might be better.

Though... not compared to Frito. Without any doubt, Frito wins the money contest hands-down.

So on the one hand I have tremendous earning potential. But with extremely difficult hours and backbreaking manual labor. On the other hand I have an entirely ordinary salary with entirely ordinary hours that could afford me an entirely ordinary life. Something I have actually been desiring. It's also SLIGHTLY closer to where I live. From Providence to Mansfield is 20 miles, and it's all I-95. From Providence to Killingly is 30 miles, almost all secondary roads. Both jobs offer me immediate access to their respective 401k programs. The Mansfield, Mass. job does offer IMMEDIATE health-care coverage. That's irrelevant in the long-term, but it'd be nice since I'm currently in an uninsured gap between jobs. The Mansfield job offers uniform service. That's kinda nice. They use all Ryder and Xtra leased equipment... but at least it's late model stuff.

So I'm currently leaning towards dropping Frito. But I'm embarrassed, to some degree. It's a very macho, Teamster environment. I hate the idea of appearing like I can't handle it. It isn't so much that I can't... as simply a question of what type of lifestyle do I want to live? How much is a big salary REALLY worth to me? Am I willing to deal with my body never knowing if I should be awake or sleeping for an extra $20k a year? I've got thirty or so years before retirement. Is it more important to make as much money as I possibly can between now and then, or have a job that doesn't kill me in the process?

I'm not too happy with the new job. There's huge earning potential, but a whole slew of disadvantages. Primarily among them the feeling that I'm constantly on the verge of injury. "The way things work" at Frito-Lay makes no sense to me. Engineering maximum cubic capacity seems to take precedence over what would be safer. Moving freight on a hand-truck is no big deal. Moving freight stacked twice as high as the (already height-extended) hand-truck is ridiculously difficult.

And honestly, odd hours would not bother me so much if there was some consistency to it. There isn't... at least not for someone at the bottom. I may work from 6am-9pm one day, then 4pm-4am the next day. Then midnight-10am the day after that.

Anyhow, the job is more about handling freight than it is about driving. But you're accountable for everything of course. And the constantly changing hours make it really difficult to stay alert. Add to all this the fact that they do not have enough tractors, so many are constantly being used. You bring one in... it's fueled up and someone else is already waiting to take it out again. And some of the trailers are well beyond the age they SHOULD be retired. If you miss virtually ANY defect in a post-trip inspection you're written up for it. Now honestly, inspections are part of a driver's duties anywhere... but they're being Nazi about it. If the equipment was actually given better preventative maintenance, they wouldn't be falling apart nearly so much.

All in all, it is brutal. And I hurt.

The temptation of $70k + is quickly losing it's appeal. I feel it is likely that I wont stick with this job if I can find something else that ISN'T going back to over-the-road. I've already started looking for alternatives. Even going through the annoying rigmarole of getting certified for doubles/triples (not that I'm excited about doing that kind of work but it opens up many more options). And getting fingerprinted by the Dept. of Homeland Security so I can have a hazardous materials endorsement.

If you haven't yet seen this summer's blockbuster sensation, I suggest you immediately do so.



But aside from that, I'm also planning to see The Dark Knight on Sunday.

This job is not going to be easy. I'm already feeling sore from a couple of days, and I was pretty much just helping. It'll take a while to get used to all the actual labor involved. Having said that, the other drivers I've met so far all seem to be doing rather well. The guy I rode with on Tuesday said he's already made $50k this year. One of the big differences between the pay method at Frito-Lay and my previous over-the-road type of jobs is that we're paid for EVERYTHING we do. Equipment inspection: paid. Drop & Hook trailers: paid. Delayed for any reason? Paid. Immediately too -- not sucking up the first two hours like most common carriers do.

Tuesday we made two stops on Long Island with a trailer that was floor-loaded with cases of chips. The first stop we built pallets and that ended up being pretty quick. Less than an hour. The second stop was out the eastern side of LI and that took a few hours of hard work on a very hot morning. We were drenched. Like I said... it is definitely difficult work. And the hours vary -- and can be difficult. On Monday I began work at 0330 am. On Tuesday I started at 0130 am. That essentially means on both days I had to "wake up" an hour before then to throw on my clothes and make the 45 minute commute from Providence to Dayville, CT. But there are perks too. That Tuesday trip to Long Island ended with us driving the tractor-trailer onto the Orient Point ferry and taking that method of getting home. I was baffled at first that the company would pay such an expense, both for the truck and the hourly rate for the driver. But with the cost of fuel being what it is, the "manual" way of driving back west off the island, through New York City, and then all the way up I-95 through Connecticut would actually be more costly, take longer, be more dangerous, and without any doubt more aggravation. So in the end it actually makes sense, and was also much better than having to make the go-around trip. Of course, I wont always get so lucky... I just thought it was a pretty cool thing. And even though I was JUST riding along (training, observing, helping), I still made $270. (The regular driver made over $400 for the run).





My new car has been great. I looked at a bunch of different things, the Honda being the most expensive. But it felt right, and I figured it was difficult to go wrong with a Honda... especially when I got 35.4mpg on my first tank of gas. I got the goodies like alloy wheels, moonroof... pretty much everything except leather and the navigation system (come ON, I'm a professional after all!). Bought some custom-fit seat covers to help protect the investment, especially after those long days of sweating my ass off. Now I'm just waiting for some mounting brackets for my satellite radio.


And I leave you with this...

Bought this car.


Start work at Frito-Lay on Monday.

Man, it takes forever to get hired by this fucking place.

But at least there's nothing bad to report.

I really hope I start soon, otherwise I'll have to cut out beer.

Great Odin's Beard!

I've been getting worried, because it was a week and a half ago that I interviewed with Frito-Lay. I'd left that interview with the understanding that they were interested in hiring me pending everything in their usual process. But when this much time has elapsed without hearing anything at all, I've been stressed out. I've been unemployed now for 7 weeks (which is 3 more than I was PLANNING on), and my supply of available cash is pretty much gone. Yikes. So I called on Tuesday and the dude wasn't in, so I left a voice-mail.

This morning I get a call. He's apologetic for the process taking so long. I told him I just wanted to be sure there was still interest here because otherwise I'd need to go get another job immediately. And of course that would suck if I take something else and THEN get offered the Frito-Lay position. The guy assures me they're interested and tells me I should stand by and wait for their process.

So, that's awesome. I'm pretty glad. I'm thrilled with the idea of making a salary in the 70's AND having a 5-day work week. Schwing!

Not much going on right now. I've got this song stuck in my head. I guess it doesn't help that the Atlantis resort is bombarding me with their commercials.

I'll be calling up Pepsi to tell them I'm not interested in the position they're offering. I could see perhaps taking a part-time position if (a) it had good benefits, and (b) there was a fair chance that it'd lead to a full-time position in a reasonable amount of time. Neither of those things is true regarding Pepsi, so I can't really see any advantage to going to work for them.

On the brighter side of life: I went to interview at Frito-Lay in Killingly, Connecticut this morning. I'm assuming all went well since the interviewing manager gave a hire-recommendation to my application. Now they poke around in my history for a while and see if they can dig up any skeletons or other reason I'm not suitable for the position. Nothing to worry about there. They said they'll be in touch to schedule a follow-up interview and road test.

I am definitely hoping that they make me a job offer. It's a Teamster position, and while I have my own reservations about how relevant labor unions actually are in today's modern job market, I'm not about to decline an offer just based on that. Pros and cons, just like everything. But the bottom line is earning potential in the $70k ++ range. And just as importantly, excellent benefits, getting home ALMOST every night, and usually a 5-day work schedule. That's a pretty darn outstanding package all-in-all.

Frito-Lay will involve a lot of unloading. It's hand-truck style unloading... dock-to-dock for the most part (from what I've been told). But the nice thing about this is that it is all PAID, and... it's potato chips. That's hardly back-breaking work. I don't have any problem with that since the overall pay & benefits package for the job is so good.

So I'm just sitting by waiting now. But I'm optimistic.

All of that MIGHT mean eventually moving back to Connecticut. Or at least west of Providence (something like Situate or Foster, perhaps). There's no way in hell I'm going to make a daily commute all that way... especially while driving a thirsty V8 Jeep. May be new-car time also.

~Eli

Got an interview with Pepsico tomorrow. I'm confident that they'll hire me... but I'm less confident that I really want the job. I need to learn some details first. But the main disadvantage is that it's offered as a "part time" position. That's a bit rough. But it may simply be a situation where they'll let you work to your maximum DOT allowable hours... its just not officially a full-time position. Who knows -- I'm merely speculating. But I need a full time paycheck.

On the plus side: I imagine that these big corporations probably have outstanding benefits. And also: this short-haul job would let me have something CLOSE to a normal social life. Just like Lizardo's job with Coke however... the hours would be a bit rough. Early mornings, in particular. I can live with that if it's all about driving and not lugging beverages. Since the position pays by mileage rather than hourly, that seems at least reasonably likely.

Anyhow, we'll see how this goes...