Question:
Some of you experienced drivers that are kind enough to visit the newbie board and offer your insights mention 'bids for runs' even though you're company drivers. Is 'bidding' just another way of saying dibs for seniority (with an acceptable level of job performance)? If not, what all goes into it?
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

Answer:
Is just a fancy way of saying I want it.
In certain sectors of the trucking industry (those with regular routes) any time a route becomes available it is posted and anyone who is interested in taking that route submits there name. After a period of time that route is generally given to whoever the most senior driver was that signed up.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Better to ask this on the Round Table, I would guess; not all shops have the exact same contracts or even the same unions. The Master Freight Agreement is used as a guideline, but each company negotiates different deals, they are not all the same at every company.
Generally it goes by seniority and time at your current skill set; some places have different runs every day, some you have to run the same P&D route or linehaul a set time before you can bid on a new opening, others are small companies and as long as everybody knows and agrees people will swap out, other places are large and somebody will bump you if they want your hours and lanes.
A lot of the time people get tired of the route they have and just want to do a different route for a while. It's no big deal unless you are casual or extra.
Where I worked the runs were all different every day so nobody cared, whatever was on our assigned truck we ran, it was all the same to us; the manager was an ex-driver and knew how to set up routes and spread them around evenly, so nobody ever worked the full 40 the five years I was there, unless they took the linehaul to Denver or Phoenix or Reno; we even split dock work since it paid well and could add another $11,000 a year if you wanted it all, just for an extra day's work a week.
Ask on the Round Table; more union guys there, and most don't come over to here to Fantasy Island.
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