Bad job news!

My employer, Toys R Us, has decided to cash out of the transportation business and hire a contractor to run the logistics business.

This isn't a surprise; virtually all the large retailers, with the exception of Walmart, contract for their transportation.  It frees up a lot of capital and relieves them of a lot of liability.

Unfortunately, it means I have to switch over to working for the contractor, or find a new job.  Don't get me wrong; trucking jobs are easy to come by, but they get harder to find as they improve in quality.  This was a good one, with decent pay, good benefits, etc.  It means I have to take a cut in pay to stay working at the same place, pay more for my insurance, lose my accrued vacation for a year, etc.  It's a lot of turmoil, and I'm just getting too old for it!

Not sure what I'll do, but I'm going to keep my options open.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Good luck Mike with whatever you decide to do, this may be the break you need to a nice new venture in life.x

Good luck with your decision!

I feel your pain buddy. I lost my aux rt at USPS last month. I'm back to being a sub...waiting on someone to retire so I can be a "regular". I've been waiting for that for 18 yrs...I think it's a record. Waiting for someone to retire....and all the carriers are younger than me. Subbing for the last month has damn near killed me. I'm calling this semi-retirement. Good luck with what ever you decide. Time's are tough.
 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

I'm really sorry to hear this Mike, hopefully it'll all work out for you!
 

Sorry to hear that news, Mike. I hope something better falls into place for you other than having to work for the contractors :cross:

That sucks, Mike. that you find something equal to what you have now, or that working for the contractor for a couple of years won't be too bad.

Sorry to hear that Mike. You're a survivor, though. I'm confident you'll make the best decisions possible for you and your family.

 Sorry to hear about this. 

I'm sorry to hear this, as well.  I'm afraid basically the same thing will happen to me later in the year, which will put an end to my years towards retirement.

This was no surprise; I've expected almost since I started working here.  I can match the pay by giving up home time.  Or I can take a cut in pay.

A number of the drivers are talking about legal action, but it looks to me like we are under the limits for the WARN Act.  And that's burning your bridges.  This sort of change has been known to come unstuck, before, so I guess I can hope.
 

Oh Mike, I hope this becomes "unstuck" for you and things can continue as normal. It would stink taking a pay cut like that in this economy, not to mention the safety issues. 

The good news is that you have to hide under a rock to keep from getting a good trucking job in this area, what with all the oil field service trucks, etc. 

I have all the typical tractor/trailer endorsements, plus hazmat (expensive and time-consuming to get), doubles/triples, and tank endorsements.  I haven't had a moving violation since 1983.  I haven't had an at-fault accident since 1991, and that was running over a rock in a dirt parking lot.  I have at least 2,000,000 safe miles, which, for the average car driver, is 133 years of experience.

Think I'll have a hard time finding a job?

I just hate to change.  I had hoped to eventually retire from this job.