Truckie quits job amid claims of workplace bullying

Being blamed for damaging equipment that was already broken was the final straw for this truckie, who claims he had no choice but to leave his job amid ongoing harassment.

He contacted Big Rigs after reading a recent story about workplace bullying, where several truckies shared their stories.

The truckie had been in his most recent role – delivering fuel to the mines – for less than 12 months, before finishing up just over a week ago.

He says he’s the third driver from that particular depot to quit in the past six months due to workplace bullying – particularly issues at the depot.

“Two other drivers left before I did, purely because of the mentality in the yard. The yard dynamic has changed to a point where there’s no more team or community set-up. The drivers used to talk to each other and sort stuff out, but now it’s every driver for themselves. The yard has become very dysfunctional,” he explained.

“They recruited a new scheduler, who seemed very friendly and polite when he was in company, but out in the yard he was very demanding and argumentative with everyone.

“He’d say things like, ‘You better get used to what I’m asking or you’ll end up with less shifts’.

“When I reached out to the union and mentioned the person, the guy there warned me of his attitude and said he was a snake in the grass.

“He’s also an on-call scheduler. There had been a couple of times where I had to call in the early hours of the morning and he’d come out angry, asking why I called. It got to a point where I had to start recording our conversations.”

The truckie made a formal complaint with the transport company’s HR department just prior to Christmas. He was told the matter would be investigated and is currently waiting to hear back.

Along with issues of bullying and harassment, the truckie also claims there were ongoing issues with the maintenance of trucks and equipment. “They’re trying to get the loads out and that’s all that matters,” he said.

“So they’re taking a band-aid approach instead of fixing things properly. The trucks only get properly fixed if they’re constantly being forced off the road.

“They’re short-staffed to the point they’re even having to pull drivers in from other states!”

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