|
Double Take -- by Mark Sproxton
Inside the dimly-lit, dusty warehouse the gate on the back of a trailer is opened. Inside sit a few dozen pallets stacked with hundreds of boxes covered with a shrink-wrap packaging. A member of the warehouse staff uses a pallet jack, like a wheeled car jack, to haul the pallets off the truck. Then the lumpers get busy.
What's a lumper? Good question. Essentially, they are people trained to unload and load trucks as safely, and quickly as possible. They also hold a bit of an unusual place in the warehouse industry. Even though they spend the majority of their time in the warehouse, they don't work at one warehouse specifically.
Through Brahma Lumper Services, the lumpers are dispatched to wherever someone needs a truck loaded or unloaded. "A lumper generally doesn't get up at the same time everyday," explains Joel, a lumper for two years. "It depends which appointment you get at which warehouse."
|
"We do end up doing a lot of waiting, but essentially it's a paid workout."
Joel, Lumper
|
Regardless of where, or when, they start, the work routine is similar. "You either arrive and start, or you wait if the truck's not there. We do end up doing a lot of waiting, but essentially it's a paid workout."
As the lumpers are paid per trailer they load or unload, Joel says there's some incentive to get things done quickly. "You could spend all day at the warehouse, but they're generally loud and noisy and not much fun. A person's ability to be good is dependant upon the desire to push themselves."
Most of the work requires manually lifting boxes off trailers, or off pallets. Seldom do lumpers use things like pallet jacks or forklifts. Some paper work may also be involved, however. Packing slips, or proof of deliveries, must be accounted for and given to the warehouse staff as those documents list all items that were supposed to have been shipped. "Sometimes you sign off stuff worth $180,000," Joel said. "You have to make sure everything's there."
And if the job gets done, and there are no other scheduled appointments, the lumpers have the day to themselves. That freedom, and the hard work, are two aspects of the job Joel enjoys most. "It's hard work punctuated by waiting. The best thing for myself is I get to push myself everyday. (And) when you know what you are doing and doing it well, you have a sense of accomplishment."
|
