My schedule goes like this:
4:30 pm (yes, my day begins in the afternoon) - Drive to the Dearborn Truck PlantThis schedule has definitely taken some getting used to and my hands are constantly swollen, but it does have some perks. The traffic is never bad during my commute, I only have to work 4 days a week (Tues-Fri), and the night shift guys yell fewer profanities and cat calls across the plant. Plus, this has been a very low stress job thus far. I show up on time, do the same thing 630 times, listen to an audio book, follow a dress code that includes basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and if I make a mistake it is quickly caught and fixed by a supervisor.
5:15 pm - Find a supervisor and figure out who is AWOL, so I can do their job
5:30 pm - The line starts moving
8:15 pm - Take a 20 minute break
10:45 pm - Take a 10 minute break
11:35 pm - Eat lunch, dinner, supper, midnight snack, etc. - not sure what to call that meal
12:05 am - The line starts moving again
2:00 am - Take a 22 minute break
4:00 am - Head home
4:45 am - Take a shower and go to bed (Jen put aluminum foil on our window so our room stays dark so I can sleep until 1 pm-ish)
Last Friday I was working with a guy. After chatting for a few hours he asked if I could give him a ride home. I asked where he lived and he said, "Detroit." Last week a couple people were shot and killed in separate car-jackings, so I wasn't excited about heading in that direction in the middle of the night. Plus, everyone I've talked to said to never go into Detroit at night, so I told him I'd be in a rush to get home.
He continued dropping hints like, "It's too bad the bus doesn't run at night", "I'm pretty new and don't know anyone on this shift,", and "I don't know how I'm going to get home." I finally gave in and told him I could drive him home. On the way he asked me to stop so he could pick up some cigarettes. He suggested I park right next to the door of the gas station, so the security cameras would be on me. When we got to his place he told me his buddy had been "jacked" a block down the road, so he would jump out of the car as soon I stopped and let me drive off as quick as possible. Long story short, I dropped him off and got the heck out of there.
The chassis and bodies come in on separate lines.
I work on the trim line attaching various pieces to the body like antenas, grommets, wire holders, and A/C pressure lines.
The bodies sit on lifts that can be adjusted to each worker's height, so their backs don't get too sore; they still get sore, though.
Between 2 shifts the plant builds around 1300 trucks a day.
6 comments:
Wow- Detroit gets scary really fast. Pretty cool stuff. Are those stock pictures of the plant, or did you take those?
These are stock photos from Google.
I was always afraid of Detroit. Though during the day we found plenty of safe, interesting stuff to do there. :-)
Very cool to see how they make the trucks! Too bad you can't "sign" all the trucks you make. Then you could look for them at dealerships on the weekend, kind of like a really weird scavenger hunt!
So these are the F series? 150 - 350 or only one size? Also only gasoline or do you also assemble diesel at this plant?
Yup, just gasoline F-150's
I'm impressed that a Michiganer knew Utah has copper mines. I bet a lot of Utahns don't think about that very much. We're too focused on radioactive waste disposal.
I think I would have offered to give the co-workder a bed at my house rather than drive to his. But you were doing him a service, and luckily this good deed went unpunished. Do most employees live outside Dearborn?
I'm glad that my broken van handles could give you some pre-job training. :) Thanks again!
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