What's up with grocery warehouses?

Alot of older established reefer fleets know who the the time wasters are and wont haul for them .
My fleet does americold daily and they know they have 2 hours to get us out or we charge the hell out of them for detension.
We dont do many grocery warehouses either and those that we do are known as good to us .

 

I delivered first stop this morning (near Walton, Ky), waited an hour and half for door, then 1/2 load was off in 15 minutes, had my bills I was on my way. Now for final in Atlanta tomorrow 10:00 AM. Let’s hope it’s as fast. By far the worst I have had was a few months ago, Kroger load, two dropper, Memphis and Ft Worth...36 hour wait at each stop. I ended up with $500.00 detention Pay that trip though. Then bounced clear to Omaha for reload.

 

I go to grocery warehouses all the time. Some are better than others. Lumper service is legal extortion, as they charge to unload their own product. In some cases the warehouse doesn't even have a lumper service, they have their own employees unload their product and still charge. Numerous places have a sign that states that if the driver unloads it, he has only 2 hours. But the lumper service can take all day.... I always make sure before booking a load, that they pay detention, otherwise I won't haul it. But, detention pay won't cover missed loads. So some times you have the "grease" the lumper. Which means pay him something on the down low to get you out of there.

 

Yeah, the highest I’ve seen.

 

One of the problems with greasing the lumpers is that they come to expect it. Maybe some of you guys can afford it, but this company guy can’t.

There was one lumper at Lineage in Atlanta that asked for some grease and I gave him an honest answer that I had no cash. I guess he believed me because he said he’d unload me just as fast anyway. There are some decent lumpers, but my experience is mostly that they are slow and suck.

As a side note. The place I was at yesterday took load locks as grease. Apparently they sell them for a few bucks.

 

I agree! Trust me, I don't want to grease them, because just like you said they do expect it. I am an O/O and was running a dedicated LTL run to Atlanta. And if I didn't grease the lumper I wouldn't make my last stop before they closed. I have been to Lineage in Atlanta, it is horrible

 

$280 is my highest, but (a) I've nowhere near your experience, and (b) only have done occasional non-temp-controlled grocery loads.

 

Thats insane! Worst I have had that I can remember is $454 for a straight pull off of water at a Rite Aid distribution center.

 

I've only been driving solo for 8 months.

Yeah, most I see are much lower. I almost shizzled my pants.