How not to act towards a shipper/receiver

Another reaon I've encountered that some receivers will not unload early, is they're evaluated on their timeliness.

There's a large food company that we haul beaucoup product for. If you have a appointment for, say, 11:00am Monday, even though it may be a drop & hook delivery, they won't accept you until only one hour before your appointment time.

Oftentimes this is because the company that runs the warehouse is evaluated by the food manufacturer/shipper on how fast they get the trailers unloaded after their arrival and the product stocked into inventory.

Imagine that the warehouse has 10 forklift operators - 5 to load, 5 to unload. 25 trucks from the same company show up in one day, instead of delivering over the next three days like they're scheduled to. Now, the warehouse has to shift people from the loading side to the unloading side in order to get the product into inventory as quickly as possible. A backup develops in the shipping department - due to a lack of loaders, and suddenly the warehouse is thrown into chaos.

So my friends, the next time you have a delivery at a warehouse, and they tell you that even though it may be a drop & hook delivery, they won't accept your trailer until one hour before the delivery appointment time -- this may very well be the reason why.

 

Probably true, but think about it. This is just dumb management by beancounters. Infact, i bet thats exactly why walmart is so picky.

 

No its not always the drivers fault, it his fault that he (the driver) did not call ahead to let them know, or a dispatchers fault, I realize some companies do not want the driver to call themselves but to have dispatch call. In any case very few will take you late at least warehouses.

Part of why its really important to examine a dispatch when its sent before accepting it. I commonly call in to dispatch and tell them I can not accept the load if it delivers at (whatever time) because I can not deliver till( this time). This way you at least minimize your odds of getting screwed on the end.

 

Nah... the reason they appear to be so "picky" is their scheduling software. Won't generate early dock assignements.

 

My son works the docks at Walmart Apple Valley (formerly at Porterville), there scheduled times to pickup and deliver has to do with the amount of employee's working and the amount of warehouse space.

He has times when a incoming load can not be off loaded till a outbound is loaded to create room. The number of forklift driver scheduled is also directly proportional to the number of loads scheduled.

Walmart will at least allow the drop and hook's upon arrival, or at least they have for me. BUt live load/unload have always been 1 hour early.

 

Yup, thats right. I actually prefer loads where i have days and days of extra time on them. I haul my hours out and get to where im like 4 hours from the delivery, 3 days early, and oh hey, they want me to drop it in this dropyarde and get this other load... that's where i get the most miles AND the least stress!

I remember a while back I was dispatched on a canadian load (going INTO canada i mean) that I had time to deliver, but....we have to get a trailer inspection before entering. Trailer needed repairs. Took hours to get into the shop. Took an hour or so to fix. By the time it was ready, i had enough hours to...cross the border and take a 10 hour break. But...I knew i was going to be waaay late, so before I crossed, i called in and asked if they'd take it late, and got a "well call the customer and asked". So i used several international minutes to call, and, oh, you'll have to have dispatch set up a new appointment. I sent that on the quallcom and next thing i know, they want me to drop it in the Milton, ON yard and pick up a load going to PA...

Given the way they sounded on the phone, they would not have accepted the load late, period. I bet the new appointment was several days later, in the whole manner of "well you screwed us so we're screwing you". My $2 in international minutes earned me money though, as far as im concerned.

 

You know there is a lot to be said for that, I wound up walking into a really really good deal simply because I offered a fork lift driver a cold pepsi.

I hauled a load of lumber into them, and wound up with a steady haul of thier product coming out of there that was paying almost twice what anything else I could get out of the area was.

That was a huge difference.

Also in many places I frequented id hand out a couple of sodas every so often, made the people remember me. Also having a clean sharp looking truck helped too. They tend to want to make conversation with you a bit more then then when you are in a company wagon.

 

you get to see me in the shower

 

It took ten pages to say treat people the way you would like to be treated and don't let other people determine what kind of a day you are going to have.
For example, when MrBeast post that he has a sharp looking truck and others have a company wagon. I simply see the humor of that remark and think it is quite telling of his attitude towards other professional drivers who have to share the same work area.
Many times at a shipper or receiver you are sized up before you even walk through the door, ex. Do you park out of the way and find your way into the receiving area or do you pull up as close as you can and block every thing? Are you dressed like a professional at work or someone getting ready to paint the garage? Do you walk in the building smoking or just sling the butt in the lot? The real question is, do you look and act like the person you want to see on the other side of the window? Every one has a bad time of it at work at some point , you may have just appeared at that time, your best solution to diffuse the situation is to remain professional and not escalate the drama.
I was at Super Valu in Atlanta one morning (4:30) there were 25 perishable loads waiting to get a door assignment, I was near the end of the line, of the 20 drivers ahead of me not one said Good Morning or even Hello, when I got to the window I said Good Morning the receiver stopped what she was doing , looked up and said Good Morning, you're the first one that said that. I said I know, I was watching, of course she had given away all the doors by that time but she ended up apologizing to me because she didn't have door.
I often hear drivers talk about trucking in the 80's, the real difference between then and now is the drivers were nicer and the trucks were crappy, today it seems to be just the opposite.

 

sometimes, i'll tell them i know that they get drivers bugging them about how long it will take to load/unload and that the only reason i am asking how long it will take is because i was wondering if i should bother trying to take a nap. i've found that when i ask that, and am very nice about it, i get unloaded pretty quickly.

maybe it's because they've heard how ornery i am when i wake up!