Random LTL Rants (all are welcomed)

I kind of did.

 

We usually don't bring 2-wheelers with us, because those deliveries are pretty rare. It's a good idea to bring one if you know you have a residential delivery, but we don't always know. Sometimes people use their house as a business address. If they don't pay for liftgate service and don't have a forklift lying around, the driver has to break it down and get it off the truck. And that's all.

He was only required to drop it at the driveway (curbside). The customer doesn't realize it, but the driver actually went above and beyond by doing an inside delivery, which should be signed for because it costs more. That video is an example of a residential customer not realizing what a "freight" delivery is. He thought it should be a smaller package truck and the guy should happily bring everything up to the house. We don't do that unless you pay extra. I'm sure most LTLs are like that.

 

I think the reason he didn't load the two-wheeler is that the stuff was oversized and awkward. @Mike2633 woulda been able to figure it out, but we're not very good at driving those things.

 

I'm not the greatest at driving pallet jacks though so you beat me there ha-ha. My first week at the beer company I drove an electric pallet jack through a plastic shelf in a shed at the drop lot. The guy watching me work just looked and the ceiling and said "I didn't see anything." Ha-ha!

 

I was wrong - I had seen that video a while back and forgot the details. After watching it again, it sounds like he was used to using FedEx Freight and likes them better. Maybe he used Dayton for a better rate or whatever. He requested a liftgate delivery, but the liftgates were all probably out on other routes, so they loaded a van to attempt delivery anyway. The driver did what he had to do, with a good attitude despite being filmed. A lesser driver would have taken the freight back, saying it required a liftgate.

If I'm ever filmed, I'll politely let them know I don't consent to them posting a video of me on the Internet.

 

Ahhh...
In my company we go to residential areas too... My company belongs to a charitable organization and sometimes we deliver donations to ministries, churches, schools, food banks and all sorts of places... many in residential areas where trucks don't go... Sometimes we go to "events"... in convoys... sometimes streets have to be blocked so we can go...
One time, I parked at truck stop near delivery place, walked to the location checking out turns, trees, low branches and power lines to find best way to get there with truck... and out... Had to ask folks to cut some tree branches cause where they wanted the truck to stage had too many low branches...

 

In my company, we drivers don't touch the load.... And some of the folks that receive donation loads don't even have a pallet jack or any equipment... Those generally have lots and lots of volunteers... they jump in the trailer and unload the boxes by hand...
On my first year in this company I have helped folks to unload the trailer by hand a few times... we formed a line inside and outside the trailer and passed on the boxes so they could be re-piled up outside... I didn't ask any extra money for that... as that wasn't part of my job... But it was a lot of fun...

 

I've had to do that once. We had a few pallets which was about a couple hundred cases of food going to a really small food bank. I parked along the street around the corner from their building because the front of their building I would of been blocking parked cars and the whole street and I knew this was gonna take a few to unload. Well turns out all they had to unload was a shopping card that you could only get 2 cases in. Hmmmm lets see, couple hundred cases divided by 2 cases means a lot of trips that would of taken for ever.

So they showed me their back door on an alley. I checked the area out, looked at power lines above. Stuff around it. Knew I was good. So I backed that 53' reefer in that narrow alley. then we formed a chain from me inside the trl with several people going inside their building to throw a couple hundred cases. I actually didn't mind it though. Something different, that's for sure. Plus it feels good to help donate all that food.