The Old Man's career dries up, Snackbar transfers to Crete from Shaffer

JohnBoy · Apr 13, 2026 at 2:37 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

This is how I picture my shipper today...story to follow video.

I am loading at a freight forwarding company in Wood Dale, IL. 9 am appointment. Traffic was lighter than expected so I get there at 7:30 (they don't open until 8). Sign on the fence says pick a door between 4 and 14, back in, then check in. Only 1 door open, the rest have drop containers in them. Place is to small to turn around and sight side back in, but there is ample room between the doors to blind side. I am the 1st truck here. I get backed in, wait until 8, check in with the office and they say pull out of the door, come back at 8:50. By 8:50 there is a line, but because I have an appointment, I get the next door. Get in a door again, get my paperwork, stand at my door waiting to give my paperwork to the loader. Hand him the paperwork, and wait to see if I need to witness the loading or not. Dock boss comes out and says we're gonna reschedule. Consignee wants it on pallets, we have always shipped it on the floor before, so we have to palletize the load and it will be all day. He also says, don't pull out until you hear from your company. I head to the restroom before going out to see what Crete says. Walking across the dock from the potty, he says they changed their mind and will take the load on the floor one last time but from now on, they want them on pallets. 15 min later, the loader comes out and needs 5 straps...no bueno, we only carry 2. He takes them and says they'll make it work. They start loading. About 1/2 way thru, another loader comes out and wants 3 more straps. I say we don't carry more than 2, he says they have straps, but they're $12 ea. I ask if they take EFS, he says yes. I get a code for $36, take him the check, he says cash only...WAIT WAIT WAIT, you told me you take a check. So, there is a mini-Pilot around the corner. I have to drop my trailer, bobtail to the Pilot, pay $1 to cash the check, and come back.. When I try to pay him, he says hold on until we're done loading. Then he comes out and says no receipt...I tell him to pound sand, no receipt, no money, bill it to the consignee...now the CSR's are involved. He says that this consignee sometimes requires 10 straps. It's 3' x 2' x 18" boxes of swings, layed on their side, wall to wall and all the way back past the last strap track, so there is no way to put a strap around anything because there is no room between the boxes and the wall....not sure how anything will move anyway unless I roll it over...I tell him 1 strap and 1 load lock. Put the load lock on top of the last row, and a strap above it to keep the walls from flexing and I guarantee it won't move an inch, but he says the receiver has to see pictures and they want straps.
Click to expand...

Good God almighty. I just got a dose of PTSD reading this. Makes me so very grateful the extent of my dealing with shippers and receivers is how long it takes me to punch in arrived on my app as I drive through a hub gate and then punching in my new load assignment. Dispatching? Same. Self dispatch as I’m driving through the same gate. Not criticizing you, poop happens. But that’s a whole bunch of crap to go through for one load.

navypoppop · Apr 13, 2026 at 2:40 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

This is how I picture my shipper today...story to follow video.

I am loading at a freight forwarding company in Wood Dale, IL. 9 am appointment. Traffic was lighter than expected so I get there at 7:30 (they don't open until 8). Sign on the fence says pick a door between 4 and 14, back in, then check in. Only 1 door open, the rest have drop containers in them. Place is to small to turn around and sight side back in, but there is ample room between the doors to blind side. I am the 1st truck here. I get backed in, wait until 8, check in with the office and they say pull out of the door, come back at 8:50. By 8:50 there is a line, but because I have an appointment, I get the next door. Get in a door again, get my paperwork, stand at my door waiting to give my paperwork to the loader. Hand him the paperwork, and wait to see if I need to witness the loading or not. Dock boss comes out and says we're gonna reschedule. Consignee wants it on pallets, we have always shipped it on the floor before, so we have to palletize the load and it will be all day. He also says, don't pull out until you hear from your company. I head to the restroom before going out to see what Crete says. Walking across the dock from the potty, he says they changed their mind and will take the load on the floor one last time but from now on, they want them on pallets. 15 min later, the loader comes out and needs 5 straps...no bueno, we only carry 2. He takes them and says they'll make it work. They start loading. About 1/2 way thru, another loader comes out and wants 3 more straps. I say we don't carry more than 2, he says they have straps, but they're $12 ea. I ask if they take EFS, he says yes. I get a code for $36, take him the check, he says cash only...WAIT WAIT WAIT, you told me you take a check. So, there is a mini-Pilot around the corner. I have to drop my trailer, bobtail to the Pilot, pay $1 to cash the check, and come back.. When I try to pay him, he says hold on until we're done loading. Then he comes out and says no receipt...I tell him to pound sand, no receipt, no money, bill it to the consignee...now the CSR's are involved. He says that this consignee sometimes requires 10 straps. It's 3' x 2' x 18" boxes of swings, layed on their side, wall to wall and all the way back past the last strap track, so there is no way to put a strap around anything because there is no room between the boxes and the wall....not sure how anything will move anyway unless I roll it over...I tell him 1 strap and 1 load lock. Put the load lock on top of the last row, and a strap above it to keep the walls from flexing and I guarantee it won't move an inch, but he says the receiver has to see pictures and they want straps.
Click to expand...

SSB,
You have got to be kidding! How in Hell do you get all the luck? This sounds like the worse shipper in the world. I can't believe you didn't go "postal" after all those issues. Keep us informed on this one for sure. Good luck.

O.Henry · Apr 13, 2026 at 2:47 PM

The straps they sell are probably unused ones from other loads,and are scamming drivers.It is Illinois!

Trucker61016 · Apr 13, 2026 at 3:04 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

This is how I picture my shipper today...story to follow video.

I am loading at a freight forwarding company in Wood Dale, IL. 9 am appointment. Traffic was lighter than expected so I get there at 7:30 (they don't open until 8). Sign on the fence says pick a door between 4 and 14, back in, then check in. Only 1 door open, the rest have drop containers in them. Place is to small to turn around and sight side back in, but there is ample room between the doors to blind side. I am the 1st truck here. I get backed in, wait until 8, check in with the office and they say pull out of the door, come back at 8:50. By 8:50 there is a line, but because I have an appointment, I get the next door. Get in a door again, get my paperwork, stand at my door waiting to give my paperwork to the loader. Hand him the paperwork, and wait to see if I need to witness the loading or not. Dock boss comes out and says we're gonna reschedule. Consignee wants it on pallets, we have always shipped it on the floor before, so we have to palletize the load and it will be all day. He also says, don't pull out until you hear from your company. I head to the restroom before going out to see what Crete says. Walking across the dock from the potty, he says they changed their mind and will take the load on the floor one last time but from now on, they want them on pallets. 15 min later, the loader comes out and needs 5 straps...no bueno, we only carry 2. He takes them and says they'll make it work. They start loading. About 1/2 way thru, another loader comes out and wants 3 more straps. I say we don't carry more than 2, he says they have straps, but they're $12 ea. I ask if they take EFS, he says yes. I get a code for $36, take him the check, he says cash only...WAIT WAIT WAIT, you told me you take a check. So, there is a mini-Pilot around the corner. I have to drop my trailer, bobtail to the Pilot, pay $1 to cash the check, and come back.. When I try to pay him, he says hold on until we're done loading. Then he comes out and says no receipt...I tell him to pound sand, no receipt, no money, bill it to the consignee...now the CSR's are involved. He says that this consignee sometimes requires 10 straps. It's 3' x 2' x 18" boxes of swings, layed on their side, wall to wall and all the way back past the last strap track, so there is no way to put a strap around anything because there is no room between the boxes and the wall....not sure how anything will move anyway unless I roll it over...I tell him 1 strap and 1 load lock. Put the load lock on top of the last row, and a strap above it to keep the walls from flexing and I guarantee it won't move an inch, but he says the receiver has to see pictures and they want straps.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Russian Mafia shakedown there ......

supersnackbar · Apr 13, 2026 at 3:29 PM

navypoppop said: ↑

SSB,
You have got to be kidding! How in Hell do you get all the luck? This sounds like the worse shipper in the world. I can't believe you didn't go "postal" after all those issues. Keep us informed on this one for sure. Good luck.
Click to expand...

It's so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh. The reviews on Google Maps are all 1 star (more state they would give them negative stars if they could), so I wasn't expecting a "Costco DC" experience.

Trucker61016 said: ↑

Sounds like Russian Mafia shakedown there ......
Click to expand...

The majority speak Spanish as a primary language and broken english as a backup. I need to have the embroidery shop near home make me a jacket with I.C.E. on the back (which stands for Inventory Control Expert).

navypoppop · Apr 13, 2026 at 5:31 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

It's so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh. The reviews on Google Maps are all 1 star (more state they would give them negative stars if they could), so I wasn't expecting a "Costco DC" experience.

The majority speak Spanish as a primary language and broken english as a backup. I need to have the embroidery shop near home make me a jacket with I.C.E. on the back (which stands for Inventory Control Expert).
Click to expand...

SSB,
I suppose it's better to laugh it off than to have a coronary over it. Sounds like you are becoming more mellow.

supersnackbar · Apr 13, 2026 at 5:32 PM

The way I look at it, even this experience still beats most of the meat plant pick-ups and virtually every food warehouse Capstone unloads at, so I am still better off over here than the way things were swirling down the crapper at Shaffer

supersnackbar · Apr 13, 2026 at 5:36 PM

navypoppop said: ↑

SSB,
I suppose it's better to laugh it off than to have a coronary over it. Sounds like you are becoming more mellow.
Click to expand...

Immeasurably less stressed out over here. I shouldn't have believed what I was told about Shaffer improving and never gone back to them.

Knucklehead · Apr 13, 2026 at 6:03 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

I have an odd question to my fellow experienced drivers. When you are leaving your shower room, do you ever just stop at the door and think about which way is the exit, especially at the larger T/A, Petro and older Flying J locations that have hallways that branch off? After visiting so many different truck stops over the years, I find myself doing that more often, or maybe it's just me and my aging brain.
Click to expand...

You know you have an age problem when you walk out of the shower, and into the store, wondering where your clothes are.

navypoppop · Apr 13, 2026 at 7:18 PM

supersnackbar said: ↑

The way I look at it, even this experience still beats most of the meat plant pick-ups and virtually every food warehouse Capstone unloads at, so I am still better off over here than the way things were swirling down the crapper at Shaffer
Click to expand...

That's true

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