No communication at USX

One thing I have noticed is since this is a 24 hour a day job, even little problems seem huge and something that lasts a short time (slow freight for example) seem to last forever. If you have a bad day, you do not go home and let it go, you just seem to keep having to deal with it. People with little patience do not last.

 

I understand that .. But let me ask you a question...

Could you find the phone # to the place you deliver ?
1. If the answer is no... fine that really sucks..
2.If the answer is yes.. It may not be your JOB to do it, BUT who will be the one getting the load refused and waiting around ?

It may not be your job.... but you will be the one it effects ..sounds like a xtra phone call ahead from yourself if possiable on delivers could make things a lot easier in some cases.. when possiable !!

I do a lot of things at my job that aren't really MY JOB To do.. Welcome to the REAL world of working ..

Team work goes along ways in most companies...

Helping yourself is key at any job.. I'm a HVAC Servie tech...My job is to FIX Heaters and A/C's .. I'm Educated and all. 20 yrs exp so far 12yrs at my present company....... Its not my job to sweep the shop and office floors, take out the trash etc.. But sometimes I do it without even being asked .. .. Especially when I first started.. But I still do it now and again..and plenty of other things that are not in my so-called JOB Title..

Its called teamwork and you usually end up being treated better .. just sayin .. And when I need something from our shop guy .. He is always more than willing to help me back..Fact is I have never see another employee pick up a broom .. they will however sit around and bs and complain . Your dispatcher may be swapped and you helping make him/her look good might pay off down the road getting better loads, getting home .. Just sayin... what goes around comes around in my experince ..

 

Great suggestion D33HUNT3R. I'm going to remember that myself.

 

I agree that the communication around here could be a little better and from what you are saying, I guess it used to be better. I don't know about that as I'm still new here. I do know that when I need an answer about something a phone call is out of the question, but I eventually get a response through the DT, it may not be as fast as I would like, but it does happen. Very seldom does the response come directly from my FM, but from someone else on the team. I then direct all further communication regarding the issue directly to the person that responded on the DT and that seems to speed it up.

As far as appointment times, you're right, not your job. I've been out here 15 years though and in my experience this happens to me maybe once or twice a year at the most. C/S, the planners and the FMs are dealing with hundreds of loads a day, so I would think that they are carrying a pretty good average given the volume they handle. I would also be willing to bet that half of the time the appointment was made and it was an error on the customers part.

 

I really don't see a difference between now and a year ago. I had a horrible FM when I started so communication is actually a little better for me.

One thing I noticed about reefer loads is they seemed to be dispatched for solo, then they make the appt time when they know you are close. They might give you 5 days to get from cali to maryland, but it only takes two days for a team. You have to keep them updated on the ETA to your final. I used to update our eta every time we stopped.

As for waiting on a response, I'm real bad about that. That is one place where my patience runs thin. Also, the FM has to be quick to catch up with me. In CT the only mt at the receiver was a trailer with C&C and Arnold on it. I told my FM there was a C&C/Arnold trl there. He said we can pull an Arnold trailer so i hooked up, sent my 15 and took off. A half hour later he said I couldn't pull it because it was C&C...like I was still sitting around there. I had to take that thing 38 miles back and sit and wait while they figured it out.

For some reason I always picture the Fleet Managers sitting around in party hats, boozing it up, while they point at screens and laugh.

 

I always pictured them playing pin the tail on the donkey!!!! Lets help this person, no lets help this person!!!!!

 

When I talked to my training coordinator, she told me that she is my FM's wife. After one 15 minute conversation I told her that I officially had spent more time on the phone with her than I had in total with her husband. Since then I have seen a small increase in communication with him (emphasis on small).

Now that's funny. I also think they are having some kind of a contest to see who can put the most people on hold and transfer them to some other hapless fool that accidentally picks up the phone at the wrong time. I can't tell you how many times i get someone to pick up the phone and only hear keystrokes followed by a disconnect.

Also, is it just me or does it seem like everyone there is all of the sudden responding to DT messages with "10-4"? Its like they had some sort of a pep rally discussing ways to make the drivers feel like they're just "one of us".

 

LMAO! that 10-4 always cracks me up.

 

Ditto! I've often wondered about that! Sitting in Laredo, looking at all the 'L' and 'C' trucks ... as a company solo, I feel like a stranger! SOME very experienced drivers stay, obviously.