Help with time management!

First thing to know is all your customers speak and read English, just not all will admit it.

Second is, don't rush anything, ever. You will be responsible for all of your mistakes and the stuff follows you down the road.

Whenever questioned about taking too much time, tell them you can't be quick and safe at the same time, it just doesn't work. Write down the arrive and leave times on all your tickets to identify the problem customers. Efficiency comes with experience and that takes time either way. Hang in there. Congrats on getting a local gig right out of the gate.

 

It takes time to get quick at chaining and strapping, i wouldn't cut corners there though! If you haul the same product everyday and name it, maybe some of the flat bedders in here can give you some small tips to speed you up.
Also maybe you can speed up the non safety end of things like paper work or if you use a log?
Even the pretrip if you are using the same truck.
I might get some grief for this but once you know your truck doesnt use oil, i dont think you have to check it everyday --or even some other part of that pretrip --or for that matter if you drive the same truck spend 15 minutes doing the pretrip on your own time till the day gets easier and you get faster. Point is just look around at the things that you have control of and see if you can speed those things up.

 

When I worked for Pepsi, one of my customers was the Tyrone Copper Mine near Silver City, NM.. I filled their vending machines once a week. The lady in the office began to complain that the snack machine was always empty. My boss wanted me to stop there two or three times a week and I refused. It added a half hour drive time just to get out of there and the machine was never completely empty except for the Poore Brother's jalapeño flavored potato chips. I'm not going to make a special trip out there so this cow can stuff her face with jalapeño chips all day. So I deleted one of the other items and added two rows of Poore Brother's jalapeño chips and that fixed the problem. She still ate them all but I guess they lasted long enough for me to fill them back up on my next trip there before she started whining.

 

Sounds like more of a nightmare situation than working at a mega, with a boss that is apparently pushing a driver in an unsafe manner. If I were in your shoes I would document your conversations with him, but definitely hold to your guns on driving and loading safely.

Becoming bilingual might be in your best interest. Try the Rosetta Stone software, it's very effective.

I had a similar discussion with a boss that preached safety but then pushed for faster deliveries, this was about 30 years ago. One day he asked me why I took so long, so I then asked if I could ask him some questions... okay...

"You gave me one hour to drive 60 miles from point A to point B, that's 60 miles an hour, right?" -- yes

"There are 32 traffic lights on the route, do you want me to drive 60 mph through the traffic lights and plow through the cars, or do you want me to obey the speed limit and avoid killing citizens?" (silence)

"You realize that pushing a driver to drive in an unsafe manner can cause liability for the company and for you personally?" (silence)

.... for some reason the topic of speeding up deliveries didn't come up again, not for me, and not for any of the other drivers.

 

See if ur boss will ride a long with u to see the stuff you have to put up with...If we are being detained we just call our dispatchers and they handle all that for us.

 

I'd like to echo Wharf Rat in congratulating you on finding a local gig!!

Congrats!! (And well-deserved.)

Hang in there and learn to habla a little bit.

 

Assuming your boss is not giving you an attitude, maybe you're a little on the defensive.
If he is not yelling at you or something like that just assume he is trying to help you and instead of justifying your position tell him that you are going to do your absolute best (and then do it). You can do that without compromising your safety.

I second the advise about learning some Spanish. Of course you don't have to, you're in your country, but I can tell you from experience that when we see an American person trying to speak Spanish, it makes you want to help him/her. Learn some simple phrases, greet them in Spanish, ask them "how do you say...." whatever in Spanish. It may sound silly, but I bet it will make things easier for you.

 

I see 3 good answers here:

1 get him to ride along
2 call in every time delayed ( call him )
3 Document everything ( notebook ) for every minute.

Don't let him push you either, it's your license, not his.