"Please call an hour before...."

That all (dunnage\ card board) stays with the customer, unless paid to take it away.

 

Had a favorite one today.
Multiple numbers (for contacts), half are disconnected or changed. The other half go to operators who then have to text another person to get a third party involved.
Took 45 minutes to get the right contact. Only to find out, they have to come to me, because the site is on a weight restricted road.
Then find out he isn't even in the same COUNTY.
So it has to be delivered tomorrow, in yet another city.

Three days total, to deliver a storm door, that could have been bought for less at the local hardware supply store.

 

My current job has a 30 min call ahead rule but we deliver to country clubs, golf courses and lots of government facilities. It helps a lot.

When I was LTL I never did that. To me that's like asking the mailman to call you before he puts the crap in your box.

 

I don't mind keeping skids. Many places are happy to get a handful of free skids.

 

I don't care what anyone else thinks.... But your work phone IS your best friend. A two minute phone call can save you well over 30 min on a delivery.

Last week I had a delivery for 6k lbs of tiles that would have been a liftgate delivery. I made a quick call and the consignee asked me if I could meet him at "an alternate location that had a working forklift". Turns out my follow on stop WAS that alternate location and the tile guy was good friends with the owner.

Hell yeah I will meet you there!!!!

He was able to fork his freight of my truck and load it into his truck, and I managed to get two separate deliveries done in one stop. Epic win-win right there... And it cost me a two minute phone call and both of us saved a bunch of time.

This happens more often than you realize. When in doubt about a new stop, make a quick call. Sometimes neither you nor the consignee want the freight moved to the address on the DR, and rather have it shipped somewhere that is easier on both of you guys.

 

^^ I've saved myself the hassle of going down residential streets by calling the consignee and offering to meet them in a better place (if the freight allows it). Once the consignee lived at the end of a dead end street, so i called him. I asked him if I could meet him closer to where I was and told him what town I was in. Coincidentally he was in the same town so he met me where my previous delivery was and made it all easier.

 

That Sorry Old Boy better NOT take a crap in MY mail box!

 

There are several places that I call ahead. Either private residents or the office is not the actual delivery location, despite the address on the BOL. I don't call all my customers, only the ones that seem to strike me as a potentially needing a quick phone call. Some you can kind of tell by what it is or where the address is. Especially now with weight restrictions on.

 

I'm still wondering why people cry about taking the skid back. It's a 6" wide piece of wood--stop being a 7@g, strap it to the wall and go on with your day!!