The BEST Shippers and Receivers - Truckers WILL Buy Their Products!

This may sound odd but I am enjoying a seven hour unload here at Harris Teeter in Greensboro NC. It sucks that it is taking this long but these are the nicest people I have ever dealt with in a grocery whse. Everyone from the guy unloading (He is having to strip all pallets into six or seven)through the pickers and checkers and even some management types have said hello as I walk about. They have a nice and cheap cafe here and I got a great breakfast for under four bucks.(Course I may end up getting lunch and dinner in it as well!)

 

I haul funiture for motels and resorts in all 48 states, I have a appointment time, they have at least a six man crew ther waiting to unload me . I don't touch the load for any reason. They only thing I have to do is fold and store my blankets when I'm done. and they help with that if needed. I have zero complaints about my job, my customers or shippers for the most part. Now and then we get a broker that lies to us.(Brokers lieing,who evver heard of such a thing!!!) but thats the job. Best to all!!!:smt067:smt071:smt065:smt064

 

I've been to some really bad safeway d.c.'s ! About the best of the bunch is the safeway D.C. in Belvue WA. On site snack truck, not bad waiting area across the road from the D.C. and the guards are fairly decent. Might have to wait a bit,but at least they try to make it as nice as they can. Unlike some I've been to.

 

Sauder in OH is a great shipper....Very nice staff to deal with and quick to load.

King Soupers in Denver... I used to haul meat to them...Very nice and out of the dock in 2 hrs.

 

Home Depot in Braselton, GA was great. I loaded and unloaded there several times and they were always quick, professional, courteous and efficient. They took great care of me from the guy at the guard shack to the office personnel to the warehouse folks.

 

This is what I dont understand. If more shippers/recievers could act like this and treat drivers like normal human beings then things would go much better on the docks. The ones that treat us like crap wonder why we have such an attatude to them......

 

I wouldn't be too eager to come to California, if I were you. Except for unionized (Teamsters) warehouses, most are dominated by Latino-Hispanics who have an unwritten policy; "No habla español ?? No servicio ràpido !! LMAO + LOL" If you don't speak Spanish, it will take an extra hour (or more) to load or unload you, unless you bribe the forklift operator at least $20. As you're standing at their docks, take note of how long Hispanic drivers who "hablar español" are in and out in about an hour or less.
BTW (by the way) in case you don't text message, LMAO = laughing my ##### off, and LOL = laughing out loud.

There are only 2 positive comments on Walmart DC. Myself, when I delivered to a Walmart merchandise DC (not the grocery DCs to Walmart Supercenters), I back into a dock, unhook & drop the trailer, then wait in an area till they call me over the CB radio to hook up again, and pull the trailer away, which is usually an hour after I unhook. If I fall asleep and fail to respond when they call over the CB radio, the yardhostler driver pulls the trailer, and stages it in their empty trailer area. When I pulled for JB Hunt eons ago (during the Cretaceous Period, when cabover trucks dominated most fleets, and JB drivers were Public Enemy number 1 to other drivers), I noticed most drivers took a long time, while the giant carriers like myself, Schneider, and Werner (Swift and Knight had not yet existed) were leaving the exit gate 2 hours after they had arrived. My load was suppose to be a drop-n-hook, but I couldn't find an empty trailer. There were no JB Hunt trailers being unloaded at the moment, and the other nearest JB Hunt drop-n-hook account was over 200 miles away, so I ended up becoming a live-unload.

I suspect the giant carriers had made a deal with Walmart; they get a discount on rates, but all inbound freight must be drop-n-hook; or if it's live-unload, they have to complete unloading under 2 hours, unless the driver arrives late for his delivery.

Unlike food & merchandise, which can sit in the warehouse for 2 (or more) days until they're reloaded into an outbound trailer, air freight is extremely time sensitive. From the moment they unload you, the freight you delivered is reloaded onto a plane within minutes after you leave. When you pick up, the consignee wanted it yesterday, so they load you fast. This is why air freight cost more. Had you looked at how much the Post Office charges for Express Mail ? Or how much UPS, Fedex, or DHL charges for overnight delivery ??

I once delivered to WinnCo DC in Modesto, CA, and was shocked in disbelief they had actually got me unloaded, loaded my pallet exchange (all number one pallets; no junks or number 2s & 3s mixed-in to cheat me), and was leaving the exit gate about an hour and 15 minutes after I had arrived. It was 24 pallets (full truckload) of perishable yogurt. As I drove out the exit gate, I was thinking "any moment now, I should wake up to find I've fallen asleep in the sleeper, and I'm still waiting at the docks." When I bragged over the CB radio I had gotten out of there in record time, all the drivers replied "You f-a-g-g-o-t !!! Whose d*ck did you suck to get out of here so fast !!??" One driver replied "I'm a good buddy! Who should I service to get out of here faster??"

I suspect when they get you out in record time, it's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their heart. Its likely they're completely out of stock on what ever you're delivering, and they can't reload their own trucks and send their driver on their way until they get your product included into the outbound shipment of preloaded trailers, scheduled to leave that day.

 

Let the flames begin.

Target and Walmart.

I drop and hook at both, in an out in 15 minutes, MT's always available.

 

General Mills, sorry we have all those loads, Drop and hook too.

 

I always like going to a wal-mart DC,
as u always know what to expect. both on reefer side and dry side.
we always live unload , and i have never had any problems,

although there was this one time that they had me dock in 3 different docks, 1st dock assigned the driver in it refused to leave cause of DOT 10hr, second dock they assigned turned out to be broken, and nobody had told rec. 3rd time i was unloaded in a huge hurry and was apolegized to repeatedly.

although it was weird, i dont consider it a problem

PS. although i am sure this would have been a different story altogether if i had turned into equine-excrement trucker driver

Everyone you meet is a mirror, and will reflect your attitude back at u with only a speed of light delay.