How not to act towards a shipper/receiver

Oh... wow... that's not good. Hopefully, you keep on making a decent living and get back to what you like doing.
Stay in touch with us and again best of luck...

 

Good luck with that, I don't know why poeple take chances with the CDL licience. There are rules that just aren't made to be broken. I have done my share of rule breaking but to a certain point.

 

We've all made our mistakes. Sometimes we get away with them and sometimes we don't... It's the learning from them that counts. And we go on with life. Live and learn.

 

Let me first start off by saying, drivers would appreciate ample and proper signage. When we pull into a yard, but dont have the first dang clue where to 'stage' our truck, or what door of the 40 that we see before us is the drivers enterance....

That being said, I picked up a load of pallets in Arkansas the other day. The lady at the security gate, very nice and polite. I get to the warehouse where I was to speak to S&H to find out what door to bump to, and i walk in, and its a noisy facility. Now 95% of most places i've been to, that are noisy, they have a box of ear plugs sitting next to the drivers window. I walked in, i see what looks to be a drivers window, a box of ear plugs, so i grab a pair. The lady inside motions for me to open the sliding window, and i do then tell her i'm here to pick up a load. The first thing out of her mouth was, "...well why dont you go over to the drivers window...". Okay, but why the attitude, just because i asked you for info thru the wrong window.....heaven for bid. Kinda like going into a McDonalds, and refusing to help me because i am not standing directly in front of you at your cash register.

So I go around to the 'proper' window, she walks up to me and says, "okay...."..........okay what?? "whats your pick up number?" Wouldn't it have been easier to have asked me that? I cant give a proper answer if i do not know the question, can i? Kinda like when i went to a train yard, and the guy asks me "what do you got?". "What do i got? i've got an empty trailer..." then asks me, "no, what is your pick up number?"

but anyway back to the pallet company....she comes back with the dock info and the BOLs, and then says, "what you took over there (pointing to the first window i was at) aren't for drivers, they are for EMPLOYEES." i said, "Fine....whatever...." and dropped the earplugs back on the counter. Basicly acosting me of trying to steal 25cent earplugs......you have GOT to be kidding me. From then on, i did not say a word to her. No 'thank you', no 'please' or nothing. I almost spent the money to buy her a Coke from the vending machine, just to tell her, "here, i think you could use this...." but i didnt cause i didnt want to waste the 50 cents.

Now the lady at the security gate, nice as could be, and that is exactly how i treated her both coming and going. with "yes ma'am"s and "thank you"s.

 

Does it still happen, or does not hauling garbage put you in contact all the time with these kind of people on docks? Back in the day I got to hating anything to do with food.
Lumber, steel, equipment, dry van...not so many bad attitudes; just when hauling garbage for the most part.

 

Guess not everyone has good communication skills. I use to work on a shipping dock about 12 years ago. I will never forget my supervisor's actions toward drivers. Quite that #######. Use to throw things when he didn't get his way. I remember a driver one ask him, "Where did you learn to communicate with people?" Let me tell you that for what ever reason, I had to unload the truck and reload it to his specifications, cause he wanted this fixture on the other side of the truck. Don't miss that job.

 

He/she is hauling the load. You were not. Just do it. We know, what is best.
Every driver is different...

If we had a choice. Load it with a forklift ourself. Nothing personal.

 

In my many years of "visiting" warehouses and being on docks, I've found that the attitude is reflective of upper management. Usually. I'm not saying always. If the traffic manager, etc. isn't professional neither are the people under that person.
When I was in sales I rode with a driver 1-2 times a month. I passed out giveaways and depending on the time of day different food. Worked out any issues with the warehouse and dock. I talked to everyone I could who either took off or put frieght on our trucks. I always asked what we could do to help them make things easier . Didn't put anyone on the defensive. It usually worked to our advantage.
More sales reps should do that. Not only does it help the drivers but someday one of those people might be routing the freight.
I compared the person in the office upstairs to his people on the dock and offices there. Usually if the person upstairs was professional so were the people responsible for the freight. I also found that attitudes are dependant on where you are. Small town USA compared to major metros usually makes a difference. It's the pace of life.
But, there are times that no matter how nice, polite and helpful you are, the person you're dealing with is a horse's ###. Do what you came there to do, leave, and forget that person.
You notice I used the word "usually" because it wasn't 100% of the time.
A fact of today's life is that there are a lot of rude, discourtous people out there and it's not just in trucking.

 

s/he is hauling the load, then s/he had better load it the way THEY want. Sure gald i've never had to endure that. I also had one shipment i picked up....arrived an hour early. And i guess giving the wrong P/U number angered this guy running the dock, cause i was number 2 in line for a dock. when two others were open. Waiting wasnt the issue. cause it seemed the trucks were taking 30 min. to get loaded. What lit my fuze was how a female driver for CRST came in an hour after me, and was gone before i ever bumped the dock. And the door she was assigned? one of the empty docks. So when I actually got to the dock, and sat for another 45 min. before being loaded, i went in to inquire as to the layout of the warehouse. was one side different than another? Cause maybe she had a different load setup than i did. He said 'no'. so then i asked why she arrived an hour after i did....and was out within the hour?? Going to screw with me, i'll call em out on it all the time. dont show 'favorites'. load trailers in the order they came in, not because they have certian equipment than other drivers....and i'm not talkin' about the truck-n-trailer.