P&D and Customers(rants and funny stories).

Somerset is the closest Maybe even Donegal. The developing landscape has razed the two facilities that I depended on as landmarks for delivery off the pike there.

Literally progress. Raze the old and build new.

 

You see a ton of this kind of stuff, these were just a few of my favorites over the years.

 

I posted thinking of another place.

Here is one of the McDonalds. Everything is terraformed and beyond recognizion for me. Possibly downsized for profit etc. The road configuration has change.

You have a very good recall. I'll have to examine the situation a little further

Google Maps

 

I didn't have much time in P&D, but I'll never forget this one c-bag I had to deal with.

2500lb pallet of lotion for a gym in downtown Boston, ridiculous piece count on the pallet. This is for a women's gym that is one of those cross fit type places.
No loading dock.
Loading/unloading "area" at the bottom of the first basement level beneath the building. Box truck is 12'6", entrance to the basement is 9'.
Last delivery of the day, it's 1800 and have zero pickups put on me, figured at this point in the day they weren't going to happen.

I pull the skid off the truck after going inside to talk to the security guard who shows me where to go under the building. I gingerly walk the pallet down the car path, since there is no sidewalk into the basement, keeping the pallet a half inch of the ground to drop it quickly if I begin to lose control of the pallet.

Get down to the basement to the freight elevator, pallet is about 4 inches too wide AND a perfect square.

Go upstairs, get the girl behind the desk to sign for the shipment and letting her know the pallet is downstairs and a Karen looking woman (you know, the resting "I want to talk to the manager" face at all times and bobbed hair cut) comes out from an office after overhearing our conversation, and perfectly timed AFTER I got a name and signature.

"Where's all the product?"
"Down in the basement."
"Why?"
"Unfortunately, the pallet wouldn't fit in the freight elevator."
"I get these all time time, this hasn't been a problem before."
"Maybe you buy in lesser quantities on a regular basis resulting in a smaller shipment?"
"Nope, exact same quantity every time."
"Oh, well maybe the shipper ran out of pallets that you'd normally receive."
"You're not going to bring them up? This is never a problem when UPS delivered these pallets."
"If you'd like me to, certainly. But there will be a couple accessorial charges to the shipment, one for an inside delivery and the other for a sort and segregate, but unfortunately the bill has a note that only the shipper is allowed to authorize accessorials, so if you want to call the shipper for an approval on it, that's fine. Also, The shipment doesn't have a liftgate charge on the bill, which I'll also need to add, so by the time it's said and done you're probably looking at an additional $400 or so dollars in delivery fees."

Clearly angered, she tells me to just leave it downstairs and she'll deal with it. So I go into the foyer, press the elevator button and wait for it to come up. In the meanwhile, I hear her screaming at the girl behind the desk and then going on about how they'll "just go back to UPS Freight" for the shipping and #####ing and moaning about having to bring all these boxes upstairs herself and how I'm lazy etc. The elevator drags on slowly and she comes out into the foyer not expecting to see me waiting for the elevator with her little canvas hand cart (I estimate it will take her 9-10 trips total, and that's if this little thing doesn't collapse under the weight), and then comes along that awkward silence. We get downstairs and I go over to cut the shrink wrap off the pallet for her, she starts to thank me and steps away from the pallet and begins to turn back toward the elevator with her cart, as if she thought I was going to change my mind and bring it all up. I removed the shrink wrap and put the shipping docs on the product, grabbed my jack and headed up the incline.

All she needed to do was not be so rude. I had run into different variations of this scenario before while downtown, but when they were pleasant and even offered to help... of course I did it for them. I was hourly, why the hell not! Sorry to any UPSF guys that have to deal with that headache as a result lol.

 

My personal favorite. Settle in for a story time. Again...

Im instructed to go to Kennedy Freight. Air freight in NYC long island. Pick up food from Holland coming in as we speak. Ive got 6 hours to meet the plane.

Arrive, find my 6 pallets of food on a airline skid plate netted pallets. Keep in mind this is 80's air freight. KLM was the honors for the transport by fat 747.

Whip out big knife and start sawing. (Imagine that... in a airport no less...) dockboss gave me hard words Leave the #### thing alone. Get off that.

Fine. They slide it into my old 45 foot reefer mechanical trailer non airride. I noticed two layers of big beef tomatoes packed in balsawood under 900 pounds of green peppers. Whip out knife to unpack pallet. Get off that #### load driver beat it heres papers. Sign it.

(Shhesh...) feeling intimidated and cowed I shut doors set reefer and head to norristown PA distribution. Not far.

Anyway the highway out bad plates Pounded everything I heard pallets back there.

Arrive customer. Open doors. Tomatoes smashed. I think 10 30 count cases something like that.

Norristown raised holy hell. I find myself calling pappy my dispatcher next thing I know Im instructed to call two more numbers on two other payphones on that wall by the door. One went to the towers that controlled the shipping and one went to holland that put the tomatoes under the peppers in Europe.

Two langauges with increasing profanity versus english revolving around one question from both of them.

Pay us.

No. Your mistake your problem.

No. Not acceptable. Pay us.

Round and round. I hung up on all of them when I noticed a few drivers waiting more than patiently to use the phones.

Never did see or hear anymore of that what a waste of good tomatoes.

Leaves a prayer for the towers people every year since 9-11. Im sorry I was so hard with them.

 

You know it's going to be a fun delivery when the directions to the customer include the words "turn off the paved road"

 

I worked casual for Big R for 5 years on my days off from the Police Department as a city peddle driver. I have had many strange things but the one that takes the cake. I have a pup trailer full of medical file cabinets going to a doctor office. I arrive and am met by the nicest receptionist tell her what I have and show her the bills. She said bring them up. No ma’am I have a trailer load full of file cabinets and no one has paid for an inside delivery. She said better get the Dr. so he comes out and she explains to him what’s going on. I said I can call dispatch and see what the inside delivery fee and I’ll need more guys. The Dr. goes ballistic screaming and yelling at me in front of the patients in the waiting room and sayin all us union guys are crooks and this is a scam and he keeps screaming and cussing at me. I calmly told him Sir under my union contract I am not required to be subjected to this type of behavior and I’ll be leaving just signed the bill refused and you can deal with it later and pick it up at terminal. He refused to sign the receptionist started to sign the bills he started yelling and screaming at her what’s your Nam it’s not necessary I’ll notated and leave this time he said I wasn’t going any Effen place and pushed me. I did something that I’ve never done before while working as a truck driver identified myself as an off-duty policeman showed him my badge and identification he stated that he needed to calm down and I was gonna leave he came at me again I snatched him up put him on the floor and told her receptionist to call the police I held him down until the on duty officers arrived. And cuffed him and arrested him on for assault on a law enforcement officer. The receptionist made a statement cooperating my events as did several patients the doctor later on fired her for this and she sued him and I was able to be a witness for her in court in the civil suit top that mess