dock time

Your twisted.......














I like that

You've been-----\/\/\/\-----Thunderstruck!!!
With a ThunderStick

 

I couldn't agree any more with this statement. A while ago I stopped at a DC in Rock Hill, SC. I asked if there was a vending machine, and the warehouse lead said "yeah, but drivers weren't allowed in the back office/break room". I then offered to buy both him and the lumpers sodas if he went back to grab me a coke, and he took the offer. At first it was taking a while for them to unload my truck, but after I gave the sodas to the lumpers, it was unloaded within 10 minutes.

Kindness does have it's rewards, both for the driver and the office/warehouse personel. As a warehouse lead, I faced rude drivers all the time. It made me really appreciate the kind drivers, to the point I would call the company to compliment the driver. Why? Kind drivers made my day. A driver that took the extra steps to chitchat and shake hands with me stood out above the rest, and I would personally make sure his/her freight was loaded ASAP. A simple "sir, ma'am" dialect also goes a long way.

Your appearance said alot to me also, and this included the appearance of your truck. You may not think about it, but a clean shaven, clean cut, driver wearing a clean tucked in polo with clean jeans got treated differently than the driver that looked like they fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. If you take the time to take care of your appearance, that told me you were going to take care of the truck and freight as well. It still does to this day.

 

That was a pun at my last statement in that post about suprising drivers with a 34 hour reset.

 

On the runs where I was able to I always ran it hard to get there early, and then I would call the warehouse when I was about 8 hours out to see if they could schedule me in. If they could that was great, if not I rested up and relaxed somewhere close by often managing to get a 34 on some of the longer runs (1 my DM got me a few times was from Baltimore to LA).
I also found that showing a little good manners when checking in, as well as after backing in went a long way. Even at plants where drivers weren't allowed on dock I would doublecheck after backing in (even if I knew it looked good from the outside) to make sure I was straight on for their dockplate to be good. Usually it was a quick yes and we'll have you out soon, but it also showed the dock workers I was checking to make sure I had things as good as I could from my end. I had some loads that were multi-pickup and single drop, that got done faster than other drivers who were single load single drop that were from the previous time slot.

 

Wow after reading all this I never realized what trouble you could cause being early lol I always thought early was good.

 

I had one place in ALA. That I called about 6 hours out and asked if they could move me up until the next morning which would have been 12 hours early! the guy says how soon can you be here 6 hrs he says come on in we need you. I explained that I would only have an hour to unload or I would be out of hours. No Problem. I roll in he unloads and I'm gone 15 mins. later. Nice place nice people and close to a truck stop just can't remember the dang name! Drugs there gonna be the death of me yet.

 

Getting a load there early, unanounced, is just as bad as getting it there late. Appoitments are set up for a reason, unbeknown to most drivers not familiar with how warehousing works. The place I worked at was set-up to run like a well-oiled machine with a constant flow of trucks. 1 late or 1 early truck would screw up the entire day, if the driver or company didn't call in advance.

Piece of advice:

If you're early by a day or more, and you can't get a hold of the customer; contact your dispatcher and work out a drop option. The main OTR carriers have multiple drop yards around the country and you're bound to be near one of them. Don't stay with the load longer than you need to. Drop it and keep rolling instead of burning time waiting for the appoitment window to open. You may not have this option as a company driver as you're under forced dispatch, but you do as a IC or O/O. If you're a IC and your wheeles aren't rolling, you're loosing money.

 

Couldn't agree any more. Good manners do go a long way. Case in point for this morning: I had a stop in Chicago. I started BS'ing with the lumper as he was looking at the BOL. One of the things I said was "Man, this is my first time in Chicago when there wasn't 3 feet of snow on the ground". A corny joke, but it gave him a laugh. I was a hour early, and he gave me a door and had me unloaded within 20 mintutes. The Prime driver in the door next to me was there when I got there, and the lumper didn't even touch his truck yet when I pulled out.

 

stupid shipping and receiving clerks. lol

 

All of this is good BUT, if things were properly scheduled, there would be NO reason for a driver coming in a day early. JMHO