How much do you pay attention to trucks order of arrival?

Depends if I had a rendevous time. Maybe ones that arrive after have an earlier time than me, but generally I have not had a big problem with that in my career, in the UK, Europe and Australia.
The best treatment I ever had was in England, but after I moved to France and drove for a French company. I couldn't believe it, at several places they seemed to bend over backwards to look after me, thinking I was French (and I made sure of the accent ), once they allowed me to drive all the way round the wrong way in a one way system so that I didn't have to reverse in my left hooker on my blind side.

 

Having worked in the warehouse/transportation industry for over 20 years, I can confirm there is usually (not always but USUALLY) a method to the madness, even if it doesn't always make sense from the driver's point of view.

Sometimes trucks are unloaded in order based on what they are delivering, not so much order of when they arrive. For example, if you are delivering to an engine factory and you are delivering a load of valve covers, but a guy arrives after you with a load of engine blocks, they are going to unload the blocks before they unload the valve covers that go on the blocks. Make sense?

For loading it might just be a matter of loading the freight that is out front. Guy that arrived after you, his load might be staged in front of your load so it would just make sense to load him first to get his crap out of the way. The idiot on the forklift likely doesn't know or care who arrive first, he is just trying to get his floor space cleaned up as efficiently as possible.

Another possibility is those other trucks could be on a dedicated account with that customer, so they may be contracted to get loaded or unloaded with priority.

And yeah, sometimes the dock worker is just being a jerk.

 

Not all loads are created equal. Two trucks, both from PG Edwardsville can bump the dock at Walamrt at the same time, but one will be out faster than the other. Some loads require more breakdown, or are harder to count, or are getting pulled from the other side of the building.

There's no problem with being assertive, but I don't get too stressed.

 

Another time, again in England, I was pulled from the back of a long line of trucks waiting to unload. They wanted my stuff, apples from France, more than anything else. I felt a bit embarrassed but once on the dock chatting to the other drivers being unloaded they stopped muttering about bloody foreigners when I spoke to them in my impeccable English.

 

I'm really glad I don't have to deal with warehouses at this point. But I do have to deal with sometimes long lines at the cement mills waiting to load. It's not uncommon in the summer to wait an hour to load.

Couple years back, it seemed everyone on the eastern seaboard was going to this one particular mill, which I was in there 3 times a day at the time. I was hauling for that mill's largest customer, and got along very well with the guys loading the trucks. After sitting for two hours one morning waiting to load, and with two loads after that, I said something to the plant manager about being held up so long on every trip. He asked where I was hauling to, and when I told him, I was escorted to another loading lane that nobody really used, and told to use that lane from now on, it is now dedicated to that customer only. So from then on, our trucks skipped the lines. Pissed many people off. Kinda like Fast pass at the amusement parks

 

i always arrived EARLY, and let them tell me what to do.

as long as i was there, on thier property, checked in, i could have cared less.

did it tick me off if i had to wait long times?

sure, but i was there and no one could deny that, as i also called my dispatch, or Qualcommed them of my arrival.

many times, i'd wait long times, many times i'd get in ASAP if a driver was late, or the warehouse was working on someones load, and there was a delay in THAT load, and they worked on mine.

it's 6 of one, half dozen of another.

 

I used to deliver at Gordon food services in Quebec . Often I’d arrive and their was a dozen trucks and or drivers waiting at check in window , the receiver saw me standing in line he called me to the window and gave me a door right away. One time a driver complained and he told him I know what the F I’m doing and when they finish lunch or break I’m already done breaking down load without complaining.. Apparently a lot of drivers complain or have to wait for a lumper . Sometimes things are done to clear trucks quickly AKA load completely ready to go ..

 

Only if that is the companies policy that is known ahead of time. At my business, we schedule trucks in a particular order for a reason. We will have a truck scheduled once an hour beginning at 6:00am. Yet its common for 6 trucks to all arrive at 6:00 and be astonished there's a wait.

The guy with a 10:00am appointment time gets mad when we take the 7:00 before him, saying he arrived before he did lol. He will also watch a few trucks come and go before he backs in.

The answer to this question is all about what is determined ahead of time.