How not to act towards a shipper/receiver

ok here is how not to dress at orientation....
if you are going to orientation at jb hunt do not show up in an schneider tee shirt

 

I would actually do this deliberately. But I like to joke around a little bit. Life should be fun.

 

I brought a schneider zip up binder to my swift orientation and they laughed and said they were glad to have a competitors driver working for them.

 

I was going to say the same thing brink,.........Hell I've already seen lots a motorcycles on the road,......

 

Hello everyone, I'm warehouse supervisor and shipper/receiver at a retail store location. Figured it might be nice to hear about things from the other point of view. The basic statement that common courtesy goes a long way is definitely true.

We had a trucking company that handled all transportation of our serviceable goods and larger products from the distribution center and delivery items for our customers to a separate DC. Anyway, we had a regular driver who ran our route and handled multiple of our stores around the city.


The Best Experience with a Driver:

He was a middle aged gentleman, but was always polite, knew the policies between our two companies for paperwork signing, loading and unloading procedures, and always had everything in the folder in order ready for us to sign and fill out in the proper order. He was rarely ever late. I can recall one time he had a flat, and called us to let us know, and another time it was an idiot at one of our other locations that delayed him.

I run a CB in my mobile, and often talked to the driver about that while unloading, or about sports, or our families. We became good friends, and I looked forward to him stopping by each week with our load. This was when I was just a full time dock worker. Back then, sometimes I'd have to run the whole dock myself due to a co-worker being sick or a scheduling mishap, and this Driver would grab a pallet jack and help me unload our stuff and load up the stuff going back to the DC.

Then when I got promoted and made the schedules, and was in charge of the dock, I always made sure I had sufficient help on hand to get this driver unloaded and reloaded as quickly as possible, even if it meant I came out of the office and helped myself. That's how much respect I had for him.

Now I know this level of co-operation and friendship between S/R and Drivers isn't always possible or doable depending on what/where/when/who you are dealing with and timetables and such. But any kind of relationship you can build with the other party makes for a better experience all around for all involved. Especially if you drive for them on a regular basis.

Unfortunately my company now deals with a different trucking company, and my team and I deal with people who just shove paperwork at us and ask us to "hurry up". We all miss our old driver, as do our counterpoints at the other locations around the city. I've asked other dock supervisors in my district and they all remember and speak highly of our old driver.


The Worst experience I've had with a driver:

I've seen the best (obviously), and I've seen a horrible driver that I nearly kicked out of our location without unloading him because of his attitude. This guy showed up five hours late, without calling, without an apology. We have seals on the trailers, that have to be checked against the paperwork the driver brings up.

He's five hours late, then after pulling up to the dock, he sits in his truck another twenty minutes on his cell phone before coming around to meet me at the door. At which point, this poorly dressed slob shakes his hands in the air and says "What are you doing? Why have you not started unloading yet?!" I told him Policy was to verify seal numbers before opening a trailer, and I was waiting on him.

This driver got an attitude with me saying that the numbers always match, and I was just delaying him further. He then has the gall to tap on his wrist watch and say "I have time to keep here you know!"

At this point I lost my cool and said "Time to keep? YOU have time to keep? What about me and my crew? We've been here since 8am this morning (His scheduled arrival time), and you roll in here nonchalant at 1pm, then make us wait another twenty minutes while you talk to God only knows who on your cell phone! We are paid by the hour, and we are off at 3pm, so you've left us with an hour and a half to get everything unloaded AND put away. I ought to refuse you right now and not even open this #### truck. Don't you talk to me about "Time to keep".

Needless to say, I put in a call about him, as did my counterparts at our other locations who had similar experiences with him that day, and we never saw him ever again after that.


Final thoughts:

Courtesy goes a long way, and building good relationships can make the difference between quick stops and long holdovers. The Drivers have a schedule to maintain, but often times, those of us at the docks also have a schedule to maintain, and a late arrival can set us back quite a bit and throw our whole day out of order too.

I enjoyed this topic, TC, and appreciated all the information the rest of you who have responded have given. I joined this forum to talk in the CB discussion section (Because it is a hobby of mine), but I also am learning a lot about how Drivers operate and live their lives on the road, and the trials they face on a daily basis.

Thank you for what you do, our business would not be successful without your support, nor would countless others. I try to remember that when I have I problem, and strive to build good relationships with the drivers who deliver to our store. I sure miss the old company and our old Driver, but I know there are more like him out there. If you are one of those Drivers, you have an extra thanks for your kindness, and your strict adherence to the seven "P's". Safe travels all, and thank you for reading my response.

 

i've met a LOT of recievers like you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for your kindness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Most of the people I deal with mirror back what you put out. Having a bad, try to leave it in your truck, maybe your day will improve.

 

Thanks so much for posting this it really helps explain and make things add up for me.
So many say it is just common sense or common courtesy but i think it goes beyond that.

 

I deliver to food warehouse's, mostly unionized. One particluar place has a miserable shipper/reciever. He would usually take his time unloading me, sometimes purposely dissappearing for awhile, etc. He seemed to go out if his way to try to annoy me. One day the lunch truck pulled in and we both walked over to it to get a cup of coffee. I paid for the shippers coffee and donut. Since then, I've been getting extraordinary service, unloaded, in and out in no time. So the $5 it cost me once or twice a month is money well spent.

 

A dozen donut works wonders on shippers and receivers. I used to keep me in the front of the line at Vienna Sausage.