I'm done and ready to roll

And do you think it will be any different in flatbed? Dealing with our customers is massively important for both YOU and Prime. Prime is just someone on the other side of a computer screen or a voice on the telephone until you show up.

Have you ever considered what an unpleasant job dealing with a bunch of dirty, foul-mouthed, unpleasant, demanding truck drivers all day must be?

When you arrive at the shippers or receivers window, you become the face of Prime and what we sell is customer service. Show up stinking, dirty, and foul-mouthed - just see if we get repeat business. Show up relatively clean, in decent clothes (not filty rags with your butt crack showing) with a smile on your face and a good attitude - and see how much further that gets you than the rest of the idiots.

And yeah... in this time of not so much money and people to do the same job as several did before, those folks on the other side of the receivers window have extra stuff to do than to just roll out the red carpet and treat you like Donald Trump. You're just another driver until you can charm that person enough so that they think they're dealing with someone important enough to pay attention to.

Case in point...

Tropicana, Bradenton FL... our favorite shipper, yes? I was talking to a TransAM driver not too long ago who told me that one of their drivers flipped-out and slugged a Tropicana employee when told that his load wasn't ready. Result? TransAM was immediately (and I mean IMMEDIATELY) told that they were no longer doing business with Tropicana. Loads waiting to be picked-up that day were cancelled, and booked with other carriers - that would mean us among others.

Try a smile next time you wait 5 minutes. It works.

 

hurry up and wait. that is the name of this game. im not being rude by saying this, but get used to waiting. you will be doing quite a bit of waiting if you keep driving. and 5 minutes isnt nothing.

 

Well... there's this rumor going around that there ain't no waitin' in flatbeddin'...

Don't believe it.

 

Lmao, no waiting in flat bed is a myth, we wait, but rarely do we wait long. The longest I've ever waited for a shipper or receiver is 30 min. 30 min is nothing, compared to what some other divisions( I won't name) have to wait.

 

Consider yourself lucky... there are some coil places that was an all day affair one of the more tenured types was telling me about.

 

i agree with IP being polite does work some places suck and some dont just have to take the good with the bad

now with flatbed we do wait not as much as reefer but we do wait to be loaded/unloaded normally your hardware store drops are quick american gypsum cargil steel and others may take longer ive stayed at the carrier in tyler tx for 8hrs waiting to get loaded before