Is there such thing as a bonus for the driver from the shipper or receiver?

I just have crap for luck. My dad drove for 40 years, the last 20 for a grocery wholesaler. They gave him all kinds of stuff. When he was working the oil fields, personally, the stuff wasn't that useful, but it's a kind thought. I mostly remember lots of red and grey paint and pipe. He was creative though and made me a swing set with it. I think he made my uncle a cattle chute with it too. Lots of tools just way too big to be of much practical use. They gave him a trailer loaded with emergency medical supplies, I'm not sure why. I think the best thing they gave him was an electric wench he used to pull engine out of cars.

The grocery wholesaler gave him far more useful stuff and a whole lot more of it. He had a whole basement full of food. You could hardly get through the place for all the stacked up cases. I'm one of seven kids and anytime any of us visited he sent us home with a carload of groceries. Woot, woot, head home with a whole case of Snickers bars. I've never worked anywhere that generous.

I think companies have just changed, they just don't give stuff out like they use too. I blame it on computers, they just get all caught up in counting stuff over and over. That and procedures. They're so caught up in that stuff they just forget to give away free stuff to their drivers.

 

Back in the old days I hauled lots of scheduled contracted loads and they were quick to charge the truck $300 if you were late, not exactly a perk.
On the other hand I've gotten a few freebies here and there, a pen and pencil set, a leather calendar, and M&M chocolates in Chicago used to have boxes of samples on the dock and a stack of paper bags you could help yourself to.
Every once on a while I was at a cold storage place when they were tossing out food stuffs because it reached it's warehouse expiry date, not it's shelf date, grabbed 20 lbs of mozzarella cheese one time and had a pizza party!

 

Your right that it is computers, but I don't think you are fully understanding how computers effect production and inventory. Production today is not like it was 30 years ago. Inventory is controlled from raw material all the way through the final products along with labor costs. Most production today is part of large business and there are people that watch these costs. They will accept so much "shrinkage" or loss as a part of production and that is all. If General Mills has orders for 100,000 single serving of yogurt they expect those orders to be filled and all the costs accounted for. If several cases get "lost" and this happens time and time again somebody is going to lose their job. If however you run into a business like (if I remember right) McLane they will not accept containers that are damaged. I used to make a lot of Hershey and Mars delivery to these McLane warehouses all over the country. I can't tell you how many cases of product I will find put back in my trailer as rejected. If these were under 5 cases my company would give them to me. They were then "wrote off" by the company for accounting purposes.

Anytime a driver is given product it falls into one of these categories. It is either shrinkage or a blemished product that is wrote off.

However you are correct, in the past drivers did get things all the time.

 

Ah. Lay's potato chips. I love to get the ones fresh from the factory. I also love the smell when they are cooking them at the plant. Yep. Good stuff.

 

Moose, I am likin' the skyhawk. Now a 250k aircraft new, but I have flown those in every weather condition except known icing and tornados. Good stuff.

 

That is actually a photo of a model. I took both my private and instrument check rides in a skyhawk N73530 back in the early 90s. The aircraft has changed hands several times since I last flew it. last I heard it was based at PDK near Atlanta.

 

Very familiar with Peachtree Dekalb. My Private and instrument check ride was in a 172 as well. Only mine was in 1973. I don't fly any longer, but still have a stirring in my heart for any Cessna.

 

I've gotten a (rare) few tips (usually in the form of items) from receivers but, hauling machinery the last few years, it's usually me handing out cash incentives for a dealership to stay open for an extra 15-45 minutes on a Friday afternoon. You'd be surprised how quickly $20-50 can keep you moving towards your next load.

 

We get offered bonuses. They’re attached to certain loads. But I personally have not seen one. Yet

 

Last time I burned some 100LL was in 2000 going to get a hundred dollar hamburger.