Just an unloader here..... lots of stories to share!

bigdogpile · Dec 7, 2013

Maybe its time for Advance Auto to pay just a little bit more if shipping fees and have your freight ship on a permier carrier..See, you get what you pay for in the shipping industry as well.

Oi! · Dec 7, 2013

Pictures?!?!?!?! I need to see what you are talking about!! You should really take pics of stuff like this lol

8thnote · Dec 7, 2013

markdm4805 said: ↑

Like the Original poster I am not a trucker at least not yet. However the worst dock I have seen is the Walgreens at Market St and Van Ness in San Francisco. Saw a daycab deliver there and the dock is right on the street. Mind you Market St is the busiest and main street in Downtown SF. 2 lanes each direction with the middle lanes also being for a fire hydrant flow of city buses and trolleys. You literally have to swing out across both westbound lanes and back it in. The biggest challenge being to stop all traffic on both westbound lanes with enough room to swing it around and not run over the half million pedestrians walking by oblivious while you back it in.
Click to expand...

i had a very similar situation on Mission St. in Daly City once. Cars and pedestrians absolutely refuse to stop for 45 seconds to let you back in.

crb · Dec 7, 2013

bigdogpile said: ↑

Maybe its time for Advance Auto to pay just a little bit more if shipping fees and have your freight ship on a permier carrier..See, you get what you pay for in the shipping industry as well.
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest going with an ltl carrier that can bring it on smaller trucks if needed and are familiar with the area unlike OTR guys (no offense). Or have it shipped via mega carrier to LTL type carrier for delivery.

markdm4805 · Dec 7, 2013

8thnote said: ↑

i had a very similar situation on Mission St. in Daly City once. Cars and pedestrians absolutely refuse to stop for 45 seconds to let you back in.
Click to expand...

Mission is a horrible street especially in a truck. You almost have to yank the wheel to the left and listen for the tire screeching if you want them to let you over.

HalpinUout · Dec 7, 2013

forkliftmaster said: ↑

Greeting to everyone..... stumbled across this forum 2 weeks ago by accident, and have been addicted ever since!! Thought that I would sign up, and share a few stories. Hopefully you guys (and gals) will find mine as interesting as I have some of yours!

I work in a position called "New Store Development" (fancy huh??) for Advance Auto Parts. My crew and I (5 of us total) travel to new locations that Advance Auto is opening up, and set up all the store fixtures (shelving, counters, oil and battery rack, aisles, etc.) Due to the fact that we have to have a scaffold, ladders, drills, tools, etc.... we do not get the luxury of flying. Like you, we tour the country, but in a 12 passenger van instead. One week we might be in Denver, and the next week we may find ourselves in NY. With that being said, I stumbled across this website while doing a Google search on Swift Transportation. You see....... all of our stuff comes from Lozier Fixtures out of Omaha, Nebraska and the Advance Auto headquarters in Roanoke, VA. After reading several threads on this forum, I now know why we have so much trouble getting our trucks on time. Looks like our supplies are brought to us by the laughing stock of the trucking industry. Each store we do takes 4 loads which comes to us via Swift, Werner, CR England, and sometimes Knight. No offense to anyone that drives for these guys..... very rarely do we EVER have any problems with the actual drivers. In fact, we usually sympathize with them..... due to the fact the we are on the road all the time as well. Don't want to offend anyone on my first post!! lol. By far, Swift seems to be the worst company to deal with. On more than 1 occasion, it's taken HOURS after placing a call to Swift, to find out where our truck is. Getting an answer from the Swift folks, seems to take an act of congress!!

So, for my first story...... and I am not ragging on the driver here...... just one of the situations we have run into on the road. Truth be told, Advance should have never had the loads sent, until the parking lot was paved, inspected, and passed.

We are doing a store on one of the main drags in Brooklyn, NY.Just blocks away from the brand new Barclays Arena (Atlantic Ave.) They had a ton of rain in the weeks prior to our arrival, and were not able to pave the parking lot.... it was nothing but mud!! That meant that we would not be able to drive the forklift into the parking lot. The only way to get our trucks unloaded was for the driver to pull past the entrance, and back in to the overhead door via a tiny side entrance. Keep in mind, this is probably the busiest road in Brooklyn. Swift arrived @ 7AM, and parked on Atlantic and turned on his hazard lights. We met him on the side of the road, and went over a game plan. We told him the only way we could get him unloaded was for him to pull past the entrance, and back in. Due to the VERY LIMITED space, we knew this was going to be one heck of a task, even for the best of drivers. If he didn't get it on the first attempt, he was going to have to circle the block, come back, and try again. There was ZERO room to turn around!! Driver gets in his truck, my crew and I get in position to stop traffic and immediately get called every name in the book, and had every car honking at us! Failed first attempt. Due to the location, it took the driver 45 min to circle the block, and get in position for attempt #2. We stop traffic, and again, get cussed at from every direction!! Attempt #2 failed!! Took an hour to circle the block the 2nd time. Same result! Driver circles the block, another 45 min or so, and sets up for attempt #3. No go!! Driver gives up, and informs us they have an expert driver on the way to back the truck in!!

Our truck schedule is staggered pretty decent, they even allow us some extra time in case we run into any issues, which is quite frequently. 7AM, 9AM, and 11AM, and 1 PM is our truck schedule. We normally can have a truck unloaded in 45 min. We don't get paid by the hour, so we bust our butts to get our trucks unloaded, job done, and on the road back to the house.

Since there was NOWHERE close by for the driver to park and wait for the expert driver, the original driver parked on the main road and says he is going to stay there until the police tell him to move. Just as he does that..... Werner shows up with our 2nd truck, and almost right away CR England show up with our 3rd truck. Now we have 3 trucks parked in the middle of the road in Brooklyn, not moving. The was no middle lane, or turning lane, so they were taking up 1 of the 2 lanes. More honking and cussing from every direction. Those guys were shouting cuss words I never even heard of! So there we are, my 5 guy crew, and the 3 drivers, trying to come up with some sort of plan, and finally accept the fact that getting the trucks in is physically impossible. The meeting of the minds only lasted about 10 min before NYPD arrived, and broke it up. They threatened to ticket and tow the trucks, if they were not moved in less than 5 min. We exchanged phone number with all 3 drivers, and they went to try to find anywhere reasonable to park and figure something out. The expert driver shows up, and gave it an honest effort, but to no evail. The guys on my crew are furious, the drivers are furious, and I can't get any answers from corporate on what to do!! A couple hours later we finally get the call that they are going to send the trucks back, and reschedule in 2 weeks to give the parking lot crew time to pave the lot. Probably the most stressful day I've ever had on the job!!
Click to expand...

AWESOME STORY!!!!! I'm sure the "expert" driver was one of there trainers that's had a CDL for 3 months...

Glp · Dec 10, 2013

markdm4805 said: ↑

Like the Original poster I am not a trucker at least not yet. However the worst dock I have seen is the Walgreens at Market St and Van Ness in San Francisco. Saw a daycab deliver there and the dock is right on the street. Mind you Market St is the busiest and main street in Downtown SF. 2 lanes each direction with the middle lanes also being for a fire hydrant flow of city buses and trolleys. You literally have to swing out across both westbound lanes and back it in. The biggest challenge being to stop all traffic on both westbound lanes with enough room to swing it around and not run over the half million pedestrians walking by oblivious while you back it in.
Click to expand...

That store does not have a dock, just a door on the side of the building. When i deliver there i park in the loading zone further down on market past van ness and pull the pallet a block and a half LOL

Glp · Dec 10, 2013

8thnote said: ↑

i had a very similar situation on Mission St. in Daly City once. Cars and pedestrians absolutely refuse to stop for 45 seconds to let you back in.
Click to expand...

Mission st in Daly City is easy!... If you are comfortable blindsiding

Raezzor · Dec 11, 2013

Heh, Atlantic Ave. Ya, I delivered stone to a little mom and pop home depot style store on there. The address was 1088 Atlantic. If you look at it on street view on google maps you can see there's now way to get unloaded cept on the street. Luckily it's 3 lane there, plus the parking spots, so I just parked in the 3rd lane with my four ways on. No cops bothered me, but why would they since there was 2 other lanes open and there was no way for me to get off the street. Poor forklift operator had to wait for the light just before where I was parked to turn red so he could get the stuff off the driver side of my trailer though. Heh. Brave soul.

bigblue19 · Dec 11, 2013

Been having some weather here in the NW. Seen lots of those "premier carrier" drivers on the phone while the wrecker hooks to their rig. Seems you always don't get what you pay for. Just a better chance of getting it.

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

Just an unloader here..... lots of stories to share!

bigdogpile Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Oi! Road Train Member

8thnote Road Train Member

crb Road Train Member

markdm4805 Bobtail Member

HalpinUout Road Train Member

Glp Medium Load Member

Glp Medium Load Member

Raezzor Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

bigblue19 Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

Just an unloader here..... lots of stories to share!

bigdogpile Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Oi! Road Train Member

8thnote Road Train Member

crb Road Train Member

markdm4805 Bobtail Member

HalpinUout Road Train Member

Glp Medium Load Member

Glp Medium Load Member

Raezzor Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

bigblue19 Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!