Port of seattle

Discussion in 'Shippers & Receivers - Good or Bad' started by D.Tibbitt, Jan 7, 2020.

  1. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,653
    130,469
    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
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    Well i had a heck of a day at the port of seattle.

    Arrived at 9am and get thru i.d. gate and get staged and container unstrapped and put all my equipment away. Get up on the scale and push call button on intercomm. First guy straight up hung up on me. So i call again. This time nice lady answers and im supposed to have all this info that i dont have and have no idea where to get it. Typical.

    "Go to trouble window ill be down there to meet u"

    Get down there she tells me i need to submit pre arrival and heres a map of the port and this is how it works and how its laid out. So call my travel agent he dont know what pre arrival is , call broker he has no idea either. Tells me to give them booking number it should work. So i go back thru the check in line, this time some moron sounds like tommy chong comes on there and i give him all the info from the rate con.

    " oh you have no pre arrival driver, get back in line"

    " what is a pre arrival? I called Dispatch and they dont know what that is"

    "Call ur dispatcher and they will send it"

    "I just said I DID call my dispatch and they dont know what it is, so im asking YOU what is a pre arrival, so i can figure it out and get checked in, and not talk to you anymore"

    "Not my #### job driver, i dont do have anything to do with it and dont know anything about it, get back in line"

    Annddd U know what happens next, we go back and forth and he proceeds to start arguing with me over this stupid pre arrival.. I was so close to letting loose and just cussin the stupid guy out like a real truck driver but decided against it .

    " whatever man, have a good one"

    so i circle back around and park to the side and call my agent and he calls corporate and they work on it for an hour or so and finally figure it out. All it was is the stupid emodal system. Puts it in the computer system that the container has arrived at the port. So dumb.

    So i Go back in line and then they tell me they cant check me in because my container numbers is not valid and i have no appt time. So they send me to the trouble window to talk to more useless unhelpful union idiots.

    Long story short i FINALLY get to the place im supposed to unload after driving down the wrong way and pissing off a couple of the security guards which all looked like they live the most miserable lives ever and gave their best wanna be tough badboy cop impression , like they was really gonna do something to a pissed off flatbedder.

    I find the line im supposed to be in and FINALLY I get unloaded.

    The next problem i run into, the pricks wouldnt sign my paperwork. not the sidepick who unloaded me , not the pickup truck security guard badboy wanna be cop tough guy, NOBODY. Not one frickin person wanted to sign for it.

    "#### it im out, #### this place, it can fall into the ocean for all i care, just let me get out first"

    So i got on the cb and asked "how the #### do i get out of this god forsaken place"

    "HAHAHA, Where ya at driver"

    "Flip lane, trying to get to the out gate, had enough of this ########"

    "I hear that. Ya got chassis, bobtail, or ya got a can?"

    "Flatbed, just got a can off and emptied out"

    3 different drivers was there on the comeback and i thanked them for the help and hit the exit gate. Tried to pawn off the paperwork on the guard shack lady at the exit gate who yelled at me because i stopped 5 feet in front of the stop sign, rather than behind it . She didnt want the paperwork either. Whatever, she opens the gate and im free at last.

    so i started grabbin gears down the road.

    Called my travel agent to tell him they wouldnt sign paperwork he says call broker so i called the broker and tell him what happened , and he says

    " just sign anybodys name bro so we can get paid"

    "What? Serious? ur kidding right?"

    " nah bro im serious , none of us can get paid without a signature. just sign somebodys name bro make it look unlegible so nobody can read it and its good to go bro"

    "OK. Ill see what i can do "

    So i hung up with that moron and called my company and tell them what that dumb idiot broker said and they was as shocked as me that a broker would say something like that. My company helped me out and documented everything that guy said to me and they said they will take care of it, to just send in my paperwork .

    I know it sounds easy fellas to sign somebodys name and when i first started driving i did it one time and got caught. Luckily it was no punishment other than getting chewed out by dispatcher and other corporate people. All it takes is the customer to dispute it and say "nobody signs the paperwork, so u shouldnt have signature " or something to that nature and my ### is grass and so is the company. Not to mention forgery is a huge crime. As good and easy as it sounds, dont ever sign paperwork for customer. We already take on enough risk out here, dont need to be risking ur career and business and livelihood on a bunch of pricks that is allergic to pens.

    it is Good to know my company has my back , all the other companies i worked for, couldnt care less about their drivers or the situations we run into. its nice to have some support for once. I just wonder if they gonna be able to get paid with no signature on paperwork. But all that is above my pay grade, and for the legal team , and they said they would take care of it and dont worry about it, i did my part already and its all documented in writing.

    Needless to say my "#### you list" has grown 1 customer larger.. And Now ive made a new list called "#### you list 2.0: shady ### broker edition" LOL and this broker has the pleasure of being number 1 .

    Cant wait for the robots to put all them union pricks out of a job , so they can go do some real work one of these days instead of just being full time overpaid underworked lazy unhelpful pricks.

    Just wanted to share my story with u guys and needed to blow off some steam after a rough day, yall be safe out there and stay far away from the seattle port no matter how much money the broker is offering, learned my lesson.

    P.S. now i know why all them container drivers is bat #### crazy :p
     
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  3. Bakerman

    Bakerman Road Train Member

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    Jan 27, 2013
    Phoenix, AZ
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    Sounds like fun!

    i’ve signed peoples name before also, like the broker said just make it so they can’t figure out who it is
     
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  4. austinmike

    austinmike Road Train Member

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    Missouri
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    and they wonder why some of these places get shot up from time to time -
     
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  5. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,653
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    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
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    I done it before to and like i said got caught with a customer that was known to not sign paperwork. Just not worth the risk to me anymore. Know guys who do it and it dont bother me, just not gonna do it myself with the great luck i have , ill be the first poor ####### to catch a felony for it LOL
     
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  6. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,653
    130,469
    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
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    Right? I could totally see it. Im such a mellow person and its hard to anger me but my god I cant believe the way they treat people and how unhelpful they are when u ask them a question or for help. If it wasnt for the guys talking #### on the cb i probably wouldve went off the ledge, they was the only thing keeping me sane talking #### about the loser security guards lol
     
  7. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

    11,986
    60,256
    Dec 9, 2011
    South west Missouri
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    Not a fan of the ports. They all seem to have a little known - "Something form pre-authorized arrival pickup serial confirmation doo-hickey number" . . . that prevents you from, well - getting truck driver stuff done.

    And loads of plastic cops and security guard fails. And Union employees. And guys that will stand there and watch you almost drop dead with exhaustion in the middle of summer lest they help a fellow human.

    Yeah - scratched ports off my list a while back.

    Glad you lived through the experience and don't need bail money. :)
     
  8. MTN Boomer

    MTN Boomer Road Train Member

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    Feb 4, 2019
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    Sounds like Port Elizabeth or Red Hook on the East Coast. Paid the Bridge tolls to get a load at Red Hook, got there and was told that without a bol, they would not release the load, went back to Jersey
     
  9. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

    34,017
    42,098
    Mar 5, 2016
    White County, Arkansas
    0
    Ah that sound of memories.

    "That's your problem driver, aint my emergency." Scram.

    This one does not scram. I ended up walking into the shipping office deep inside the port and thump the inch thick papers in front of someone saying, here we are. Load or not?

    Then the yelling starts. I tell em save it. Inadequacies in information is not my problem where is or where is not my box?

    WTF are you? Scram. Anklebiter.

    arf arf arf... I don't worry about that anymore. Turned from a cute toy dog into a animal that sinks fang into a ankle and keep it there.

    My very favorite people are pickers. They come around see me, yell at me to move I point at my box three layers up. Plop that on me then I'll be out of your hair today. Right-o. *Thump.* now GTFO. lol.
     
  10. LoneRanger

    LoneRanger Road Train Member

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    Jun 3, 2018
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    Here is what i would do, take pics and a short video of container getting unloaded, with the numbers clearly visible.

    I’ve had people not wanting to sign the BOL, i didnt move an inch until someone came and signed for it and yes most union guys dont give a crap about anything, their job is secure and they are told not to sign for ####.
     
  11. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

    34,017
    42,098
    Mar 5, 2016
    White County, Arkansas
    0
    In Chester PA I tended to find a empty rectangle. Zip into it and sit. Chassis and all. They will come along soon enough with a box. Everything else is painted on my cab. That was a great fast port. Just find the rectangle and sit ready to run the 4 corner locks after the thump. Hardly have to lift a finger.

    Boeing on the other hand was annoying. They were winding up those Osprey Rotors in testing and you could hear them mudchickens thrashing 3 miles. Typical military contracts.
     
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