Refusing a back.

A big part of a trk drivers job is to back no matter how tight or how much limited space you have,you either back into the assigned dock or customer is going to refuse the load.There is a steak house in Chicago I had to deliver to but because of all the cars I couldn't even back into their alley.So they unloaded from the side with a fork lift.Once done I had to back 2 blocks before I could make a turn to get back on the interstate.But for the most part its the trk drivers responsibility to safety back into the dock.

 

I don't deliver to too many (any?) docks. Most of what I do is a one off. Yesterday was to the University of Ottawa 4 wheeler parking lot with a 53' L x 11'-10" W. Day before that the jack off toll collector at Ogdensburg, NY tells me I MUST go through the 12 wide gate so the truck can be "counted" as it goes over the metal plates. Really? Been over here many times and that's a new one on me pal. Other times I was told there was 14 ft of room at delivery to get the 12 wide through....yeah but they forgot to tell me about the stupid parking ticket dispenser and the mechanical wigwam arm. Other times I get in there the night before only to find the parking lot full of cars at 09:00 the next day and I can't get out....."oh yeah and stay off the grass or we'll have to fix the landscaping".

I refused a back in downtown Toronto once because the crane operator took me aside and told me there was no reason to do it. They already went next door to the empty 4 wheeler parking lot and asked if they could rent the entire lot for a few hours to park my truck while the crane reached over the fence and unloaded me. But the contractor didn't want to pay for renting the lot. He was determined to shame me into attempting the back. I said "I guess you're a better driver than me pal. I didn't drag this thing 600 miles through Phillie, York, Harrisburg, Scranton and Toronto just to scrape the side of a building jacknifing a 12 wide load into a 13 wide alley. They keys are in the truck if you think you can do it." The crane crew got a good laugh out of that.

I've been over more curbs than I can count and taken down my share of mail boxes too but sometimes you have to know when to draw the line. Sometimes they just have to bring the crane to me. I'm not tearing my spread axle up for someone else's laziness, cheapness or failure to plan.

 

refused a couple of times until they move some crap or cars out of the way.

they'll say we get trucks in here all day!

then you'll see a conway with a pup pull in and they go "see". lol

we do alot of broker loads and depending on the name of the broker you can tell if it's gonna be an LTL type place.

 

I've done it once or twice delivering furniture to little mom and pop places up in New England and New York that I really had no business trying to get into with a sleeper cab and a 53', and then there were a couple of times I should have said no but did it anyway and came away feeling a little stupid based on what I had to do (good thing the truck was a piece of junk anyway.)

Normally I'd just grab a hand truck and pull the piece off the back and walk it in while the truck stayed parked in a safe place. Couple times I got into it with a jerk off here and there who thought I just didn't want to do my job. It was a tough job for a rookie and I pretty much hated it because it was routinely putting me in uncool situatons but it made normal truckload stuff and LTL work with a pup trailer seem like a breeze after that.

 

Yeah. Exactly

 

yeah you guys have it a little rougher than us dragging a box lol

the mail box comment made me laugh remembering when I ran heavy equipment. Used to ride with the lowboy driver when I was running a 635 pan and I'd have to put it on the lowboy to get to/from the sites. Can't tell you how many mailboxes he took out on those little 2 lanes in the Greenville/Spartanburg area getting into and out of the subdivisions we did site prep/storm drain/road grade work in. Those big ol tires on that pan stuck waaaayyyyy out there. Remember one nice brick mailbox that disappeared in a cloud of red dust in the mirror as we went by.

Oh to be young again lol

 

I go to a place off Fulton industrial in Atlanta every week, to get into it if there is other trucks there it's back in down the driveway witch is down hill and then into the dock. use to hate going there but now it's just another dock. But it was definitely build back when all the trailers was 45 or 48 ft and with cab overs, first time I went there i messed up and pulled in didn't take me but a minute to realize that wasn't going to work but I'm not to proud to ask for help and there was two drivers one of which was a lady and they told me exactly what i need to do to get into that place helped me back out back on the road where i could do it right. To many drivers these day's don't want to ask for help never met another driver that if ask wouldn't help you out

 

HA! That made me laugh!

 

Your Tractor would not of been the first truck dispatched to this location...many more trucks will follow...the business is doing the best they can with what they've got...return the same....yourself, you'll probably never return to the location, but they'll remain attempting to keep people employed.

 

Had 1 site near impossible,In a downtown city with a single screw day cab and a pup.
Lesson learned, get with customer first and don't be anxious.
It turned out to be the dock roll up door never worked and was a lift gate service....Opppps. after thinking it, wondered why the dumpster was so close and dock door really looked abandoned hahaha. Still had a big smile on my face getting the trailer in a very tight spot.