Why does unloading with reefers take so long?

Lol..........lol......

 

- Warehouses with limited dock space causing delays in unloading
- Mandatory breaks during your unloading
- Limited lift drivers/lumpers to unstack and repack your load
- Expiration / Damage check / case count will cause even more delays depending on your load
- Then you can add in quality control / supervisory checks during your unloading process occasionally

When I would run reefer; once I got back into the dock I would shut off the reefer. That usually would make the folks inside move a little faster. (especially summer time) And if they asked me to start it up, I would then ask them to pay me for the fuel used. That shut them up and (usually) cut about an hour or so off my sit time.

But the biggest waste of time for unloading is going to be the lumper service. They don't care how long it takes them. most of them are hourly and work 1 shift, so they don't care if we sit for 5-8 hours at a time.

 

That HEB plant in San Antonio has barely any space to back in, god help you get the last 3 doors next to that curve I reckon if you got a long hood Pete you’ll need the yard dog to back her in for you.

 

I've been told Americold and Cargill are the worst.

 

Americold sucks for another reason. Sometimes they try to tell you there's some sort of loading fee, and expect you to pay 50 or 100 or whatever or they won't load you. Ok then keep the load...lol

 

Because the shipper in Yuma Arizona decided to load all your boxes of cabbage or lettuce on the floor without using pallets and they have to unload the whole thing one box at a time by hand.

 

As mentioned by 88 Alpha, I don't think it's a refer thing but a customer issue. I have been pulling a refer for about 3 years now. Some shippers and consignees get you in and out in short order and others drag their feet. Agree with others that Americold is a usually a nightmare as well as the very large grocery outlet DCs. On the flip side, I find that beer loads and fresh fruit usually goes on and comes off very quickly.

 

Shamrock Dairy in Phoenix is good for an 8 or 10 hour too.

 

I boycott companies that treat drivers like crap. HEB is so bad it’s ridiculous. Even though it’s the only grocery store in my entire city I refuse to shop there.