You know you're in trouble when...

The DEF light starts to blink

 

Yeah we get trucks in here all the time

 

Family friendly

 

....if you gotta get unloaded by capstone

 

Capstone story: Got to a delivery on Friday night and of course my dispatch was not answering. Turns out it is a lumper offload and, dun da da dun- it's capstone lumpers. The warehouse clerk tells me that the cost for the lumpers is around $300. They only accept cash or a com check. No debit/credit cards. After trying to reach dispatch a couple of times, with no luck, I tell them what are my options. Clerk informs me that after the current shift, they're closing the warehouse until Monday. The shift ends in like 3 hours. I also have the option to offload the truck myself. So, I head to my truck to get my boots, vest, safety glasses and lumbar support. When I come back dressed to offload, capstone is like: "whoa, what are you doing?" I said: "I'm going to offload my truck". Of course the load was a FTL and loaded on the floor. They say: "No way you're finishing in 3 hours and we're working on our last trucks and should be finished in an hour or so, then we're leaving." Long story long- I ended up getting the bright idea to contact the broker's 800 number I found online. After some negotiation, rep from the broker's office agrees to pay the lumper fee. Much cheaper than paying my layover for 2 days, I guess.

Now that I think of it- that happened a few hundred miles away from home in west Texas and I was fixing to head home for a well-deserved break.

It's always the last load on the way home when things go sideways, either with the load or the truck...

 

more of a dispatch issue than a Capstone issue. I'm glad I never have that issue. I actually have never had a bad dealing with Capstone, so far. I send in the PO, get a EFS T-check, and am usually unloaded in less than 2 hours.

 

It will only take ten minutes. .
.
.
There’s a motel over there. I have the number for the taxi.

 

I got no problem getting myself down the road faster and saving the company a few dollars BUT-

I don't turn wrenches for free unless it's my own vehicle/equipment. And it's been difficult at times getting owners to cough up any change whatsoever for my time under a truck or hood. A service call is a minimum of a few hundred dollars, especially on weekends or overnight. If I can get the truck rolling and make it to a garage, then I'm expecting at least a $50-sized bone to chew at the very least, offer to buy me lunch/dinner.

Most owners are ok with paying $50 a few times, but when you have a truck that breaks down often- due to no fault of your own- then most owners stop feeling generous at all and even opt to pay a service call every now and then instead of paying you your going rate.

That's nonsense and just erodes my good-will at that point. I stop offering to fix trucks at that point and risking my neck crawling under a truck on the side of a road.

 

Or backing up in your 4 wheeler thinking you have a wagon behind you

 

Consider yourself lucky. We try and avoid places with lumpers as much as possible now