Forklift drivers

No, not angry at all,Quite Pleasant if you must know..

I dont do van freight anymore......AMPLE time means when I Get There and Its either an apptmt or first come..Im Not going to sit there an Hour or so Waiting for someone to Start Unloading....Thats just me, Im a very patient man....Lunch,Breaks are all taken into consideration.....

You start holding a truck for 3-4-5 Hours.. YEAH Something needs to Be Done

 

I have a friend who is now retired. He told me about a time when he pull in to get unloaded and no one had the time to help him unload. He sat there getting angry, when an older man in a pick up pulled in. He ask my friend what the problem was and he told them that no one was there to unload him. The old man said he knew where a fork truck was and started to unload the truck himself. Soon, someone saw the old man and all hell broke loose. Fork trucks appeared as if magic. Something about seeing Sam Walton unload a truck got them in gear.

 

Well then i apoligize for making an ### out of myself, all that YOU and 13 bucks an hour stuff smacked of a full of himself holyer than tho my #### dont stink kinda thing. like i said guess im lucky, but i know of a few union shops where you show up and they say we will get to when we get to you. Ive sat for hours on end before, not for lazy lift drivers, just busy there trucks got loaded first. I actualy get that. Normaly all i have to do is say what time you think im getting out of here cuz i gotta load at (fill in the blank) so i can get headed for home, before i have to shut down. Score some guy thinks hes doin you a favor and wala! Empty truck.

 

depending on the place, i've done the soda thing, but my usual tactic is to show that i am in no hurry and his stall for money antics won't work. that means i grab a book, stand next to the dock door and read. the more you huff and puff and dance around the more they like it. face it there can be some goofballs who need to exert their power (as little as they have) whenever they get a chance. the ones that ask for money i turn down immediately claiming poverty, then when they say "well you'll be here a while" i start with the book again and say "that's ok, i get paid by the hour". hasn't failed me yet.

 

I get paid the same per hour to sit than I would driving. Though I much prefer driving.

 

They get 2 hours or I get detention is how it's suppose to work. I ain't bribing anyone. The detention is their incentive. You're out there to make money. $20 a day can get expensive. How do you put that on your taxes? Under bribes?

The unexpected PITA customer is expected. There's always that one that gets you out in under an hour to counteract it. Maybe I have too much patience but I can ride out the best of them. Getting upset is a personal problem.

 

When I ran reefer and it started approaching 2 hours and I'm still sitting there with a red light at the dock and I havent felt the first bump in my trailer, I would go inside and as civil as I could, I would first ask why my truck wasnt being unloaded. They always give the typical speech. I then go to the manager or who ever looked like they were in charge and explained to them that my appt was 2 hours ago, I am now billing them for detention. 'Most' of the time that worked, and usually within 20 - 30 mins I was getting unloaded and they were counting as the pallets were being broke down. But often, places like Trader Joes in Bethlehem Pa,... you can pretty much hang it up and take a nap for the next 4 - 6 hours. No amount of complaining, threats, bribes, butt kissing,.. nodda,.. they were taking their time. Main reason why I will never do reefer as an O/O. I love flat bed. I dont have any of that none sense to deal with.

Hurst

 

You know, I just let them take their time.

If the excessive delay causes a conflict with my HOS meaning the load won't be delivered at the expected time, I'll let my company and the broker know. I'm not afraid to get in an argument with the brokers over this.

I'll flat out tell them my 14 hour clock/etc. is done because, and this may be a shocker, their load wasn't the only load I did that day, lol.

They can adjust delivery appointments, that's what they and dispatch get paid for.

 

So you deliberately caused damage to spite a driver who cared about the appearance of his equipment? That is called being an #######. I hope you've outgrown this problem.

 

I worked on both sides of the fence, at a steel mill for 32 years and then got my cdl and drive a truck now. When I worked in shipping at the mill I would always try to take care of the trucks as fast as I could. If I had several trucks lined up I would work thru lunch breaks. The LTL guys (Conway, Fed-ex, etc) were always in a hurry, and sometimes would cut in front of trucks and pull to the front of the line. (this never sat well with the o/o and other guys waiting in line to get loaded and unloaded.) One Fed-ex guy in particular would tell me if I didn't take care of him RIGHT NOW, he wouldn't be back for several days. I would tell him, "see ya next week"

Now the shoe is on the other foot, when I pull into a warehouse to get loaded or unloaded, I'll buy the forktruck driver a soda or bottle of water or if the roach coach is there a coffee and donut. It's amazing how a little act of kindness and go a long way.