how am I supposed to have on time performance when the shipper is always delaying

To put it in simple terms: The vendor is dragging butt. The folks will make any excuse and it's your fault to his/her upper superiors.
Send a email,elog, call to your employer whatever you need to do to have someone else aware of vendor is dragging butt. Do not ever lie. Go with the flow at vendor, it sucks, but you are not late.

also some guard shacks note your arrival time and is independent contractor from vendor. it's another way to verify your arrival time

 

Yeah... That is like pulling teeth. Sometimes you can rely on the security guy to timestamp your paperwork, but usually they date it and that is all.

Hell often times I've found the bol to be printed, timed and dated hours before you are released. Then it looks like it was on time. And most of the places I've been to won't change the time and tough #### if you didn't like it. Just the way most shippers are.

unloader

 

If they don't put the proper time on the BOL, use your trusty phone, take a photo in their office in front of a clock. Then one of the incorrect time on the paperwork, again, in their office. Maybe even get their smiling face in there. Heck, I think I'll plan to do this now and even when I arrive so there is no wiggle room for them.

 

When I get something like this, I write on the BOL "delayed loading" and have them initial it, while also putting the time on it with their initials. I make sure that the copies of the BOL they get also have those words on them with their initials. Then when the people at the delivery complain, I pull it out and tell them the shipper delayed me, here is proof.

 

Absolutely! And if/when you get a clerk who refuses to sign/initial your note, be sure to write something like "shipper refused to sign" for a CYA. There's a lot of BS that happens in some of these shipper and receiver offices, and it's a shame we can't do more to hold them accountable for those actions. IMO, truck drivers get treated like crap all toooooooooo often!

 

I used to always try and park at the shipper for a restart just in case they did take 4-8 hours to load me but this would bite me in the butt sometimes. If my dispatcher saw that I have 11 hours to drive and it's 8pm they expected me to drive all night since my e-logs said I wasn't tired. Sometimes I would start my clock intentionally so my end of day would be around midnight.

Luckily with the company I am leased to now the appointments are flexible and nobody ever pushes me to drive the dreaded 2am-6am period.

 

Well said Beast. Very professional. Communication is the key. Presentation sets the stage.

 

Plus, if you're with a larger carrier using in cab comms like Qualcomm and you send the off hours dispatch a message noting the delay; probably want to follow up with your regular DM as soon as he/she gets in. I have found that very often night shift/ weekend/ holiday dispatch doesn't communicate well with day shift. So, I send my delay message at the right time for the electronic time stamp but I make sure I follow up with my regular DM in the morning so he can make sure Customer Service knows. The "late" isn't recorded in your OTD record by the shippers and receivers. It's recorded as on time or late in your personal record by your company. The griping by the receiving clerk I just let roll off. "Delayed at the shipper. Have to take it up with them. I didn't load it; I just pulled it as soon as it was ready and got here fast as I could." The clerk can call you "late" til the cows come home but you're not late unless your company charges you as late and they won't as long as you CYA. Long as you CYA'd just let the various CSR's argue whether or not it's "late" and don't worry about it; long as you didn't cause the late and you CYA'd you won't be charged by the company with a late load and as a company driver let's face it; THAT is the record WE are concerned with. Our personal OTD record. The office folks know how to deal with the fact it didn't get there when the receiver wanted it to. Long as you did YOUR part and let them know as soon as the delay occurs; your tail is covered.

Plus keep in mind that at most (not all, but a LOT) places your arrival time for on time delivery purposes is NOT the time the guard checked you in. It's the time you got to the window and gave the clerk your BOLs or pick up info and the time you stood in line waiting your turn to get TO the window doesn't count and neither does the time dropping and hooking. It's when your shining face gets to the window for your turn. Plan accordingly; assume a line to get to the guard and a line to get to the window and whenever possible check in first THEN do the drop and hook if it's a D&H load. This is especially important for the purchased dispatches doing a truckload to an LTL carrier hub like UPS, FedEx, Conway etc. Those runs suck. They dispatch fast and there is VERY little margin for unplanned occurrence, like a traffic jam from an accident or what have you. Basically calculated at 62MPH non-stop so I go to pick up with full tanks and as full a book of hours as I can manage. I use any remaining time from my last delivery to get to the shipper, try and take my break there or as close to them as you can manage. Preferably at the shipper. That way I can not start my clock til I'm ready to go then just show a little PTI an D&H time so that puts the 30 minute break as far out as I can get it. Most of those runs are short and they try and figure it for you being able to drive straight through non-stop in 8 hours. I'm told this is for security reasons. Hard to hijack a load while it's rolling. LTL loads are big theft targets. Think of the value of a whole load of electronics Amazon is shipping to a UPS hub.

When I get to the receiver I go straight to the receiving clerk after the guard checks me in (I do this even when the guard told me where to drop the one trailer and pick up the other any time I can get away with it) and I'll probably be "on time". LOL. I send a "delay due to" message as SOON as I hit a log jam 'cause that log jam will probably be enough of a delay to put me "late" on those runs. On LTL hub loads they don't give you any wiggle room so you got to figure out ways to play their hustle game and CYA, CYA and CYA again. Then if it's late it's between the various CSRs and not on you. Let the yammering from the clerks roll off you like water off a duck's back. Clerk and dock worker don't know. Clerk's just being a clerk, dock worker's just being a dock worker. Gotta keep cool and have a thick skin in this biz.

 

That's awesome, Dewey120, are you willing to say what company you're now leased to? I'd love to find one like that.

 

I never worry about the recvr when im at the shipper...if I arrive on time at the shipper, then its their problem to get me loaded and on my way asap....as soon as im loade, you tell your dispatcher and let them handle it..