pallet jack in trailer......

I've been into many Wal Mart DC's and know they charge $50 to unload....or you can do it yourself....some O/O I have seen using an electric walkie.

 

Its not the pallet jack that bothers me. I've been to many places that will even let you borrow a non-powered jack from their dock if you want to unload yourself instead of paying the lumpers. Hell, some places that are small have even required me to either unload or assist unloading. But like I said, its not the unloading that bugs me, its the breaking down and restacking. When 22-26 pallets turns into 48 pallets of crap that have to be inventoried and restacked according to their individual store or customers request. If all I had to do was tailgate the load or get the pallets onto the dock, I'd do almost all my own unloading and just let the company pay me the hourly driver labor rate.

 

I can see unloading your own truck, but sorting and stacking to their ti and hi I think is crazy. It should come from the shipper that way.

 

That's ridiculous

 

I carried a manual jack for a couple of years before stepping up to a electric one about 9 months ago. The lumper fees at some warehouses are getting horribly high and the wait times can be even more costly. Matter of fact more than half of the o/o leased to the carrier I am carry a jack of some type. But of course we do 95% LTL refrigerated and time is money for us. Cut 30+ mins off of 3 deliveries in a day and a person can easily fit 1-2 more drops in resulting in more money. As for the break down work...normally not a big deal for me since I can usually charge pretty close to what the lumpers do, but my issue comes with some places still using small wood or 1 tier per pallet. Even with those pet peeves it doesn't take long to break down 1-8 pallets (normal delivery size for my route).

 

What happens when u get a load that doesnt allow u to have corrosives on the trailer with the load? That electric jack has batteries, which makes it a corrosive. For some freight, not allowed to have even a small amount. What happens when u get a light load that loads from front to the rear? I like my mt shampoo bottle runs, but it loads the full trailer. Love uner 20,000 lb loads for fuel savings. Just throwing out a little food-for-thought. Remember, u cant blame the shipper or receiver...Only yourself for that one. Be safe out there drivers.

 

Nobody has ever had a problem about the batteries in the electric jack...mostly cause the newer batteries are usually sealed or AGM types. Sometimes I do miss out on loads due to the space of the jack...normally those loads don't pay what I consider worth worrying about anyways. Also I try to run LTL out of WI and back when possible due to the fact that there is more money in LTL than FL. Most guys are pulling full loads out of NJ and eastern PA back to Chicago for a gross of $1000-1200...I usually get 3 LTL pickups that pay over $2000 with less miles and weight then the FL.

 

I don't get the Lumper deal.....Why should a Carrier/Driver pay to have a load moved off the wagon?

If they did that crap to open-deck......I would get a PTO....A Hydraulic Tank...And convert the wagon to a lift-body......and then "Drop the load"...Literately....

 

Yet, u r not the OP. Ur loads could be different than the OP's. My point is, that ALL loads r not the same. U never know what ur gonna get. If ur gonna spend the money to get one of the NEWER elec jacks over a cheaper older jack, could be costly for some when they find out that they can not take the load. Just saying...Buyer beware.