Now that's funny! And to think all this time I've only been referred to as just "a dumb truck driver". Wow! The old saying must be true "you learn something new everyday" about the world we live in and where we rank in society: apparently near if not at the bottom. I only hope that Jacobs will be able to somehow clean us up and make us presentable to our customers for that all important 'hug'.
My favorite is when they are nice enough to provide a Porta John outside for us to use.
i have never been called a stupid trucker driver, at least within earshot.
(amazing XPO service w/ a hug not withstanding), This is just a suggestion on how to get receivers to take their freight when presented to them and they have issues in receiving it right then and there. when I first started in this business many years ago as a younger man, a crusty old driver colleague of mine pulled me aside on the dock one night and gave me this advice on how to deal w/ returns from cranky receivers. He said to me to tell them this next time they give you a hard time when attempting to make a delivery," If you don't take your freight right now today- I'll take it back to my terminal and it will be put on an outbound trailer going to buffalo tonight and you won't see it for 6 months if ever again. And you may need this stuff today. So I would advise you to take your shipment today while you have the chance." Maybe Mr. jacobs will teach us how to say something along these lines to cranky receivers but couched in diplomatic kinda hug fest type ways. Is that even possible??? Maybe Mr. Jacobs has mastered that technique. Remember, he is a salesman and a smart businessman. If anybody can teach us old P&D drs's some new tricks on how to hug even the crankiest and most miserable of customers, surely it will be him. If he,(Jacobs),could do that, maybe he could get a proprietary patent on it and license it out to other LTL companies so that their drivers can give their cranky customers some kinda XPO type of hug too. But then again probably not.
Ha! I get that almost daily. Then it's a 40-minute hunt for that person.
And that's why they despise us!
This is where I tell them that "it doesn't matter to me any, I get paid to return it to the terminal also. Plus my company gets paid to ship it back to you in a couple days. Someone ordered it, that's why you have it in front of you. What's your name Sir, so that I can write down who's responsible for the extra delivery fees?"
I never allowed for the delays. My line to the customer has always been that "It's your company name on the label, and it's the proper address, so somebody is looking for it. And since I have a wagon full of freight that still needs delivered and pickups to make, I suggest that you sign here and sort it out on your own time since I don't have time to wait. I can't punish the rest of my customers by not getting them their freight on time, just because you guys can't figure out who ordered it."
I hear ya! As I age, I'm getting that 'edge' that us drivers get after we've done this type of work for such a long time. Like you said, a wagon full of freight and pickups to make...never any time to wait for them to 'bring it up in committee' to see who ordered it.
