Truck Driving Jobs

jroqueman · Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 200 Location: Ohio

[quote="SteveBooth"]I'm really confused about these loading docks. I hear this a lot and even about Walmart. Don't these places have a boss. Man, I would be all over the lazy bums and fire them. I pay you to work 8 hours and if not, I'll find someone else. At least that's the way it should work.

I would have left also![/quote]

A lot of the shippers and receivers a crazy. When I was doing reefer and general freight, you knew that you would be there all day if it was a union shop. The grocery receivers seemed to be the worst. You went to load the product at the shipper. You would sit there for hours. You go inside to inquire and they would tell you something like "The blueberry truck is not here yet, so we cannot finish making the muffins." So you sit there all day. They finally get you loaded. Your appointment time has not moved forward at all at the grocery receiver. You are supposed to deliver at 0500. Now it is at the point where you have to drive straight through the night to get there at 0500. You pull into the receiver 15 minutes late and you get a huge lecture from the receiver about how they should charge the drivers who cannot seem to deliver on time. Then they want to charge you to unload the freight onto their docks. Wal Mart does that. You have to pay to have their freight unloaded. It is total craziness, but such is the world. Reefer seems to be the worst for this type of behavior. I am glad I do not do that anymore. My hat's off to those who pull reefer. After all, we all have to eat.

2000Volvo770 · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 62 Location: Temperance Mi

this was plastic or rubber car bumpers. 10 box's and maybe at the most of 2500lbs. I was 1 of 2 trucks in the dock and even at this place. why would they take 2-3hrs to load this? :roll:

lojak · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 141 Location: TN/NC

Something like that is totally your call. If I was in the same situation I expect I would have been bugging the agent frequently just to spread the pain around. But I expect I would have stayed and loaded. Once I left, the shipper (and maybe the agent depending on how they were) would go on my list of people not to deal with again.

tumbo1 · Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 103

i lived in monroe till i was 22 not a great place for a truck not a whole lot of places to park with a big truck. were was this place i dont recognize the name. :shock:

2000Volvo770 · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 62 Location: Temperance Mi

[quote="tumbo1"]i lived in monroe till i was 22 not a great place for a truck not a whole lot of places to park with a big truck. were was this place i dont recognize the name. :shock:[/quote]

910 Detroit ave. the street next to the Pilot about 3 building on the left.

TIM · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 247

Quote: where did ya mind that? I got this off Landstar's board.

My apologies . I didnt check that area and you did .

I checked another area so thats not quite fair.

However you did agree it was too low to wait and I thought it was too low period. But then you said it was to get you to a better paying load , so I stand corrected. I need to read a little closer . :sad:

Tim

lojak · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 141 Location: TN/NC

[quote="SteveBooth"]I'm really confused about these loading docks. I hear this a lot and even about Walmart. Don't these places have a boss. Man, I would be all over the lazy bums and fire them. I pay you to work 8 hours and if not, I'll find someone else. At least that's the way it should work.

I would have left also![/quote]

Yes but most of the supervisors on docks started as dockworkers. That means that they have a mindset of "what is the least amount of work I can do and still keep my job?". Most of our outbound frieght is water heaters so we deliver to anything from major distibution centers to family owned plumbing supply places to big box home supply places (ie Lowes). My experience is the closer you get to retail the less interested they are in getting you unloaded. -jd

Bigmon · Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 701 Location: S. Cal.

I would have left too. Oh and grab the Pizza on the way out.

solo379 · Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 3156

2000Volvo770 wrote: Well I took a load from Landstar DEX broker out of Monroe Michigan. Loaded at a place call Howard Ternes Packaging. Was told to be there just after 10:00am today. Got there at 10:15am for this and hit dock at 10:18am. They had to load 10pcs at 2500lbs. After sitting 45mins and only 2 trucks in the docks I called Landstar. Agent says it will be another 15mins, I said ok. Well after about 90mins I see they blocked my truck with a big steel container...hmm. Them a pizza delivery came for them and then it was lunch time :evil: Well 12:05pm came I told the shipping clerk to not load my truck and that I was leaving. So at 12:15pm I shut the doors and headed back home. This load had to be in Atlanta at 7:am tomorrow and I have already burned 4hrs in the coloring book :wink: . Landstar agent does not understand by I wouldn't wait 2-3hrs. without being paid? :roll: So now I am banded from moving anything for Landstar :cry: Was I wrong for this anyone? I own this truck and trailer 3hrs loading 756miles with 3 stops with the 1st at 7am for $1155 sucked :twisted: So correct me If I was being stupid. :D

Well, no offence, but i've voted "yes". :P

I wouldn't say about rate, if you believed it worth it, so be it...

Here is what i think;-
You've got to the shipper quarter after 10am, so you should be reasonably believe, that you got loaded at around noon.
Your first stop, comes off in 19 hours, and 756 miles later, how did you planned to do that? :roll:

So, even if everything, was go normal,(never does), you still would be in a hot spot, not to mention, that it was 3stoper, which gives you even more variables.

That was a wrong choice, right from the start, and as a business owner, you should be able clearly to see that.
I wouldn't comment on your living the dock, but as the other have mentioned, you didn't really well worked with the broker. :sad:

Once again, no offence, just an opinion! 8)

GMAN · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 9778 Location: Tennessee

I am not clear whether you run your own authority or lease to a carrier. It sounds like you may lease to someone. I think you could have handled it differently. To begin with, you need to allow at least 2 hours to load and unload. I have been in this situation before and the way I handle it is to tell them that they have 2 hours to load me before I go on detention time. If they don't pay detention time, I let them know that I will be leaving in 2 hours, loaded or not. That usually gets them motivated. If the load comes from a broker or agent I let them know the same thing, and that I will be pulling out at that time if I am not loaded unless they are willing to pay for my time and put it in writing. That way I am not burning any bridges and handle it in a professional manner. If they don't load me within that time period, I pull out and it was their decision. You put the monkey on their back. That is the business way to handle this sort of thing. I have handled it the same way many times and never told that I could never load for a broker because of it. This is a business and you should conduct yourself in such a manner to not shoot yourself in the foot. And Landstar or any other broker can refuse to load you should the choose to do so. They are not obligated to load anyone.

2000Volvo770 · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 62 Location: Temperance Mi

thanks GMan...I am leased to a carrier. I did sit for 2hrs in contact with Landstar agent. She was told at 12:00 noon I was closing the doors. Landstar agent told me they don't pay detention. So at 12:15pm and not touched I closed the doors. Thanks for all the post about this. Good or Bad I respect what you all have to say. Never too old to learn I think.

Truck Driving Jobs

Trucking Jobs

Truck Drivers

Trucking Companies

Class A Drivers.com