For me that is a signal to intervene by offering a practical solution to what is usually a simple problem made complex by people who are clueless about the industry that employs them or just plain lazy.
All true. It also happens that simple problems get made complex by people who mean well, do the best they can with what they have to work with, but also lack the perspective or information that drivers often have.
When a shipper or dispatcher sees only part of the picture and understands one's job to be one thing in particular, the decisions made and actions taken can be quite different than they would be if they had the benefit of the driver's perspective and information. So too when the purpose is seen as making a problem disappear from one's desk.
Drivers tend to see the solution in terms of getting the freight delivered and making sure the customers are served. Shippers and dispatchers will say the same thing if asked, but the reality is many of them have different reasons for doing what they do (like a boss breathing down their neck, a policy that must be followed for its own sake, sales or production goals to be met, or making one problem go quickly away because there are ten more to resolve before you have to get to day care to pick up the kids).
With our former carrier, it happened every now and then that a load went badly wrong. Some of our most satisfying times there developed when we worked with a seasoned dispatcher who actually listened to our suggestions and was willing to work with us to get the job done in a way that got us paid, made the company look great and delighted the customer (a Purple Promise fulfilled!).
Something very interesting developed when we moved to Landstar Express America. While serving many of the very same customers, hauling the very same freight from and to the very same docks, the number of problem loads of the type you describe dropped to zero. That's right, zero.
After reading your story, I asked Diane, what problem loads have we had since we joined Landstar Express America? We both sat silent for a few minutes trying to remember some and could remember none.
We have had a few (very few) loads cancel on us at the last minute but when that happens, "truck ordered not used" pay is quickly given without us having to ask for it. More often than not, the amount is more than double what we used to get at our former carrier, if there it was given at all. So too with detention time when unexpected or planned detention develops.
We had one load go bad once when an inside pickup of a few pieces turned into a truckload of dozens of pieces that had to be boxed, pad-wrapped, etc.; and we had to go to the store to buy packing materials, etc., and both of us had to go on duty on our log books to do the work. But that was not a problem load that only grew worse the more people tried to fix it.
We were of course paid for the extra stop, work and time; and to our amazement the agent who dispatched the load came to the pickup late on a Friday night to help with the work. To make sure the customer was served and that we -- drivers unknown to him at the time -- were up to the task, the agent canceled his Friday night family outing to come to the pick up, break sweat and move freight with us.
That was a rare event because it almost never happens at our present carrier that crazy situations develop like the one you described above. That is because the agents who work directly with the shippers to book the loads are also the very same people who work directly with drivers and dispatch the trucks.
The "stupidity" does not develop because the agents know the big picture and for them, customer service is an up close and personal thing. These agents sell our services and to do so, they often visit shipper facilities and meet with and/or talk with them regularly to develop and cultivate relationships. They also develop relationships with drivers and often know well the drivers they use. They practice customer service and driver communications like they mean it ... because they really do mean it.
You lost me with this one.
If you are not tangled up on a load that has gone badly wrong, you are free to accept and do other loads that probably wont' go badly wrong.
