How many HATE this?

Jumbuck

Seasoned Expediter
One of the things about expediting that just gets my blood pressure BOILING is you have a pick up at a huge plant and you're ALWAYS in a hurry, and you finally drive around and find the "SHIPPING" department. Most of the time no one is there, especially on third shift, and when you do finally find somebody, they tell you you have to go around to "RECEIVING"
So you say, "UH, well I'm picking up not delivering." They look at you like you're a splat of bird poop on a new car windshield and say very rudley, "YEAH! You have to go around to receiving like I said!" If you DARE to challenge them you are setting yourself (and your company) for some "professional" verbal abuse, so it is best although almost impossible to keep your mouth shut!
It can work the other way also...you have to go to "SHIPPING" to make a delivery! Anyone know why that is? Anyone?? Anyone??
Another one I love is when a factory has NO signs of ANY kind and you have to play "Guess whats behind door number three" to find the right place to make your delivery or pick up.
Still another is when you go to a door that is clearly marked "ABSOLUTLEY NO ENTRANCE through this door!" "EVEN GOD better not come through this door!" So, you go around to the main office door which is the only door that doesn't have a sign like that on it, and announce that you are there to make a pick-up or delivery. Again, they warmly inform you that you have to go around to the rear for deliveries. Now, at that point, you might dare say, "but the door says, etc. etc. etc! "They tell you, "oh, don't pay any attention to that sign! Everybody uses THAT door!" How 'ya gonna win? Then the consignee can't understand why their freight is delayed! It's a FUN job, ain't it? Does this bother anyone but me?
 

Slo-Ride

Veteran Expediter
Are you suggesting there maybe some thing wrong with the mentality of the Autoworkers?

Went thru this last night, Guard shack wanted to know why I stopped @ his gate and he couldn't understand that the stop signed said STOP, and another sign said All drivers check in At Guard shack.
But to answer your Q..No it doesnt bother me. Its just the reason I show my arrival prior to hitting the guard shack and dont show my empty untill I clear the guard shack.
 
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davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
When I drove I always walked through the "no entrance" door anyway if there wasn't another.
Think I was question maybe once. Said I was already on the roof and didn't see another opening.
My personal favorite is the person behind the glass window that pretends you aren't there. The after 10 minutes or so you knock on the glass and they give you that look of stealing their last meal.
 

Slo-Ride

Veteran Expediter
When I drove I always walked through the "no entrance" door anyway if there wasn't another.
Think I was question maybe once. Said I was already on the roof and didn't see another opening.
My personal favorite is the person behind the glass window that pretends you aren't there. The after 10 minutes or so you knock on the glass and they give you that look of stealing their last meal.

Things have changed since way back then Dave..:)
They have since came out with another sign that says..Dont tap on the glass.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Some had that up then. But I figured if they were pretending not to see me, I was pretending I wasn't tapping on the glass.:cool:
 

wahoofan

Expert Expediter
What about the sign that says 'absolutely no drivers allowed in office' but sure enough after they load your truck they give you the 1000 yard stare without saying anything for like 1 minute or so and then scream at you for not coming into the office to get your paperwork!! followed by the disenchanted, bad attitude possessed, company associate shaking their head in disbelief at your so called stupidity for not knowing that you are supposed to not follow the signage displayed!!
 

21cExp

Veteran Expediter
Ha, yes, have experienced most of this in one way or another, though don't usually have too hard a time with the workers/shipping clerks. They must be used to some pretty rude and impatient drivers too, in all kinds of trucks, and typically respond well to a little understanding and kindness when they sense the driver is just a working guy trying to get the job done too.

I was though, at one of my most recent pickups, in a place that uses a lot of thinners and two-part epoxies etc. A lot of Toluene and other nasty solvents, and you could tell that a lot of the people working there have been around the fumes a wee bit too much.

They seemed to understand each other okay, but kind of kept tilting their head at me, like they'd never seen a human that wasn't as pale and lifeless as they were, and when they spoke, it was slow and sort of slurred, like an LP on the wrong speed.

They just weren't real keen on much of the outside world, which of course I could hardly wait to get back to.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Are you suggesting there maybe some thing wrong with the mentality of the Autoworkers?

Went thru this last night, Guard shack wanted to know why I stopped @ his gate and he couldn't understand that the stop signed said STOP, and another sign said All drivers check in At Guard shack.
But to answer your Q..No it doesnt bother me. Its just the reason I show my arrival prior to hitting the guard shack and dont show my empty untill I clear the guard shack.

Are you suggesting that it's the autoworkers who decide which signs are placed where? Or that when they do, [handmade signs], it is without the oversight of management?
When I pull into a gate and the sign says "All trucks use Main St" without the slightest clue as to which way that might be [and no room to turn the truck around, either], it's not the autoworkers who ordered the signage & placement, ok? Let's hold people responsible, but make sure it's the right people, eh?
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Poor little auto workers get no respect.:rolleyes:

Sent from my Fisher Price ABC123 via EO Forums
 

Humble2drive

Expert Expediter
With the Fed the fun starts before you even arrive because they have given you the address of the reception office which is nowhere near the warehouse.

11pm - Us: Hello Fed, we are at pu and there is no one here?
Fed Dispatcher : Okay, hold on and we will try and find someone.

You know the rest of the story.
 

Slo-Ride

Veteran Expediter
Are you suggesting that it's the autoworkers who decide which signs are placed where? Or that when they do, [handmade signs], it is without the oversight of management?
When I pull into a gate and the sign says "All trucks use Main St" without the slightest clue as to which way that might be [and no room to turn the truck around, either], it's not the autoworkers who ordered the signage & placement, ok? Let's hold people responsible, but make sure it's the right people, eh?

OK Ill stand corrected there Cheri BUT:
Id bet my bottom dollar it was a Autoworker that hung the sign in the wrong spot then.
Ive spent far to much time in the auto plants I know what the Mentailty is as far as getting the job done.
I also sat on enought committes in the plant to know that Mangers on the floor have less say then you may think.

(Im am not refering to a line rat here..Those autoworkers do earn thier money and anyone that can hold that job does earn my respect)
 

whistler

Active Expediter
Seriously? I thought we expediters were a little heartier breed....ya know like doing whatever it takes, going the extra mile, taking the bull by the horns, being a self starter, etc. etc.... If we can't outsmart an autoworker we are a sad lot.
 

Slo-Ride

Veteran Expediter
Seriously? I thought we expediters were a little heartier breed....ya know like doing whatever it takes, going the extra mile, taking the bull by the horns, being a self starter, etc. etc.... If we can't outsmart an autoworker we are a sad lot.

If we cant poke fun at em, What have we got left?
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
I've found this at quite a few manufacturers..NOT just the autoworker....

It is all part of our job....
 
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BigCat

Expert Expediter
One of the things about expediting that just gets my blood pressure BOILING is you have a pick up at a huge plant and you're ALWAYS in a hurry, and you finally drive around and find the "SHIPPING" department. Most of the time no one is there, especially on third shift, and when you do finally find somebody, they tell you you have to go around to "RECEIVING"
So you say, "UH, well I'm picking up not delivering." They look at you like you're a splat of bird poop on a new car windshield and say very rudley, "YEAH! You have to go around to receiving like I said!" If you DARE to challenge them you are setting yourself (and your company) for some "professional" verbal abuse, so it is best although almost impossible to keep your mouth shut!
It can work the other way also...you have to go to "SHIPPING" to make a delivery! Anyone know why that is? Anyone?? Anyone??
Another one I love is when a factory has NO signs of ANY kind and you have to play "Guess whats behind door number three" to find the right place to make your delivery or pick up.
Still another is when you go to a door that is clearly marked "ABSOLUTLEY NO ENTRANCE through this door!" "EVEN GOD better not come through this door!" So, you go around to the main office door which is the only door that doesn't have a sign like that on it, and announce that you are there to make a pick-up or delivery. Again, they warmly inform you that you have to go around to the rear for deliveries. Now, at that point, you might dare say, "but the door says, etc. etc. etc! "They tell you, "oh, don't pay any attention to that sign! Everybody uses THAT door!" How 'ya gonna win? Then the consignee can't understand why their freight is delayed! It's a FUN job, ain't it? Does this bother anyone but me?

The reason for sometimes picking up at the receiving side could be it came in on another truck and then goes back out on yours. It has happened to me several times in Laredo that way. Thank god I don't have to deal with that bs anymore.

Today and yesterday 2 separate loads they spotted me turning in before I saw them and both times they loaded/unloaded right where I sat. 2 out of the 3 loads I've done that way is not bad at all.
 

pelicn

Veteran Expediter
I just like the fact that every company thinks that everyone should know they system that THEY use. No need for signs, or instructions it should be completely understood and NO questions asked :rolleyes:
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
The SHIPPING versus RECEIVING thing has never bothered me. I figure I'm there for them, so I'll go wherever they want me to go to get loaded or unloaded. The ones that chap my butt are the buildings with no observable address or signage as to who they are, and the one Dave mentioned, which REALLY gets me, where you are apparently invisible.

I've stood there for 10 minutes, then turned around and just walked out. Then I'll sit in the van for five or ten, then go back inside, but with my phone up against my ear like I'm talking to dispatch or something. I'm not, but they don't know that. That'll usually get them to at least acknowledge my existence. Clearly, it's harder to be invisible with a phone to your ear. :D
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I have to say 99 percent of the time people are great and things are simple. That other 1 percent that's another story.

Sent from my Fisher Price ABC123 via EO Forums
 

wvcourier

Expert Expediter
The SHIPPING versus RECEIVING thing has never bothered me. I figure I'm there for them, so I'll go wherever they want me to go to get loaded or unloaded. The ones that chap my butt are the buildings with no observable address or signage as to who they are, and the one Dave mentioned, which REALLY gets me, where you are apparently invisible.

I've stood there for 10 minutes, then turned around and just walked out. Then I'll sit in the van for five or ten, then go back inside, but with my phone up against my ear like I'm talking to dispatch or something. I'm not, but they don't know that. That'll usually get them to at least acknowledge my existence. Clearly, it's harder to be invisible with a phone to your ear. :D

Not me...im not pretending...i am calling Dispatch...and or the main office ...then im not going back....good thing about being an O/O...it really irks them, when you have them initial beside your arrival time on Pro reciept...gets them wandering???

Sent from my Teddy Ruxspin
 
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