Fuel for Thought

Fire that guy!

        Oh did I have some fun on my last run, due to ONE guy's impatience!  I had a pickup at the Newark, New Jersey airport, going to Michigan.  I arrived at the terminal of the cargo company and went in to the desk.  Well, here's where the fun started!

          First, this air cargo company requires that a 'pick-up' order be faxed to them listing the cargo, releasing the cargo, and telling them who is picking it up.   Also, there were storage charges on the freight that needed to be paid.  Well, I contacted dispatch, they contacted the customer, who assures us all paperwork was faxed, and a check was sent by courier.  They resent the fax, but no check had arrived, I'm left to sit in the office, while they try to figure out what happened to the check.  A check with the courier company showed the courier had arrived long before, with checks for other shipments too I guess, but there was no record of who signed for the check.  This poor office lady is going nuts, calling different departments, checking everyone who had been on duty all day.  We had conference calls with FedEx, the customer, etc. We have a very upset customer who is upset because the courier says the check is there etc.  Myself and other drivers are being held up by missing checks for storage.

       Finally, about 2 and a half hours later, she glances up as a COURIER comes in the door.  She asks him, do you have checks? Yes he says.... and of course he has every check they've been looking for.  She takes them, then looks up suspiciously... 'wait... were you here earlier?".... he says "yes, but you were busy, so I left! I can't wait, I busy!"

         We all just stood there staring incredulously, as he told her he had come in 2 hours ago, saw the line, and left, because he had a lot of stops to make!  Oh did she go off on him!  She ripped him a new one, telling him that the reason that line was there, is they were waiting on checks he was supposed to be delivering, and how DARE he leave! Apparently, it turns out his office showed him 'checked in' at the airport, but he never told them he left to do other deliveries, and didn't leave the checks. So, here we all stood.   He kept sputtering about how busy he was, and how he couldn't wait, and the more he tried, the more she yelled about thousands of dollars of freight that couldn't be released because he couldn't wait a few minutes, or let SOMEONE know he was there.  He then tried to turn to me for sympathy... "I can't wait" he says.. LOL... I told him Dude, I guarantee it costs the company more for ME to sit here for 3 hours, than it would have cost you to wait 5 minutes. You're talkin to the wrong guy. He gave up, and stomped out muttering, with the lady rippin him the whole way. As frustrating as it was, it was entertaining to watch her blow up on him! It's always funny when the someone getting yelled at is not me!

Fire that guy!

I'm just sayin!

Dale is a solo van owner operator for FedEx CC and can be reached with comments at [email protected] or by using the comments section below.