Fuel for Thought

You Can't Log This

If you hang around this industry long enough, you start to notice something funny. For all the noise we make about horsepower, freight rates, and which truck stop has the least terrible parking after sunset, trucking is still a people business. Sure, we haul freight, but we also haul conversations, expectations, frustrations, and the occasional “bless your heart” from someone who absolutely does not mean it kindly.
And that is where customer service sneaks in. Not the corporate kind with posters about core values, but the kind that happens one dock, one customer and one fuel island at a time.
Drivers know this better than anyone. We are the face of the whole operation, even when that face is running on fumes and caffeine. When you back into a dock, nobody sees the planners, the office folks, or the person who negotiated the load. They see you. Fair or not, in that moment you are the entire company.
Customer service in trucking does not mean being a doormat. It does not mean smiling through nonsense or pretending a four hour wait is just part of the job. It means showing up with professionalism even when the situation around you is anything but. It means being the calm one when everyone else is acting like their forklift is on fire and sometimes it means knowing when to speak up and when to let silence do the heavy lifting.
One thing I have learned is that customer service starts long before you hit the dock. It starts with communication. A quick call ahead, a heads up about traffic, or even just letting your customer know that you are running ten minutes behind can save a whole chain reaction of headaches. People do not need perfection, they want your best efforts. They just do not want to be left guessing, do you?
Then there is the attitude part, the one nobody likes to talk about because it requires a little self awareness. We all have days when the universe seems personally offended by our existence. Maybe the GPS lied. Maybe the weather turned on you. Maybe the last shipper treated you like you were responsible for every bad decision they have ever made. But the next stop does not know any of that. They only know the version of you that steps out of the truck, and if that version is already halfway to fed up, the whole interaction is going to feel like pushing a rope uphill.
Customer service is not about pretending everything is perfect. It is about not letting the imperfect parts spill onto people who did not cause them. Be the professional you claim to be.
And here is the thing. Good customer service pays you back. Not always right away, and not always in obvious ways, but it does. A receiver who remembers you as the easy driver is the one who will squeeze you in when the schedule is tight. A customer who knows you communicate clearly is the one who trusts you with better loads. A shipper who sees you treat their freight with respect is a shipper who does not flinch when you ask for a little respect in return or even a higher rate for the outstanding service you provide.
It is a long game. Luckily, truckers are built for the long game. It takes time to build rapport with your customers and not all customers will be a good fit for you, no matter the level of service.
At the end of the day, customer service in trucking is not about scripts or slogans. It is about showing up as the kind of driver people are relieved to see instead of the kind they so often dread. It is remembering that every interaction, good, bad, or somewhere in between, leaves a trail behind you. And if you are going to leave a trail, it might as well be one that makes the next driver’s day a little easier. Who knows, you may be the next driver. Because out here, we are all representing something bigger than ourselves. And sometimes, the smallest gestures end up carrying the most weight.

Customer service is just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate type of activity.
 - Leon Gorman

See you down the road,
Greg