It's a Team's Life

Smotherem with Kindness

Smother'em With Kindness

By Stephen and Sandy
Posted Jan 26th 2023 8:00AM

We deal with a lot of different people.  Shippers, receivers, dispatchers, brokers, law enforcement, etc.  At times any of them can rude or not too friendly.  It is always to stay calm and cool and not as we say get brought down to their level.  Don’t get mad, angry, the best way is stay up beat “Kill’em With Kindness”.  If it is a customer you are dealing with contact your dispatcher, broker or whomever you got the load from and let them handle the situation.

We have had a few occasions when we needed to use this on either a shipper or receiver.  In one of these we were delivering auto parts to a plant.  We arrived early in the morning with the “hot” load.  The person at the dock told us in not so kind words “I have already unloaded enough trucks tonight”.  We said ok where can go park until the next shift (in four hours) will come in?  The person told us “go park over there and don’t come back in and bother me.”  About thirty minutes later a different person came out and asked if we had “xxx parts” on the truck.  We said yes, we did.  This person said we need those parts and back into dock X.  As, many of you know most of the auto plants require drivers to bring in the ignitions key onto the dock.  Well, we did and that same fork lift operator was on the dock and yelled at us to get off the dock.  Very nicely we told them it says we must bring in the key and needed the bill of lading (BOL) signed.  We were to keep the key and they signed the BOL and we got of the dock and that person unloaded us and we left.

A second occasion again we pulled up to a auto plant with “hot” parts.  The guard at the gate in not so kind words they don’t take deliveries at this hour of the morning and told us to leave.  We found a spot to park not far from the gate and the guard could see us.  About forty-five minutes late that same guard came walking down to us and asked if we had “xxx parts” again we said yes, we did.  Well now it was hurry up the line is about to shutdown because they need the parts.

So, stay calm as you are the professional and you are just doing your job and picking up or delivering a load that you have decided to run.

 

Sandy & Stephen

Let’s Roll We’re Burning Daylight - “Wil Anderson” (The Cowboys) John Wayne