Take Care Of The Customer

I was taken a back by a driver a couple days ago that said he was on eld and when his clock hit zero he would just park his truck across the entrance.

This was a drop and hook location so if your clock runs out it is pretty much the driver's fault. But, why would you threaten a customer? I think some drivers take the "if you got it a truck brought it" a little too far. Yes we bring it, but only if someone ships it.

In an extremely competitive industry we need to be careful to not be the reason our company loses a contract. Remember if you want to be treated like a professional you need to act like a professional.

Amen! *like.

Remember if you want to be treated like a professional you need to act like a professional.

Very true.

A lot of people only have one tool in their arsenal and it's a hammer. That's it. Every situation they're in, every challenge they face, every person they deal with they get out the hammer. Truckers are quite notorious for this. Their people skills are often times lacking to say the least.

"Kill em with kindness" my Grandma always said. I really came to appreciate what she was saying once I became a truck driver and realized I never have any authority over anyone. I figured out quickly you want to be friendly and learn how to get people to be on your side. Be the type of person that people want to do nice things for.

My parents always taught me "You have to give respect to get respect". I think nowadays too many people think they are owed respect and they think that being respectful is a sign of weakness.

Did that driver really expect for them to just say "Ok fine you win since you're the driver"? They would have called the police, and the police would have come and informed the driver that he either moves or he will be moved. So now this one driver has become a burden on the customer, as well as the local police force, other drivers -- all in a situation that he will never win -- and it's all because he thinks he's more important than the rest of the people that have their own job to do.

People like that REALLY get under my skin.

Sounds like the driver has an issue with ELD and is taking it out on the wrong people. I have seen it all the time in the military, some policy letter is published or a new regulation is written and the majority of Soldiers want to blame their direct leadership for enforcing the standard. That may be slightly different from this scenario because obviously the customer and/or shipper have nothing to do with the FMCSA regulations but, that driver is picking a fight with the wrong person.

I was taken a back by a driver a couple days ago that said he was on eld and when his clock hit zero he would just park his truck across the entrance.

Not sure why this would even need to be considered as an option on an ELD. There are both yard move and personal conveyance options available and depending on the specific circumstance both can possibly prevent an HOS violation from occurring. I would need a lot more information on the situation to make a determination if either were applicable. I know many of my drivers have spent so much time complaining about ELDs that they haven't bothered to read the positive documentation and procedural "how to's" that have been put out to them and then after 15 minutes of listening to them complain about how dumb the devices are and this is what they are causing, I get the privilege to read to them from a piece of paper they should have read themselves! Is the ELD another little thing that is going to make life a little more difficult at times, absolutely. Is it something that will be the death of the industry and cause the start of the zombie apocalypse as so many are predicting? Well I am pretty sure the sensible people here already know the answer to that one, so there is no need for me to babble on. Always take time to read what your company puts out to you, feel free to ask questions on things you do not understand or find confusing and ask them over and over again until you do understand. I have always failed to understand why my drivers feel it is a better idea to be obtaining their education from Enforcement Officials after they get into trouble for something they should have known than it is to read, listen and learn to keep themselves out of trouble in the first place.

At Swift only lease ops are allowed to use pc. Also pc can't be used to further a load. However, you can get from the customer to the truck stop in 3 minutes which would maintain on duty status.

I was taken a back by a driver a couple days ago that said he was on eld and when his clock hit zero he would just park his truck across the entrance.

Not sure why this would even need to be considered as an option on an ELD. There are both yard move and personal conveyance options available and depending on the specific circumstance both can possibly prevent an HOS violation from occurring. I would need a lot more information on the situation to make a determination if either were applicable. I know many of my drivers have spent so much time complaining about ELDs that they haven't bothered to read the positive documentation and procedural "how to's" that have been put out to them and then after 15 minutes of listening to them complain about how dumb the devices are and this is what they are causing, I get the privilege to read to them from a piece of paper they should have read themselves! Is the ELD another little thing that is going to make life a little more difficult at times, absolutely. Is it something that will be the death of the industry and cause the start of the zombie apocalypse as so many are predicting? Well I am pretty sure the sensible people here already know the answer to that one, so there is no need for me to babble on. Always take time to read what your company puts out to you, feel free to ask questions on things you do not understand or find confusing and ask them over and over again until you do understand. I have always failed to understand why my drivers feel it is a better idea to be obtaining their education from Enforcement Officials after they get into trouble for something they should have known than it is to read, listen and learn to keep themselves out of trouble in the first place.

I was raised the same way. You can only control how you act. I also ran with groups where you treated people with respect or you were "taught" respect.

My parents always taught me "You have to give respect to get respect". I think nowadays too many people think they are owed respect and they think that being respectful is a sign of weakness.

Did that driver really expect for them to just say "Ok fine you win since you're the driver"? They would have called the police, and the police would have come and informed the driver that he either moves or he will be moved. So now this one driver has become a burden on the customer, as well as the local police force, other drivers -- all in a situation that he will never win -- and it's all because he thinks he's more important than the rest of the people that have their own job to do.

People like that REALLY get under my skin.

The problem with some drivers is everything looks like a nail. People need to remember that these customers sign the checks that our companies use to sign our checks.

Remember if you want to be treated like a professional you need to act like a professional.

Very true.

A lot of people only have one tool in their arsenal and it's a hammer. That's it. Every situation they're in, every challenge they face, every person they deal with they get out the hammer. Truckers are quite notorious for this. Their people skills are often times lacking to say the least.

"Kill em with kindness" my Grandma always said. I really came to appreciate what she was saying once I became a truck driver and realized I never have any authority over anyone. I figured out quickly you want to be friendly and learn how to get people to be on your side. Be the type of person that people want to do nice things for.