Do You Get Treated With Respect By The Dock Workers (when Making Or Picking Up A Delivery)?

For the most part the folks I deal with are kind and helpful. One issue I have, and others might have experienced this as well, is that sometimes a shipper/receiver will assume you've been there before and you know exactly what their procedures are.

You'll arrive at the gate and the guard will say l something like, "drop that in slot 225 and grab an empty from the other side of the building"...and that's it. That's all they say. So you drop and grab an empty and head back out the gate. When you get to the gate they ask for a gate pass (not every place requires a gate pass). They then tell you to go to the office at door -- to turn in paperwork and get a gate pass. Not every place requires you to enter the building. Many have you drop and hook and handle the paperwork right at the guard shack/gate (like most Walmarts).

I try to make it a point to mention that "I've never been to this place and I don't know the procedures". It helps avoid miscommunication.

Nick, what screen name (profile) does your friend use on Trucking Truth? I’m monitoring for another hour, have him send us something.

This has been asked before, yet never answered by "Nick".

As for the question "for a friend", join the Trucking Truth group. Stop playing foolish games!

When I worked as Dock worker the drivers loved me cause I was quick at unloading them and getting them in and out so much so they would bring me gifts on the holidays and food hehe. Now that I’m a driver I do the same.

NOTE: I’m posting this post (below) for a friend (who is interested in becoming a truck driver) who setup a new TT member account in September, but all of his questions keep going into a “waiting for moderator approval status” and are never being approved/posted to this forum for some reason. So I am only posting his questions after they have stayed in the “waiting for moderator approval status” for 2+ weeks.

Seeing the big demand for truck drivers over the past two years (if those national news stories are true about the truck driver shortage), I was curious, do you truck drivers get treated good and with respect by the dock workers/the people you interface with at the companies when making or picking up a delivery? I used to work at Target for 10 years as an outside vendor. Yet I would have to go to their dock on occasion and talk with their Receivers or other dock workers, to locate shipments of merchandise in order to restock my section of the store. I really hated how moody, mean, nasty, disrespectful many of their Recievers and dock workers were (as I worked in over 10 different Target stores, during my career there). Yet it seemed like some dock workers had their favorite truck drivers and treated them nice and with respect, yet the other truck drivers  they would treat as bitter enemies. I never understood this nasty Reciver and dock worker mentality happening at so many different Target stores. So I was just curious as to your experiences of how you have been treated by dock workers in general at various companies when making or picking up a delivery. Maybe it could be an isolated issue happening only at some Target stores with their Recievers and dock workers.

Only, remember 1 time, I was at a DC (forget who/where) the shipping guys were up on a platform. This driver was going ballistic on these guys, totally acting like an asshat. I stood there waiting my turn, finally the driver stomped off like a 5 year old having a hissy fit, cussin' em the whole time. They were actually, more or less ignoring his rant and remained pleasant, and professional. I try and kill em with kindness myself, "ya get more bee's with honey than sour vinegar" attitude.....

I just kill them with kindness

That was my grandma's favorite saying, and she was the master at it. The kindest woman you ever met.

Most people are like mirrors; they'll reflect whatever you give. If you're kind and friendly, rarely will anyone give you trouble. If they do give you trouble, and you continue to be kind, 95% of the time they'll drop the attitude and things will go well.

Master yourself and you'll find that handling others is pretty easy.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Watch your manners. Be professional. I found that if I ran into someone having a bad day using good manners goes a long way. You never know what issues they have faced that day.

I met a very angry receiving clerk once who lightened up a bit after I minded my manners and used "yes ma'am, no ma-am, I'll know to do better next time Ma'am." If you go in with a chip on your shoulder someone may knock it off.

Be polite. Be professional.

I find everyone is fine, more so now that I've been on a dedicated account - there were plenty of places during my OTR time when you were treated as a piece of meat - take a number, get in line...but there was still no disrespect involved and there were several places where jockeys went out of their way to help me when telling them I had just started but then at the same time I can see how if someone acted like a know it all and then needed assistance one may be hesitant to assist - it's always best to be humble in my opinion.

All of that said, I've run into more drivers with issues than dock workers - seen some of their road rage in actions, seen primates wanting to fight over parking spots - just ridiculous silly stuff - got a really good story about one guy and his road rage in a Love's lot but I'll save that for another thread, another time as I've been a lurker for a while and just now have begun to reply a bit, now that I've been out and working for a little while I feel a bit more comfortable partaking in these conversations.

When I’m delivering, they are the customer. I try to treat them as a valued contributor to my paycheck. How they choose to act is on them.

If I based my career choices on how I was gonna be treated by the other side, man I’d probably have never worked any job.

Hey there Steve L.,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question and for sharing your experiences and opinions on this issue. I will send your response to him.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

100% agree with Steve on this.

When I’m delivering, they are the customer. I try to treat them as a valued contributor to my paycheck. How they choose to act is on them.

If I based my career choices on how I was gonna be treated by the other side, man I’d probably have never worked any job.

Hello G-Town,

Thank you for your input. I will pass it along to my friend.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.

I agree with Steve and G. I’m always proffessional. In 9 years I can count on less than 1 hand the number of customers that weren’t.

I have witnesed drivers being a butt and the interaction they rec’d back from the customer.

Hey there PJ,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my friend’s question and for sharing your experiences on this issue. I will send your response to him.

On the behalf of my friend, thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Nick S.