Appointment Time And DOT

Hey everybody, today I was headed to my appointment as every other day lol. My eta was about an hour before my appointment was ending so I was cutting it close but felt confident in making it. Well Dot had other plans and I got pulled in the weigh station for an inspection. After we were done and I got my paperwork, I was trying to call my dispatch to let them know that I was going to be late , late notice yikes but I really had no choice as I wasn’t going to call during inspection hahah anyways no one answers the phone and I’m on hold for 34 ish minutes at this point I’m just gonna head out. I go to my drop off about 1hr 20 mins late and boom they’re closed. Should’ve looked at the closing time, lesson learned

Yes, that sucks big time ! Been there, done that due to bad info from dispatch lol.....Had a few in my day driving, get to a reciever, only to find they were closed for the weekend. Even after asking more than once their hours of operation from our dispatch, assuring us they would be open lol NOT !!

After a couple times of this, I would find the recievers phone number (IF possible) and call em direct, even if dispatch told us NOT to call customers! Almost ALL of our paperwork never listed the customers contact info !! There was more than 1 way to skin a cat hahaha, NEVER had that happen again to us/me

Yup you were placed in a no win situation not of your doing. Customers that do not have parking or allow us in until real close to appt. time run this risk.

Now on the other point if you had a window and cut it that close by choice, then that is on you. But if your hours available dictated that was when you would arrive, again nothing else you could do.

If I have a window I always shoot for the earliest I can roll in.

We can’t control what DOT chooses to do. Not your fault, just chaulk it up to experience.

I don't know your specific company but every one I've been at I've had access to a direct contact ( my slave driver ), you shoot that person either a text or voicemail ASAP before even trying to make contact with the larger dispatch network. This is mainly to CYA and make sure that at the least you made an effort to communicate the issue, at best they have better contact info than you do and even after hours can fix it all and just send you a 👍. BTW there's nothing wrong at all with showing up after appointment or after a location is listed as closed, you'd be surprised how often things can just work out, always however leave yourself enough time to get to anywhere you can shut down for 10hrs no matter what.

That’s a pain in the butt , dispatch must’ve been looking at the info on google hahah.

Yes, that sucks big time ! Been there, done that due to bad info from dispatch lol.....Had a few in my day driving, get to a reciever, only to find they were closed for the weekend. Even after asking more than once their hours of operation from our dispatch, assuring us they would be open lol NOT !!

After a couple times of this, I would find the recievers phone number (IF possible) and call em direct, even if dispatch told us NOT to call customers! Almost ALL of our paperwork never listed the customers contact info !! There was more than 1 way to skin a cat hahaha, NEVER had that happen again to us/me

If only receivers had truck stops attached !! Lol and I won’t even lie my sorry excuse was taking a shower at pilot beforehand haha I also didn’t take into account the rainy day in Seattle 🫢

Yup you were placed in a no win situation not of your doing. Customers that do not have parking or allow us in until real close to appt. time run this risk.

Now on the other point if you had a window and cut it that close by choice, then that is on you. But if your hours available dictated that was when you would arrive, again nothing else you could do.

If I have a window I always shoot for the earliest I can roll in.

We can’t control what DOT chooses to do. Not your fault, just chaulk it up to experience.

I’m with Schneider btw, that’s a good idea I’ve honestly never thought to just directly contact the receiver maybe because I’ve heard she say he say not to and didn’t want to step on some toes lol one thing I will forsure not be doing is cutting it close anymore especially because I got a message that this is my 2 nd time I’ve been late for an appointment and one more I get a write up. After that I think it’s training back at the oc and after that bye bye haha . Really like this company they’ve been keeping me running 🫡

I don't know your specific company but every one I've been at I've had access to a direct contact ( my slave driver ), you shoot that person either a text or voicemail ASAP before even trying to make contact with the larger dispatch network. This is mainly to CYA and make sure that at the least you made an effort to communicate the issue, at best they have better contact info than you do and even after hours can fix it all and just send you a 👍. BTW there's nothing wrong at all with showing up after appointment or after a location is listed as closed, you'd be surprised how often things can just work out, always however leave yourself enough time to get to anywhere you can shut down for 10hrs no matter what.

Hi Francis, I too work for Schneider, so I’ll share a little advice, which likely applies to the other megas as well…to your point of calling in and waiting on hold for 34+ mins, the fastest way to reach anyone, whether it’s during normal business hours or after hours, is to send in a freeform message from your tablet. Calling in is just going to put you in a queue behind a bunch of other callers, who all have very serious reasons for their calling in (that’s sarcasm), and your leader’s time will vary from a few minutes to who-knows-when before he/she can get to you. Sending in a message will accomplish the same task, but with no wait, which is to let Schneider know you are running late and why, and adds the benefit of putting a timestamp on it, so your butt is covered, which is the main reason you’re contacting Schneider anyway… to cya.

You are discouraged from contacting the customer directly because historically speaking, most of the time when drivers do contact the consignee , it’s to ask if they can deliver early. Enough customers have complained about that that Schneider’s blanket policy is simply, Do Not Call The Customer. Can you call the customer? Of course. But when you do, be your most humble and appreciative self that you can be. The primary reason I’ll contact the consignee is to inquire about overnight parking. Sometimes I get lucky and the conversation does take a turn to delivering early, but that’s never the obvious intent of my call. Phone numbers provided with the shipments are sometimes nonexistent or outdated. This is where Google Maps is your friend. You can pull the customer up on Google Maps, and sometimes you will find a phone number listed there.

Finding yourself in a situation where you’re going to be late making a delivery, is not a good reason to contact the customer. Unless you have a good relationship with a receiver… someone you’ve delivered to previously and have built a rapport with… or you’re on a dedicated account and you go there frequently… send the message in to Schneider and let Schneider handle it. You’ve done your job in letting your employer know you’ll be late and why… now let them handle dealing with the customer.

Lastly, you mentioned grabbing a shower before heading out to the customer… I am sure you realize it now, but that wasn’t a wise move. You’ve got to manage your time better. Work that shower in during your 10 hour break, or after the delivery. When you’re on a load, you have one job: make the delivery safely, legally, and on time. If the appointment time is a set time, try and get there 30 minutes early. That’s acceptable. If it’s a delivery window, try to get there as soon as that window opens. I hope this has been informative.

Best of luck moving forward, stay safe my friend!