ALWAYS CHECK YOUR PAPERWORK!!!
Topic 20874 | Page 1
Thankfully I've never had stuff like that happen, but I sure know people who have. I'm sure you will never forget the experience.
UHC caught it big time. Fortunately he just got caught up in it instead of being lazy, grabbing the wrong trailer and going to Pueblo instead of Savannah.
Recently, I made Brownie points with the T-call dispatcher. Got my bills, on the truck I got the dispatch on Qualcomm. THE BILLS AND THE DISPATCH DID NOT MATCH!!
Took the papers back in, got the correct ones. The T-call dispatcher gave me such a big smile!!
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.Dispatcher:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Oh yeah that definitely is something to watch out for. I hate that happened but I guarantee it'll be a long time before you let that happen again!
I almost did it myself. I was picking up at the Walmart DC in Statesboro, GA. I went inside and gave my pickup number, got my bills, found my trailer and headed out to the guard shack. As I was in line waiting to make my way out, I noticed the destination on the bills was Sarasota, FL, instead of North Carolina, which was on my dispatch. I then noticed that the lady in shipping had inverted the last 2 numbers on my load. She gave me load #xxxxx29, rather than load #xxxxx92. So I had to explain to the guard shack that I had gotten the wrong paperwork, and that I didn't check the bills until I was on my way out. So I had to turn around and go back in to drop the incorrect trailer I had, and get the correct bills. I felt like an idiot but now I don't move a trailer until I double and triple check the destination on my bills!
I always check mine. We have to enter City and State where it's going and other info into People Net. I do this from the BOLs. That's a double check for me.
Always check everything on the bills against what it reads on your Qualcomm dispatch. Good idea to double check trailer numbers, too.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.
Got to read a note sent out this afternoon by our operations director on the Qualcomm to all drivers. Told about an incident yesterday of a driver that had the wrong load/trailer, and had proceeded 500+ miles from the shipper before that mistake was caught.....
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.New Reply:
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On Saturday, I had a double pickup in Louisville KY. I got to my first pickup at 0600, only to find out that they don't have anyone working, besides the guard, until 0930. So I had to wait on the side of the road until then. Finally got inside, gave the (different) guard my pickup number, and was assigned a door. After about an hour, the dock worker came out and gave me my bills, sealed me up, and I headed onto my 2nd pickup also in Louisville. Got loaded there then proceeded to the Macy's DC in Martinsburg WV for a drop and hook on Monday.
I arrived at the guard shack at 0400, gave him my paperwork and appt number, only to find out that my appt number doesn't match both of my bills! I had the correct number for the 2nd pickup, but the first pickup was 1 number off and set to go to a Macy's DC in Houston TX. I had to wait onsite until someone from receiving was available at 0800 to figure out what to do with the load. According to her, my appt number only had 1 load attached to it (the correct 2nd load), but it couldn't be partially unloaded due to the load not being on pallets (I don't understand this). After a brief discussion with my DBL, including him saying to "always check your bills," he got on the horn with CS to figure out what to do (they never get a reply from Macy's).
12h in a data deadzone later, as my DBL is getting ready to leave the office, I get permission to head back to the pilot in Hagerstown MD to wait until further instructions. Here it is Tuesday morning 0900, and I'm still awaiting orders. I sent a message to my DBL stating, "I'm willing to stay with the load until we know what to do, as it was my mistake that caused this whole mess."
Learn from my mistakes, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check your bills before leaving the shipper. I've wasted an entire day (I'm honestly not even expecting any detention pay) due to a mistake that would have taken 5 seconds to catch.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.