Personally I stopped trying to call for an early live load/unload. Twice in the last few months when I did get ahold of someone and was told sure be here at ---- o'clock, one time I sat for 10hr 6min and the other time for about 6 hr then told just to return the next day. Easier to just sit at my rest stop until time rather than eat my 14 down waiting.
I've been assigned loads to pickup that were a day late when I got it, I just pick them up and drop them off as quickly as i can and ignore any snide comments that come my way.
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
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Some companies have prohibitions on drivers calling customers. Apparently, not all of our peers share our ability to make nice on the phone or internet (shocked face :) ) - not to mention in person.
I don't call customers only because I've been instructed not to. We have a process that we're expected to use for late notifications. As for getting there early, the load planners usually have information on the arrival rules that are included in dispatch notes available to the dispatchers.
Most (probably 80%) of our runs are to repeat locations, and the drivers communicate back to dispatch with those details for inclusion in the system.
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.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.