Signage For Truckers

Ryan brought up an interesting issue in a previous post.

Sometimes signage is really lacking. An example from my recent experience is from a delivery I made to Avrio Logistics in Woodbridge, NJ. Very obscure location, no business sign, confusing directions on the Omnitrac. I went past the location twice before realizing it was my only option. If there was a sign, it would have been so much easier.

So why do businesses that rely on trucking for pickups and deliveries not realize the need to have signs? The lack of proper signage can be very frustrating and time consuming.

What experiences have you had that relate to signage?

It happens all the time. Or, the signs are so small, and in a busy clustered area that you don’t notice.

The best signs are the ones that tell you where the entrance is after you passed the entrance. Hopefully I can go around the block.

A proper trip plan can usually alleviate this problem all together. Not always, always exceptions but still. Rarely should you be approaching your destination and not already know where you need to go. To each their own.

A proper trip plan can usually alleviate this problem all together. Not always, always exceptions but still. Rarely should you be approaching your destination and not already know where you need to go. To each their own.

Agreed. Usually, I’ll pull up the destination on a satellite view and study it. If it’s still not clear, I’ll sometimes Google the business and call for directions. In the rare event all of this fails, I’ll stop at the first entrance, put the four-ways on and go ask the first person I can find.

We can complain all we want, but the truth is; nobody cares. Survival of the fittest. 😎

What I’ve noticed is that some businesses don’t want to advertise what they are and/or what they do. You’ll often find this in random secure locations. I once went for a meeting in an abandoned office building to get a security clearance… no names, signs or anything other than the suite number and brown paper on the door. There’s a warehouse down from our main office that has no signs up or anything, just a driveway and a parking lot with a mailbox. You’d never know that that’s where they keep the armored trucks for the money handling companies. My biggest thing is house numbers for our home deliveries. You’d be surprised by the number of people who don’t have house numbers on their house of their mailbox. Google maps has become my go to app.

I ran into a signage issue earlier today. The place I was going had two entrances. As I approached the first one on the near side of the building (purple arrow), I saw a sign that said "Employees only". I saw a bunch of cars parked in it. So I pulled into the second entrance (green arrow) on the other side of the building. This lot had a gate in it (red line) that barred access to the docks. I managed to get another driver's attention and he told me I had to go in the other entrance and circle around the building.

Turns out that 2 businesses share the building. The second entrance was for the other business. A sign saying "Ceva Shipping and Receiving -->" outside the first entrance would have been helpful.

I agree.

Diligent trip planning reduces the risk of this happening. Google satellite overhead and street views can help. Diligence to the point of calling shipper/receiver to ask for the best entry and exit points. Does this prevent an issue from poor signage; not entirely, but it improves your odds.

A proper trip plan can usually alleviate this problem all together. Not always, always exceptions but still. Rarely should you be approaching your destination and not already know where you need to go. To each their own.

Plus one more on pretrip planning. I consider it recon. It's absolutely imperative for me. Eliminates stress. If it's a new one, I don't go without having a route in and out with alternatives.

Not always.

I went to a place in Atlanta on Saturday that had two identical signs, two driveways (one at either end of the building), and both led to the rear of the building where the docks were located. Finally, a paved lot connected the whole property.

The only issue was a fence subdivided this parking lot. I discovered this once I entered the first entrance. Luckily I was able to exit to the second entrance. None of this was apparent on Google Earth street or satellite views.

4125 Welcome All Road, Suite 100 in Atlanta, GA.