Favorite Customer?

What is your Numero Uno place to pick up from or deliver to? And what makes it your favorite?

Right now, I’m finishing a 34 at the Cargill facility in Butler, WI. They have overnight parking, secure facility, friendly and helpful people and are prompt to unload me. It’s one of their smaller plants, so not much other truck traffic to deal with.

Plus, it’s the closest customer to where my grandson goes to school, about 38 miles, so I usually get to see him every time I get this assignment.

Based on your considerations, what is your favorite?

..........PICK UP..........

Home Depot, Hagerstown, MD

●Stop at guard shack. Guard tells you what numbered slot to drop empty trailer

●Drop trailer. BT to shipping/receiving door

●Go inside and grab BOL from proper bin (sorted by destination)

●Sign BOL and leave one copy in bin

●Hook up to loaded trailer, then get going...

..........Delivery..........

Target DC, Logan Twp, NJ

●Go to drop lot to check in with guard

●guard tells you what slot to drop loaded trailer and what slot to grab empty from

●Drop load, hook empty

●Get signed BOL from guard on the way out

For me my favourite place was toys r us in Vaughan Ontario (north of Toronto) as i was the gatehouse guard before I started driving so I knew the routine from both sides of the glass lol

My favorite is the SCJohnson in Bay City, MI. It's its own not-so-little compound, always very organized with where to drop my loaded and where to pick up my pre-loaded. Bonus if it's the end of my shift because the Love's in Bridgeport is usually a ghost town no matter what time it is.

Target DCs are always well organized too.

Yeah I liked Target DC's easy in and out at 99% of them. Fed-Ex blehhh not so much, especially their Bloomington, Cal DC close to our CRST terminal haha

Then driving with Legends, my run to Roland, Ok. small place, very easy delivery place... I'd usually get there "after hours", I had access to the gate lock. Go in, drop loaded trailer in their back lot, find me an empty, stop by the open office, drop off my BOL's, snap pics to send in, and leave.

So happens right next door, was a Cherokee Nation Casino, with truck parking, so I'd take my 10 hours off. Go inside get a nice hot meal, then play some video poker, cash out and go. Nice to get an extra $500-$1000 "bonus" from that casino, 4 different times. (yes in the 90's, I was a semi-pro gambler, and quit, thanks to the IRS ) hahaha

Target DCs are always well organized too.

For drop/hooks or live loads? I've been to the one in Cedar Falls (Waterloo) IA several times and feel it's not so efficient. It's laid out well but you can't be on the premise more than an hour before your appointment and it's very rare an unload is under 6 hours for a couple pallets, but theyll turn you away and force you to reschedule for being 1 minute late even if its due to weather or traffic. There's been multiple times I'm pushing against my 14 to complete a live unload and 230 mile round trip to be back to our DC. They have signs up that they'll be done when they're done, they didn't schedule your other appointments, if there's a problem call your dispatcher etc. This last time I was there the gentleman ahead of me mentioned it was only 2 pallets and the lady quickly responded I don't give a damn how many pallets you'll be unloaded when we choose to unload you.

Favorite unloads are any vending companies. Typically out of there 10 minutes tops as long as you pull everything to the back end because they'll use a fork lift to lower it down.

Least favorite are pork processing plants. We have quite a few in NW Iowa we pickup at. I've heard enough horror stories of long unloads from our drivers I'll turn down an otherwise good paying route due to excessive wait times.

I have mixed feelings on drop/hooks. They're great most of the time until they're not. Our drivers overall are great but occasionally you'll hook up to a trailer and find issues with it. Since our routes all start and end at the DC I feel our equipment is maintained much better than many fleets. Occasionally I'll show up to a drop/hook and end up being live loaded because the other driver who dropped an empty was too lazy to sweep it out or had empty pallets inside, or dispatcher will tell me to grab the dirty trailer and bring it back to the DC and have a different driver swing in later that night to grab it.

I like the GP plant in northern Alabama. I forget the name of the town. You just drop your trailer, they shuttle it off and bring your loaded out to you. Totally chill people there, let you sleep on site. As an added bonus, one of the guards there is a phenomenally beautiful blonde chick. Cute little spinner.

In general though I like hay pickups the best. Usually an easy load, beautiful scenery and not many people to deal with. This is a pick up out of Eastern Washington. Moses lake area. Not a soul around. Preloaded trailer, swap and go, hand written bol.

Also like delta timber in montrose CO. They do bagged wood shavings. Real cool people, old mom n pops operation. Delivers to some weird places, and usually goes over monarch pass on us 50. Hay deliveries are weird too. Did a dairy farm in riverside ca.

When I was a city driver doing p/d work, my favorite customer was a company that handled 3PL for apple.

Sometimes they'd have extra stops they couldn't put on a route and apple was always one of them.

After an 8 or 9 hour day dispatch would say "I need a pick up from apple, do you want it?" and I'd always say yes.

It was a live load and every time we showed up they were surprised to see us. Drop the trailer in the door and go park in the tractor area. It'd take about 2 or 3 hours to get loaded.

Hourly with time and a half after 8 with Apple at the end of the day would get you a solid check at the end of the week. I think I was at 31/hr at the time so I was making about 47/hr to watch YouTube and check out truckingtruth waiting for them to be done.

My favorite is Electrolux Distribution Hub in Fairburn GA. SW corner of Atlanta GA off I-85. Easy access in and out. Roll up to guard shack and say hello to the hardworking ladies. They sign my bols and I drop the trailer on the fence line then go to the other side to get an empty. Just txt the guards which trailer I have and gone in 20 minutes. I'm a regular driver and have been going there several times a week over the last 4 years.

My most frequent repeat run (8 times) has been Gen Mills, Reed City, MI to Interstate Warehouse Murfreesboro, TN. Easy drop & hooks on both ends.