How Do You Get Loaded Or Unloaded Early?

For all you vets let's do a thread with your best excuses on how to get loaded/unloaded before your schedule appointments.... That way us newbies can take notes

Scott, I usually don't so much use an excuse as much as I make a strategy and then execute it. I can't tell you how many times I've slept at a receiver with my truck blocking the other drivers who will show up early in the morning to get unloaded. Of course I'm pulling a flat-bed, and we often times don't have a tight appointment, in fact often it is first come first served. When no one else can get in position because you are blocking them you are first!

I even one time started pulling my tarps off of a product that was not supposed to get wet, so that the fork-lift operator had to decide whether he was going to let it get ruined or not. That was a serious risk, but it worked out okay - I don't recommend that any one try my tactics until they get a better feel for some of their receivers, but you can seriously make some good money at this if you can figure out how to beat the hurry up and wait game.

If I can get there a day early it is not unusual for me to call the receiver and tell them I am "so and so" with whatever company I'm driving for, and tell them we have a driver just down the street who is ready to get unloaded - is there any way we could get you guys to work him into your schedule today so we can get him onto a load we have waiting on him? That has worked miracles thousands of time for me, but once again, I think it is easier for us flat-bedders to get away with this stuff than it is for some of the other types of freight.

I will surely be viewed as having no integrity by the time I get done listing them!

#1: Draw their sympathy. Tell them after you deliver this load you get to go home and you haven't been home for 4 weeks. But they won't let you go home until you're done with this delivery. Tell them about your plans when you get home and maybe talk about the wife missing you. True or false, draw their sympathy and be extremely nice, but don't beg. Yeah I'm not being honest with them but then again I don't want to wait 6 hours until my appointment time. You would be surprised at how great this works, especially if the person you're talking to is a female.

#2: Brett's trick. Call them saying you're from X company. Don't tell them you're a driver, and don't say you're from customer service, just hint that you are. This is how I usually do this trick "Hi my name is Daniel, I have a driver delivering to you, he's not far from your facility and we have another load that we need him to pickup as soon as possible. Is there and chance we can get my driver unloaded earlier?". Have your confirmation/PO numbers ready and be very professional. If they say no then don't argue, just thank them for their time.

#3: If there's too much time on an appointment, call them and reschedule it yourself. You can get in trouble for this so be very careful with it. Say you picked up on the 10th and deliver on the 13th, if you can get there on the 12th then try to reschedule it on the 12th.

I'm currently working in a warehouse waiting to start school in a couple months. Personally i prefer to load/unload our trucks as soon as possible because thats how you drivers make ur money by driving, not sitting in our dock and i cannot begin to tell you how much it more of a difference it makes to call ahead and let us know you'll be early, or late and we will do our best to fit you in. For most people it shows respect as you arent coming in demanding to be unloaded a few hours before appointment, or days ahead. We're usually good about getting ya done within an hour, but if you come in being an A $$ most times youll sit for a while. All comes down to your attitude. All i can say is treat people the way you want to be treated and things will usually work themselves out to your advantage. Just know that sometimes showing up before, or after your appointment we won't be able to get you in and out fast as it may be a busy day. Also a tip, be friendly and personable to the shippers/receivers but dont try and carry on a long conversation with them, as most people simply dont care and get annoyed and thats not because they're rude, but we have work to do too. The other thing you want to avoid is after you've already come into the office to check in and told us about another load, hometime, or any other situation just wait in the truck. We know you're there, and will get to you as soon as possible. Coming in every 10 minutes to check on your load will only aggrevate most people and we won't feel the need to help ya out. Other piece of advice i can suggest is if you bring in a load that has shifted, usually its not the drivers fault its the idiot shippers that didnt load properly, just offer to help restack everything. Most times you'll be told no due to liability if you would be hurt doing it but it still is a sign of caring, and respect that you're willing to lend a hand and make the job easier for the receiver.

The advice i gave will not always help since companies operate differently, particularly if you have to deal with lumpers (which thank***ly my company doesnt).

In bad weather I would call and let them know I am shut down just a few miles away and ask if I could deliver early in order to open a slot later in the day for drivers that are delayed by the road conditions. Sometimes people like to help other people but they ALWAYS like to help themselves. Pointing out that getting you out early might help them later in the day is often a good approach.

Woody

Keep them coming lol I love this..... My trucking career was short lived but I do plan on getting back into it and when I was solo I didn't have a problem getting loaded or unloaded on time..... Even with my trainer there wasn't too many times we had to sit.... So this will help me and others when I do get back in that truck...... A big thanks to you all for everything.....

I agree with Woody I was a dock receiver for diapers.com up here and I can agree with what he says. I know I got points for the amount of merchandise I received per hour so I would try to fit drivers in as long as they were being polite about it or stay a lil late to finish unloading if they were close to end of my shift but were very early on delivery.again All warehouse and receivers are different but politeness and manners go a long way between "sure buddy I can squeeze you in" and "sorry bud schedule is full you have to come back at your scheduled time."