As I checked in to deliver another early morning grocery warehouse delivery of bottled soda, I was asked a pretty routine question. The guard asked if I had a seal and what kind of seal it was? I responded by letting him know it was a bolt seal. He instructed me to a door and informed me that a warehouse worker would meet me at the tail with the bolt cutters once I had backed in. Like any other routine delivery here I backed in with ease and patiently waited for the bolt cutters. As ten minutes of waiting ticked by on the clock, I began to wonder what the problem might be? Since I try not to bother the receiving department, as not to aggravate them into thinking I am an impatient pest, I waited until twenty minutes had gone by before checking to see what the problem was. At that point they informed me that in the entire warehouse there was only one set of bolt cutters and they were currently misplaced. They asked me to please wait patiently by my truck until they were found, so I complied. As I walked away I could not help but to wonder how a warehouse of that size could operate with only a single set of bolt cutters! After forty-five minutes, they were found and the seal was finally broken, which allowed me to finally back in fully for the unloading process to begin.
Being that I basically grew up in an auto body repair shop, I learned early on that you have to have your own tools for the job you do and not rely on the tools of another. My brothers would always have examples of how there were tools in their toolbox that would only be for one specific procedure, on one specific vehicle. It was usually not a cheap tool either, since the tool salesmen knew it was a specialty tool! In trucking the same can be said based on the different types of operations we are involved in. The example of the bolt cutters is what led me to finally break down and spend money on a nice industrial bolt cutter of my own. I have had many times throughout my career where I determine a tool is worth buying to not have to rely on someone else and possibly save me time in my daily routine. Our tools differ greatly based on what we haul. For instance, Joey Slaughter may have a need for different tools pulling his “parking lot” than I would need pulling around my dry van. I don’t think a bolt cutter would serve him quite the same purpose that it does for me, similar to how his tie-downs or chains may not serve me any purpose! In my most recent blog, I stated how I carry a set of needle-nose pliers and soapy water in a spray bottle for detecting leaks after removing road debris from a tire. Henry Albert also suggested adding plugs to these items, which I now am going to add to my own toolbox on board the truck.
Sharing our learned experiences and learning as we go along on our own provides useful information about what exactly we can use when we are on the road to reduce our downtime and increase our profitability. The day I had to waste forty-five minutes waiting for a bolt cutter, I missed an important backhaul that unfortunately had to be picked up by someone else in order to remain on time. That equated to lost revenue for me, as I had to accept a lower paying backhaul instead. Small things we learn along the way and pick up from others can help us to grow our own toolboxes with useful business tools. Remember, not all of your important tools are necessarily for wrenching on things or performing maintenance. Some can be just as useful, even if you only use them on isolated occasions. Sometimes you will even forget they are there, but you’ll be more than happy to find them there when you need them!