A recent article in Commercial Carrier Journal sparked my interest on a subject as we close out Truck Driver Appreciation Week. The article is by Kevin Jones and can be found here. I agree with the author's main point that drivers not feeling respected is one of the main reasons that they leave their jobs. Here at Team Run Smart, there has been no shortage of blogs championing the importance of professional courtesy and appearance as we conduct our business. However, being professional ourselves doesn't guarantee that shippers and consignees will do the same.
I remember very well my days operating dry box and reefers in the truckload sector. I had a dispatcher tell me to run a short load up to a grocery warehouse a couple of hours away. A piece of cake, I thought. When I got there, I was told to restack the 45k pounds of dog food on to their pallets. I also remember being backed into a dock at a beer distributor for hours and wondered why no one was unloading me. I walked in and found the workers sitting around the office with their feet up shooting the breeze. It was then that I decided to get out of truck load dry vans and reefers and have never looked back.
I worked 6 years for a major LTL carrier and was never delayed by customers. I was paid by the hour and the companies would've heard from my boss if I were held up long. After that, I spent 12 years transporting gasoline and never had to wait for anyone to load or unload me; I handled that myself. Now as an independent carhauler, I continue on with loading and unloading my own trailer and never have to wait hours on end for someone to do it for me. Consider a segment of the trucking industry where you can take charge of the loading/unloading process yourself. For most of us, when the wheels aren't rolling, we aren't making money.