IT'S ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION

The one thing we have learned over the past five years in trucking, is that if you don't communicate in a timely manner, issues can't be dealt with when they are manageable, and snowball into big problems.  We've heard and seen way too many times, of drivers that wait until the last minute to give their fleet manager/dispatcher a heads up about a problem, and then complain about how it was handled.  Or, the amount of times we have been stopped by truckers at a truck stop or rest area, wanting to know which direction a particular city or highway was.  A map isn't an expensive tool to buy, especially when you drive for a living.  Do they ever stop to think, that except for unforeseen issues, (accident/medical emergency), that if they took as little as 15 minutes to do a little planning, a lot of headaches could be eliminated.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Craig knew when he received the dispatch that the delivery times, combined with his driving hours, added onto his 14 hours clock, would present a problem, especially at his last drop.  It's not often that he ever calls into dispatch about a delivery problem, because he is like a dog with a bone, and refuses to give in until he looks at it from every angle and possible scenario, before finally making that call.  So yesterday he calls in and explains the situation, saying that the delivery is possible, but here are the factors involved, and the main one being the electronic log system that he is on.  It leaves no wiggle room what so ever!  About two hours later, he is told to drop the load in French Camp by 3am this morning, and that a local driver will make the deliveries and with that, what could have been somewhat of a big problem has been resolved by a little bit of communication. 

Craig has already received his next assignment, another load from Foster Farms in Livingston, destined for three drops in Washington.  What is sweet about this load, is that he is to bob tail to Livingston, which means he can swing by my Mom's house and pick me up on his way there, plus get to stop and visit for a short time.  After picking me up, we'll continue onto Livingston and go directly to Foster Farms to sleep in their lot and await our load in the morning.  I go on record saying that Craig had no problem what so ever communicating that information to me!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN