Being that I load at a lot of the same customers over and over throughout my day-to-day trucking routine, a lot of things are similar in nature regarding the loading and unloading processes of each warehouse. Regardless of whether you pull a flatbed, dry van, reefer, or other type of trailer, one thing remains ever changing from dock-to-dock and warehouse-to-warehouse…the method of which their check-in procedures take place! A large majority of the loads I haul ship and receive in two general categories of styles, “First Come, First Served” (FCFS) or “By Appointment Only”.
FCFS usually gives a specific start and end appointment time as a general window, for example it may say “FCFS 08:00-16:00”, so that you will be unloaded between 8am and 4pm in the order you arrive. It can be a great method for a warehouse that is either used to having the product staged far in advance, has a lot of dock space to receive/ship in no pre-determined sequence, or takes a large volume of deliveries from a relatively small variety of products/commodities/SKUs. It is great to help reduce wait times that trucks face from time to time waiting to get a door, waiting for an available forklift driver, etc. The time I see it become a problem however, is when a large volume of the day’s deliveries show up at virtually the same time. In this case, there are only so many laborers in the warehouse to get the job done, so it may overwhelm their planned manpower needs for that timeframe. Due to the inventory reduction needs of certain operations, this type of method usually won’t be found at places that practice LEAN principles or JIT production.
Another popular method I encounter is “By Appointment Only”, which is exactly as it sounds. You are given a firm appointment time, or narrow time frame, in which you must deliver. This is great in theory, as it should generally assure a driver should have a door, dock, or forklift driver ready, so long as he/she are there when appointed. I will admit that this type of method is where I encounter the most headaches, not typically because I am late, but because I am early! When doing two to three loads a day myself, it is an art of sorts to gauge the unloading/loading times in between loads just right, as to get to the next “By Appointment Only” customer right on time. Add to this equation the need to factor in the inevitable traffic I experience in Southern California and it starts to look more like a complex math problem rather than a truck’s daily driving schedule! Some customers using this method are generous and will try to fit you in if you are early, to help offset the late appointments that are either refused or put on stand-by, but a good number of them will make you wait regardless of how being early might benefit all parties involved.
I will admit that if I were to have to pick a favorite, it would have to be the FCFS type of customer. In my experience it has a tendency to not backfire on me as often as the “Appointment Only” warehouses. I started thinking of this during the current week where a “By Appointment Only” shipper backfired on me a couple times for being early. It made me wonder what other drivers out there might choose as their preference? I also began to wonder if either method had ever had a tendency to affect anyone’s bottom line for better, or for worse? Have you ever lost, or even stopped dealing with a customer because of their chosen shipping and receiving appointment policies? Please weigh in and make a comment, as I would welcome learning what my fellow drivers out there think about this procedure we almost all certainly have to encounter regularly.