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.

Comments (9)

Joey Slaughter

Joey Slaughter is the owner of Blue Ridge Transport, LLC. Joey has been in the trucking industry since 1992.

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Hey Craig, the reports from the dry van guys seem to be mostly positive so I guess a case can me made that CSA standards have improved the industry as a whole. As far as the car hauling goes, I'm sure an engineer would appreciate the design of these trailers. Stacking $30K and $40K vehicles inches above and inches in front of each other is an art form that I learned slowly and painfully!

September 22, 2013 6:29:14 AM

It sounds like CSA and electronic logs are having some positive dividends in spite of what you read everywhere. I realize they aren't perfect but any improvement is good.

Joey, I watched a car hauler unload a couple weeks ago. I had never stopped to really watch the steps involved. There is a lot involved in unloading these trailers!

September 21, 2013 17:30:43 PM

Henry, you primarily transport for the same customer and have developed a great working relationship with them. I wonder if it' s the same experience for those who run irregular routes and are bumping a different dock everyday.

September 21, 2013 14:42:21 PM

I am seeing many of the same improvements as Jeff has. I live load and unload and the shippers are starting to make a change for the better.

September 21, 2013 14:38:22 PM

Good to hear Jimmy. It sounds like the bigger companies have made gains with maintaining their large trailer pools. Hopefully with the HOS changes, shippers and receivers will become more efficient as a few hour delay at the docks can cause the load to be a day late now.

September 21, 2013 8:44:03 AM

I can see both sides of the coin here. On one hand, it used to be more of a problem in the past hooking a trailer with a defect. On the other hand, as Jeff states, CSA has a lot to do with ironing this loophole of drop-n-hook out. The company I pull for has over 30 service center terminals and most have an inspection lane prior to entering to catch a lot of these defects before they go unnoticed. I do have to say that I have thought of flatbed and curtain-side hauling because of some of these delay issues. There is still a long way to go before shippers, receivers and drivers are all on the same page and working together though!

September 21, 2013 8:26:28 AM

That has improved too. CSA company scoring is a factor. Improved technology is another factor. It is rare for me to pick up a trailer with a defect. If anything -it will be a marker light. These days trailers are run through the shop at least on a quarterly basis for an annual inpection.

September 21, 2013 7:22:01 AM

Good to hear Jeff. Drop and hook is a much more efficient operation. However, with drop and hook, maintenance on the trailer usually gets overlooked. I remember plenty of times hooking to a trailer at a customer only to find a flat tire or brakes way out of adjustment. I definitely prefer keeping the same trailer all the time.

September 21, 2013 6:36:06 AM

The TL segment of the industry is evolving. Electronic enforcement of the 14 hour rule has changed some of the ground rules-more for shippers than receivers. It is now legitamate to tell a shipper that you can not make a delivery on time when they are stalling. Consignees are slowly improving-many of my large grocery DCs are now drop and hook.

September 21, 2013 5:09:31 AM