I am posting stories from my job, because I think they're funny. I've done my best to disguise my company name, even the industry, and to keep the people I write about and even some details of the situation anonymous. If you know me, and know where I work, please don't include details in your comments. I'll have to delete your comment and reconsider posting these stories.
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There's a trucking company we haven't used in a while, and the boss couldn't remember why, so he called them up to see if they'd do a load for us and what they'd charge. The rate was reasonable, so we confirmed with them that they'd pick the load up at 8:00 Tuesday morning and deliver it to southern California at 8:00 a.m. (hard deadline of noon) on Thursday. Since we don't already have empty trailers from this company on our lot, it'd be a "live load"--we fill the trailer while the driver waits. (We normally fill the trailer long before the driver shows up, then he can just "drop and hook"--drop the empty, hook up to the loaded trailer, get weighed, and be on his way in 15 minutes if the weights are legal.)
Well, believe it or not, the truck wasn't here by 8:00 a.m. In fact, by 2:00 when it hadn't shown up, we called them. Oh, the truck broke down. It'll be there tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Thanks for telling us! Oh, and will the load still deliver on time? They said it would--they were going to relay the trailer (one driver hauls it to the Bay Area, another driver with plenty of time still allowed to drive picks it up and takes it the rest of the way, so the trailer itself keeps moving, even though there are laws keeping any one driver from driving too many hours in a row.)
Wednesday, guess what, no trailer by 8:00 a.m.! I'm sure you're shocked at this point. We called at 9:00, and the driver was "about an hour out." Except not, because he actually arrived at 10:30. And surprise, surprise, didn't know anything about breaking down. Heh. (To give the company the benefit of the doubt, it is possible they sent us a different driver than the one that had broken down the day before--it's not like they're good at communicating what's actually going on, considering they can't even be bothered to communicate that they'll be DAYS, and not just hours, late.)
We got him on his way in less than an hour, so then the wait begins to see if he arrives on time.
Anyone want to make bets?
Thursday morning, the customer calls to ask where their load is, so we check in with the freight company. They claim the truck broke down (same truck, different truck? probably doesn't matter, as it's probably not true in any case. sheesh!).
Anyone want to make bets?
Thursday morning, the customer calls to ask where their load is, so we check in with the freight company. They claim the truck broke down (same truck, different truck? probably doesn't matter, as it's probably not true in any case. sheesh!).
My boss sent a nastygram to the freight company, but I'm not sure how good an idea that is, since they still have our load in their possession... They called the customer, then called us back, and said they'd deliver at 4:00. Considering the customer had originally told us they couldn't take delivery after noon, that's kind of hard to believe, so our sales guy called them to confirm that they had, indeed, said that that time would be okay.
At 5:00, the other two guys in the office were both literally walking out the door when the phone rang. I was going to be staying late to print some personal documents (with permission), so I went ahead and answered the phone. It's our customer, saying that the driver not only hasn't shown up, but hasn't called and he's heard NOTHING. Surprise again.
We called the freight carrier, and based on what I overheard of one side of the conversation, the person answering the phone wasn't a rocket scientist. They said the driver was 8 miles away (which in southern California could still mean a significant amount of time). They first said they couldn't give us the driver's phone number, then they did give it but said he wouldn't be able to answer because he was driving. Sure enough, no answer. We called our customer back, and he had had to send his crew (who would be able to unload the truck) home, so they're going to turn the truck around if/when it arrives and tell the driver to return at 7:00 a.m.
I got into work at 8:00 and asked my boss whether this load had delivered, and guess what?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It actually did!!! Can you even believe it? But I guess we've been reminded why we haven't used this trucking company in forever, and I'm pretty sure we won't be using them EVER again.
At 5:00, the other two guys in the office were both literally walking out the door when the phone rang. I was going to be staying late to print some personal documents (with permission), so I went ahead and answered the phone. It's our customer, saying that the driver not only hasn't shown up, but hasn't called and he's heard NOTHING. Surprise again.
We called the freight carrier, and based on what I overheard of one side of the conversation, the person answering the phone wasn't a rocket scientist. They said the driver was 8 miles away (which in southern California could still mean a significant amount of time). They first said they couldn't give us the driver's phone number, then they did give it but said he wouldn't be able to answer because he was driving. Sure enough, no answer. We called our customer back, and he had had to send his crew (who would be able to unload the truck) home, so they're going to turn the truck around if/when it arrives and tell the driver to return at 7:00 a.m.
I got into work at 8:00 and asked my boss whether this load had delivered, and guess what?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It actually did!!! Can you even believe it? But I guess we've been reminded why we haven't used this trucking company in forever, and I'm pretty sure we won't be using them EVER again.
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