Debris Removal Charge?? Permission From Dispatch??

[Dreamer]

Brisco,

(warning to all, overly boring explanation LOL)

Let me give you a usual situation, without giving specifics. I am not White Glove. However, I have been background checked, etc, and I am regularly sent in to help unload a couple certain Ohio customers because I am close, and the deliveries of electronics equipment may be labor intensive. My job is labor LOL.. I provide leverage to help the other drivers move several hundred pound fragile equipment, and I get paid to drive to the location, and spend an hour or so lending my back


At these deliveries, the equipment comes bolted/strapped to special pallets that are used only for these large items. I bring tools to unbolt these items, and break down the packaging. These specialized pallets also sometimes include a bolt on ramp depending on the type of equipment. They are specific to THIS TYPE OF FREIGHT. Once the freight is unstrapped, unbolted, taken off the pallets, there remains these specialized pallets. They would not work for anything else, as they have special tracks, specs, dimensions, etc. Most times, we gather up the debris, and the pallets, and the WG driver takes it back to the airport, or possibly to a FEDEX freight to be returned to the shipper. For example lets say this one particular customer has one dock, and one dumpster, This dumpster, as in common in larger cities now, is a large, closed in dumpster, that CLAMPS to the building, and is only accessible from the inside. This is for security purposes so that their trash is not readily searchable. Many hospitals/firms have these now. Phil stated in his post that to access their dumpster, he would have had to go inside the building. Therefore, I assume they had this kind.


For this particular customer, there have been times where the shipper did NOT order the specialized pallets returned. We can stack the cardboard for their recycling dumpster, but they can't take the wood and steel pallet. One customer has a stack of these. They won't fit in their dumpster, and they don't wanna pay to ship them back. Kinda like the milk crates you see outside 7/11 .


It's not as simple as getting rid of a normal 48x48 general automotive skid.



Dale

 

[Brisco]

Let's pretend that when I made that delivery to that hospital I scraped the back of my hand on a door and got a bleeding cut when moving the cart through.

If I asked someone who had the power to provide it for the simple favor of giving me a band-aid, do you think I would have received one free of charge?

My opinion..........Yes, you would have received a simple band-aid for free.

But, it also boils down to who it was that you asked for that band-aid from. Simple nice every day Nurse with a little common sense and courteous outlook on life would've helped you out for free without hesitation. Heck, she may have put it on for you too.

Now if it was the The Hospitals main Administrator who's mind has been all googleyy fried due to Hospital Rules that come from Lawyers/Shareholders/Board Members and such that have no common sense at all, then No.

In other words, try not to be scraping your hands at any Hospital, period. As the great Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, You never know............".

 

[ATeam]

From what I gather here, and from some of the responses given, Yes, FDCC WG has indoctrined their drivers with so many little extra fees that they can earn to boost their income opportunities that some drivers have thrown common courtesy, as well as common sense, out the door when it comes to basic customer service for the sake of the all-mighty dollar.

Please be careful, Brisco, to not assume facts. No one at FDCC has ever talked to me or any driver I know about boosting my income. In orientation and the numerous training classes Diane and I have attended at company headquarters over the years, the topic of boosting our income has never come up, not once.

Regarding the "so many extra fees" you refer to, there are not that many and I don't think the number is much greater than those of competing carriers. What fees they have seem reasonable to me.

Do you want a truck? Small ones cost less than big ones. Do you want a driver or a team? Teams cost more. Do you want to ship HAZMAT? That costs more too. Will the freight be packaged or will the driver have to pad-wrap it? There is a fee for pad-wrap. Will the driver be doing an inside delivery? There is a schedule for that too. Are you shipping something from a western state? The fuel surcharge is higher because fuel costs more there.

The particulars of a service schedule will vary from one carrier to another but across the board these schedules have more in common than they have distinct.

When a load is booked, a FDCC contractor rarely has anything to do with it. The customer calls a FDCC agent and the two of them discuss what is needed and what the cost will be. That load is then offered to an independent-contractor truck. If the carrier and drivers agree on a price, the drivers provide the purchased services.

If additional services are requested after the load is booked, and if the drivers choose not to provide them for free, the agent is again called to arrange the additional services and bill them out as appropriate. It all seems pretty straightforward to me.

It seems silly to me to think deeply about the debris removal situation that prompted this thread. The people in the customer service and marketing departments at FDCC are not stupid. If they felt a debris removal charge would make it too difficult for them to get and keep the kind of customers they wish to serve, they would not charge for debris removal.

Indeed, with some of FDCC's larger customers, some of the fees for certain services are negotiated out of the normal fee schedule by the customer. In other words, where FDCC deems it good for business to waive a fee or two, or discount something, FDCC does exactly that.

So in that sense, Brisco, you have won the argument. You say the certain services should be provided for free in the interests of customer service and future business. Well, look at this. FDCC is doing exactly that!

If our carrier included free debris removal with every load, and if Diane and I chose to still contract with them, we would cheerfully provide free debris removal with every load because that's part of what we agreed to do as contractors. As things are, debris removal is a listed service that our carrier provides for a fee, so when the service is requested, it comes quite naturally to me to charge the fee.

As far as common courtesy, common sense, customer good will and other such things go, opinions vary as to what exactly each of those things are and what they accomplish. Each person in this thread can spin together a story and a set of hypothetical facts to support one's view.

In my view, it is common sense to charge customers the well-reasoned fees for the services that our carrier provides. I'm in this business for the money and it makes no sense at all to leave some on the table that I could otherwise earn...and earn with the blessing of my carrier of choice.

 

[ATeam]

My opinion..........Yes, you would have received a simple band-aid for free.

I don't think it would be given for free but I may be wrong. Maybe someone who works in a hospital today can tell us for sure. My belief is that in these days of medical malpractice and legal liability, staff is under strict orders to NEVER provide treatment, medication or supplies of any kind to anyone without documenting it through whatever system they have in place.

The band-aid request would have been refused for that reason and to get one I would have had to go to the ER or urgent care clinic. The appoitment would have been priced high and the band aid would have cost $5.

Common courtesy and common sense would have nothing do do with it because legal considerations trump both.

 

[davekc]

Has to be an EO first. 140 plus posts dealing with throwing a pallet in the trash.
Nothing like complicating the simple.

 

[Dreamer]

Dave, you would think it would be simple. However, evidently it was important enough to Brisco for him to bring it from Phil's blog here. And the answer is, for a White Glove load, for SOME of the customers they go to... 'throwing away a pallet' is not always possible.


Dale

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Well then if anyone ever goes to a CVS distribution centre..if not approved skids....you will be stuck with them...after YOU transfer your load unto their skids....keep it in mind...

 

[davekc]

Dave, you would think it would be simple. However, evidently it was important enough to Brisco for him to bring it from Phil's blog here. And the answer is, for a White Glove load, for SOME of the customers they go to... 'throwing away a pallet' is not always possible.


Dale

Then leave it there. We do Elite loads acrossed numerous trucks all the time and never have this problem.
Just don't see it as an issue that serves 140 plus posts.

 

[Dreamer]

He did. Apparently some people thought that was the wrong thing to do.

Or, maybe they're just jealous our carrier pays them for the extra's! *grin*


Dale

 

[LDB]

Sigh... I have mentioned in several posts in this thread that the person in question was NOT A NURSE. She (female) was the director of a research project.

Not to open another aspect (can of worms) of this event -- oh well, why not. OK then, to open another aspect of this event, offering a courtesy removal of two pallets for a female when you would not do so for a male opens you to charges of sexism and antiquated thinking.

I have only been skimming the high spots of the thread and missed the part about a research project. As far as different standards for men and women, yes, and if you want to call it antiquated thinking that's fine but as taught to me by my grandfather and father and thus dating back 100 years total it's called being a gentleman.

I have a condition called fascia fibroma or something similar that needs significant foot surgery. I have congenital scoliosis. I'm not going to haul trash for an able bodied or at least apparently able bodied guy but I will do so for a lady and maybe for a guy if he looks similarly challenged.

For 1 or 2 pallets going to a dumpster on their property that's no problem. Now if I have to haul it off to who knows where or it's numerous pallets etc. then I'm calling in to get authorized and paid since that will amount to enough to matter. For a detour of a few hundred yards to the far side of the property for no more than 2 pallets it's not worth the hassles of calling in.

 

[davekc]

I have only been skimming the high spots of the thread and missed the part about a research project. As far as different standards for men and women, yes, and if you want to call it antiquated thinking that's fine but as taught to me by my grandfather and father and thus dating back 100 years total it's called being a gentleman.

I have a condition called fascia fibroma or something similar that needs significant foot surgery. I have congenital scoliosis. I'm not going to haul trash for an able bodied or at least apparently able bodied guy but I will do so for a lady and maybe for a guy if he looks similarly challenged.

For 1 or 2 pallets going to a dumpster on their property that's no problem. Now if I have to haul it off to who knows where or it's numerous pallets etc. then I'm calling in to get authorized and paid since that will amount to enough to matter. For a detour of a few hundred yards to the far side of the property for no more than 2 pallets it's not worth the hassles of calling in.

That would be my thinking in the rare instance it ever came up.

 

[Moot]

The difference is, the guy doing a local delivery route goes back to the terminal when he's done. If he is providing disposal services he can do it there. If I'm in an unfamiliar city and I'm asked to do this, I would ask where the dumpster is at the consignee and take care of it there, no charge. Not that big a deal. Taking it with me is different. It's now a project to find a place to legally dispose of it. Compensation is not unreasonable.

Also, Phil mentioned he had to get to his next pick-up. That's certainly an issue. You make them wait? We're just a different critter than delivery drivers.

Highway star hit it at post 131. I'm not sure why it took a 131 posts. I have never had anyone request I remove pallets from their property. I have put pallets in their dumpster or out back in the pallet pile. When I sign for freight I include the pallet(s) in the piece count; e.g. 2 shrink wrapped pallets said to contain 40 cartons or 2 S.W. pallets S.T.C. 40 ctns. When the consignee signs the B.O.L. they are signing for the whole works.

 

[geo]

i always have had a issue with pallet's and trash in navy supply when we made issue of big item it was brought to the door of storeroom and sign for it was up to person who sign for it toget to where he needed, sometimes they had to use chainsfall and remove ladders etc , s1 wasn't going to that
i always made bulk store issues as people that were signing for item i out rank them so when you sign for you bought it
when i order something for the house pay extra money to have it set up and trash carried away

 

[Brisco]

11 pages and still going................

Dang Phil, if you had just taken that pallet with you................

 

[ccrider]

The post he was replying to was a different post than the one he called ignorant. Now who is the idiot?

fastrod??? are you sure it's not slowrod?

You are a moron!

 

[BillChaffey]

Always nice to come on here and see the pleasantries going back and forth between our members.

 

[greg334]

Brisco,

Why bother, a few get the idea of customer service while most don't. I give up on them. Glad I do work for a company that has a diverse range of freight and allows me to actually run things as a business, not an extension of their business.

 

[RoadKing06]

This thread is almost as long as the old Load1 thread that finally got closed.
See what you started Phil by your blog. LOL

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[turritrans]

I'd prefer my O/Ops to call dispatch if this happened and let us contact the customer and sort it out. Really that is the only logical choice IMO and with all due respect dispatch should be in a better position to pull the contract with the customer to see if there is a clause for pallet removal with the account. If not then I would assume most carriers would negotiate a small fee to dispose of the pallet which the O/Op should in theory get a portion of, or at the very least get permission to dispose of the pallet in the consignee's dumpster. The person receiving the freight usually is not privy to this information anyway and IMO this should be handled by customer service or the account rep and the customer. I would instruct my O/Op to tell the customer politely they have to contact dispatch and I will be right back after i speak with them. Just my .02.

 

[pjjjjj]

It really is surprising to see so many posts on this subject! You have to wonder why.

This isn't the same as delivering a skid to some frail middle-aged woman's tiny lingerie shop with herself being the sole staff. One may feel an obligation to do a little favor IF you could, out of the goodness of his heart in such a situation. Then again maybe not, if it were going to take serious time out of a tight schedule in searching for a dump site, perhaps causing the driver to be late for the next pickup.

But this instance was a hospital where this researcher, female or not, pretty or not, young or not, frail or not, commands an income somewhere up in the 6 digits and has immediate access to the services of an entire department of workers with a mere 5 second call on her hospital authorized cellphone to the maintenance department. This would get it looked after according to the hospital's procedures. A hospital worker would understand perhaps better than many, exactly why a driver would need to call his head office before performing an additional service. The researcher simply wasn't thinking about how things work, and once told, it sounds like she immediately realized, and it was a non-issue. When she makes the call down to maintenance, her 'order' will go through their own dispatch procedures.

Disposing of things nowadays isn't what it used to be. One can't just borrow other company dumpsters or throw trash to the side of the road any more (DANG!) Perhaps some might be surprised as to how much it costs a company to contract with waste services and adhere to all of *their* policies. It is a hefty difference to the payer of those services if the wrong type of product is put into a given dumpster. Even the addition of a few pieces of cardboard with a pretty printed design can cause an entire dumpster load to be rated differently. The last thing anyone wants in their dumpster is someone else's bulky trash.

Should an OO take the chance in dumping it in a bin he happens to see along the way to his next pickup? If he was seen doing so with his clearly marked Fedex truck, it wouldn't exactly portray the professional image the carrier advertises.

If the driver lost his contract for whatever reason, (and there are many potentials for this in this situation), I guess he could always tell himself that at least he may have made a female researcher smile for a fleeting half second when he agreed to take her trash away for her, instead of her having to make that 2 second call down to maint.

How well would a driver be received down at the hospital's dumpster anyway, after winding his way through the hallways in a busy hospital? Security would probably nab him before he ever got there. What if an elderly patient bumped into it and hurt herself? If it did make it down to the dumpster, would it even be possible for an outsider to gain access? I doubt it.

Someone said to me once that a chef does not love to cook, a chef cooks to be loved. Perhaps it is the same philosophy amongst some expediters. Are you doing this for smiles and warm fuzzies, or do you have a business to run?


PS I just wanted to add that the reason I included the bit about the researcher's income was because people receiving hospital incomes perhaps do not ever consider how exactly, or where exactly, their income comes from, they get paid regardless. It just keeps coming. They also probably don't care much or even consider that the hospital is already paying their own staff to perform that very service of removing debris. If that service wasn't available to them from their own corporation, I can't see them caring much in any case, if it cost the hospital an extra hundred bucks or two to have the service performed by the driver. I believe it wouldn't make one iota of difference as to whether that carrier gets chosen again... in fact, most large companies have a contract in place for their courier services, and their pricing is based on their historic and estimated future volume. This researcher wouldn't even have a choice as to which company was called the next time. Save your favors for when it might benefit your business or when it might make your inner conscience smile and bring good karma. It wouldn't have done either, in this case.