Well ..... duh ........
Uh-huh .... yeah ..... I can see how that might work out real good:
Customer: "Is that truck rolling to the shipper for pick-up ?"
Load Planning/Customer Service/Dispatch: " .... uh .... well .... no ..... not exactly ..... the driver said I should call you back .... and have you call the shipper .... and get the shipper to go measure/weigh/verify/count the cargo ..... and then call us back so the driver can verify that it will actually fit on his vehicle .... he doesn't like to roll before we have completed this verification process ..... so .... could you do that ..... please ?"
Customer: " ...... HUH ? ..... what ..... ? ....... nevermind .... cancel it ...... I'll call someone else ...... GOODBYE ......"
And sometimes it is merely providing the customer what they asked for ......
You have heard the expression "The customer is always right ?" haven't you ?
This actually does often apply - even when they aren't - and are wrong. Perhaps a hard concept to grasp for some ....
David ...... I would think that having been involved with expedite for at least some amount of time .... that you would have at least a clue ...... your statement above is glib at best (meaning you can talk the talk, but can ya really walk the walk ?)
While it is true that it requires little or no effort on the part of CS or LP or Dispatch to ASK FOR the information when they book the load ... actually obtaining that info is not always a simple matter ..... unless you perhaps reside in some magical world where all the T's are crossed, and all the I's are dotted ......
For instance, the shipper may not be the customer who is booking the load ...... the customer who is booking could be a different company, in a different city or state ...... or even in a different country ......
And the person who actually has the info - or can get it - may not be easily accessible ..... or even accessible at all at that particular moment ......
The person who is booking the load may not even know who to contact to verify the dims info .....
(I'm on a 984 mile run right now that had no delivery address when it was dispatched .... I know, I know .... I probably should have told Dispatch: "I'm not rolling ... until you have all the all information ..." ..... yeah ..... that's the ticket ..... not ....)
It's an imperfect world in which we live ....
Again .... WELL, DUH ......
Got news for ya ..... if the carrier is worth their salt, it ain't the Dispatch managers or the carrier that is paying ...... it's the customer - because Dispatch/CS/Load Planning has attempted to find out the info, and if the customer isn't providing it, and are requesting a specific vehicle and it's wrong, then the customer is the one that is paying ..... at least that's the way it ought to work (and usually does)
Yeah ..... DEMAND IT OF THEM ...... sounds like a sure fire recipe to build ongoing customer relationships and keeping them happy ..... kinda like a drill sgt. barking orders ..... I'm sure it will bring 'em in in droves to book loads ......
Lemme tell ya about "Carl" (actual true story with a real individual) ..... Carl runs the shipping department of a high-end graphics and signage company ...... somewhere in the midwest. He's a pretty crotchty old man and he don't take no crap from no one - probably very little from his boss even - and certainly not from some dip-wad dispatcher or CS agent.
Ships some very expensive stuff that usually never is "rush" but is "time-critical" (meaning that there usually isn't a big hurry to get it delivered, although often there is a delivery appointment involved) .... he can't afford to ship it LTL due to the potential for damage.
When Carl calls in and requests a truck it will be for a specific type of vehicle - and that's the vehicle you send - 'cause if ya don't, Carl ain't gonna be callin' anymore. And, if you're smart, the most you might do is just repeat the request back to him - just to verify that you got what he said ..... forget about quizzing him about the dims ......
If Carl screws up and orders the wrong size vehicle, well then, that's Carl's error - and he picks up the tab. The likelihood of ever DEMANDING anything from Carl is exactly zero/zilch/nada ..... he'd eat ya for breakfast. And you could kiss his business goodbye.
Nice enough guy ..... but you really don't want to argue with him - he wants what he wants, when it wants it.
'Nuff said.
