Newbie Important Question

Jag123

Rookie Expediter
Been driving for a few months now and was wondering if all companies out there have a policy of calling their drivers when the truck is stopped for certain lengths of time Even when close to destination AND /OR several hours before appointed time to deliver.
For instance I was 10 min from drop off location-the delivery appointed time was not for 3 hours yet!-and I received a call from dispatch asking why our truck wasn't moving, the call came at 3AM! and the drop off was scheduled for 6- is this the NORM in the expediting industry across the board?
Your input would be very helpful!
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Been driving for a few months now and was wondering if all companies out there have a policy of calling their drivers when the truck is stopped for certain lengths of time Even when close to destination AND /OR several hours before appointed time to deliver.
For instance I was 10 min from drop off location-the delivery appointed time was not for 3 hours yet!-and I received a call from dispatch asking why our truck wasn't moving, the call came at 3AM! and the drop off was scheduled for 6- is this the NORM in the expediting industry across the board?
Your input would be very helpful!
It's not the norm, but it's not all that uncommon.

Just a wild guess... Panther?
 

zorry

Veteran Expediter
In expediting your sleep is only important to those in your vehicle.

You get used to it. You shouldn't have to. But you will.
 

Jag123

Rookie Expediter
No but I've heard panther has this annoying policy as well Do you know of others who DON'T do this?
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
If I'm close I always check to see if the place is open. If they are I can get in front of anyone else from our company delivering in the area. If dispatch doesn't call with a load offer I can sleep without getting up after a couple hours to go deliver. Besides that most times its just good customer service.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using EO Forums mobile app
 

scottm4211

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Give dispatch a call and let them know what you're doing. Might stop them from waking you up.
 

Jag123

Rookie Expediter
Understanding this just happens as part of industry... Anyone know/have suggestions on how to reply to dispatch when the call is SO unnecessary?
 

runrunner

Veteran Expediter
Understanding this just happens as part of industry... Anyone know/have suggestions on how to reply to dispatch when the call is SO unnecessary?

Best answer, is let dispatch know you are stopping and why,that way they won't bother you until you need to be moving again.

This happens because,the dispatcher gets an alert from the tracking system when it detects that the truck hasn't moved in a preset amount of time,so it is there job to make sure you are ok,you didn't wreck or some other bad thing happened.
 
Last edited:

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
. . . and I received a call from dispatch asking why our truck wasn't moving
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tenntrucker

Expert Expediter
If I'm close I always check to see if the place is open. If they are I can get in front of anyone else from our company delivering in the area. If dispatch doesn't call with a load offer I can sleep without getting up after a couple hours to go deliver. Besides that most times its just good customer service.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using EO Forums mobile app

I usually go to the drop, update the QC as arrived then if no one is there I will back into a main dock, blocking it and take a nap. No alarm need for they will knock on your truck to get you out of the way.

sent from my Galaxy S3
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I usually always drove to the consignee if I was close in case they were open and I could get rid of it. While by the gate I always sent 'arrived at gate' even if I was going a few miles down the road to wait. That way they usually never called or beeped more than an hour earlier than they should have instead of a few hours like you've experienced. Sometimes I followed that with a freeform message 'do not contact me by any means prior to xx:xx o'clock for anything other than a GOOD load offer'.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I usually go to the drop, update the QC as arrived then if no one is there I will back into a main dock, blocking it and take a nap. No alarm need for they will knock on your truck to get you out of the way.

And that if the gate is open when you arrive.
 

Daffyduck528

Expert Expediter
And even sometimes with all of that they can still call you. I've had them call and then apologize because they didn't look at the notes that I had already called or updated to qc. It's annoying but it happens at most carriers. But not all the time.
 

tenntrucker

Expert Expediter
And even sometimes with all of that they can still call you. I've had them call and then apologize because they didn't look at the notes that I had already called or updated to qc. It's annoying but it happens at most carriers. But not all the time.

You can't fix stupid! If the notes are there and they won't read them, nothing much you can do.

sent from my Galaxy S3
 
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