Tips?

[pjjjjj]

I'm curious as to how many get offered tips for whatever reason. Perhaps you saved the day. Or you made it through a blizzard. Or you went above and beyond. Or the consignee asked you to perform an extra service and offered to slip you $200.
Do you accept offered tips? Do you let your carrier know when/if this happens?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Once I took a tip of $50.00....It was for a hand unload and for my wonderful people skills...

 

[highway star]

In over 12 years at this I've never been offered a tip. I've been thanked, patted on the back, told that I "saved the day", but never been offered a tip. I can think of only 1 person that I know that was offered one once and she turned it down. Said she was just doing her job. If I'd driven as fast as she did, I'd have accepted the tip.

 

[pjjjjj]

I thought this might be an interesting topic because if you're offered a tip... depending on what it's for.. some carriers wish to share in the wealth, like perhaps if it is for agreeing to do a hand unload or something.
Some companies have policies in place that won't allow 'employees' to accept tips. Expediters aren't employees, however they're contracted to carriers who may or may not have policies in place about this, and some of the things for which one may be offered a tip may be included in the carrier's list of billable services.

 

[ATeam]

Only once in nearly eight years of expediting have we received a tip, if you can call it that. We did a load for a cheese company and a return trip. It was a display case done up really nice to showcase their products to managers of a store chain that they hoped to place the products in. When the load was returned, they gave us one of the gift baskets that was in the display.

Expediters regularly save the day but we don't expect tips for doing so.

Ethical issues enter in if "tips" are offered directly to the drivers when the work would otherwise be booked through the carrier. You would not be there at all if not for the carrier who won the customer's business in the first place and put you on the load. If a shipper or consignee offered to pay me directly for work that would be normally scheduled through our carrier, I would decline the money because it would feel like stealing from the carrier that sent me there in the first place.

 

[greg334]

Expediters regularly save the day but we don't expect tips for doing so.

Is that what I'm called?

Ethical issues enter in if "tips" are offered directly to the drivers when the work would otherwise be booked through the carrier. You would not be there at all if not for the carrier who won the customer's business in the first place and put you on the load. If a shipper or consignee offered to pay me directly for work that would be normally scheduled through our carrier, I would decline the money because it would feel like stealing from the carrier that sent me there in the first place.

I agree with Phil, ethics plays a role in it, refusing money is the right thing to do when it comes to something that the carrier can be involved with. I ask for them to use me and my carrier again.

 

[RoadKing06]

We never have been offered or received a tip.


Phil and Diane may have been, if they would have disposed of the pallet for the nurse, lol.

Sorry thought it was funny. Not picking Phil and Diane just hought it was fitting, and funny. Seriously, we wouldn't have disposed of it either.

Have a great week end everyone.

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[jimlookup]

The carrier gets the amount they contracted for. I see nothing wrong with a driver receiving a gratuity for giving great service. Ethics has nothing to do with it. We are independent truck drivers, not priests.

 

[ATeam]

The carrier gets the amount they contracted for. I see nothing wrong with a driver receiving a gratuity for giving great service. Ethics has nothing to do with it. We are independent truck drivers, not priests.

Ethics has everything to do with it, at least for ethical drivers.

A gratuity given after services are rendered and when nothing else is required is just that, a gratuity. Money taken directly from a customer for services that would normally be booked through the driver's carrier is theft.

 

[RoadKing06]

I agree with A team, it is unethical to take a tip. Just like in most professions it is unethical to take a tip. You are contracted to do a job and you do it. You are compensated for your services from the carrier. The customer belongs to the carrier not the drivers. Could be considered a conflict of interest accepting a tip, ie. Stealing from the carrier.

Everything is supposed to go through the carrier, same as getting permission to dispose of trash needs to go through the carrier.

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[jimlookup]

I repeat. A carrier gets paid for what is in the contract. A carrier doesn,t get paid for a driver driving through storms over bad roads when he should be stopped or when a driver has to find and phone a contact because the load planer blew the address (wrong town). A carrier may get paid when a driver has to wait 1.5 hours at a dock but the driver won't if he has a two hour wait limit. I believe the great majority of drivers have excellent ethics but they don't wear them on their sleeve along with a holyier than though aditude.

 

[purgoose10]

Tip?? What's that?? The only thing close is when I had a D unit I picked up a Jet engine at the Indianapolis Airport and ran it down to N.C to replace one that quit. When I got there the mechanic said, since I ran it straight threw would I like to take the old one back?? I thought that was expediting when you get somewhere fast >>?? Anyway he said pull over there and in eight hours we'll have it changed and boxed up for you to take back. We'll wake you up.
I could use a tip like that once a week at least.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

unprofessional?.....crap, I say....

I gave the customer personal service, on MY time...
He needed it done right there and then....not in 10 minutes or 20 minutes...waiting to get permission from the customer...I wasn't about to inconvenience the customer....who by the way was the one footing the bill....kind of silly waiting for his phone to ring while we stood there..wouldn't it?

 

[greg334]

A gratuity given after services are rendered and when nothing else is required is just that, a gratuity. Money taken directly from a customer for services that would normally be booked through the driver's carrier is theft.

AND

I agree with A team, it is unethical to take a tip. Just like in most professions it is unethical to take a tip. You are contracted to do a job and you do it. You are compensated for your services from the carrier. The customer belongs to the carrier not the drivers. Could be considered a conflict of interest accepting a tip, ie. Stealing from the carrier.

Roadking, Phil is talking about a gratuity being ethical, nothing more. His point seems to be that if it is a tip AFTER the services are done than it is ethical. I fully agree with him on this, if it is something that is billable and you do not provide it for free, charging for it or expecting anything for it by going outside the company is unethical.

HOWEVER, if you are there to deliver or pickup and the customer has an unrelated problem - computer problem - then there is no ethical issue if you decide to fix that problem for them without a company being involved. The company you contract with is not in the computer repair business, hence no conflict of interest.

Everything is supposed to go through the carrier, same as getting permission to dispose of trash needs to go through the carrier.

NOPE not everything.

See once you cross that line into getting permission to go beyond driving for every little thing, it seems to be a question of are you an employee or not.

 

[fastrod]

See once you cross that line into getting permission to go beyond driving for every little thing, it seems to be a question of are you an employee or not.

Your right about that and it seems most on here are closer to being an employee than being a contractor.

 

[layoutshooter]

The ONLY tip we have ever been offered was a cheese and sausage plate from Hickory Farms around Christmas once. We accepted it, it was open product all cut up for us. We DID thank them a zillion times AND enjoyed it. We would NOT accept money if offered.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Your right about that and it seems most on here are closer to being an employee than being a contractor.

That is the thing...I made an executive decision based on the circumstances....after all I am "Independent"..
I don't feel like I stole from anyone...The customer was happy. I was happy. and hopefully because of my decision that customer calls again some day.."repeat business" for which the carrier is happy. I think they call that customer service? Not carrier service...

 

[Steady Eddie]

I had a load that required me to hand unload the freight, 1800 lbs to the 12th floor, then stack this freight in a store room...... Tip was- Thank You......

Then, hand unloaded, crub side 3 90 lbs boxes of dresses "Oh you have made a lot of folks happy for Easter"... I didn't see any place I could throw away the skid and other trash, so I didn't even ask or tell her I needed to get this off my van, no need to ask, there was nowhere to throw it away. I gave her the paper work to sign and when she gave it back to me there was 15.00 on my clip board. I handed it back to her and said "that is not nessersary" No I want you to have it, most times others give me such a hard time about the empty skid and we have no place to throw it away. You never even brought it up so here.....and you better take it, my boss will fire me if you don't....( that was funny, she owned the shop)

My thoughts were": So should I take the money, go into her store and spend it? Or just go into the store and give it to someone and tell them to give it back to the lady that gave it to me? Then dash out the door and run away.

I didn't feel right about taking it, but then again, I did have some trash to throw away......

 

[ATeam]

I agree with A team, it is unethical to take a tip.

Please note the difference in what I am saying. I am not saying it is unethical to take a tip. If a customer wants to give you a genuine tip after the services are rendered, that's fine in my view.

For example You do a difficult liftgate and inside delivery load of 50 pieces. When you are done and the BOL is signed, the customer hands you $50 and says, "Thank you for the good work you did." I see nothing wrong or unethical in that.

If the same customer booked the load but did not pay the carrier for an inside delivery, and then offered to pay you $50 to do the inside delivery, it would be unethical to accept the money and do the service. The service should be properly booked through the carrier so as to not cut the carrier out of the loop. This is the carrier's customer, not yours.

We often talk about serving the customer or serving "our" customers and in most conversational contexts that is enough to make our point. But when money is involved, and a customer wants to pay a contractor directly, it is best to remember that the customer is the carrier's customer, not the contractor's.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I had a load that required me to hand unload the freight, 1800 lbs to the 12th floor, then stack this freight in a store room...... Tip was- Thank You......

Then, hand unloaded, crub side 3 90 lbs boxes of dresses "Oh you have made a lot of folks happy for Easter"... I didn't see any place I could throw away the skid and other trash, so I didn't even ask or tell her I needed to get this off my van, no need to ask, there was nowhere to throw it away. I gave her the paper work to sign and when she gave it back to me there was 15.00 on my clip board. I handed it back to her and said "that is not nessersary" No I want you to have it, most times others give me such a hard time about the empty skid and we have no place to throw it away. You never even brought it up so here.....and you better take it, my boss will fire me if you don't....( that was funny, she owned the shop)

My thoughts were": So should I take the money, go into her store and spend it? Or just go into the store and give it to someone and tell them to give it back to the lady that gave it to me? Then dash out the door and run away.

I didn't feel right about taking it, but then again, I did have some trash to throw away......

I didn't want to take it at first....but the customer was so appreciative and I did not want to insult or argue with him either.....No one got hurt and the carrier did not go bankrupt because of it for their loss of $10...