We treat you like family

louixo · Oct 14, 2008

That seems to be the big credo of all trucking companies when you read their literature. What does that mean, really? Other than, they say they know your name and you`re not a number. Frankly, I don`t care if they call me by name, or they call me by number, as long as they treat me with fairness, listen to my concerns and give me a reasonable explanation to any questions or issues I might like resolved, and my check is on time. A smaller outfit may go the extra mile to help you thru a problem, that the larger company might not, but they all have a company policy, and the bigger the company, the more difficult it is to "treat you like family", and go that extra mile, while adhering to the company policy.
I have worked for big and small in my trucking career, and the bigger companies treated me the same as the smaller ones, when push came to shove. It always did go from dispatcher up the chain, or from the big office down the chain, and the larger company always had somebody in driver relations who would address any concern I wasn`t satisfied with. I never had any qualms about circumventing the chain of command, and going straight to the top if I thought I was being stonewalled. On those rare occasions when going to the top was warranted, by the time the poop trickled back down thru the chain, I had a validated answer to my concern, even if it wasn`t to my complete satisfaction, and there was more respect from the bottom of the chain the next time I raised an issue. I did the chain of command at home when growing up. I`m sure you did too. So, the next time some company rep tells me they will treat me like family, I`m gong to see if they will invite me to dinner, and then i`ll ask if i can stay the night, and what`s for breakfast.

Tennesseahawk · Oct 14, 2008

Good post, Louixo. All that is is something to get the warm fuzzies going. I ran for a company that was pretty close to family. C&M never had to claim any of that, as they don't advertise. No gimmicks to get you in the door. Either you fit THEIR model, or you walk. Cal is not afraid to clean house. He is business, thru and thru... but still personable enough to call and chew the fat.

You can be professional without being a jerk. You can lay down the law, and still have a contractor be on your side; because you come thru for them 99% of the time. I could tolerate a lot more at C&M because I didn't have to in the first place. I wasn't ALWAYS happy there, but no one is happy about anything when in a slow streak. The majority of the time I was making good money. Period. And that's what it's supposed to be about.

I'm happy not to be comfortably numb at a larger company; because it's generally the smaller companies that teach you how a business is supposed to be run. I'd like to think I learned well.

arkjarhead · Oct 14, 2008

How I see some people get treated by their family's I may not want to be treated like family. I want to know on the front end, "Are you going to treat me like my family does, or like that old boy's family trats him"? Because they treat him like dirt.

jaminjim · Oct 14, 2008

I am very wary of those that either say we treat you like family and especially the ones that say something about religion.

Bruno · Oct 14, 2008

I will say that most people want a company to treat them like a business owner. I want to be treated fairly and not just pushed under the rug or told something just to take a load just to find out that they was lying. Most people can take the truth but they hate when someone lies to them. How many times can you remember when someone told you the truth about a load? Now I know you can remember everytime some lied to you about a load, I know I can. We all remember the bad things, but don't remember alot of the good things in life. Something to think about.

BillChaffey · Oct 14, 2008

In my short time At Panther I was treated like family. The Red Headed Step child of the Family

layoutshooter · Oct 14, 2008

With blue eyes when everyone elses are brown? Layoutshooter

pjjjjj · Oct 14, 2008

the family member who had to clean the chimney? <snicker>

FIS53 · Oct 14, 2008

Today that statement usually means they know your name and usually recognize you when you visit the office. But there are few like hawk mentioned where you can call or visit the owners and sit and chew the fat and basically just relax with them, where they actually care about their brokers. I've even been beer swilling with the owners of the company I'm on with (they paid). Not too many around like that any more as getting friendly with the hired help has led to more problems for many owners over the years. To me it's nice to be able to babble at them on a one to one basis and not just about the business.

Yup it's a real good felling I get when I walk into the office and they say "You here again?" Then they start looking for a run to get rid of me. It's great being treated like family, the black sheep of the family!!
Rob (i know they can't afford the beer anymore, that's it)