I've been having a bit of a problem at a particular contractor at one of their sites when I go to deliver material there. The problem is having to wait extended amounts of time to get the truck unloaded. I will unload the truck myself if it's something I can do - but in the case of 20,000 pounds of pipe, that isn't a happening event.
Mostly, I have to wait at least an hour to get the truck unloaded - which is unacceptable. My new manager is having a little trouble trying to figure out what, exactly, to do in such situations, my old manager is giving him some good advice - the same thing I have already said to him in various ways a couple of times now. When something like this becomes a recurrent issue - the manager calls the person in charge at the site and gives an ultimatum: get the truck unloaded within the next 30 minutes or my driver is going to leave and you can come pick up the material at our yard.
Today, getting the truck unloaded wasn't an issue. I called ahead, they told me where to go with the pipe, the loader operator met up with me, we got the pipe off of there. The guy said we should unload the rest of the stuff in their yard, about half a mile away. No prob. I get there, get the rest of the material unloaded, he signs off on the paper, I start pulling out to leave. I'm almost at the exit gate when the "big dude" comes walking out in a big hurry, motioning me to stop.
He is obviously unhappy about something. I turn the truck off - it makes too much noise to have a conversation - and ask him what's up. He begins to chastise me for not having HIM check the load. He then goes into the last time I was there - earlier this week - when I had to wait over an hour and a half to get the truck unloaded. I had waited in the yard - spoken to fully 3 honchos - none of them got anyone there to get the truck unloaded. I went into the head honchos office again and he said he would have someone out there - that was one of the guys I had ALREADY spoken to well over an hour earlier.
The point? I'm getting to that. I was told to restrap the truck - after the guy noted that I was getting the truck ready to be unloaded at the yard - and go to the street to unload all of that pipe. So, I had left the stuff I could unload by hand at the yard, I had the pipe unloaded by the street. Yet another foreman told me to simply have the loader operator sign off on the material. So, he did.
Mr. Big Man today had a cow about that. WHY didn't you have ME check the material? In very nice tones - giving him respect even though he was talking down to me - I informed him that that is because I was instructed by (name inserted here) to have the loader operator unload the truck, and since I had spent 2 hours at the sight, I needed to get out of there anyway.
Well, he says, those guys don't check the material, from now on, you will come and get me to sign off on the paperwork and I will check to make sure everything's there. Further, I spoke to (the outside salesman, name inserted here) and he said that however long it takes, you (me) will have to wait, it's water under the bridge".
Yeah, right dude. I didn't say that and I did not argue with him, I simply accepted his statement, waited for him to check the material, it was all good, I left. I did not, however, accept his statement in reality, I just nodded my head, said okay. It is most definitely NOT acceptable for an outside salesman to give the contractor permission to take however long they want to get a truck unloaded. It never has been and it never will be. I explained all of this to my new manager, he consulted with my old manager - who told him the 30 - minute rule. He wrote to the Ops manager and others in higher level management - the outside salesman is going to have a dose of reality served to him.
But that isn't the end of this. The INSIDE salesman for this account called me just before I was leaving work. "Did you get into an argument with this guy?" NO, I did NOT. I NEVER get into arguments with contractors, if they are going to get argumentative I always refer them to the salesman. Yada yada yada, I'm being instructed by a 23 year old know-nothing that is always screwing things up. I explained to him WHY this guy was probably perturbed with him. I have no doubts that the outside salesman for this account is going to have a cow and is going to try, once again, to get me reprimanded (or fired). He has tried in the past, but I have done nothing wrong. I cross my T's and dot my I's in this business. I have been there, done that and I KNOW what possibly can come down the pike.
That's my day - at least at work. It was a bit irritating with all of this coming from all sides. At home - where I am at now - the exterminator showed up, "Scorched The Earth" as they describe the treatment to get rid of tics. I'm staying inside longer than they recommended - the dogs don't need to get poisoned and neither do I.
ben
