Recently I was consigned to deliver a load of drywall and sand (sand is drywall mud) to a construction supply outfit near my home. Upon arrival at the drop off, I waited in line for the three trucks in front of me to load or unload accordingly, then I pulled into the driveway and unloading area to prepare to unload. There were three forklift operators driving around me as I loosened the straps. I carefully stowed the straps, pulled the bungee cords off the tarps and stowed them. I then started to tackle the hard part of unloading, pulling and folding the tarps. Working by yourself, it can take 30 minutes to pull a tarp off a load, spread it out, fold it and roll it up for stowage and transport. With another person, it takes about 5 minutes. I performed this task solo without complaining despite the two forklift operators sitting in their seats and watching me work. After all, it is my responsibility and not theirs. They don't have to help, but it sure would have made things easier and faster. The two men who were sitting on machines which are designed and built for the sole purpose of lifting heavy things off the ground in order to move them to another location, then watched me struggle to lift each tarp up to eye level in order to put them on the trailer and secure them for transport. Neither one moved or offered to lift the tarps to the trailer. Again, it was not their responsibility to help, it's my job to move the tarps.
Flatbed Tarps.
I was now sweating and dirty and a bit irritated as I climbed back into the cab of my truck. I started the air conditioning and cleaned myself off as I waited for the forklift drivers to start pulling the load off the truck so I could leave. I knew what was coming next and I was ready for it. Before I continue, I need to explain a bit about drywall and how it is transported. Drywall is stacked in sheets of about 50 sheets. Any more on the stack and it becomes too heavy and unwieldy. The stacks are separated by something called dunnage. Dunnage for drywall is simply four strips of the same kind of drywall cut into three inch strips and glued together.
Drywall Dunnage.
So what you end up with is basically a 3 by 3 inch piece of material that is 4 feet long. you put 5 or 6 of these between each stack to stack the drywall on top of itself so it can be moved and handled with ease. Dunnage is also placed on the deck of the trailer so thast the drywall can be lifted off the trailer. In order to be able to stack the drywall once it is off the truck, the stack is pulled off by the forklift operator, then the dunnage on the deck is transferred to the top of that stack so you can store it and place more drywall on top of it in the warehouse. The responsibility of transferring the dunnage is somewhat of a grey area. Almost invariably, the truck driver will hop out and do it as the truck is being unloaded in order to expedite the process. But some places forbid the driver from exiting the truck while it is being unloaded. Long story short, transferring drywall dunnage is most certainly NOT part of my job. I will sometimes offer to help do it to speed things up, but today....well...
Stacked Drywall With Dunnage.
The forklift operators pulled the sand off the trailer first. They got to the first stack of drywall and I heard a forklift horn beeping from behind me. I opened the door and looked back at the operator. I said "Can I help you"? He said "You gotta pull the dunnage". I simply said "No I don't" and closed the door. This move absolutely shocked and confused the forklift driver. He put down the load of drywall and talked with the other operators. I sat back and started playing a video game in my bunk and watched the three forklifts circle my truck for over a half hour as they tried to figure out what the hell I was thinking. Usually truck drivers are in a pretty big hurry. They will tolerate any amount of abuse and crap in order to get the wheels moving again so they are making money. Today was a unique circumstance. I had four and a half hours left on the clock and I was one hour from the house. I was heading home after this load and I was not in a hurry. So I sat back and enjoyed my game.
My cousin Sean tells me that as a truck driver, if you really want to get some attention, then get in the way. Boy is he right. After 45 minutes of sitting in the driveway not getting unloaded, I heard a knock at my door. I opened the door and saw a line of five trucks waiting behind me. Four of them belonged to this business and were waiting to get loaded to deliver product. However, my truck, which was still loaded down with drywall was blocking the entire loading area. I looked at the man standing on the gound and he said "Is there a problem"? I replied "I don't have a problem. I'm just waiting to get unloaded". He said "The forklift operator said something about dunnage". I climbed down out of the truck and politely explained my situation to the man. I told him about his operators sitting around for 30 minutes watching me work. Watching me as I struggled with the dirty tarps and not offering a shred of assistance. I acknowledged that these tasks were indeed my responsibility and under no circumstances were they required to even offer to assist me. I then pointed out that the act of pulling dunnage was not my responsibility but that of the forklift operator. And I in turn was under no obligation to so much as offer to help them either. I said "I am in no hurry. I have air conditioning, food and drinks in the truck and I am fully prepared to spend the night right here".
By this point, I had learned that this man was CJ. He was the man in charge of this particular location. He said "If you had a problem why didn't you come inside and tell someone"? I replied "I don't have a problem. I did my job, I am just waiting for your guys to do theirs so I can leave". CJ apologized to me profusely for the behavior of his employees and then very politely asked me if I could help with the transfer of dunnage because he had four trucks waiting to get loaded. Since this man had actually asked me politely to help out, I was willing to lend some assistance and put on my gloves. As we were walking back to the trailer CJ said "If you ever have another problem come see me first". As I pulled the dunnage, I became aware that the next time I deliver to this location, my problem will probably be waiting for 6 hours to get unloaded. I shrugged off that thought as I climbed back into the cab of my truck because I was leaving with my principles intact, and right now that mattered to me more than any amount of time.
It seems to me like you did exactly the right thing. Some people will never understand that in order to get respect, you need to show respect, and that, doing your job is more than just doing what you were told. At some point, the difference between a job well done and a job done is just the amount of respect that others show you!
ReplyDeleteRichmond Gordon @ Water Loo Certa Pro
Richmond, I really should do a follow up on this post because when I returned to that consignee 6 months later, it was a different place. That manager followed through on his word and realigned his employees. To make a long story short, it's presently one of my favorite places to go to deliver. Things did indeed change here so much, that I have purchased and delivered pizza to their entire crew on several occasions. Sometimes putting your foot down can indeed change things.
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