Are you supposed to tip a truck driver, Take 2

[Vidkid26]

I've read all the posts in response to "Are you supposed tip the truck driver", about 90 so far.

I would like to ask a question.

First of all let me clarify a couple of things things. A freight company is a business to business operation, that is based on the premiss that each location has a freight dock. That is the way their tariffs are structured. The freight is loaded onto the truck at point A. buy the shipper, and offloaded at point B by the consignee. That is why a trailer is at the height of a standard freight dock. This applies if the freight is 1 lb. or a truckload. If no dock is available at either end, a charge may be applied if it is necessary to use other mechanical means(lift-gate,forklift) that the shipper or consignee do not provide.

A freight company makes its money by selling service. It has no tangible product to sell. It has different levels of service just like a table saw has a number of levels of options you may purchase, and are priced accordingly. These levels being, if it's a residence, if the freight requires a lift-gate,or requires being moved to a location other that adjacent to the trailer. These are three different options that may be purchased by the shipper or consignee, just like a upgraded fence or mobile base on a table saw. These extra services come with costs involved and charges are assessed to recover them and make a profit. Thats why they are in business

Question. If you were an employer and your employee gave away a upgraded fence, mobile base, or some other item that you did not authorize, would you consider that theft? An if so would you consider a truck driver who performed a service that was not authorized, or paid for; theft ?

[David]

What would it be a theft OF? considering that no one who works for a living is 100% productive 100% of the time, I suppose you could say everyone who's drawing a paycheck is guilty of some sort of "theft" by not working their full shift. Part of the day for office workers is spent gossiping and cruising the 'net. Retail workers gab with their customers or sit in the break room longer than their alloted time.

However, in the strictest sense of the word, I wouldn't classify some as-yet-undefined "unathorized service" for a customer as "theft". What if traffic holds up the trucker from making his rounds in minimum time? Is he guilty of theft for not having a traffic monitor for locating any and all possible traffic tie ups? This is not a perfect world. A sensible adult working as a trucker should no the limitations of his duties and should be able to work generally within those guidelines. If he strays from them from time to time in the interest of good will, lighten up!

Nothing is black and white. Your hypothetical is sure to elicit tons of arguments on both sides of your question.

Dave

[Lee Gordon]

Only if it was a service that was normally offered and, if provided, the company would generally charge extra for.

Lee

[CW]

So, his time is free?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Probably, but it depends on circumstances. If I still made a profit, and woujld have lost the sale otherwise, it would have been "authorized" in my absence. Thee shold be some sort of policy, written or lossly communicated to cover situations like that. If it was a pure give away, then it could be theft.

An if so would you consider a truck driver who

No. Drivers offer service. They are trained to give good service, make customers happy. I see it often with drivers that service our company. Many do little extra things in their pickups and deliveries that are not required by the company. Often, it saves them time instead of waiting for one of our guys to take that pallet off.

You can make the argument that it is a home delivery, so no big deal. What you never know though, is who that homeowner is. He may just happen to be the traffic manager for a large warehouse. He may specify carriers. A little goodwill is always a good thing. At the end of the day, if all the deliveries and pickups are made in a timely manner, customers are happy, then the driver did a good job.

[Leon]

Snip

Absolutely NOT. I would consider it a good will gesture. I would also further question the reason for giving away the merchandise.

An if so would you consider a truck driver who

The same applies. When dealing with the public and your customer, you deed to treat him as you would treat yourself.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It may be. All drivers are allowed breaks and lunch times. If he takes ten minutes to help a customer, but cuts a break short, the company is at no loss. It has, though, gained some good will and who knows what business in the future.

I often tell the story about Richard.

I was a production supervisor and Richard was the operator of a Pines tubing bending machine. All the jobs had a rate and you had to achieve 85% or you could be written up. Richard was the only person running this machine that could do 95% to 110% of the rate. NO ONE else ever did more that 75%. Richard was always the guy that went to the store room for gloves, went for the coffee, etc. The plant manager gave me hell for letting him wander, yet he was the top producing guy on that machine. So, I had to stop him from wandering.

OK, now there is a new job on a new tool on the machine. Richard said he did not know how to set it up and he wanted the engineer. The engineer spent three hours with him and not a part was made. The engineer got the tooling designer and they both spend a few more hours and still did not make a part. Next day, they were at it again. . After a couple of hours, they took a break. Ten minutes later, Richard brought me a part from the machine, perfectly made.. He dropped it on the desk and asked if he could go to the store room. After that fiasco, no one ever questioned why Richard was wandering around the plant and at the end of the day, he out produced everyone else.

My point is, happy workers are productive workers. Time spend doing an extra service may not be a cost at all at the end of the day. We all have different work patterns and the guy that never leaves his work station is not always the most productive. Not allowing some freedom can be counter-productive.

[Prometheus]

I've been an employer once or twice, and when it comes to services, I'd fire a guy for not doing what the customer requested, as long as it's within reason- even if that service wasn't specifically in the contract. I've done plenty of little things for customers on contract like hanging birdhouses, cleaning gutters for old folks, or shoveling a driveway that paid off far more in goodwill and word of mouth than any drain on my time was worth. I've also been on the other side of it, and have seen the customer get really pissed off when the contractor told us not to do some minor thing would have taken 10 minutes that should have been in the contract anyway, but was not specifically itemized. Those folks tend to talk about things like that, and cause no end of trouble.

When it comes to materials, that can be a different story- I usually try to include a couple extra pieces when I do millwork, but I wouldn't toss in a free kitchen table with the purchase of a bar stool. It's a matter of degree, like anything. If I was making a bookshelf with adjustable shelving, and a customer wanted extra pegs, there would be no question. If I were making a car, I'd toss in A/C and a steering wheel cover, no problem. But I wouldn't toss in a free bookcase or an extra car. Sometimes just making the customer feel like they got a little extra goes a long way.

[Joe Bemier]

In your hypotheitical - yes. However, when New Penn called to say that my latest shipment was ready for delivery I asked if the driver could help me get it to the garage. The shipper responded with something like....*sure as long as he is not running behind schedule....* Thus, at least in NP's case, they know that a delivery going to a non-freight-dock location will require help. Further, I assume that the management of the shipping Co's knows the drivers perform this service at non-dock locations, and, that they pick up a few bucks for it.

[Ron Magen]

Well, 'Vidkid26' . . . {Which is a very telling appellation, I might add},

I've read all the responses to your billet-doux. Rather then an 'answer', my first thoughts were 'questions'. Has this person ever 'worked for a living - especially anything that required manual labor, or any kind of actual physical labor ? Has this person ever bought anything that required 'truck delivery' and read the 'fine print' on the advert, documents, or 'on-line' ?

While I can only surmise at the first, I'm a little more confident about the second. Most physically large & heavy items that I purchase . . . I try to get, locally. I will go and get them, myself. Baring 'home appliances', I have only had to purchase two items that were 'Common Carrier' shipments - the 'Grizzly' Table-Top Drill Press {purchased direct from them}, and the 'JET' Bandsaw {purchased from Amazon}. Due to their advertising, plus having no specific indication of separation between 'Commercial' and 'Retail' sales, the preponderance of their sales are to residences. Unless YOU go to THEIR facility {sometimes not even allowed, as in 'Drop Ship' orders} YOU WILL pay for 'truck shipment'. Without getting into the nuances of the legalities of 'F.O.B.', . . . 'Shipment shall be via Common Carrier' means the trucking company, or companies - the item can be 'trans-shipped' through several before it reaches you, most convenient to THEM. There is also some little wording like 'Curb Delivery' to indicate where their responsibility ends.

In one of the cases, the truck didn't even have a 'lift gate'. {Which was actually an advantage - I didn't have to bend over and pick-up the crate } I squatted with my back to the trailer, the driver slid the carton onto my shoulder, and I 'humped it' up the drive to my shop behind the house. In the second case, the Bandsaw, the driver lowered the pallet to the street. After he left, I cut the steel banding, and used my 'Harbor Freight Handtruck' to move the individual cartons to the shop. Agreed, that was a couple of years ago . . . I was only 60 at the time.

Just as a 'by-the-by', I remember ordering something, many years ago, that had to be delivered by truck. When it arrived, I was notified that I had to go to the trucking terminal {from the suburbs, all the way across, to the 'other side' of Philadelphia}to pick it up.

No matter what they call that mind-numbing crap on TV . . . your LIVING in REALITY.

Regards, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

SNIP

[Leon]

Another situation to consider. If the freight company driver helps you unload into your garage that is often going to be cheaper for the freight company rather than have to return it to the shipper or to take it back to the terminal. Until the freight has been signed for, the package is still the freight company's responsibility. The sooner they get rid of the package the sooner they get to move on to the next customer.

Another consideration, I worked for a wholesale distributor and we often would receive 2 full trailers from the freight company and one truck would be waiting for the other to leave. The trailers would be so full that there would be no room for a pallet jack. We would lift the first 2 skids off of the truck with a fork lift then we sat OUR pallet jack on the trailer so that the driver could move the load to the end of the trailer. With out the use of our pallet jack the driver would have to break down the pallets as very often they would weigh well over 1,000 pounds. Lending out the pallet jack to move the skids saved the freight company time and effort. Basically it is a two way street situation. Sometimes the freight company gets help and some times they should go the extra step for that residential customer that paid premium charges to get his freight.

It should boil down to common since however I realize that some labor unions take that out of the equation as company profits are not of their concern.