Just whose customer is it anyway?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen posts on social media bashing drivers for how they appear at customers. While I don’t condone bashing one another other, I do have an opinion on the topic.

We’ve been trucking as a team for 18 years. In all that time we have never walked into a customer’s shipping/receiving office in pajamas, dirty clothes, slippers or the like. We don’t yell at the person manning the window when loading/unloading is behind schedule. We don’t stand around cussing & swearing at one another. If I was the customer, I would not want to be subjected to that.

Recently a driver said, “it’s not like it’s MY customer.”

Really?

We are owner operators leased to a carrier with no capacity. There are agents that go out and sell themselves, the carrier and the owners as part of a package. The agents are relying on the owner operators to represent them professionally. It’s their customer. It’s the carrier’s customer. It’s OUR customer.

If you are a company driver, it is YOUR customer as well.

If you do not treat the customer with respect, that makes the carrier look bad. If the carrier looks bad, they may lose that customer and the revenue that goes with it. The driver loses loads and sits longer at a truck stop waiting for a pre-plan.

I am not suggesting wearing your Sunday best. Nor am I suggesting full hair and makeup.

I am suggesting a clean shirt & jeans, a PPE vest if required, closed toe shoes or PPE steel toe if required, a little deodorant and a positive attitude.

Years ago we had a customer in southern California that never seemed to run on-time. We knew that most likely once we checked in that we would wait 2-4 hours before loading. It was a live load on one end and drop & hook on the other. After several weeks of witnessing drivers bash the woman in shipping/receiving, hanging around the office cussing & swearing, I noticed she stopped looking up and meeting drivers eyes. She was worn out and beaten down. She had no control over the issues on the docks and was taking the brunt of everyone’s frustration.

This one particular day, I could see she was about to break down in tears. The dock was running 4-6 hours behind and drivers were mad. I went back out to the truck and grabbed a Snickers bar. It wasn’t much but I felt like she needed to be seen and understood. I slipped it under the window and when she looked up at me, she had tears in her eyes. I was the first person to be kind to her ALL day!

From that day forward, she looked forward to seeing us on our weekly pick up. Did it help the dock load faster, NO! But it did give us a more pleasant experience. Seeing her uplifted and smiling made it all worth while.

That was OUR customer and back then, there were cheaper carriers. We kept that account for several years. We represented our carrier, our agent and ourselves with professionalism.

Drivers, take the 2 minutes to check your appearance. If you were the customer, would you want to see you coming in dressed the way you are? If the answer is even a maybe, take a minute and put yourself together. You can change into comfy driving clothes when you’re loaded, secured, paperwork done, locked & sealed.

You are the oftentimes the only person a customer sees representing your carrier.

Make them proud.

Make yourself proud.

You are worth it!