GPI 240 – Find out if your shipping people are ruining your reputation. Remember, they talk to your customers every day.

There are many drivers who see both the shipping point personnel (your people) and receiving point personnel (your customer’s employees).  Many shipments are sent by your company truck directly to the customer.  Make sure your drivers are trained to act professionally not only when they are on your property, but when they are anywhere.

Treat your customers’ hired trucks with respect. Sometimes intermediate third party freight companies are hired by customers to pick up goods at your facilities.  Please treat these people also with respect since they represent your customer.

Treat your customers’ own trucks with respect.  There are also customers who pick up product at your facility with their own truck drivers.  This happens nearly every day and no one thinks about the customers’ employees who arrive daily at the back of the plant to watch all those things that happen with your shipping personnel.  Do your employees pass the test or are they embarrassing you when you do not realize it?

Questions to ask your shipping department personnel: 

1. What do you think these truck drivers see when they are standing around waiting to be loaded here in our dock?
2. Does someone go up to them and ask what they need, or out of courtesy, politely inform them how long it will be if the department is busy?
3. Are accommodations made for these special drivers?  If it possible, your people should give these people preferential treatment and push their product out the door first before other 3rd party freight companies (i.e. DHL, FedEx, and Saia).
4. Is everyone in the shipping department nice to them without exception?  Make sure they are.  You do not need negative stories taken back and repeated multiple times among their company buyers.
5. Does anyone ask them questions or speak to them?  Do you ask if this is there first or last stop?  Where else they are going?  How long they have worked for the customer or if they are busy or not?  They may not want to talk or they might.  You will not know unless you try to be friendly.  Show an interest in their comfort and go out of the way to help them if they have a problem.
6. Do those customers’ drivers observe any bad behavior from your department personnel?  How do you know and what makes you think that everything is perfect in the shipping department after hours?
7. Did you ask if there was anything wrong with coming to our facility?  Did you ask if they had problems getting into the plant, any problems backing in or is there anything we can do to make loading up easier and faster for them?

When training your people in shipping, tell them they must assume that those drivers are questioned about what goes on at the vendor’s facility.  Your people must make sure that only good information is conveyed to the customers’ buyers if anything is said.  You cannot assume that it is not important.