Fellow Truck Drivers

I have been with a flatbed company for six years. I ran over the road for two years and now am on a dedicated account near my home town. The position I currently hold is a strong customer service based operation. Just recently we had two top executives come down from the home terminal. This unfortunately wasn't a congrats visit. We HAD two indviduals that took it upon themselves to disrupt the harmonious balance that the rest of us had created with customers. I have always been an early riser and when I first got on this account, the appointment times were late afternoon. All I saw was that this would get me back home later or back to my next consignee later in the night. In turn this made the days later and later as the week progressed. I took it upon myself to start my days at 5 am or earlier. I knew that this was a risk since this would put me at my consignee well before my appointment time. Understanding this risk, I knew that the best course of action was to treat these people as such and not like a customer. I did nothing more than talk to them like a grown mature human. I made it very clear everytime I understood that I was extremely early and if they couldn't get to me right away it was just the chance I had taken. Luckily I never had a problem because even if the person in recieving was busy they would call and have someone else come out and unload me. The two drivers mentioned in the beginning of this didn't follow this path at all and because of that they ran into many snags. Th snags were just the beginning. They would show up very early and when the recieving person would tell them it may be a while the fireworks began. The main problem with the whole thing was the attitude that they carried into the situation from the get go. For some reason they were confused on their power and rights in these situations. They even several times went as far as going throughout the entire store hounding everyone to get unloaded. This did nothing but create problems for not only them but unfortunately the drivers that would follow them in there in days to come. I guess maybe I just look at things differently or maybe I should thank my parents for raising me with respect and understanding. No matter the reason I was very lucky and will always believe that this was due to the attitude I carried in there from the start. I know from experience that a consignee can detain you for long periods of time, but I'm a firm believer that attitude make things worse quickly. I have just always been able to see both sides of things and I always try to put myself in the other persons shoes before I let my frustrations get the best of me and put me in a worse situation. I'm sure there will be many that disagree with much of this but this is just my experience and until I'm proved wrong I'll continue to try to carry a good attitude into the customer service portion of my job. Be safe out there and always remember it's a job and not the sole thing that defines you as a person.