Struggling With a New Policy
I think it was me who said, “To be so opinionated on everything I see is my curse. To be able to express those opinions through writing is my gift.” Yes, I am sure it was me because I just checked my Facebook Fan Page and it’s written right there on the wall. By the way, I noticed I’m up to a whooping nine fans (eight if I don’t count myself), which furthers my belief that my opinions are wildly popular, and millions of people surely must be waiting patiently for my next opinion piece.
To be fair, I should mention that I never really did anything with my Facebook page (including updating it), mostly because I’m not real comfortable editing a page that contains my name and people who “like” it. I’m simply not that narcissistic in real life. My website’s statistics, however, suggest people do enjoy what I have to say, and I thank my loyal readers for returning yet again. I also just noticed that my truck recently started her very own Facebook page, which you can visit by clicking here. If you do visit her page, just do me a favor and please do not click “like” on her page- I’m not real happy with how she sometimes makes fun of me and if she ever gathers more friends than I have, it would be one more “what’s wrong with the world” thought roaming around in my head.
Anyway, the time for my next opinion is now, because I saw something at work on a recent Sunday morning that caused me to form an opinion that I am now ready to share. That’s right ladies and Gentlemen: I have another opinion. May God help us all.
This op-ed piece is special and different though for a reason: Not only can I showcase why I am right and someone else is wrong (through yet another work of pure literary genius), but I can also showcase why, through a common sense approach to a simple problem, I am an individual who has the full potential to be in a position of management. I expect the offers to come rolling in from several Fortune 500 Companies across the globe, shortly after this is published.
I showed up to work on the Sunday in question because I actually had to deliver a load of furniture. (Yes, ON a Sunday.) I took some paperwork into our office. That journey requires me to pass through our driver’s lounge, where there are no less than a few hundred thousand signs of various notifications hanging up all over the place at any given time. So many in fact, I have trouble discerning what’s old and what’s new, so I mostly ignore them all. Sometimes they put the really important ones by every door in the room so they won’t be missed, and it worked [for me] this time because I caught one that made me stop and read it. Here’s an actual picture of the sign in question:
Let me begin by saying, I happen to like just about everybody at our company, from the yard jockeys to my fellow drivers, and of course the big wigs in upper level management (and everyone else in between). That said, this sign (and the new company procedure) could only have been created by someone in upper level management. I’ve always had full confidence in those corporate types, not only because they sign my paychecks, but they have also been a big part of building our company into what it is today: a multi-billion dollar company that I am very proud (and fortunate) to be a part of. I’ve always been agreeable to most everything that they say (or the policies they establish), but not this one, because as trivial as it may be, it is pure nonsense. Allow me to tell you why.
It seems we are no longer allowed to hook up our trucks to our trailers unless we are departing the premises immediately, which is one of the silliest things I have ever heard for a few reasons. There is so much going on within that message that I’ll have to break their reasoning down into two sections: “risk for tractor damage” and “difficult yard operations.”
The risk for tractor damage is almost humorous- has anyone in management ever seen where we take these tractors to deliver the world’s best furniture? We take them into spaces and places that were never meant for trucks, many which contain numerous hazards that could be considered much riskier than simply sitting parked overnight in our yard. If that’s not scary enough, Mother Nature has begun her “wrath of winter” routine and the snow is all ready falling, including onto the roads we routinely travel- increasing the risk of damaging our beloved tractors so badly that I suggest we park them until spring, with paid time off course!
For drivers based out of our Leesport facility, it is in a sense, a home away from home. We leave the yard when we depart to deliver the world’s best furniture and we return there after we’re done. If we can’t feel safe in our own home, where can we? One of my concerns is that this is a knee jerk policy born out of the irresponsibility of others, namely: the speed demons not employed by our company. We have container trucks bringing fresh loads of furniture in from the rail yards and we also have straight trucks (AKA: box trucks) who come into our facility to pick up product and take it to places like downtown New York City and other harrowing places where a tractor-trailer is definitely a no-no. These outside contractors are a necessary part of our business model and most of them abide by the speed limit (15mph) while on our premises, but there’s always the bad apple with the lead foot. Why not begin by having our security office enforcing our speed limits through warnings, followed by all out banning of the repeat offenders?
Don’t get me wrong, the love I have for my truck is only eclipsed by the love I have for my Wife and children, although my Wife may even question that -because for some odd reason, my wallet contains a picture of my truck but none of her or our kids. I put in a lot of off duty hours making her pretty (my truck, not my Wife) and I don’t want to put her into unnecessary danger, so I won’t. But I will continue hooking my truck up to a trailer and going home for the night in my car, mostly because it’s the sensible thing to do, not because I find it fun to be disagreeable to company policy.
To the untrained eye, it may appear that we like to hook our trucks up the night before departure out of pure laziness- perhaps so we can jump from car to truck and be on our way in the minimum amount of time. That’s only half right; the real reason we do it is both a time-saving measure and a safety measure.
For example, I often come back to our yard late in the evening and with no more time to legally leave again. Almost always, I know what my next trip is and almost always, the trailer is in the yard ready to go. I hook it up the night before so if there any inoperative lights, deflated tires, or any air leaks, I can contact the proper authorities and get them addressed right then, not when I am ready to leave, as this new policy suggests I should do. Heck, I still take a quick walk around in the morning because stranger things have happened than a tire deflating in the night. Take for instance last night: I had a dream that I was in a mud wrestling pit with a bunch of bikini-clad college girls, only it turned out they were not there to fight. It seems they wanted….oh forget it, the dream is not only irrelevant to the subject matter, it’s completely inappropriate! My point is: if there is a problem with my trailer, I want to know about the issue the night before so I can get it fixed and be ready to leave on time in the morning. My policy helps me to do my job and make on-time deliveries; this new policy actually has the potential to hinder my attempt at doing my job properly.
What about the second part of that sign hanging in the office, the part about “difficult yard operations?” To an extent, I actually agree with that, mostly because I communicate with our yard jockeys. They have told me when guys park between a certain two rows of trailers, it makes it hard for them to maneuver around the trucks when backing fresh trailers into the line. This is because they are maneuvering 53’ foot trailers when our yard was originally designed for 45’ trailers. I have actually hooked up to a trailer in that area, and pulled it into the front line (by our cars, where there is plenty of space) because I know it makes their life easier. Some guys hook up there and leave for the night: this is part of the problem, which in turn brings me to my well-thought-out solution.
We have a fairly good-sized yard, so why not make a dedicated area where we can park our truck, hooked up to a pre-tripped trailer, and be ready to do our job in the morning? I suggest we dedicate a minimum of six spaces, all next to each other, in the middle of the line behind where we park our cars. This would not only make our yard jockeys’ lives easier by eliminating parking between the two rows where space is limited, but it would also group together pre-tripped trucks, instead of having them randomly spaced out, perhaps increasing the risk for “tractor damage.”
That’s how I would have rewritten the policy with the exception of a few “common sense” side notes. These might include things like:
“Please do not hook up to any trailers (unless when leaving immediately) when they are forecasting ten feet of snow overnight (like what happened numerous times last winter.) It makes it too hard for the snowplows to adequately clear the yard.”
“If you just bought a Power Ball ticket that you are certain is a winner, please don’t hook up on the night of the drawing in case you’re right. We may never see you again and having to un-hook your truck while you’re on the way to the islands will make us like you even less, considering you probably will not share one cent with us.”
In a nutshell, I think my fellow drivers and I would have much been happier if the sign in the office would have simply read:
“There is now a dedicated area to park pre-tripped trucks. When hooking up the night before departure, please park there to make our Yard Jockeys’ lives easier. Grouping the trucks together makes them more visible and thus reduces the chances of getting them damaged (even though we know you guys go into some dangerous places.) Thank-you for your cooperation and keep up the good work!”
I’m not sure if I was right or not about Writing being my “Gift” as I mentioned in the first paragraph. There are some things I know for sure, like it’s easier for me to express my opinions through writing rather than picking up the phone, calling one of my favorite people in management, and using my voice to get my point across. It’s for that reason that I’ll probably have to turn down all those offers of management gigs from Fortune Five Hundred Companies across the globe. Every time an issue arose -be it policy or person- I’d have to retreat with my thoughts, form an opinion and then write four plus pages on why I’m right and everyone else is wrong. I suspect part of being a good manager is understanding you might not always be right and that you should be open to others views.
I think I’m much better off forming opinions and then writing about them. Besides, I don’t have to wear a tie to do it!
Bye for now, I’m off to form some more opinions, see you next time!
To be fair, I should mention that I never really did anything with my Facebook page (including updating it), mostly because I’m not real comfortable editing a page that contains my name and people who “like” it. I’m simply not that narcissistic in real life. My website’s statistics, however, suggest people do enjoy what I have to say, and I thank my loyal readers for returning yet again. I also just noticed that my truck recently started her very own Facebook page, which you can visit by clicking here. If you do visit her page, just do me a favor and please do not click “like” on her page- I’m not real happy with how she sometimes makes fun of me and if she ever gathers more friends than I have, it would be one more “what’s wrong with the world” thought roaming around in my head.
Anyway, the time for my next opinion is now, because I saw something at work on a recent Sunday morning that caused me to form an opinion that I am now ready to share. That’s right ladies and Gentlemen: I have another opinion. May God help us all.
This op-ed piece is special and different though for a reason: Not only can I showcase why I am right and someone else is wrong (through yet another work of pure literary genius), but I can also showcase why, through a common sense approach to a simple problem, I am an individual who has the full potential to be in a position of management. I expect the offers to come rolling in from several Fortune 500 Companies across the globe, shortly after this is published.
I showed up to work on the Sunday in question because I actually had to deliver a load of furniture. (Yes, ON a Sunday.) I took some paperwork into our office. That journey requires me to pass through our driver’s lounge, where there are no less than a few hundred thousand signs of various notifications hanging up all over the place at any given time. So many in fact, I have trouble discerning what’s old and what’s new, so I mostly ignore them all. Sometimes they put the really important ones by every door in the room so they won’t be missed, and it worked [for me] this time because I caught one that made me stop and read it. Here’s an actual picture of the sign in question:
Let me begin by saying, I happen to like just about everybody at our company, from the yard jockeys to my fellow drivers, and of course the big wigs in upper level management (and everyone else in between). That said, this sign (and the new company procedure) could only have been created by someone in upper level management. I’ve always had full confidence in those corporate types, not only because they sign my paychecks, but they have also been a big part of building our company into what it is today: a multi-billion dollar company that I am very proud (and fortunate) to be a part of. I’ve always been agreeable to most everything that they say (or the policies they establish), but not this one, because as trivial as it may be, it is pure nonsense. Allow me to tell you why.
It seems we are no longer allowed to hook up our trucks to our trailers unless we are departing the premises immediately, which is one of the silliest things I have ever heard for a few reasons. There is so much going on within that message that I’ll have to break their reasoning down into two sections: “risk for tractor damage” and “difficult yard operations.”
The risk for tractor damage is almost humorous- has anyone in management ever seen where we take these tractors to deliver the world’s best furniture? We take them into spaces and places that were never meant for trucks, many which contain numerous hazards that could be considered much riskier than simply sitting parked overnight in our yard. If that’s not scary enough, Mother Nature has begun her “wrath of winter” routine and the snow is all ready falling, including onto the roads we routinely travel- increasing the risk of damaging our beloved tractors so badly that I suggest we park them until spring, with paid time off course!
For drivers based out of our Leesport facility, it is in a sense, a home away from home. We leave the yard when we depart to deliver the world’s best furniture and we return there after we’re done. If we can’t feel safe in our own home, where can we? One of my concerns is that this is a knee jerk policy born out of the irresponsibility of others, namely: the speed demons not employed by our company. We have container trucks bringing fresh loads of furniture in from the rail yards and we also have straight trucks (AKA: box trucks) who come into our facility to pick up product and take it to places like downtown New York City and other harrowing places where a tractor-trailer is definitely a no-no. These outside contractors are a necessary part of our business model and most of them abide by the speed limit (15mph) while on our premises, but there’s always the bad apple with the lead foot. Why not begin by having our security office enforcing our speed limits through warnings, followed by all out banning of the repeat offenders?
Don’t get me wrong, the love I have for my truck is only eclipsed by the love I have for my Wife and children, although my Wife may even question that -because for some odd reason, my wallet contains a picture of my truck but none of her or our kids. I put in a lot of off duty hours making her pretty (my truck, not my Wife) and I don’t want to put her into unnecessary danger, so I won’t. But I will continue hooking my truck up to a trailer and going home for the night in my car, mostly because it’s the sensible thing to do, not because I find it fun to be disagreeable to company policy.
To the untrained eye, it may appear that we like to hook our trucks up the night before departure out of pure laziness- perhaps so we can jump from car to truck and be on our way in the minimum amount of time. That’s only half right; the real reason we do it is both a time-saving measure and a safety measure.
For example, I often come back to our yard late in the evening and with no more time to legally leave again. Almost always, I know what my next trip is and almost always, the trailer is in the yard ready to go. I hook it up the night before so if there any inoperative lights, deflated tires, or any air leaks, I can contact the proper authorities and get them addressed right then, not when I am ready to leave, as this new policy suggests I should do. Heck, I still take a quick walk around in the morning because stranger things have happened than a tire deflating in the night. Take for instance last night: I had a dream that I was in a mud wrestling pit with a bunch of bikini-clad college girls, only it turned out they were not there to fight. It seems they wanted….oh forget it, the dream is not only irrelevant to the subject matter, it’s completely inappropriate! My point is: if there is a problem with my trailer, I want to know about the issue the night before so I can get it fixed and be ready to leave on time in the morning. My policy helps me to do my job and make on-time deliveries; this new policy actually has the potential to hinder my attempt at doing my job properly.
What about the second part of that sign hanging in the office, the part about “difficult yard operations?” To an extent, I actually agree with that, mostly because I communicate with our yard jockeys. They have told me when guys park between a certain two rows of trailers, it makes it hard for them to maneuver around the trucks when backing fresh trailers into the line. This is because they are maneuvering 53’ foot trailers when our yard was originally designed for 45’ trailers. I have actually hooked up to a trailer in that area, and pulled it into the front line (by our cars, where there is plenty of space) because I know it makes their life easier. Some guys hook up there and leave for the night: this is part of the problem, which in turn brings me to my well-thought-out solution.
We have a fairly good-sized yard, so why not make a dedicated area where we can park our truck, hooked up to a pre-tripped trailer, and be ready to do our job in the morning? I suggest we dedicate a minimum of six spaces, all next to each other, in the middle of the line behind where we park our cars. This would not only make our yard jockeys’ lives easier by eliminating parking between the two rows where space is limited, but it would also group together pre-tripped trucks, instead of having them randomly spaced out, perhaps increasing the risk for “tractor damage.”
That’s how I would have rewritten the policy with the exception of a few “common sense” side notes. These might include things like:
“Please do not hook up to any trailers (unless when leaving immediately) when they are forecasting ten feet of snow overnight (like what happened numerous times last winter.) It makes it too hard for the snowplows to adequately clear the yard.”
“If you just bought a Power Ball ticket that you are certain is a winner, please don’t hook up on the night of the drawing in case you’re right. We may never see you again and having to un-hook your truck while you’re on the way to the islands will make us like you even less, considering you probably will not share one cent with us.”
In a nutshell, I think my fellow drivers and I would have much been happier if the sign in the office would have simply read:
“There is now a dedicated area to park pre-tripped trucks. When hooking up the night before departure, please park there to make our Yard Jockeys’ lives easier. Grouping the trucks together makes them more visible and thus reduces the chances of getting them damaged (even though we know you guys go into some dangerous places.) Thank-you for your cooperation and keep up the good work!”
I’m not sure if I was right or not about Writing being my “Gift” as I mentioned in the first paragraph. There are some things I know for sure, like it’s easier for me to express my opinions through writing rather than picking up the phone, calling one of my favorite people in management, and using my voice to get my point across. It’s for that reason that I’ll probably have to turn down all those offers of management gigs from Fortune Five Hundred Companies across the globe. Every time an issue arose -be it policy or person- I’d have to retreat with my thoughts, form an opinion and then write four plus pages on why I’m right and everyone else is wrong. I suspect part of being a good manager is understanding you might not always be right and that you should be open to others views.
I think I’m much better off forming opinions and then writing about them. Besides, I don’t have to wear a tie to do it!
Bye for now, I’m off to form some more opinions, see you next time!
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