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How a customer can ban YOU!
Long time lurker here, finally have one for y'all that may make ya laugh or threaten homicidal rage. 
<BG>
I am a long haul truck driver (in other words, I am the navigation system for an 80,000 pound guided missile that can take over 200 YARDS to stop at normal highway speeds). I roam all 48 lower states of the USA. I haul pretty much everything that fits into a refrigerated trailer. I spend 6-8 weeks at a time living in an area smaller than the walk-in closet at my real house (sometimes I have to share as I also train new drivers). My paycheck is determined by how many miles I drive (more miles = more money). I see my wife and 3 y/o daughter more on Skype than I do in person. I spend 8+ hours a day trying to avoid accidents with drivers that should NEVER have been given a license. Can you see why I am such a chipper person?
Terms:
BOL - Bill of Lading. An itemized list of everything we are being paid to carry, with Purchase Order numbers, weight, shippers info, receivers info, and other related stuff. By federal law we have to have it in our truck at all times while we have a loaded trailer.
MOD - Manager on Duty
DM - Driver Manager, sometimes my best friend, and sometimes my worse enemy. Authorizes checks, cash advances, finds loads for me to run with, and helps work out any problems with my route.
Lumper - Dock Worker, warehouses sometimes let another company work the docks as long as they get kickbacks for fees paid to load or unload trucks. Lumpers are the guys that do the actual work of unloading and counting all items to make sure nothing was missing or damaged during transport.
Freight - Prolly know this one, but yeah... stuff
Shipper - Company sending out Freight (considered a customer)
Receiver - Company receiving the Freight (also considered a customer)
</BG>
I picked up a decent run, from a warehouse in Chicago and headed to a DC (distribution center) in north Houston. I arrive a DAY EARLY for the delivery, so no problem, I sit at the truck stop 3 miles away for the night and get back to the DC at 8am. They give me a door to back my trailer up to and tell me to take my paperwork in to the receiving office. Inside the receiving office is a lady sitting behind a window made of what looks like 2 inch bulletproof glass (I wondered why at the time). I pass my BOL under the tiny slit in the bottom of the force field and ask if there was any other paperwork they needed and also how long it would take to have my trailer unloaded.
The crone behind the counter tells me I need to pay $180 for a lumper (person who unloads freight) before I can be unloaded. I inform the hag that the lumper was pre-paid and it says it in black and white on the BOL.
So I call my DM for a check authorization (we keep blank checks in our trucks but they cant be used unless they have a one time use auth code on them) and am told that the lumper fee was already paid by the shipper. As such, I am not authorized to give a check as it would be considered a double payment for the same service.
I speak to the hag behind the glass and say that my company would not authorize a check for the lumper as it had already been paid for by the company that sent the stuff to them. The shrew said I could not be unloaded without the check, then smirked and told me I also could not leave the property with their merchandise now that I was on their property or I would be arrested for theft. The only options she gave me was either to pay now, or wait and pay later.
<LEGAL STUFF> While I am sure that most people on this site are familiar with it, the average person doesn't always read the fine print on a contract, or know that it is legal and binding. A BOL is considered a LEGAL and BINDING contract. In the fine print on pretty much all of them it states that the stuff in the trailer does not belong to the receiver until the receiver's representative SIGNS THE BOL. AND They must either state that all items were received in good condition OR list the items that were missing and/or damaged. </LEGAL STUFF>
So I return to my truck, a bit frustrated, and call my DM again. My DM tells me to wait a few hours, and if they don't start unloading me, I am to go back to the office, get my BOL back, and take the trailer BACK TO CHICAGO (at least I will get paid for all the miles). My DM also says that since they refuse to unload the freight, they will have to pay for the freight to be sent BACK from Chicago (costing them double what they would have normally paid for shipping and handling).
So I did what any redneck like me would do in a time like this. I set my alarm for 4 hours, and jumped in my bunk in the back of my truck for a nap.
*RING* Alarm goes off. After walking back to the receiving office, I ask if they have started unloading me yet. The woman (same woman, and I use the term woman pretty loosely here) says I still haven't paid for the lumper so I either sit on the property, or I can leave without my trailer (the trailer alone is $130k). I inform her that I am leaving and it will be WITH my trailer and everything in it. Instead of allowing me to leave, she calls 911 and tells the police I am stealing THEIR TRAILER. Cops arrive just as I am closing the doors on my trailer. 
HOLY CRAP, she actually called the cops on me!
Lucky me, and yes I do mean lucky, the cop knows a bit about BOLs and truck driving (thank you GOD!). He asks me what was going on, I told him. He asks me to wait at my truck while he goes inside to find out what the fuss was about. Twenty minutes later he comes back out and hands me the BOL, which is still unsigned. The wonderful cop then says he will be happy to escort me, my trailer, AND everything in it off the property since the BOL wasn't signed.
As I get to the gate to leave the property, the MOD for the DC comes running out, a lanky guy about 6'3" and sweating. He asks me to wait and informs me it was a misunderstanding with the lady in the receiving office. He says if I back into the closest door, and he points to the door he is referring to, that he will unload me himself. It should only take 15 minutes he thinks. So I tell the cop I am going to go ahead since I just want to get this trip over with and get paid for it, and if I have any further problems I will call the police back for an escort.
Back my trailer into the door, take my BOL back to the receiving office, and wait. Five minutes later, I can feel the trailer shaking as they start to unload; however, it lasts all of 1 minute, then no more unloading.
About 20 minutes later, I walk to the receiving office... AGAIN. Old Biddy behind the (now justifiable) ballistic barrier says they removed one pallet, and that if I leave, that I am responsible for the loss of that one pallet, which is true. At $10k per pallet, I cant afford to lose any. 
She then says that I cant leave without the pallet, and they will not unload the rest until I pay the $180 for the lumper (which as already stated was PRE-PAID).
So I pull a trick out of her arsenal.
I tell her I am calling the cops and having her and the MOD charged with theft as they have taken items off my trailer, and have not signed the bills and are attempting to extort money from my company that they are not rightly entitled to.
Rather quickly she grabs my BOL from her desk, and signs it saying all items are accounted for and in good condition. She gets an evil grin on her face saying now I cant leave since I have her company's freight on my trailer and if I attempt to leave I will go to jail this time. I ask for my copy of the signed BOL, and she passes it through the slot under the window. I look at it, and sure enough she did sign it. The freight isn't my responsibility anymore. However, it is still on my trailer, and the lumpers wont unload me...
Did you know that 18 wheelers have 2 reverse speeds? Low range is pretty much all we use in reverse, but on High, we can tear stuff up, and move everything around.
Having dealt with this place for too long on this day, I decide to unload myself, the lazy way. A grin crosses my face as evil twin comes to the surface. After thanking the insult to humanity for releasing me from any financial responsibility for the freight I have in my trailer. I inform the paperwork despot of my intention of pulling forward about 20 feet from the dock door, putting my truck in HIGH reverse, and bumping the dock at 15 MPH repeatedly until all the pallets shake themselves out of the back of my trailer onto the dock, ground, or wherever else they may fall.
I also inform her that since my paperwork is signed that her company has assumed all freight delivered undamaged and any damages from here on out would be the responsibility of her company and not me. While her face is white as a sheet in "shock and awe" I turn and walk out of her office and toward my truck. 
I had just started the engine on my truck when I feel shaking coming from the trailer. I step out and walk to the back where I can hear a couple guys yelling to each other. They are using 2 forklifts to unload me as fast as possible before I break their precious freight. I haven't heard that many cuss words since I was in the military.
It took less than 10 minutes for them to get everything off my truck.
After the short wait for them to finish unloading the trailer, I pull forward and close my doors in the back. They were in so much of a hurry, that they seem to have damaged some of the boxes on the pallets and left pieces of candy from the pallets all over the floor making the trailer smell like a fruit paradise!
Now to leave this hellhole. I pull to the gate and the gate guard informs me that I am no longer welcome on the property and am permanently banned from it. If I come back I will be arrested and charged with trespassing. Not my problem, didn't want to come back anyway. 
---Fast forward 3 weeks---
I arrive home, and my daughter
(2 years old at the time) tackles me, my wife kisses me, and I see a stack of mail with my name on it. My wife doesn't open any mail of mine that isn't from a utility company. So I have legal letters, my business mail, and one from the County Courthouse in Houston. It is a criminal trespass warrant initiated by the DC. Basically it is the same as the guard said. As long as I don't enter their property, nothing happens, but if I do, I face 90 days in jail. 
Zheuse
<BG>
I am a long haul truck driver (in other words, I am the navigation system for an 80,000 pound guided missile that can take over 200 YARDS to stop at normal highway speeds). I roam all 48 lower states of the USA. I haul pretty much everything that fits into a refrigerated trailer. I spend 6-8 weeks at a time living in an area smaller than the walk-in closet at my real house (sometimes I have to share as I also train new drivers). My paycheck is determined by how many miles I drive (more miles = more money). I see my wife and 3 y/o daughter more on Skype than I do in person. I spend 8+ hours a day trying to avoid accidents with drivers that should NEVER have been given a license. Can you see why I am such a chipper person?
Terms:
BOL - Bill of Lading. An itemized list of everything we are being paid to carry, with Purchase Order numbers, weight, shippers info, receivers info, and other related stuff. By federal law we have to have it in our truck at all times while we have a loaded trailer.
MOD - Manager on Duty
DM - Driver Manager, sometimes my best friend, and sometimes my worse enemy. Authorizes checks, cash advances, finds loads for me to run with, and helps work out any problems with my route.
Lumper - Dock Worker, warehouses sometimes let another company work the docks as long as they get kickbacks for fees paid to load or unload trucks. Lumpers are the guys that do the actual work of unloading and counting all items to make sure nothing was missing or damaged during transport.
Freight - Prolly know this one, but yeah... stuff
Shipper - Company sending out Freight (considered a customer)
Receiver - Company receiving the Freight (also considered a customer)
</BG>
I picked up a decent run, from a warehouse in Chicago and headed to a DC (distribution center) in north Houston. I arrive a DAY EARLY for the delivery, so no problem, I sit at the truck stop 3 miles away for the night and get back to the DC at 8am. They give me a door to back my trailer up to and tell me to take my paperwork in to the receiving office. Inside the receiving office is a lady sitting behind a window made of what looks like 2 inch bulletproof glass (I wondered why at the time). I pass my BOL under the tiny slit in the bottom of the force field and ask if there was any other paperwork they needed and also how long it would take to have my trailer unloaded.
The crone behind the counter tells me I need to pay $180 for a lumper (person who unloads freight) before I can be unloaded. I inform the hag that the lumper was pre-paid and it says it in black and white on the BOL.
So I call my DM for a check authorization (we keep blank checks in our trucks but they cant be used unless they have a one time use auth code on them) and am told that the lumper fee was already paid by the shipper. As such, I am not authorized to give a check as it would be considered a double payment for the same service. I speak to the hag behind the glass and say that my company would not authorize a check for the lumper as it had already been paid for by the company that sent the stuff to them. The shrew said I could not be unloaded without the check, then smirked and told me I also could not leave the property with their merchandise now that I was on their property or I would be arrested for theft. The only options she gave me was either to pay now, or wait and pay later.
<LEGAL STUFF> While I am sure that most people on this site are familiar with it, the average person doesn't always read the fine print on a contract, or know that it is legal and binding. A BOL is considered a LEGAL and BINDING contract. In the fine print on pretty much all of them it states that the stuff in the trailer does not belong to the receiver until the receiver's representative SIGNS THE BOL. AND They must either state that all items were received in good condition OR list the items that were missing and/or damaged. </LEGAL STUFF>
So I return to my truck, a bit frustrated, and call my DM again. My DM tells me to wait a few hours, and if they don't start unloading me, I am to go back to the office, get my BOL back, and take the trailer BACK TO CHICAGO (at least I will get paid for all the miles). My DM also says that since they refuse to unload the freight, they will have to pay for the freight to be sent BACK from Chicago (costing them double what they would have normally paid for shipping and handling).
So I did what any redneck like me would do in a time like this. I set my alarm for 4 hours, and jumped in my bunk in the back of my truck for a nap.
*RING* Alarm goes off. After walking back to the receiving office, I ask if they have started unloading me yet. The woman (same woman, and I use the term woman pretty loosely here) says I still haven't paid for the lumper so I either sit on the property, or I can leave without my trailer (the trailer alone is $130k). I inform her that I am leaving and it will be WITH my trailer and everything in it. Instead of allowing me to leave, she calls 911 and tells the police I am stealing THEIR TRAILER. Cops arrive just as I am closing the doors on my trailer. HOLY CRAP, she actually called the cops on me!Lucky me, and yes I do mean lucky, the cop knows a bit about BOLs and truck driving (thank you GOD!). He asks me what was going on, I told him. He asks me to wait at my truck while he goes inside to find out what the fuss was about. Twenty minutes later he comes back out and hands me the BOL, which is still unsigned. The wonderful cop then says he will be happy to escort me, my trailer, AND everything in it off the property since the BOL wasn't signed.
As I get to the gate to leave the property, the MOD for the DC comes running out, a lanky guy about 6'3" and sweating. He asks me to wait and informs me it was a misunderstanding with the lady in the receiving office. He says if I back into the closest door, and he points to the door he is referring to, that he will unload me himself. It should only take 15 minutes he thinks. So I tell the cop I am going to go ahead since I just want to get this trip over with and get paid for it, and if I have any further problems I will call the police back for an escort.
Back my trailer into the door, take my BOL back to the receiving office, and wait. Five minutes later, I can feel the trailer shaking as they start to unload; however, it lasts all of 1 minute, then no more unloading.
About 20 minutes later, I walk to the receiving office... AGAIN. Old Biddy behind the (now justifiable) ballistic barrier says they removed one pallet, and that if I leave, that I am responsible for the loss of that one pallet, which is true. At $10k per pallet, I cant afford to lose any. She then says that I cant leave without the pallet, and they will not unload the rest until I pay the $180 for the lumper (which as already stated was PRE-PAID). So I pull a trick out of her arsenal.
I tell her I am calling the cops and having her and the MOD charged with theft as they have taken items off my trailer, and have not signed the bills and are attempting to extort money from my company that they are not rightly entitled to. Rather quickly she grabs my BOL from her desk, and signs it saying all items are accounted for and in good condition. She gets an evil grin on her face saying now I cant leave since I have her company's freight on my trailer and if I attempt to leave I will go to jail this time. I ask for my copy of the signed BOL, and she passes it through the slot under the window. I look at it, and sure enough she did sign it. The freight isn't my responsibility anymore. However, it is still on my trailer, and the lumpers wont unload me...
Did you know that 18 wheelers have 2 reverse speeds? Low range is pretty much all we use in reverse, but on High, we can tear stuff up, and move everything around.
Having dealt with this place for too long on this day, I decide to unload myself, the lazy way. A grin crosses my face as evil twin comes to the surface. After thanking the insult to humanity for releasing me from any financial responsibility for the freight I have in my trailer. I inform the paperwork despot of my intention of pulling forward about 20 feet from the dock door, putting my truck in HIGH reverse, and bumping the dock at 15 MPH repeatedly until all the pallets shake themselves out of the back of my trailer onto the dock, ground, or wherever else they may fall.
I also inform her that since my paperwork is signed that her company has assumed all freight delivered undamaged and any damages from here on out would be the responsibility of her company and not me. While her face is white as a sheet in "shock and awe" I turn and walk out of her office and toward my truck. I had just started the engine on my truck when I feel shaking coming from the trailer. I step out and walk to the back where I can hear a couple guys yelling to each other. They are using 2 forklifts to unload me as fast as possible before I break their precious freight. I haven't heard that many cuss words since I was in the military.
It took less than 10 minutes for them to get everything off my truck. After the short wait for them to finish unloading the trailer, I pull forward and close my doors in the back. They were in so much of a hurry, that they seem to have damaged some of the boxes on the pallets and left pieces of candy from the pallets all over the floor making the trailer smell like a fruit paradise!
Now to leave this hellhole. I pull to the gate and the gate guard informs me that I am no longer welcome on the property and am permanently banned from it. If I come back I will be arrested and charged with trespassing. Not my problem, didn't want to come back anyway. ---Fast forward 3 weeks---
I arrive home, and my daughter
(2 years old at the time) tackles me, my wife kisses me, and I see a stack of mail with my name on it. My wife doesn't open any mail of mine that isn't from a utility company. So I have legal letters, my business mail, and one from the County Courthouse in Houston. It is a criminal trespass warrant initiated by the DC. Basically it is the same as the guard said. As long as I don't enter their property, nothing happens, but if I do, I face 90 days in jail. Zheuse
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