Provide your people with the tools they need

[wolfie]

This would be a MiM, except it's someone else's manager.

Made a delivery at a grocery warehouse, and when I got to the receiving office another driver had a problem. He wanted to bobtail to the truck stop a mile away to try to get a T-check for the lumper fee, but was told he couldn't drop his trailer, and if he left with it he'd forfeit his appointment. His dispatcher had e-mailed him the "magic number", but he didn't have the physical piece of paper (and the receiving office didn't provide blanks). The e-mail said that he should check with other drivers to see if someone had an extra.

He'd been there roughly 3 and a half hours - I wound up giving him an extra after my "magic number" came in (needed to go back to my truck to get it). Also, he'd never been told how to fill out a T-check (been driving for a couple weeks) - I filled it out for him, explained what went in what fields, and suggested he take a picture with his smartphone before handing it in, so he'd have an example for next time. He was surprised when I told him to NEVER use the word "and" when writing out the dollar value (e.g. "one hundred twenty" instead of "one hundred and twenty") due to the cheque-writing convention that "and" is used to separate the dollars from the cents.

Why would the company he worked for not provide blank T-checks? They're running the risk of loads being rejected because the driver can't pay the lumper fee (would have to take it back to origin). This would generate wasted miles (cost fuel, maintenance, and wages, but not bring in revenue), and the customer (whose freight doesn't get delivered on time) is likely to go with another trucking company for future business. Also, train people in the various paperwork they'll need to do.

[Kittish]

That driver's company probably does provide them, right along with log books and other paperwork a driver occasionally needs. New driver probably just didn't think to grab any. Bet that goes on his list of paperwork stuff he really does need to keep handy.

[wolfie]

Even if that were the case, it would still be a management failure. Someone fresh out of driving school is unlikely to know what they'll need in terms of paperwork (and even experienced drivers won't know what internal forms a new company uses). There needs to be a checklist of items that are issued to drivers when they are hired, and someone in personnel needs to make sure a new hire gets everything on the list.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Never heard of that cheque-writing convention.It's always been X hundred and Xty pounds 00p

[Chromatix]

That's right. Everything before the word "pounds" (or "dollars") clearly goes before the decimal point, so there's no confusion from introducing the word "and", which also happens to be the standard way of writing large numbers in British and International English. I was also taught to write "only" instead of "0p", but that's a detail.

"Nine million, eight hundred and seventy-six thousand, five hundred and forty-three pounds 21p" in the words section would clearly correspond to "£9,876,543---21" in the numbers box. Of course, such a cheque would instantly bounce off my account, but not becaue it was written incorrectly...

[Kit-Ginevra]

Apparently instead of X dollars and Y cents,Americans like to do it X dollars and Y/100 so I've been told...And you start it right up at the left so no-one can make your 9 pounds into 1,009 or 509 or a billion and 9...

[siskaren]

Apparently instead of X dollars and Y cents, Americans like to do it X dollars and Y/100 so I've been told...And you start it right up at the left so no-one can make your 9 pounds into 1,009 or 509 or a billion and 9...

Yep, that's how I was taught to do it, although dollars is already printed on the check, so you write out X (written out in words) and Y/100.

[notalwaysright]

"Nine million, eight hundred and seventy-six thousand, five hundred and forty-three pounds 21p" in the words section would clearly correspond to "£9,876,543---21" in the numbers box. Of course, such a cheque would instantly bounce off my account, but not becaue it was written incorrectly...

Probably it's just different here. I haven't written a check in a looong time, but if I was writing one for that amount it would be:

Nine million eight hundred seventy-six thousand five hundred forty three and 21/100.

The word "dollars" is printed on the check, so no need to write it, but I draw a line over to that word. That being said, I've seen checks written various ways, like some people write "cents" or instead of 00/100 for no pennies, they write no/100. Stuff like that. But if it's being used at a store like mine, it doesn't matter if it's even written out, since we don't keep it.

[protege]

Nine million eight hundred seventy-six thousand five hundred forty three and 21/100.

That's how I was taught as well. To have to spell it all out makes it more difficult for someone to mess with the check.

[Cia]

In the $ section of a check I write 245 78/100 and in the written portion I write Two hundred forty-five and 78/100 then put a line in the space between 100 and the word Dollar. If I have to write a check for an amount under a dollar then I'd write Seventy-eight Cents and then put a line in the space between the Cents and through the word Dollar.

[Kit-Ginevra]

...or simply rummage around in your pocket for the 78c and avoid invoking the wrath of the till girl by writing a cheque for your one packet of mints :P