A cartoon depicts a truck driver interviewing for a job. The interviewer says: “So, Gary, I see you’ve got twenty years’ experience behind the wheel. That’s great!” Gary replies: “Well, to break it down…it’s actually eight years driving…and 12 years waiting at docks, warehouse, and rail terminals.”
We’re not only grateful for the safe miles our drivers log on the road, but also for the way they conduct themselves at the docks. For example, this week, Pam learned that one driver chatted with a loading dock employee while loading freight to ship. The driver, an Alabama fan, quickly discovered that the loading dock employee’s wife supports the same team. The driver went to the cab of his truck and returned to the loading dock with a gift–an Alabama shirt–for the wife of our shipper’s employee.
Not only did we share the news with the driver’s dispatcher, we decided to follow the driver’s lead. We’re shipping Matchmaker t-shirts to both the driver and the dispatcher as a ‘thank you’ for giving such warm, personal service.
Travel the information superhighway, and you’ll find hundreds of stories of truck drivers committing random acts of kindness. From saving lives at the scene of an accident to helping unload a pallet, every day incredible drivers across the country prove that they have heart, smarts, and a great sense of humor. That’s why this year, we’re bringing back an old tradition. Matchmaker will honor a Driver of the Month on our Facebook page. We’ll share the stories of friendly drivers who go the extra mile or just make us smile, like this driver who transported Keebler cookies:
One day, the Keebler cookie driver was getting teased on the CB. Drivers kept asking him questions like: “Do elves really make the cookies?”; “Are you an elf?”; and “How tall are you, anyway?” The truck driver let the good-natured ribbing go on for a while, and then he said, in a deep voice, “Listen, I only drive this truck for the paycheck. I don’t ask any questions. I just back the truck up to the tree, and they fill it.”
Have an “Uncommonly Good” weekend,
~Bob
