Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/490954
VOICES 8 | Overdrive | April 2015 Detention pay, a magical, mystical thing. More often than not, it's a punchline for a bad joke. We showed up at a recent delivery, a construction site, 30 minutes early. George called the shipper, told them he had their load at the receiver, and was 30 minutes early for his appoint- ment. (Keep the word appointment in your head.) 0M\PMV_MV\\WÅVL\PMXMWXTM who were supposed to unload us. We had brought dock bumpers and plates to a new facility, so there weren't any ÅVQ[PMLLWKS[\WJIKSQV\W/MWZOM walked around for about 20 minutes, never found anyone who wanted to unload, and came back to the truck. He called the receiver contact he had, left a message, and started his "appointment clock" at noon – the scheduled delivery time. At 2:15 p.m., a truckload of guys pulled into the lot. Their foreman, George's contact, tells George where he wants to unload. They're sorry they were late – they're from Alabama and forgot about the time KPIVOMIVPW]ZLQٺMZMVKM1VZMITQ\a they had gone to lunch (the peo- ple exiting the truck were carrying fast-food bags) and left us waiting for whenever they felt good and ready to unload us. George's two hours and ÅN\MMVUQV]\M[_MZMWNVWKWV[M- quence to them. Truckers are just supposed to wait until someone gets around to them, right? As usual, George was profession- ITIVLKW]Z\MW][_PQTM1[KZMIUML obscenities into a pillow in the bunk, _PMZM1_I[I[SML\W[\IaIN\MZ\PZMI\- ening to leap from the cab and shove a Burger King bag up someone's hind end. The unload went well, and we were ready to go by 4 p.m. George informed the agent that he needed his detention pay for the two hours we waited while the crew went to lunch. She was astounded that he would even ask: "We don't guarantee detention pay." ¹:MITTa'*MKI][M1O]IZIV\MMLaW] 1¼LPI^M\PQ[TWILPMZMWV\QUMIVL 1LQL1\_I[V¼\WXMVMVLML1PILI 12 o'clock appointment and didn't [MM\PMÅZ[\XMZ[WVZMOIZLQVO\PM ]VTWIL]V\QT"1PI^MIVW\PMZTWIL JWWSMLWV\WXWN\PQ[WVMIVL1VMML to keep my next appointment time as well." ;PM_IټMLIVL\WTLPQU[PMPIL never had anyone ask for detention pay. She didn't know how to go about getting it for him. She said she couldn't "promise anything" and got Wٺ\PMXPWVMI[Y]QKSTaI[XW[[QJTM /MWZOM"¹1¼TTXZWJIJTaVM^MZ[MMQ\ but they need to know my time is just as valuable as theirs." ¹1_W]TLXZMNMZ\W[WT^M\PQ[Ja ][QVOUaWZQOQVITQLMIWN[\]ٻVOI Burger King bag up someone's hind end." 1OW\\PMLQ[IXXWQV\MLLILNIKMIVL returned to screaming obscenities into a pillow. )VL_PQTM1SVW_[\]ٻVO*]ZOMZ King bags in places they don't belong won't solve the problem, it might make a point to the people who have absolutely no consideration for the time truckers spend waiting for people who make these appointments to get all their rocks in a sock and be able to load or unload them accord- ing to a schedule. [Breathe…] But that's just me. ;W1KIV¼\ZQOP\N]TTaKWVLWVM *]ZOMZ3QVOJIOMVMUI[J]\1KIV tell you to ask for detention pay. Your time is valuable, too. George Parker Source: OverdriveOnline.com poll More than $160/hr $141-$160 $121-$140 $101-$120 $81-$100 $61-$80 $41-$60 $21-$40 $1-$20 4% 6% 4% 11% 20% 18% 19% 15% 3% How much is your time worth? Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline.com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. "George informed the agent that he needed his detention pay for the two hours we waited while the crew went to lunch."