These past couples of weeks have been a real challenge. Since Nate has started training, I have had my truck in a shop at least 5 times. Now, to most people this might not seem like a big deal. But to a trucker it is a loss of income. Besides, Nate is married too and wants to complete his training in a minimal amount of time and get home to his family.
Now, the challenge has not been in the shop time. Nor has it been in the training, since Nate has been a great student. The challenge has been in dealing with the “customer service” personnel of the company I work for. Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t have a lot of patience for incompetence. And these experiences have been no exception. I believe strongly in rules and policies. Without them there is complete chaos and inefficiency. But with rules and policies must come some level of common sense. And common sense was lacking in the nth degree.
The first time I took my truck to the shop was in Edwardsville, KS. When we arrived at the terminal I tried to turn my truck in for needed repairs but was told the shop was extremely backed up and would not be able to get to my truck for a couple days. This was good news. (You should sense a great level of sarcasm here.) Since time is money any extra down time can be very detrimental to a trucker’s income. The shop ended up taking 2½ days to complete the repairs on my truck. Then the waiting began for a load to haul. When I did receive a load I met with the 2nd instance of incompetence at this terminal. I was handed paperwork for the load, only to find out that it was over weight by over 3000 pounds. When the load arrives at a terminal company policy states that it will not be accepted if it is not legal to be hauled. Somehow the person at the counter overlooked this policy and they expected me to overlook it as well. NOT gonna happen!
The equipment failure was pretty catastrophic. My A/C went out while we were crossing the mountains and desert of Western Utah. This would not be a big deal except the temperature inside the truck quickly rose to over 107 degrees. This also would not have been a big deal if the person I spoke to about getting it fixed had been wearing their thinking cap and realized that an exception to a company policy should probably be made. He insisted I wait until I drove through a company terminal to have the A/C fixed. The problem was that the nearest terminal was over 800 miles away. And, considering the weather conditions, I wasn’t about to take his answer as a “final answer”. So I proceeded to become the squeakiest wheel he had ever heard. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and the truck was fixed at a dealership, which was only 8 hours away.
I could probably write a book on the misadventures of our company policies, but I will stop at just two stories for now. What I learned through all of this is that there are people within the company that actually do care about the welfare of the drivers. And I was put in contact with at least two of them. I have had a little faith restored in the common sense of people, but I am not holding my breath just yet.
Incompetent: Not possessing the necessary ability, skill, etc. to do or carry out a task; incapable.
ReplyDeletePretty strong words to call someone that has not performed a task to one's standards.
I can relate to what you're saying here, and after reflecting on your post, it made me think of my own habit of expecting too much of others, and judging others too quickly...
Are we seeking perfection from everyone, all the time, especially if their actions mess with our plans?
Maybe our standards and expectations of others are simply too high?
Perhaps we should try harder to go into situations expecting to receive absolutely NOTHING from the other person, and then we'll be pleasantly surprised when they produce SOMETHING halfway acceptable.
Would we consider our friends and family "incompetent" if they said we would do something for us, but they messed it up? Or does that title only go to others we don't know very well, and will likely never see again?
How would we feel if we knew our own family and friends had those same high standard of US that we have of others? I'd hate to think that ANY of my loved ones, those closest to me, thought I was a complete "incompetent" simply because I messed up doing something to their satisfaction. I would hope they would have more patience, love and forgiveness for me than that.
Maybe those that are ruining our plans DO care, but they are simply having a bad day, or things just aren't going as they had planned or hoped they would. Or they got so bogged down with work and trying to get everything done for everyone else, that things slipped through the cracks. We don't know what's going on in the background, so maybe we should cut 'em some slack?
Do we consider OURSELVES incompetent in your own eyes when WE mess up? I mean, really. Or when we mess up, is it usually just a simple mistake we can gloss over, and hope nobody calls us out on it?
Simply put, would we like others to judge us the same way we do them? On that thought, I say "Yikes!!"
Here's a few verses we would do well to consider more often...
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
James 1:2-4 (KJV)
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."
Psalm 27:14 (KJV)
"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."
Psalm 37:7 (KJV)
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
John 7:24 (KJV)
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
Matthew 7:1-5 (KJV)
And my favorite... I hate it, but I love it.
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
Prov 16:32 (KJV)
Paul, thanks for the feedback. I would agree that my standards and expectations are high. And I am working on trying not to apply those standards to my friends and family. However, I DO expect people that are being paid to perform a job to do so competently. I do not expect to have to scream and holler in order to get them to get the job done. And living with their "mistakes", as you call them, is not something I am willing to do. I expect to be able to call upon someone that has been placed in a position to do their job to a certain level. And if they can't, I expect them to pass the task on to someone that can. Maybe I need to evaluate my expectations? But maybe, just maybe, companies need to evaluate their employees. Thanks again for your feedback, encouragement, and friendship.
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