Truck Around And Find Out

I work for a logistics company, hired by an online retailer to deliver heavy and bulky goods to customers. Before we even get involved, the customers have selected a delivery date from the retailer’s website and ticked a box saying that the delivery window could be between 8 AM and 4 PM.

We make our delivery schedule the night before because we only have a small number of trucks. So, we make the most expedient route and send the customer a message with the time window the night before.

Some customers will call and try to strong-arm us into a specific thirty-minute window on a specific date. That’s the kind of call it becomes quickly apparent that my manager is on:

Manager: “Tomorrow is the delivery date you agreed to with [Retailer].”

Pause.

Manager: “We could do another day this week, but we won’t know the exact delivery window until the night before.”

Pause.

Manager: “Because delivery routes are planned the night before, and we won’t know who else in your area we’ll be delivering to until then. So, it’s either 11 AM to 1 PM tomorrow, or another unspecified window on another day.”

Pause.

Manager: “Why are you going to be out all day on a day you agreed to be at home to receive a delivery?”

Pause.

Manager: “Oh, you work? Well, so does everyone else; what are your days off?”

Pause.

Manager: “Oh, you don’t have days off? Hmm, sounds like you need to rent a truck and pick it up yourself.”

Pause.

Manager: “Ah, your day suddenly opened up? Amazing. See you tomorrow, then.”