how do you avoid pissing off contractors?

[mixedupdiesel]

In the year and 2 months I have been a mixer driver. I have not had any wrecks, I have kept the trucks I drive close to spotless, and have been late twice, and called out sick three times. Compared to some of my co-workers that's great. I also sprained my ankle in april and june respectively, and nearly dislocated my shoulder on ice this week. Anyway, if that was all that was wrong I'd be considered for safe driver of the year, cause just about everyone has hit something, torn up something, etc.


Well anyway, here goes. I have a problem, and it could get me fired.

Apparently I somehow piss contractors off. Say, two other trucks wash out in a spot, and I go over and wash out in the same spot, they'll call in on ME and not the other two saying that I was washing out in the wrong spot. Then there was the time my work lights weren't working and I was backing up to this hole to drop grout in the wee hours of the morning for a landscaper, and I got out and asked him to back me up. He calls in on me.

I'm polite, concise, good morning sir, etc. No wassup dawgs, etc..

I have enough experience now that I don't have rookie written all over me. My truck IS about the 3rd cleanest at my plant.

But, I think it's this. My cousin is the sales manager for the company, and some contractors know it.

[gant]

dont know what to tell ya.. the only time I get a customer pissed off at me is if the guy before me does something..or the plant messes up, other issues out of my control..most of our contractors are nice guys and are just like us, there to get a check every week.. and most of them know us drivers can make their job go good, or make it hell so they are nice..

[BillyCement]

I agree with that, Gant. I think if it's only a couple of customers who are calling on you then management should realize that it's not you who's causing the problem.....it's the customer. We had a customer call up on a driver and said he had a bad attitude. Yet the customer had given the driver a $5 tip! Go figure. If you think it would help maybe go tell management what you told us. Good luck.

[mixedupdiesel]

I've done all that I can do on my end. One called in on me twice, and the other three once. Tip? What's that? the only tips we get here are watch your back, those guys are gang members over there.

[LEAD DOG]

WOW...ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN GOING OUT OF MY WAY TO PISS OFFF CONTRACTORS ;D

[cfconcrete]

Yeah, right Lead Dog! ;D
In my 30 years, i've had contractors left and right whine & complain like my kids, and I can honestly say I almost always go out of my way to help out & be polite.......
Some of them just don't like us blue collar CDL drivers.
It's ALWAYS the small outfits, the landscapers, the small GCs, and some homeowner types. The bigger the job, the more fun, the state jobs, big commerical jobs, I'll take them anyday over Joe Cool Landscaping Co.

[concretejoe]

The easiest way to piss off contractors is to show up on the job. Some guys are just buttholes. When I was a dispatcher I remember getting those calls. I would pretend to be mad and tell him that I would have a talk with the driver and then let it go. The only thing you can do is do your job in a professional manner. You can't control what other people do.

[mixedupdiesel]

this is true, joe.

Cf. I understand. My hopper once clipped a telephone line to a house, it just rode up the hopper, but when it came off the hopper, the line bounced, breaking the wee little screw holding the insulator to the house. Would have thought I had ripped down a porch with my tag axle! More on that one later.

[Mort]

I dunno, sounds like you're doing everything right. Its usually bad attitudes that get calls around here. If anybody has called in on me, I haven't heard about it, so I'm assuming it wasn't a problem.

I just casually pre-empt stuff like that. I go up to dispatch to turn in my ticket, kinda explain what went on, if anything, turn it around on them, and life goes on. If anything, if your company does incident reports, fill them out for every little thing. That way, your butt is covered.

[Mixer Driver 69]

If we get a compliant from a small time contractor (and that's usually where they come from) our company says "Yes, yes, of course, of course" and that's the end of that. We know all of the bigger companies, and the pumpers that get the jobs. Don't worry about the small time crap. They ALWAYS complain 'cause they dunno what's goin' on.

[grandviewconc]

It always them little contractors with the 1-3 Yrd. pours who act like there god. We know the ones who always complain so ya do the best you can and if they complain to the higher ups, they just let it go in one hear and out the other. The bigger guys are always easier, they dont have nothing to prove.

[Yard Bird]

To be sure, just call in sick, that's the only sure way of not pissing off a customer. You may piss off dispatch or the plant manager though.
I mean really, sometimes there are those no matter what you do right or wrong they will still get pissed. They seem to wake up like that in the morning. I have over 25 years in a mixer and it takes all kinds, but most of the time if you do your job and they still get pissed then its their fault not your's. Mark it up as just one of those days and let it roll off.

[sswt]

look at it this way....
if you're late, theyre going to have to wait for you to pour anyway
if you're early, theyre either going to start sooner or at the same time
if they really dont want the mud; then they can sign the ticket and buy it, and you can just take it back to the plant