I have a hole in the back wall of my business, and it's not even the first time this has happened.
We produce a lot of print material through the year, and it's not uncommon for us to use common carrier trucking companies to deliver larger projects. Several years ago, UPS Freight brought a 53-foot trailer to our dock. We learned that day that since the ground slopes UP away from our loading dock, a the top of a long trailer will hit the wall above our dock door before it hits our bumpers below the door. Cinder blocks were broken, and there was a time-consuming back and forth with their insurance carrier.
From that point onward, we have made it extremely clear on every pickup request that a shorter box truck is preferred and that full-size trailers are a no-go. About a month ago, a smaller freight carrier came to pick up a pallet of materials in a 53-foot trailer. I walked into the warehouse just as the dust was literally still settling from them slamming into our back wall, and I was seeing daylight in places where I really shouldn't.
When pressed, the driver and the dispatcher said that they had been in a hurry to get the delivery picked up by the end of the day and had ignored the instructions on the bill of lading. So now I have a hole in my wall, again.
Special instructions and requests can be a serious pain. Anything that creates a wrinkle in our normal processes feels inefficient, and special requests can sometimes seem excessive and unnecessary. However, a lot of times, these requests are built on past experiences and should be given attention.
The challenge for any of us who deal with special requests is to trust the client. We have to trust that there's a good and understandable reason that they can only have "contractors on their property between 3-5 pm Wednesdays," or whatever the case may be. Ignoring requests is a great way to annoy a client at the least or, in our case, create a costly repair that could have easily been avoided.
The other lesson from this whole mess is that there's always a right tool for any job. Whether it's the right size mower to fit through a gate, or bringing a smaller truck so you don't destroy someone's loading dock, matching your equipment to the task at hand is always going to make life easier for your team and your clients.