Great Customer Service Includes the Truck Driver

You, as the truck driver, are vital to quality customer service. Customer service is the key to success for any business, including trucking companies. In a way, you are a brand ambassador for your company. Many times clients have more interactions with drivers than with sales reps or account managers.

Not only are you an important part of your company’s customer service – you are important to your customer’s customer service. Just-in-time delivery is the advantage trucking has over other forms of transportation in our supply chain. Poor service and unnecessary problems or delays cause problems for your customer’s customer, which in turn, causes problems for your company’s customer, which, causes problems for the company you run for – which ultimately causes problems for you.

It’s hard to keep regular clients if your customer service is poor. It affects your company’s profitability and their ability to pay you.

Great customer service is a team effort and should be your goal.

Tips For Great Customer Service in Trucking

Communication

Communication is key. There are many people involved in moving a load, for example, driver, dispatch, account manager, load broker, customs broker, shipper, receiver. Good communication helps to keep everyone on the same page and up to date on the progress of the shipment. Good communication can get problems solved early on and more quickly.

Common communication drivers should focus on is:

  • Calling shipper to set up pickups. Shippers’ procedures and operating hours vary. Many shippers require some sort of pick up number.
  • Calling consignee to set up deliveries. Receivers have varying hours and often require you to set up an appointment. Alert them to delays.
  • Ensuring customs entry is set up.
  • Dispatch. Keeping your dispatcher up to date on your eta’s and when you expect to be unloaded or empty will help them to keep you moving. Alert dispatch to delays or problems.

Appearance & Etiquette

Your appearance makes a difference. You know what they say about first impressions.

How you deal with shippers/receivers is important. Having a good attitude and basic interpersonal skills will go a long way. A friendly ‘Hello’ and a handshake is a good first contact.

Sometimes, things don’t go smoothly. Getting upset or acting unprofessionally doesn’t help. If there’s a situation you cannot resolve – call your dispatcher. Getting your team involved can help resolve a situation.

Many places have rules and restrictions for where unauthorized people can go. Follow those rules and signs.

At Len Dubois Trucking customer service is a team effort. We want the job done safely and efficiently and we have a quality team to back up our professional drivers.