This is just a shout-out from me, and on behalf of Sleek, to all the drivers out there. It may not be driver appreciation week but you deserve a round of applause daily. Thank you for your efforts, your patience, your drive, literally and figuratively. It’s not easy out there. Sure, we get some flexible shippers that get you in/out and it’s a breeze, but from time to time, not everything goes according to plan. We want our shippers to load on time as they requested but sometimes they get delayed, and believe me, we do everything we can to move things along. I just had a driver the other week do every single thing requested; bid & book his own load, dispatch on the app, arrive pre-cooled ahead of schedule and he still had to wait because the product wasn’t staged. He was stuck sitting in his cab for several hours while it was 100 degrees outside and all the while, he was calm and cool…he’s actually my inspiration for writing this so thank you to Andrew at DRU Transport LLC (MC004259). We were both incredibly frustrated and I felt terrible, but our hands were tied, as were his, and all he wanted to do was get back home to his family. It will happen, and how we handle it is on all of us because at the end of the day, there’s only so much we can control. Andrew was calm and collected, and I just assured him detention.
Drivers, you put in long hours ensuring the rest of us get what we need and want, while working tirelessly to hit those strict pickup and delivery appointment times. I just want to recognize your patience, dedication, commitment, grueling hours, sacrificing time with family and holidays, hauling those heavy loads through mountains & windy roads, driving in blizzards, torrential downpours, all sorts of weather and road conditions, sitting in the cab for hours on hot days, cold days… just to name a few. We appreciate you today and always.
In addition to all of that, I want to thank you for embracing all of the technology that continues to evolve. I often hear, “oh, another app”, but you adapt quickly and most learn to appreciate the ease and simplicity that technology offers us.
You are undoubtedly the most significant part of the logistics industry and without you, we wouldn’t be successful. To all the drivers – thank you!
This blog was written by Tashi Budilovsky. Tashi is a Business Development Representative at Sleek Technologies, and has worked extensively with the trucking community.