It’s Spring, and they say in Spring every good truck driver’s fancy turns to Customer Service!

They don’t really say that, we just made it up. We all know that every good truck driver is always Customer Service conscious. 

And we all know we all could stand a little reminder from time to time that Customer Service is the key to a successful trucking operation.

With that said, here is your reminder:

• Always be on time
• Greet customers courteously with a friendly smile and a hello.
• Introduce yourself and your company
• Offer to assist with loading or unloading even if it's not required
• Keep your paperwork neat and in order
• Work with the customer to resolve problems
• Never argue with the customer, report all complaints to your supervisor immediately
• Wear a clean uniform or proper attire and be neat and clean yourself
• Thank the customer for their business

Remember, you are the only person from your company that will ever have face-to-face contact with the customer. To the customer, you are the company…and your company is known by the customers you keep.

Women In Trucking’s Truck Cab Design Research Presented in Paris Conference

Women In Trucking’s President/CEO, Ellen Voie, along with Dr. Jeannette Kersten, University of Wisconsin-Stout, presented their research findings from their paper: Truck Cab Design: Perceptions of Women Truck Drivers at the Women’s Issues in Transportation (WIiT) Conference in Paris France.  The trip was sponsored by Ryder System, Inc., which has partnered with the association to implement design changes in its fleet.

Over 3000 attendees from the transportation industry both US and international, participated in a wide range of conference activities and venues related to the issues women face when encountering with transportation systems both at the employment and end user levels.  The conference paper received international attention that has resulted in several inquiries from representatives in the transportation industry in Europe in regard to ongoing partnership and research.

“Today’s trucks are not designed with women in mind,” Kersten said. “Given the driver shortage and the changing demographics that the trucking industry faces, it’s important for manufacturers to make trucks more female-friendly through moderate design changes for seats, pedals and gauges, for example.”

“It’s important for manufacturers to take women’s needs into consideration when designing and specifying new vehicles, and we are encouraging all of our major suppliers to do so,” said Scott Perry, Ryder Vice President for Supply Management. “We are pleased to support this initiative by promoting changes to vehicle specifications in our own fleet, as well as by sponsoring the travel to Paris to present the research at the WIiT conference,” Perry added.

The findings of the study focused on eliciting the perceptions of women truck drivers regarding the design and equipment needs and recommendations for Class 8 trucks.  This research is significant due to limited data sources about truck design needs for women drivers. The findings of the 2012 electronic survey that was distributed to 663 Women in Trucking Association members were discussed.  For the most part, survey participants in this study were satisfied with their trucks. Another significant finding of this study was that the height of participants was not a limiting factor, which explicates the broad applicability of the results of this study.

Women In Trucking was established to encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, promote their accomplishments and minimize obstacles faced by women working in the trucking industry. Membership is not limited to women, as sixteen percent of its members are men who support the mission. Women In Trucking is supported by its members and the generosity of Gold Level Partners: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Daimler Truck NA, Frito-Lay North America, Great Dane Trailers, Hyundai Translead and Walmart. 
Follow WIT on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

For more information visit http://www.WomenInTrucking.org or call 888-464-9482.

Latest Forum Topics
Women in Trucking
Canadian Forum

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.6% in March, after jumping 1.9% the previous month. February’s gain was less than the 2.8% reported on March 18, 2014. In March, the index equaled 127.3 (2000=100) versus 126.5 in February. The all-time high was in November 2013 (131.0).

Compared with March 2013, the SA index increased 3.1%, which is the largest year-over-year gain of 2014. During the first quarter, tonnage plunged 2.5% from the previous quarter, which was the worst quarter-to-quarter reading since the economic recovery began in the third quarter of 2009. Compared with the first quarter 2013, tonnage rose 2.3%.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 129.4 in March, which was 12.1% above the previous month (115.5).

“Tonnage continued to claw its way out of the hole that was dug in December and January,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “However, with a cumulative gain of 2.5% during the last two months, we still have a way to go to offset the total loss of 5.2% in December and January.

“Despite the fact that tonnage hasn’t snapped back to the levels we saw late last year, the fundamentals for truck freight continue to look good,” he said. “While it will take time to regain what was lost due to weather and other factors, like a potential inventory correction in the first quarter, I remain optimistic for 2014; however, don’t expect a 6.3% annual gain in truck tonnage like during 2013.”

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 68.5% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 9.4 billion tons of freight in 2012. Motor carriers collected $642.1 billion, or 80.7% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.

ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary figure and subject to change in the final report issued around the 10th day of the month. The report includes month-to-month and year-over-year results, relevant economic comparisons, and key financial indicators.

The American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation’s freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Trucking Moves America Forward.

The tallies are in on the TruckDriver.com Twitter Update Survey. And it appears, truckers ain’t really tweeters!  

Do you follow anyone on Twitter?

Yes - 19%
No - 64%
What’s Twitter? - 17%

Let’s go with a little Throw Back Thursday on the TruckDriver.com What’s Your Handle Survey. Catch ya on the flip-flop!  

Until next time, keep on truckin’ and please drive safely.

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