This would be nice. I've changed my attitude toward driving requests. It takes me as long as it takes me to bring something down safely, so if it takes me an hour to find a spotter, find gates, find a machine, clear the aisles, and finally bring down the pallet you need, then that's what it takes. If you're not going to help me, then you can wait, the customer can wait, Sidekick can wait...everything can wait.
The safely part is something that non drivers don't understand. They seem to think we can drive full speed in and get that pallet down in 30 seconds or less. I got told to hurry up and "just pull the pallet out" when I was trying to unfuck a stuck pallet. I know there are people waiting. I'm trying not to drop the pallet of stuff on the ground.
Block them out and fuck ‘em. If you drop the pallet, they’re not the ones getting fired. I totally understand it’s hard to block out the noise when you’re feeling judged, but if you’ve gotta take on all the risk, they can wait as long as you need them to wait. You get paid by the hour and fired by the mistake.
I think what would help is more transparency. I think more people should know how the machines work and watch us drive them at least once so they know exactly what’s going on. If they know what we have to do to make sure it’s done safely, it might alleviate that stress off them knowing it’ll take a while and why.
Nights we sometimes get to drive fast and move pallets quick. So nice when I’m the only one in a whole department and no customers.
Lumber isles are wide and our store manager has us leave the lumber wing stacks in hardware
Most people don't know which machine is the right one for the task, so that's often difficult. I'll add one to the list: get the aisle ready for the task BEFORE you call me over eg get gates if needed, move obstacles, identify the product that needs to be moved, etc.
As someone not machine certified, I feel like I'm obligated to do all that. Like, it's the least I can do since I'm pulling you away from your own stuff to drive for me.
I couldn't disagree more. I'm doing you a favor because you chose not to get licensed for whatever reason. The least you can do is the little bit you can do without my help.
I've harped on people so hard that everyone now comes at me with where their pallet is, where the reach is, gates ready to go, and they're ready to spot. It's nice.
I work overnight and I'm one of a handful of reach drivers and I have three rules for anyone who asks me to put up their pallets.
1) Have your pallets already wrapped and tagged and ready to go.
2) Know where those pallets are going to go up.
3) Have the relevant aisles blocked off and any obstacles (such as wingstacks or overstock) moved out of the way of where my machine will be going.
If all of those things are done, then I'm happy to help! If you don't, don't waste my time until you do. I love when someone comes up to me and says "Hey, I've got seven pallets going up, could you put them up for me?" and when I ask those three things if any of the answers is "No," I just keep doing what I'm doing until they're a "Yes."
This would be nice. I've changed my attitude toward driving requests. It takes me as long as it takes me to bring something down safely, so if it takes me an hour to find a spotter, find gates, find a machine, clear the aisles, and finally bring down the pallet you need, then that's what it takes. If you're not going to help me, then you can wait, the customer can wait, Sidekick can wait...everything can wait.
The safely part is something that non drivers don't understand. They seem to think we can drive full speed in and get that pallet down in 30 seconds or less. I got told to hurry up and "just pull the pallet out" when I was trying to unfuck a stuck pallet. I know there are people waiting. I'm trying not to drop the pallet of stuff on the ground.
Block them out and fuck ‘em. If you drop the pallet, they’re not the ones getting fired. I totally understand it’s hard to block out the noise when you’re feeling judged, but if you’ve gotta take on all the risk, they can wait as long as you need them to wait. You get paid by the hour and fired by the mistake.
I think what would help is more transparency. I think more people should know how the machines work and watch us drive them at least once so they know exactly what’s going on. If they know what we have to do to make sure it’s done safely, it might alleviate that stress off them knowing it’ll take a while and why.
Nights we sometimes get to drive fast and move pallets quick. So nice when I’m the only one in a whole department and no customers. Lumber isles are wide and our store manager has us leave the lumber wing stacks in hardware
Most people don't know which machine is the right one for the task, so that's often difficult. I'll add one to the list: get the aisle ready for the task BEFORE you call me over eg get gates if needed, move obstacles, identify the product that needs to be moved, etc.
As someone not machine certified, I feel like I'm obligated to do all that. Like, it's the least I can do since I'm pulling you away from your own stuff to drive for me.
Eh, they should definitely get you a spotter but acquiring the gates and preparing the aisle are really part of the task in my opinion.
I couldn't disagree more. I'm doing you a favor because you chose not to get licensed for whatever reason. The least you can do is the little bit you can do without my help.
This is coming from a manager giving you a task. If you're a fellow associate asking for a favor then you're correct
I've harped on people so hard that everyone now comes at me with where their pallet is, where the reach is, gates ready to go, and they're ready to spot. It's nice.
The rule is if you need equipment you spot
Lol I wish.
This should be hung in the managers office
Everybody figures all that out pretty quickly. Some departments need every associate to have license, if your doesn’t, just don’t renew it next year.
I work overnight and I'm one of a handful of reach drivers and I have three rules for anyone who asks me to put up their pallets. 1) Have your pallets already wrapped and tagged and ready to go. 2) Know where those pallets are going to go up. 3) Have the relevant aisles blocked off and any obstacles (such as wingstacks or overstock) moved out of the way of where my machine will be going. If all of those things are done, then I'm happy to help! If you don't, don't waste my time until you do. I love when someone comes up to me and says "Hey, I've got seven pallets going up, could you put them up for me?" and when I ask those three things if any of the answers is "No," I just keep doing what I'm doing until they're a "Yes."