My “part time; supplement retirement income” fifty hour a week job (most weeks) exposes me to both private industry and government operations. The contrast is amazing.
Yesterday, delivered a mixed load to a government testing facility. The government employed contractors took nearly four hours to get the truck unloaded. Had to bite my tongue. It wasn’t that they lacked the proper equipment. Two different overhead cranes and several heavy duty forklifts. At one point six people were standing around discussing how to
proceed. The shipper's staff and I loaded it in twenty minutes. Spent an additional thirty minutes getting everything tied down.
Many deliveries are to mining operations. After the usual OSHA/Insurance/etc. driven safety procedures, the unloading goes quickly. Time is money, and they are paying a lot to get the material delivered. I’ve had them back me next to dead lined equipment and unload the truck where the cargo is needed.
Doubt you can change the mindset in many government operations. Not all, the military comes to mind. There is an old saying in private industry, “Those not fired with urgency soon will be.” Aarg!
No, don't know intended use of the equipment. Do know the shipper wasn't accurate as to the weight. 10,000 pounds, yeah, right. Glad I didn't encounter any roadside scale operations.
5 comments:
I'm betting they were union AND government... Lucky you got out of there in 8 hours...
@NFO...and he had to play nice with others. Very painful for him.
Sisty
@ NFO. Never thought about union, but it makes sense. Only one person qualified to operate the overhead crane?
@ Sisty. Yes it was. Longer than my thirty minute rule. (I can make anyone I meet like me for thirty minutes. After that,????)
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