Strange thing customers do where I work

[Chris142]

The place I'm at sells sand and gravel too. Since im there 99% of the time I usually load them with a tractor.

When the customer pulls around to get sand or gravel why do they park right in front of the pile? I have to be able to get the tractor in there to get a scoop.
Female always do it but males do occasionally too.

In the pic you can see the lines in the middle. Those are the separating walls between the different products and the row of trees on the right of them.

 

[JavierH19]

That's funny. When i do the yearly mulching i go to a place that uses a skid steer to dump the loads into my truck bed and i think about how I'm going to back it up so the skid steer can load its bucket and still articulate. I'm keen on backing up straight because they won't bother having to do an extra turn to re align with your crooked truck so they'll dump the load partially sideways so a lot of it falls on the ground.

When waiting outside I've seen some hilarious interactions with customers and the operator. Guys parking their truck straight instead of backed up and acting confused when the operator tells them to park again or just get angry. Once this lady came asking if they'd just drive the loader to her home since she didn't have a truck but also did not want to pay delivery just the cost of the load or pay the high bagged mulch price. They told her no and she stormed off and yelled something I didn't catch.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

The place I'm at sells sand and gravel too. Since im there 99% of the time I usually load them with a tractor.

When the customer pulls around to get sand or gravel why do they park right in front of the pile? I have to be able to get the tractor in there to get a scoop.
Female always do it but males do occasionally too.

In the pic you can see the lines in the middle. Those are the separating walls between the different products and the row of trees on the right of them.

If it was my first time there. I probably wouldn’t know where to go or park either. It seems like the place needs better instructions and signage so customers know where to park and what to do ??

 

[Chris142]

If it was my first time there. I probably wouldn’t know where to go or park either. It seems like the place needs better instructions and signage so customers know where to park and what to do ??

It's got signs 1-11 depending on the type of product. The girls up front will tell the customer that I will be pulling from say #6..... So they park where they are blocking #6.

 

[PontiacHO]

I’ve been to a sand and gravel location twice in my life. Both times needing only one quarter yard of sand. The operator attempted to dump a whole bucket in the bed of my pickup. Of course I stopped him. Otherwise he was going to cause damage to my truck. He was smiling like a dumbass clown. Your observations are a two way street….

 

[BISCUT]

If it was my first time there. I probably wouldn’t know where to go or park either. It seems like the place needs better instructions and signage so customers know where to park and what to do ??

Pretty simple. Actually get out of your vehicle and ask a worker where you should be parking to be loaded. The operation needs a customer to display a basic human standard of common sense not more signage for the very few who live in the clouds.

 

[Blueshound]

The place I'm at sells sand and gravel too. Since im there 99% of the time I usually load them with a tractor.

When the customer pulls around to get sand or gravel why do they park right in front of the pile? I have to be able to get the tractor in there to get a scoop.
Female always do it but males do occasionally too.

In the pic you can see the lines in the middle. Those are the separating walls between the different products and the row of trees on the right of them.

Good to know! I've often thought of going to buy bulk materials this way but am too intimidated I will do it wrong. I end up buying bags instead.
So, what is the proper place to park? Having never operated heavy machinery I really have no idea.

 

[Chris142]

Good to know! I've often thought of going to buy bulk materials this way but am too intimidated I will do it wrong. I end up buying bags instead.
So, what is the proper place to park? Having never operated heavy machinery I really have no idea.

Anywhere but directly in front of and blocking the product im trying to get to is fine.

 

[Chris142]

I’ve been to a sand and gravel location twice in my life. Both times needing only one quarter yard of sand. The operator attempted to dump a whole bucket in the bed of my pickup. Of course I stopped him. Otherwise he was going to cause damage to my truck. He was smiling like a dumbass clown. Your observations are a two way street….

You would be surprised at how many people want their truck over loaded. Happens every day. One regular pulls in with a Honda truck and his exact words are "bury it". He wants it filled so much that it's running off the sides and the rear end is squatted.

Another common one is "2 scoops" in a 1/2 ton truck! Each scoop is about 2300 lbs.

 

[atikovi]

They think you will be loading with a hand shovel.

 

[nomas]

I bought crushed limestone one time . They would sell it by the " pickup truck load " . Your call when to stop . He trickled in into my truck and I watched it squat until I thought it was maxxed out .

 

[Fitter30]

When they pull into the yard all it would take is a little direction and where to park from the pile.

 

[Chris142]

They think you will be loading with a hand shovel.

Maybe! Not me. I'm not hand shoveling tons of gravel!

 

[Leo99]

Pretty simple. Actually get out of your vehicle and ask a worker where you should be parking to be loaded. The operation needs a customer to display a basic human standard of common sense not more signage for the very few who live in the clouds.

You start with the assumption of basic human standard of common sense and when that proves insufficient you put up signs.

 

[ka9mnx]

I worked for a small concrete company and was lucky. The customer parked on a weight scale and waited far from the rock pile. Loading the bed of an S-10 or Ranger was tricky. You had to scoop off one side of the bucket so you could get the load into the bed. Because, guess who got to clean up the spillage?

 

[Creekside]

With my small trucks, I back up to the pile because it allows the spillage over the tailgate to fall into or close to the stockpile. With the big one I park close but angled slightly away so that when the loader backs up and to the right it’s not a full 90 degree turn away from the pile. Easier on the operator and the loader. This Saturday the owner of the quarry I primarily haul out of was busy and told me the gate was unlocked and just load myself. It’s nice being in a small rural area where you can trust people. This is their loader.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Because this is what the education system in the US has done.

They think that chit is gonna jump up off the pile and into their truck/trailer.

 

[Chris142]

Here is a better view of the piles of products as well as the wall that divides them. There are 11 in all. You can see the numbers.

The people park and completely block the product. Like someone else said maybe they think I'm going to hand shovel it!

 

[jeepman3071]

I'm sure they just think "pile #6" or whatever they were told and park next to it to make sure they get the right stuff, but never factor in space needed to load the material. Have to laugh at the post about the lady wanting someone to drive a payloader to her house. People are morons. "do everything for me, oh and how dare you charge for your time?"

 

[Creekside]

Here is a better view of the piles of products as well as the wall that divides them. There are 11 in all. You can see the numbers.

The people park and completely block the product. Like someone else said maybe they think I'm going to hand shovel it!

Nice to see how different places do things. Every quarry I go into is different