5:30am - I'm usually completely oblivious to the world at this time (asleep), but not today. I set an alarm. Our boss had us scheduled to be on the phone with him at 6am, to begin the labor-intensive process of switching the onboard computer system to a program entitled: WORKFLOW - a streamlined communication & verification process. The timing was awkward, since my co-driver was delivering our load at that very time. It was a strict schedule. I clothed myself in work attire, brushed my teeth & engaged my phone's bluetooth, in preparation for the call.
He never called. We eventually sent messages & called weekend operations to make our status known. There were technical delays. We passed the following hour by reviewing instructional booklets & watching the online WORKFLOW videos twice.
Our consignee emptied our trailer and sent us on our way. My co-driver drove back to the Flying J. I went back to bed.
11:25am - I deflated my air bed, put away my bedding & ate breakfast. What good timing: our boss called; my co-driver climbed back into the truck. We finally get to begin the transitioning process. Much of the work is done remotely, for which I'm glad. It is currently 1:39 pm. The process is taking much longer than anticipated.
We are among the last 30% of our company's drivers to have WORKFLOW implemented. Technical issues have been a nightmare, from every report. One of our top executives recently reported that these delays have caused so many service failures, that some of our customers are threatening to find other carriers. Since millions of dollars have been spent on this "latest & greatest" system, one could understand the desire to hang in there and work out the bugs. I suspect that the Elite team group are among the last to transition into this system because we haul freight that "CANNOT BE LATE."
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