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Chefs and delivery drivers

post #1 of 15
8/7/09 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 
One of our old delivery drivers has asked me to ask you guys a question.

From my experience he is well mannered, helpful and efficient, sometimes wants to chat and sometimes i have to send him packing, he often gets a sandwich away with him. He finds a lot of drops are the same, but often he is yelled at and has things thrown at him by chefs. Others talk to him like he's stupid (he's not) Or rant at him wildly if a delivery is short or not on time.

He wants to know if this is par for the course around the world, or just his route :D

From years in plenty of kitchens, i'd say they were mostly ignored by chefs, unless the order is screwed up.

Anyway, I'm curious too
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post #2 of 15
8/7/09 at 3:55pm
I have two people who do all my deliveries for me. They generally deal with owners more than chefs. The owners are always very friendly to them...the chefs tend to ignore them. I think it's just that they are busy and don't have time to stop....they acknowledge the delivery, sign the invoice, and are back at it.
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post #3 of 15
8/7/09 at 6:18pm
Delivery drivers are an excellent source of "industrial espionage" if you do it right!

They have a lot of information on your "competition", if you know the right questions to ask.

For a "sandwich and a bowl of soup", you can find out a lot of information.
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post #4 of 15
8/8/09 at 5:22am
By no means should this be par for course. Courtesy is a two way thing. Treat them right and they will put things away for you, and they will make sure you are never shorted.
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post #5 of 15
8/8/09 at 10:58am
Delivery drivers can be a all over the place when it comes to their jobs- I've had some that knew that the produce box wasn't supposed to be at the bottom of the stack of bags of flour- others who could care less as long as I signed for it. Others who were maligned because the salesperson or warehouse got the order wrong and the person right there- the delivery guy- gets the rant.
And others seem to just need some educating and sensitivity training- as difficult to believe- when a grown person is pitted against a box of spinach, the person can usually win.
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post #6 of 15
8/9/09 at 6:45am
I hope it's just the guy's route! We're always nice to the delivery guys- offering them a drink from the soda fridge, a muffin that just came out of the oven. Not every day, but much of the time.

I have had delivery guys who were total jerks. I've called the company or spoken with the sales person when this happened. My produce company has a sales person in the office who calles women "young lady"- seems some of the drivers have picked up on this. I educate them immediately. I'm neither young nor old, and "lady" is such a subjective term, doncha think?
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post #7 of 15
8/9/09 at 8:49am
Thread Starter 
Aw Lentil, Dont u think they just found another way to be nice to you. Not sure how subectively you can disect it. Surely being called a lady never meant anything bad
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post #8 of 15
8/9/09 at 9:00am
So tell me, Bughut, how would you like being called "young gentleman"? Would a male driver call the male owner of an establishment anything other than his name?

I was rather being tongue-in-cheek with the lady comment, but I'd really prefer being called by my first name or nothing at all. If the driver was old enough to be my father rather than my son, the young lady wouldn't grate so much.

Sometimes what sounds to some like it could be a compliment is actually condescending. That's my take on it, anyway.
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post #9 of 15
8/9/09 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
K

BTW I'm a lady. I answer to my name, only once Ive invited He/she to use it. I'm also fine with Mate, pal, Missus, boss and Chef. I'd smile at young lady, whoever was sucking up to me for a chicken sandwich.

But thats just me.

I guess a male chef would possibly get sir as well as the above, but young gentleman would just sound silly eh?
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post #10 of 15
8/9/09 at 4:11pm
Well, to my ear, young lady and young gentleman sound just about as silly, but that's just me. Let's agree to disagree then?

I'm not a chef, but I kind of like mate and missus.

Sorry for assuming you were a man!
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post #11 of 15
8/10/09 at 5:05am
The Chefs that yell should remember where they came from. I have known the drivers that come to my Cafe for years. If I'm busy they know it, if I have time they get it. I always ask them if they want a breakfast sand for the road. IMHO a good driver makes my life easier. They know the account and know where to drop the product. Anyone walking into my Cafe kitchen is part of my staff while they are there. I think the Chefs think they have the driver over a barrel, if the driver bitches, they my buy from someone else................Bill
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post #12 of 15
8/10/09 at 5:26am
Thread Starter 
Good point Bill.
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post #13 of 15
8/10/09 at 6:32am
Hey Bughut, I just noticed you are from Scotland. I have traveled to many places over the years. I have found the people in Scotland to be the nicest, friendliest people in all my travels..........I hope to travel to Ireland and Scotland next year.............Take care...Bill
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post #14 of 15
9/4/09 at 1:19pm
I have always been nice to delivery drivers. When I worked at the cafe our driver would always carry the carton of wraps downstairs to the storage area for us and we'd always send him away with a cold or hot drink and a bite to eat. The drivers I've dealt with at my new place are really nice and very helpful too and there isn't any need for chefs, cooks or whomever to be rude to them. I have had it happen more than once that the driver got shorted on his load and we didn't get something but honestly it happens and there isn't anything we can do about it.
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post #15 of 15
9/7/09 at 2:33pm
At a place I used to work, our produce guy would get a coffee/soda if he wanted one, and on saturdays he would get a sit down breakfast with all the chefs/dishwashers/foh that were onduty, bear in mind he was not just the driver but the owner too.

Consequently our deliverys were never late, and always there
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