I get an altogether constructive response from LIDL following my experience in the small hours of Wednesday evening last. In fairness there are good days and bad in haulage as elsewhere, and tho' the latter can be decidedly bad let's not complain as it gets us out of bed each day.
Three reflections though worth are worth contemplating.
Firstly the UK's economy has amongst the worst productivity in the developed world and whilst it's not all my fault, on a daily basis I can see why. We may never know if my two-dozen pallets of produce were binned, but what you should know is we do so to substantial volumes in the UK and not least when all the chillers and freezers in the supermarkets pack up as they do when temperatures exceed 35C. Actually it is turned into ethanol and included in your petrol, but if you think that's sustainable, wait until the Russians arrive.
Secondly I spent much of my life in an airline industry that introduced the concept of SMS or Safety Management Systems, taken up since at places like the National Health Service. It's about replacing a time-worn 'blame the pilot' view of accidents and incidents, with one that features contributory factors. It is still as often a not a case of 'blame the driver' when it comes to logistics, which rarely changes because most need to keep their jobs, whereas I'd be cracking open a bottle.
Thirdly it does not surprise me that a German company ~ albeit in the UK ~ should endeavour to do things in the right way. I'd fly with a one of the smartest people I knew (at the Bank of America) to Germany, where he was totally smitten by their professionalism when it came to fixing issues which needed it. I flew nuclear waste from Wick to Frankfurt and we'd be sent on our way by a guy in tweeds with a pipe, and met at the other end by motor-cycle outriders and an armoured car mounting a machine-gun.
