A customer who ordered a boat learned that is delivery would be curbside. The boat company tells its customers to make arrangements for unloading boats when they're delivered.

ABF Freight was delivering the boat, scheduled for a Monday. The customer's husband arranged to take the day off work and to have his son there to help unload it. When the delivery date arrived, the customer called the local ABF Freight terminal to confirm the delivery and to get and idea of when it would delivered.

ABF Freight driver Tommie Fults delivered the boat. On his way to the customer's residence, he experienced delays because of heavy traffic. He called the customer to give him a head's up and to reassure him the boat was on its way.

"When he arrived, Tommie apologized ... and went out of his way to help my husband and our son unload the boat, even through it was not his job", the customer said. "He was extremely polite and professional."

The customer wrote an email to Branch Manager Keith Blum to make sure he knew that Tommie and the ABF Freight team at the terminal "went out of their way to make sure we were kept updated and informed about our shipment. They were all professional and pleasant to work with. Keep up the good work."

Keith said all employees are "ambassadors of ABF Freight," nothing that the customer's email "made my day, will make Tommie and our office teams day, and it's a great motivator for all of us."

A retailer located inside a shopping mall had a large shipment of merchandise arriving on an ABF Freight truck.

When ABF Freight driver Keith Jennings arrived with the shipment, he was suprised to learn the store did not have a back door to accommodate deliveries. The shipment was large - two fulls pallets, 73 cartons. Because of the lack of a back door, the freight had to be delivered to the store by going through the mall.

Keith thought quickly, and worked with a small security officials to find the best and least disruptive way to get the shipment inside. He then broke the pallets down outside and made multiple trips into the mall to deliver the cartoons, taking time between each trip to relock the trailer to secure the merchandise.

The customer was very appreciative of Keith's efforts.

"Please extend my thanks to Mr. Jennings once again, as I greatly appreciate his going above and beyond to remedy the situation", the customer wrote in a letter to the branch manager at Keith's terminal.

The customer also took the time to forward the praise to his corporate office, "so that they are aware of the great service standards you and your ABF Freight team keep in place."

ABF Freight employees don't shy away from a challenge; they solve problems and make things happen for customers. Dawn Ganes, an ABF Freight clerk, exemplifies that.

When a customer needed a shipment of equipment for a film shoot delivered a week earlier than planned, she sent an email requesting the change but wasn't sure who specificaly to contact. That message reached Dawn, who worked with the customer to get the shipment delivered on time.

The customer said she figured changing a delivery date when a shipment is already en route would be nearly impossible.

"Typically, such changes are pretty much wishful thinking," the customer said. "Now, I do not know if my request fell under Dawn's job duties or not. She never said either way. She did, however, find a way expedite the delivery."

The customer, a production assistant with a film crew, said the delivery meant the film crew and actors could continue their project on time, "and I got to look like the hero for a moment."

The customer passed her praise on to Dawn's supervisor, saying she wanted to express her thanks because positive feedback regarding customer service is rarely heard.

"Please know I truly appreciate great customer service. Dawn went above and beyond, never said 'That's not my department', and communicated quickly and professionally throughout," the customer said. "Thank you for your exceptional customer care."