Entanglements (a rant)

The ones of my own making can be a pain enough, but
when you get netted into one made by someone else,
it's a drag indeed.
So yesterday PDX, the parts delivery experts, arrived
with 5 of their own drivers to replace the ones our
company let go. Along with them came Tony, the head
honcho, to bring in the new delivery system he set up
to replace the one we've been using for six years.
It was over a month ago that I'd been shown what he
was bringing in and I had had a hard time believing then
that it would work for our customers.
Simply because it was so radically different from the way
we have been running it.
Sure, it would get the parts out, but at what cost..
I wasn't asked for my opinion.
I was shown what they were going to do.
Who was I to throw rocks?
Cooperation, that's what I gave them to the best of my
ability.
My boss had been approached by PDX in months previous
and had bought what they had to sell him. The decision
had already been made to move forward with it.
It wasn't a should we or shouldn't we moment.
Losing my drivers was tough.
Being told later that that the changes happening weren't
just due to driver costs and liability, but also in the name
of efficiency, well, that was tougher.
Because it was my job to get the parts out in a timely
manner.
So, I took it personally.
How else was I supposed to take it?
That was why I had a little melt down last week..
Tears came, and went, but I was ready yesterday with
as open of a mind as a person can get. Ready to let Tony
lead the show when he arrived with his crew.
He had a plan, he had his own drivers to bring up to
speed, we had a full days deliveries to get out, and I
supported him in the background, and tried to stay out
of his way.
Being the new guy isn't easy, but as he said to me
previously, "we do this all the time when we come into
a new company".
Go to it Tony, I thought, and I'll learn the ropes once
you get the kinks worked out.
I observed areas right from the start where I thought,
"that's not going to work", but I wasn't the expert.
Tony was there with his own ideas of the necessary routes,
and I let him fly with them.
So, he gets the morning load set up, he walks out my door,
and I never see or hear from him again. Is he coming back?
I don't know.
I have a question, call his cell, and have to leave a message.
He never gets back to me. Until he comes back around
12:30pm.
The afternoon load goes out and hour late.
We get calls from customers wanting to know where their
parts are.
I don't know what to tell them.
Tony doesn't answer his cell, I'd asked for his drivers #'s but
only one of them gave it to me.
The day comes to a close.
It wasn't so bad.
We knew it would be rough, the kinks will get worked out.
On my way to the time clock to punch out, I stop by my
boss's office to check in on the first day.
He isn't happy.
Because the managers of the dealerships we service
aren't happy, because many of our customers aren't happy
with the new set up.
I'm told that Tony said, (after the fact) he didn't understand
our customer base.
Excuse me Tony, but your company are the experts in this
field, isn't it your business to know? Didn't you do your
homework?
To top it off Tony held me accountable for not helping him
with the new routes, "she just sat there".
Duh!
Umm.... Tony, your routes,well, they are in your head, not
down on paper anywhere.
No map, no list, just in your brain.
I don't recall you inviting me in your brain and from where
I was "sitting" doing my normal daily paper work, you
seemed to have it all under control, you never talked to
me about anything.
I was open to the changing guard.
I was watching and awaiting orders.
Now that things didn't go so well, my boss wants me to
fully understand Tony's route system, and convince Tony
once I do, why they won't work.
Because Tony is accountable to our company for making
it work.
PDX gets paid to make it work and I now have to justify to
Tony why what we did on Friday worked for our customers
and what he did on Monday didn't.
Ack!
This whole thing bites the big one.
And I'm so excited about going into work today..