Back Office Support ???????

[Teflon]

We did two hazmet loads in one week on which we had to take the ferry between Canada and the US. As most of you know, hazmet loads out of Windsor have to go by ferry. The other option is to drive north to Port Huron to take the bridge. Before we took the trips we ask Panther dispatch who would pay the ferry fees. We were told Panther pays the ferry fees.

The last ferry crossing was at 4:00 PM and it was 3:45 PM. We had already been waiting for over 4 hours for our clearance. We spent more than 3 hours on phone calls (mostly on hold) with Panther trying to get the situation cleared up. Canadian Customs was very helpful and re-faxed our paperwork several times to the broker number given us by Panther. Come to find out that Panther gave us the wrong broker information. A Canadian customs official took pity on us and got in touch with US Customs and explained the problem. US Customs said that they had this problem with Panther loads before and allowed us to board the ferry. When we arrived on the US side, a customs official called Panther and demanded they fix the problem immediately. Response from Panther was very swift. The proper broker info was given to Customs. US customs called the broker and again demanded immediate action. We had our clearance in five minutes.

Our truck owner sent us our settlement for these pros and Panther took the two ferry crossings out of our pay. The amounts were $85.00 for one and $89.50 for the other.

I called payroll to try and clear this up and was told that they needed receipts for the ferry crossings. I told them that we sent receipts. Payroll searched for the receipts and found the one for $85.00, but could not find the other. I told them that we did not make copies of the receipts but that customs faxed copies of the receipts to Panther safety. Payroll said they could not confirm the receipts and refused to check with safety. Panther obviously knew we made the ferry crossings and since the fees are paid by comcheck and approved by phone through Panther Safety, there is ample evidence for these receipts.

Since Payroll lost one receipt, they made the mistake not us.....first off, we were not even told receipts were required...second, we sent receipts and they could only find one (if we had not inquired, we would have been charged for that one)...third, customs faxed receipts to safety to be approved,....and fourth, there is a comcheck record of the transaction....and we think there is adequate paper trail to reimburse. Payroll said without the receipt they will not compensate us........and we sent the only receipts we had. We are very upset by this attitude.

We feel we did Panther and the shipper a favor by taking the ferry. Because we had a hard time getting cleared at the border, we could have requested extra miles by going north through Port Huron. This would have cost Panther or the shipper and we would have had a hard time making it to the consignee on time.

So much for favors.

We have no problem taking Hazmet loads or going in and out of Canada, but hazmet loads across the border…never again. In these two loads we had about 17 hours delay total, were given bad information, had problems getting to a decision maker at Panther, over 3 hours of extra phone charges, and got charged for ferry crossing fees. With support like that who needs the extra hassles.

We have tried several times to get help with this with no results....we are hoping that this can be brought to the attention of management .....Please help us if you can....we look forward to your response.

[Lawrence]

Hmm, this sounds like a personal matter?

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com

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[davekc]

Teflon,
I sent you a PM.







Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator

[jaminjim]

>Hmm, this sounds like a personal matter?
>
>Lawrence,
>Expediters Online.com
>

No it does not sound like a personal matter, more like a personel matter.

[redhotxpress]

"sounds like a personal matter"...what's that suppose to mean anyway.
i fully understand how irritating crossing the border can be and now with ACE coming out is even more so. we are running into more and more teams who will take a load in but DH out just to avoid the hassle. the previous comment "sounds like a personal matter" sounds like one that comes from a person who hasn't experienced the "canadian load" hassle recently or maybe never has been to canada. once in a while i've heard of someone who didn't have a "PITA" (pain in the ....) canada load but that's a rarity. shippers/carriers who want freight brought out of cananda are going to have to start talking $$$$ to get drivers to take it. trucks are waiting hours (not just our experience but others have waited 5-8 hrs) just to be told by dispatch they can leave the shipper. yet, we hate to not do the loads because we made profit in the past from them but now it just isn't worth the $$ or the headache. sorry, i want the loads but someone is going to have to make it worth our time.}>

[Teflon]

Correct, RedHot...
The ACE system has has slowed the process down, when I thought it was designed to speed things up.

[redhotxpress]

teflon...with a name like that you should be able to slide right through the border...too bad it's not that easy.
we haven't had to take the ferry across. is that for all hazmat loads in or out or just certain types of hazmat...i've asked but you know how it is getting a straight answer?
we don't hesitate to take a CSA load into canada...wish all were that easy. maybe the process will improve with time....so we'll try it again in a few years. ha-ha

[bludragon13]

Hope Dave KC was able to help you out,he is knowledgeable about P2.
Had this sort of problem on many loads in and out of Can. and in the US. Solution Was very easy :) no longer have kitties on truck now have good directions, longer runs, no border hassels. P2 was a friendly place to work and many concerened people however the phone problems, lack of good dirctions and QC nightmares("how far are you from Laredo" "We are almost at delivery in Cleveland" " OH!! QC says you're still in Laredo" :-( )and just plain cofusion made it to stressful,but as I'm sure you will hear "Hang in there it will get better when they fix the phones,get the new QC's, get organized etc." Or start looking out for your selves. I'm not telling you to leave just look out for your best intrest P2 may come around.Good luck and hope loads get better.

PS: What was Lawerance's point?--This was a good example of P2 organizational problems that they need to address to keep drivers/teams on board.

[Teflon]

Yea Redhot.....slick but not that slick..

As far as I know, all hazmet loads are restricted from crossing the Ambassador bridge.... Must take ferry or go through Port Huron.

[Teflon]

Yea Bluedragon.....Dave has contacted me....thanks

[bryan]

Hi

I wish p2 would have a separate dispatch for loads that require border crossings.That way they would only have to train a dozen or so dispatchers.This would also allow the drivers who cross the border on a regular basis to help train.I think alot of good info gets lost in the personal maze.Customs or a broker tells the driver something and he tells what ever dispatcher that answers the phone or reads the QC message and if the next guy who runs into the same problem get a different dispatcher then it starts all over again.

Border Crossings are get more complicated every day.The US Customs doesn't even know all the new rules and regs and as soon as everybody figures it out somebody pushing a pencil in Washington changes the rules.Its like they think that by keeping everybody in the dark they can better protect us.Or they just want to keep on fineing everybody to generate revenue.

Also expedited freight isn't a big Customs concern.They seem to design their systems around OTR and LTL freight.

[redhotxpress]

bryan
i've been told that P2 was going to have dispatchers that were trained specifically for Canadian issues, but that has been awhile back. as far as i know that hasn't happened yet. i'm with you, i wish there were some specially trained to be able to help us when we have a question. i get different answers to the same question quite often. most of the time the drivers who go to canada know as much or more than dispatch since we deal with it on a regular basis, but now with ACE the rules have changed. unfortunately Dave F. goes home in the evening, and that's just about the time i have a question.

[Doggie Daddy]

>"sounds like a personal matter"...what's that suppose to
>mean anyway.
the previous comment "sounds like
>a personal matter" sounds like one that comes from a person
>who hasn't experienced the "canadian load" hassle recently
>or maybe never has been to canada.

So what about it LAWRENCE?...ever been to Canada?
:7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7

[Turtle]

Yeah, it's a personal matter, probably not best suited for a public forum. But on the other hand, it's good to let others know that this kind of thing can, and does happen, all too frequently. Doesn't matter which carrier someone drives for, the potential for these kinds of problems exist for many of them.

Having said that, if this post isn't followed up with the resolution or solution, so that other may benefit, then it's really nothing more than a driver complaining about a specific instance with his carrier.

I came over to Panther from Con-Way. That first day I went to the office and stuck my head in an orientation for a couple of hours, just to get an idea of the company and what's what. One thing that I find amusing is how the speaker went on and on about how Panther never has any problems going into or out of Canada, because "we are experts at it, we have it down to a science."

weeeeelllllll, maybe.


Another one that I just love, and it's even in the manual, is the convoluted notion that you can actually make more money with 2000 loaded miles than you can with 3000 loaded miles, all while getting paid a flat rate per mile, provided you're willing to do a lot of unpaid deadhead on your own to get yourself to a good area for the next load. It was so brilliantly presented that, for a split second, I almost bought it.

[jaminjim]

Thats why I questioned Lawrence. It sounds as though there needs to be a little more training for some. ( in the office )