So...you gotta a big mouth?

[dhalltoyo]

Smart Money
by Aleksandra Todorova
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Whether chatting with co-workers or watching the evening news, the looming "recession" seems an impossible topic to avoid. With such talk comes a heightened sense of anxiety: Just how safe is my job?

No matter what field you work in, it's always good to "recession-proof" your job. "Whether or not we go into a recession, the knee-jerk reaction of many corporations in times like this is to let people go," says Stephen Viscusi, CEO of Viscusi Group, a New York-based headhunting company. Here are some ways to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

Make yourself indispensable
If your manager has to cut 10% of the staff, you certainly don't want to be at the top of her list. That means, before all, maintaining a good relationship with your boss, Challenger says. "If [your relationship] is in disrepair, now is the time work on it," he says.

Don't be high-maintenance
Even if you're among your company's top-performing employees, that won't matter much if you're a pain in the neck. "Human resources people will deny this, but in nine times out of 10, they fire what I describe as HMEs: high-maintenance employees," Viscusi explains. The people who always complain about the temperature in the office, the fax machine or who can't stop bragging about their achievements and feel entitled, or who are just difficult to work with, are the first to be let go even if they're excellent performers. "Firing is 90% subjective," Viscusi says.

Stay busy
Now is not the time to take a three-week vacation or plan your wedding at work. "People keep employees who really look like they're working," Viscusi says. His advice: Take on as many assignments as possible, but make sure to be honest with your manager about your ability to complete them. If the deadline is Wednesday and you're concerned about meeting it, tell them how busy you are and that you'll make every effort to get the work done on time. Then do your best to impress them by meeting that deadline.

NOTE: We all know that dispatchers have some degree of control over who gets loaded and who sits empty. FIFO is a great concept and it would be the ultimate way to conduct dispatching in a "Perfect" world. Unfortunately, this is not a Utopia, so get over it, wake up and smell the coffee (or whatever).

Look, they have a job to do, just like us! They are working under very strict time constraints because this is expediting. Regular freight is booked way in advance so it is an entirely different scenario for those dispatchers. I have had the opportunity to view both types of dispatching. In this writer's opinion, the dispatchers who are trying to cover expedited loads are working under tremendous pressure and it takes a very special type of individual to operate in that environment.

Do I have certain dispatchers that I would prefer to call me? You bet! Conversely, they also have certain drivers that they prefer to call. Why? Simple! If you are rude, vulgar, threatening, insulting, over bearing or questioning to the extent that you insinuate that they are lying...who wants to call that driver.

It doesn't matter how well you do the job, because continual acts of aggression negate the positive. As the article in Smart Money said, Even if you're among your company's top-performing employees, that won't matter much if you're a pain in the neck. "Human resources people will deny this, but in nine times out of 10, they fire what I describe as HMEs: high-maintenance employees,"

Just some food for thought if your lease gets cancelled, or you find yourself sitting for a very, very long time.

[RLENT]

Rev,

Great post.

[fastrod]

Yes it is a good post and it should make a person realize that there is not much difference between being signed on to a carrier and being an employee.

[Turtle]

Really? Is that what you see in that article? What I see, as it relates to expediting, is that in order to be a success, there must to a tremendous cooperation between the carrier and the owner/operator. One of the biggest mistakes an owner/operator can make is to think like an employee.

For every load the carrier has two customers, the party paying for the freight, and the owner/operator (you) who is paying the carrier a significant percentage of the line haul tariff to obtain the load (for you) in the first place. Conversely, as an independent owner/operator, for every load you have there are three customers, the shipper and the consignee, to whom you answer directly for the timely, safe and secure pickup, transport and delivery of their goods, and to carrier, who is paying you for (buying) your services.

You shouldn't be thinking like an employee any more than you should allow a dispatcher to talk to you or treat you like an employee, or, for that matter, to talk to or treat a dispatcher like they are one of your employees, either. It's a symbiotic, cooperative partnership in every sense of the word.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but as David's post points out, eventually they'll get tired of maintaining a wheel that continually needs grease, and will simply replace it. That's true of an employee, as well as that of a symbiotic partner that isn't being very symbiotic. Your carrier can replace you if you're too high maintenance, just as you can replace them for the same reason.

[nightcreacher]

Very good turtle,you as an owner operator,are actually in a partnership with the carrier you are leased to.If the two of you loose communication,then the partnership will not work, and you will become very frustrated.In this business,you must and i say must keep a positive attitude,Its bad enough we have to deal with Mr.Murphy's law,if you have a negitive attitude,only bad can happen from this.Think positive,a money loosing load this morning can turn into a big profit this afternoon.Load 8 am deliver 12 pm, 75 miles loaded,100 miles empty,you accept.Then qual com goes off,pre-dispatch,1600 hrs pick up,100 miles empty 2800 miles loaded.be positive.you as the driver of your truck,is the only one that can make it happen.BE POSITIVE

[greg334]

Many of us don't understand how the relationship between the carrier and the contractor works. Many more int he company don't get the very fact that they only derive their living by our work, not the other way around. We are for all intent and reason are independent but there is a slight catch, being independent we should be able to look for our own loads and act independent - meaning that there are no stats kept for any reason that will limit you.

I still don't buy into the 'dispatchers have a hard job' idea, I wish I could get off the road to dispatch, it would be easy for me to do the work. But with that said, I think all dispatchers should be on commission, not a wage and they should be held accountable. Their responsibility ends when their shift ends but it should not.

Yes the key is customer service

Yes the key is positive image

Yes the key is a positive attitude

Oh and by the way, the author has a lot of his points wrong. There is no recession proof job unless we speak of military, government sector or academia. High Maintainance is not defined as the one who complains, it is defined as the person who has to have people involved with their job doing there work. Management in much of the corporate world actually loves people over achieve and brag about it. and the last point send mixed messages even though it is explained. You never make excuses for a late project, you present facts but more importantly as I have said before ALWAYS know your limitations.

[Broompilot]

Exactly Turtle: To not complaine or to stay in contact with your dispatch (difference between professional bugging and whining). If days go by no loads I am gona complaine LOUDLY as well. Crying now there is one crosses the line.

Employed or Selfemployed: You should always view yourself as your own little corporation and do whats best for not only yourself but also your employer or Co. that your leased to or otherwise contracted to. Do this and you will feel happier about what your doing.

[Tennesseahawk]

Then what happens when that big load DOESN'T show up after the mini? What happens when the load following your first out status ends up being 125 mi w/ 150 dh?

Joyfully taking every run doesn't necessarily mean you're making a profit. Using common sense while taking ANY run doesn't always put you in the best positions either.

For example... sitting in SC and they offer me a WV or FL run. Nada. Common sense tells me going from a good freight area to a bad one, with few miles behind it, is a bad decision. Granted, unlike most other companies, we don't get penalized for turning down loads. And in most cases, our dispatch agrees with our decisions... because they have common sense too.

[dhalltoyo]

Oh, I agree that one should carefully weigh all of information and then make a decision based upon what is profitable; not only in the immediate, but also where you find yourself after delivery.

I am sitting in Beaufort, SC today. Drinking coffee and walking along the shoreline. It had better be a great load offer to pry me loose from this weather. Stayed at a friend's house last night, went to church this morning and they asked me after church if I would be with them again tonight. It doesn't get any better!

The point of my post was more directed toward those who find themselves getting a lot of, um...shall we say, barely profitable freight offers.

As I sat with the dispatchers, and listened to the drivers rail on those folks were any simply trying to do the job that has been assigned to them, I knew that it would be difficult for me to take a constant bombardment of verbal abuse. Plain and simple, nobody should have to be on the receiving end of continual verbal tirades; especially when they always originate from the same individual.

Case in point: When I was the V.P. for an internet business, I told all of the CSR's that they did not have to tolerate vulgarity or gross profanity. I gave them liberty to direct those calls to my extension.

Expect little gain...if you are always a pain.