[Fr8 Shaker]

Did anyone happen to read the announcement at the top of the forums. Just what we all need in these times of overabundance freight.

[pantherart]

Yea lets put a bunch of new trucks on so that all these trucks that are sitting will more people to keep them company.

[RichM]

Are these ppl going to be company drivers or hooked up with a fleet owner. Sounds to me like they will be company drivers,anyone know if Panther has been buying equipment?

[Fr8 Shaker]

Hey Rich I wouldn't put it past them but it could also be for dispatchers. You know they go through them as fast as drivers.

But what really gets me is they make it a point to say this includes cargo vans. I mean come on already how many is enough. Theres already 3 times as many as there are loads on these boards now.

[LDB]

There are no company trucks. There are too many trucks but no company trucks.

[are12]

Panther really needs to put a freeze on their hiring for awhile but you know they won't!! You always hear the same story on how there are never enough trucks in service to cover their loads.

Maybe, just maybe, if they would keep the driver's busy that are out here, they may stay in service more! I know for us, it is less stressful when we are kept busy, instead of wondering if we should have our mail forwarded to the truck stop.

[cheri1122]

It seems to me that if Panther would implement a policy of asking o/os, drivers, and dispatchers what obstacles prevent them from doing the best job possible, then make every effort to remove the obstacles that are legitimate, they'd be a carrier that no one would want to leave - but it looks like the advertising & recruiting revolving door is the method they prefer. I don't understand it, but what do I know?

[Moot]

"We call these new changes "Seeing is Believing" and by that we mean that even if an owner-operator or driver has looked into the career possibilities with Panther Expedited Services before, they should take another look at us now because it gets better all the time!"

quote from and e-mail.

[miguy1957]

Well I guess you could look at it like this. O/Os are just tools to Panther like tools are to a mechanic, You loose one or BREAK one, You just get another one. And you cant have to many tools.............

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by are12

You always hear the same story on how there are never enough trucks in service to cover their loads.

That's true, though, there aren't enough trucks in service to cover the loads. There would be, if there was less cherry pickin' going on, but if they have truck after truck turning down 174 mile runs, they have to have enough trucks in the area so that eventually one of 'em will take it.

It's a chicken and egg kind of thing. People cherry pick, so Panther needs more trucks to get more loads covered. And, because there are too many trucks, people cherry pick because they don't want to take a 150 mile run and deliver it to some place where they'll find themselves 27th on the board because Panther has too many trucks.

If and when they get this board restructuring mess straightened out, with the boards properly defined, the paid moves, etc., that'll help, as people won't be quite as reluctant to accept shorter loads.

I still maintain that it won't ever get fully straitened out until they have a fleet manager eyeballing the entire fleet and making individual decisions regarding moves, rather than let the fleet self-reposition.

[fastrod]

People that think they are business people should start acting like it instead of acting like disgruntled employees. You signed a contract with Panther to haul freight for them. Panther is your customer, your only customer. When your customer needs a load hauled, if you are able to haul it you haul it. It does not matter if it is 50 miles or 500 miles, you haul the load. It is called customer service. I know if I turn down too many short runs for one of my customers they will call another carrier and when they have long runs come up the other carrier will be called for them too.

[Falligator]

So shouln't Panther not advertise the "no forced dispatch?" It seems kinda one sided we should really be employees instead of contractors. Kind of a false advertisement if you ask me. Especially when Panther can change the mileage of a load and everything else without your approval. I shouldn't complain too much because lately I have been getting quite a few miles and believe it or not.....just yesterday I deadheaded from Erie, Pa. to Chagrin Falls to p/u a 200 mile load and Panther was out of vans in the Cleveland and Akron board. At least that's what dispatch said. I got another run p/u tomorrow out of Cleveland going 699 to Manchester, NH. And I love being in the Northeast....except when it's -10F. On the bright side it seems things have been picking up, but then again...It's getting towards the end of the month and shippers want to get their freight out. I just hope this stays busy b/c last week was a bummer.

[pjjjjj]

That is interesting about the carrier you're contracted with, being your 'customer', and that cherry-picking shouldn't be happening. While that's a great concept in theory, the reality (at least for us), is that if you take a sh*t load, driving 60 empty miles to pick up something to deliver another 60 miles, and then waiting around for 3 hours for a 'possible' return load, how many hours have you wasted.. and are you getting bypassed for perhaps a long haul that comes up later, becuz you've already been on duty for.. how many hours..
that's nice to please your customer, but how nice is it when you're only allowed to have ONE customer and that customer doesn't keep you busy enough, nevermind that your customer sets the price he's willing to pay for your services, and even so, isn't able to let you know WHAT the price is that they'll be paying at the time the load is being offered?
As much as we're supposed to be running our own business, seems to me that business owners are usually able to make business decisions, but that's not how it's seeming to me.. but we're new, what do we know?

[OntarioVanMan]

Some of these "cherry pickers" really hurt the business. I'd like to see them tighten up on this issue....Sometimes being a business owner requires taking one on the chin...you can't have all the gravy, all the time....it's not a reality! And I'll bet these same "cherry pickers" are the ones that B!tch when they get passed over for a trip....

[Falligator]

OVM, You're right, cherry picking is getting down right annoying. Which may be why I got that 200 mile load going to Emporium PA from Chagrin Falls, OH b/c there were 2 vans sitting in Akron that could have been offered the load and I'm betting that they both turned it down. However, I took it b/c I am here to run freight and make $. So I asked for a 1st out and then they offered me that load going to NH.Only load I did turn down this year was one load going to Phily area and I turned it down even though it was a 300 + mile run. The weather just wasn't worth it. Oh, and I forgot about the load going from Ocoee, Fl to Hollywood, Fl (miami) I just deadhead back from Miami on a previous load and it was definitely a loser load as I had to pay Florida Tolls in excess of 25$ just to get to Miami. I had to go back and the load really would have cost me more $ to run and they didn't want to offer any kind of bonus or anything.