Assignments or Accept and Decline offers?

**greg334** · 03-07-2010, 10:58 PM

OK after a well heated discussion today over the issue of company vs. free loving expediters, I put this question to a number of expediters to see what they think.

So now I am creating a thread to ask the same question to see if I get the same answers.

First the situation;

You are either a straight truck or a van - doesn't matter.

You are working by a flat rate contract (meaning paid per mile).

Your company gives you a dead head rate and fsc with every load.

The company has given you a choice -

1 – either wait for them to find work, have them call you with an offer and accept or decline based on the reduction or increase from your base rate or what ever with the risk of having large wait times between loads.

OR

2 – have them assign you work before the delivery, which means you can't refuse the work unless there is a good reason (and you will have a rest period of 10 hours or what ever) BUT you will always get paid the same exact rate with the FSC and deadhead regardless of the load with low wait times. The catch is that if you want to have time to see something or go take time to enjoy a massage or pedicure, then you have to tell dispatch while you are on the load before they assign you work.

Which one would you choose?

**Moot** · 03-07-2010, 11:01 PM

I choose number 3.

**greg334** · 03-07-2010, 11:12 PM

Number three - I forgot that one - raise chinchillas.

**Turtle** · 03-07-2010, 11:36 PM

I choose 1.

And I choose 1 whether it's a flat-rate or a wildly variable percentage. There are both profitable and unprofitable loads with a consistent rate, and I don't want to be forced into taking an unprofitable load regardless.

I'd rather sit an extra day or three rather than take a profit-losing run just to keep from sitting. I can take an unprofitable run and lose money, or I can lose less money by sitting.

I'm currently sitting in beautiful downtown Ogden, Utah. Monday morning I have a load offer that picks up 40 miles south of here at the airport, and delivers 187 loaded miles to an Indian reservation in Idaho. It pays my base rate, plus a good FSC. The problem is what I'll be facing after the delivery, which is a 150 mile deadhead to where I'm likely to get my next load, because Blackfoot, Idaho isn't exactly a hotbed of expedited freight. Neither is Pocatello. Knowing my CPM and taking factors other than the loaded miles into account, that load isn't a profitable load.

It became a profitable load when I asked, for got, a fair enough of a bonus to make it profitable.

**jjoerger** · 03-07-2010, 11:41 PM

If there were a limit on the deadhead miles, say 20% of the total run, I would choose number 2. 500 total miles, 100 deadhead and a 400 mile run. No problem.

Keep me moving and I'll be glad to tell you in advance when I need a break.

**xiggi** · 03-08-2010, 12:34 AM

I think number 2 might be crossing the employee, contractor line. That is why all these companies try to use no forced dispatch as if they care about you. In reality forced dispatch crosses that line.

**chefdennis** · 03-08-2010, 09:42 AM

No. 1. While i don't turn much down other then low pay runs, i am not running at a loss or even before my minimum GPM just to keep moving.....well unless it benefits me , like taking me home when i want to go there, which if it were offered today, id turn down, i just left home after a long weekend there....

**blizzard** · 03-08-2010, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Turtle

I choose 1.

And I choose 1 whether it's a flat-rate or a wildly variable percentage. There are both profitable and unprofitable loads with a consistent rate, and I don't want to be forced into taking an unprofitable load regardless.

I'd rather sit an extra day or three rather than take a profit-losing run just to keep from sitting. I can take an unprofitable run and lose money, or I can lose less money by sitting.

I'm currently sitting in beautiful downtown Ogden, Utah. Monday morning I have a load offer that picks up 40 miles south of here at the airport, and delivers 187 loaded miles to an Indian reservation in Idaho. It pays my base rate, plus a good FSC. The problem is what I'll be facing after the delivery, which is a 150 mile deadhead to where I'm likely to get my next load, because Blackfoot, Idaho isn't exactly a hotbed of expedited freight. Neither is Pocatello. Knowing my CPM and taking factors other than the loaded miles into account, that load isn't a profitable load.

It became a profitable load when I asked, for got, a fair enough of a bonus to make it profitable.

Turtle, I just rolled through Ogden yesterday afternoon. There was a bit of wintery weather up on te mountain pass between larame and ogden. I wish I would have known, i'd have stopped in to meet the famous Turtle. I just wanted to let you know that I have picked up brokered loads from Panther at the UPS in Pocatello Idaho. The load was going to Havre Montana. So, you can still snag something decent out of that area if you get lucky. I also pulled a load from Cedar City Utah back into Los angeles from a company called genpac I think. Any how, I wish you luck out there.

**Turtle** · 03-08-2010, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by blizzard

Any how, I wish you luck out there.

Thanks. Would have been good to meet you, too. You don't run into very many expediters out here as it is.

SLC can be weird, at least for a van. Lots of UPS Freight stuff, and air freight like this morning. Some go short, like up to Blackfoot, some I have taken a long, long way out of here. I was gonna just stay up there, since we do get stuff out of Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, and even places like Logan, but I ended up just coming on back down to Ogden.

**letzrockexpress** · 03-11-2010, 07:38 PM

Here is a good rule of thumb. I live by this. "If you take all the work you can get, you'll get all the work you can take". That being said, you can't work for nothing or just spin your wheels breaking even. It is crucial to know what your costs are each day. To be succesful, you must accept most loads. Your number of load offers will be directly proportionate to what your acceptance rate is. Some times you have to take one for the team. There are some here who will turn down a load at the drop of a hat. The fact is the more you are viewed as "go to" person, the better of you will be....but I digress....

I choose accept and decline.

**ebsprintin** · 03-11-2010, 08:34 PM

I would consider trying option 2 if the deadhead pay was high enough. How about an option three that has all assigned miles (loaded and deadhead) the same and the same for FSC? If I want my pedicure all I have to do is go out of service, right?

eb