This is an FAQ at many driver gatherings, comparing forced dispatch perceptions or realities. It's the nature of this business that many of the loads offered the drivers are not finacially lucrative; therefore, drivers are tempted to refuse these loads in anticipation of an attractive load. In some instances, all available drivers from a given carrier consistently refuse to take poorly paying loads from the same shipper so the shipper moves it's business to a carrier whose drivers are willing to take this freight. That may be business that also includes great paying loads, also lost forever.
What's a carrier to do to encourage higher load acceptance rates? Some will move you to the bottom of the dispatch queue at each offer refusal; some will place you out of service after a couple of refusals; some will offer incentives to encourage greater load acceptance; some will do nothing; and, some will just ignore you for a while.
I suspect any carrier will want to have a heart-to-heart talk about your future relationship with them if you refuse more than you take.
We all refuse some loads for any number of reasons and this is likely factored into the carriers fleet size decisions. So, the more you refuse, the more trucks they lease, the more trucks they have, the fewer loads you are offered, so, while waiting for the big loads, the more you refuse.....and round and round we go.
The bottom line is, as an independent contractor, you must look out for your bottom line, but in so doing, consider the bigger picture.
