Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower pric

[Prarysun]

Howdy, been awhile since I posted but just have a question out of curiosity... I became an Elite O/O, with a reefer, C unit. Nearly lost my shirt because of getting passed over for lower rate trucks. I was able to prove it to myself and to Panther by an oversited message on my QC offer that a load was offered to another truck farther away from Pick up even though we were closer and were first out. This just confirmed and sealed my decision to move to FECC, and I must say we are much happier and much busier. For those of you who do not have a clue about what I am saying, Elite services offers a flat rate, and a very good one for all loads hauled reefer or non-reefer. Things started out great, you know, the honeymoon. Well with in a month the honeymoon was over and we noticed we were sitting for days, and other trucks of the same size were moving. Got suspicious, called and talked candidly with a dispatch, was told "well we do not have that much reefer freight" and also we should upgrade to be able to haul more weight. I bought that but even in my normal straight truck, my loads always avg'd under 5 or 6k. So this just didn't make sense, then when we got a load offer and saw that another truck (a normal non-reefer) was offered the load first and turned it down, he was 60 miles out, we were 6 miles from pick up and were first out. So that sealed my decision. Sorry for rambling, but wanted to know if others were experiencing the same thing? We are happy now and busy and realize even 10 bucks a mile is no good if you get no miles!! Lesson learned....Thanks for listening and stay safe out there!!!




















Dianne







:+ :+

 

[arkjarhead]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Let me get this straight. They pay you elite pay weather it's an elite load or not? Does fedex do this with the white glove trucks?

 

[nightcreacher]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

w/g pay only for w/g loads

 

[Prarysun]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Hi Ark, yes you get paid the same rate whether or not you haul reefer or regular loads, that was the attraction to put the unit on with Panther, but....I did question this in my mind, what if a lower rate truck was sitting there with you, behind you in time etc, would they pick that truck for regular loads first, well the answer is YES...And if you are questioning my #'s they were very good so that was not a factor. I am sure it was designed to be a good deal for everyone, but truth be told, their bottom line would suffer if they actually didn't use the truck much for reefer loads, hense my bottom line suffered and I booked.




















Dianne







:+

 

[Prarysun]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Yes Nitecreature, and I am happy with that arrangement, I understand several "fleets" left FECC and went on with them but because I am only one truck I had no clout, and nearly 6 yrs of service to them meant nothing...but such is life in this industry. Anyone wanna buy a Panther ring? LOL




















Dianne

 

[RichM]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Kinda reminds me of the old Roberts days. Steve knows about this. You received 62% of the revenue if the delivery was taking you further from home. You received 46% if the delivery took you closer to home.

Well it was a constant ongoing agravation in that it always appeared to be that if 6 trucks were available for a load the 46%ers would have it offered out first. This was proven over and over but nothing ever changed.

 

[Prarysun]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

RichM, was on with Roberts/then FECC for 5 years but I think that was after they did that percentage towards home though. But what always bugged me about getting penalized for going home was they hired the truck BECAUSE they wanted trucks from that area, then you get zapped ofor going home, never understood that one!!! Go Figure...




















Dianne

 

[RichM]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

What happend at home was that you could be on your home board. Lets say at 2200 you were #1. But in the morning you might have dropped down to #5 because trucks from other areas that delivered to your home area received preference over you on the board and you were bumped down. The obvious reason was the out of town trucks would most likely receive 46% on the loads out of your home area .

Folks that lived in Detroit,Indy Chicago really suffered from this policy. Shortly after Fedex took over, this policy plus other control and penalizing policies went away.

 

[nightcreacher]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

foreign domicile,thats why i started the three weeks out 1 week home
always would take a week to get out from home

 

[pelicn]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

We've been with FECC White Glove and we're now with Panther Elite Services. They aren't operated the same, so it's comparing apples to oranges.

 

[unorthodoxneon]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

I made a post about this sort of situation a little while ago. No use bringing it up as this sort of stuff "doesnt and never" happens. I just now learn to get use to it and put a smile on my face as i go about my day. I've also came to understanding that i'm nothing to any of these companies so they have no incentive to keep me happy or work with me as they have plenty of other drivers and truck out there that could take the load or even replace me.

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Keep in mind many customers will specify "no reefers" with their freight...that is why we dropped the reefer we were pulling for Panther.....our income went up 23% when we went back to a dry van and a lot less empty miles. It is hard when you are building a market segmentation because you need the reefers to cover any reefer load but then you need to keep them busy and not waiting for that customer call also. Catch 22.....If Panther NEEDS me to pull a reefer for a load all they do is call and then I drop it back off and get my van. As far as reefer straight trucks....we have not seen the value on the additional investment as of yet, but I know they are growing that division every day. I see more often a reefer being passed over to keep it available for a reefer load, not because of rate of pay.



-charlotte

 

[Moot]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

>Keep in mind many customers will specify "no reefers" with
>their freight...

Why?

 

[layoutshooter]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Many types of explosive/chemical loads cannot be put on a reefer truck. Also, most, not all, reefer trucks have smaller inside dementions than do other trucks of the same size. THis is due to the type of insulation used on most reefer boxes. Layoutshooter

 

[arkjarhead]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

Dianne,
I wasn't questioning your #'s. It would make perfect sense from an owner's point of view to take the higher rate if you can get. It just doesn't make much sense to me if I put myself in panther's shoes. Why pay a truck a highr rate for taking a lesser rate load. That's why I think they should pay % of what the load pays. Alot of companies do that. That's some owners at panther have a 1.35 contract some 1.30 and some 1.20. The rate keeps going down. Its confusing to me.

 

[bernieh48]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

>We've been with FECC White Glove and we're now with Panther
>Elite Services. They aren't operated the same, so it's
>comparing apples to oranges.



I agree 100% two totally diiferent run companies. We have been at both as well and are happy with Panther's Elite Services. They keep us busy.
Also though if you think with any company that you won't ever get passed over for a load your kidding yourself.

 

[davekc]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

I think this post or thread may help guide some of the issues that effect the Elite division. We had a reefer for a short time and we did ok, but I can do much better with a dry van. As mentioned, way too many restrictions with a reefer. Some argue you get more loads, but I think you lose just as many.
From a return on investment point of view, the margins aren't anywhere close. We did ok because I was running a paid for unit. Paying $150 to 200 thousand or higher would be total foolishness where the rates are currently at, regardless of the carrier. I'm not sure if we got passed over or not, but they did offer us cheaper loads when in the south. I was told that had been corrected, but since I don't run a reefer truck any more, I have no current experience. We did many of our own loads out of the south so we may not have been impacted quite the same way as some.
Unless there is a movement up in rates, I wouldn't see myself buying one when I can buy two dry boxes for the price of one reefer.










Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[slfisher45]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

I used to drive Elite Services for Panther now I drive solo, so very few Elite runs. I always had two rates, one for government loads and one for general freight. Has that changed?

 

[tallcal101]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

I had a fleet of Refer trucks with CC/WG for 7 years.First 5 were great.Busy all the time with refer loads,most around $2.00 per mile.
The last two years sucked with no refer freight unless TVAL that paid anything over $1.50.I watched in disbelief as my drivers recieved surface expedite loads for $1.07 per mile to $1.25.On occation a good refer load would come through,but not to often.
My belief is fedecc is brokering out out as much refer freight as they can LTL.They are not selling exclusive use unless the customer demands it.You may have been better off with Panther as they have a reasonable minimum and FEDEEX does not.Be careful.Demand to know the run count each day so you can keep your expectations in line with reality.

 

[layoutshooter]

RE: Any Elite drivers getting passed by for lower

We are not sure about the reefer ever paying for itself, but then, we have only had it for a little over 2 months. We will make the choice on our next truck based on what happens with this one. FedEx pays %61 to reefer trucks on every load and %58 to dry boxes. The difference is to help offset the cost of reefer trucks. The reefer loads we have got since getting this truck have paid VERY good. Higher than out WG dry box loads and WAY higher than our surface loads. 2 months is not enough to gauge our profit or loss on the reefer but time will tell. We like having the ability to handle all kinds of loads. The hope being that it will keep us moving. So far it has but it is the busy time of the year. Jan will be a better judge. ONe thing for sure, if people keep going out of the reefer end of the business reefer rates should go up. Layoutshooter