"Turtle -
Like always you twisted my statement. I did not say there WAS special treatment, I said I could understand it if there was - HUGE difference."
OK, first of all, I did not twist your statements. It's simply not worth the mental effort to do so.
I have never twisted your statements in the past, so to accuse me of doing it yet again, "like always", may be a major indicator of why you have a track record of failure in this business. You commented that you had to fight 1500 other Panther trucks for loads, and that you were getting passed over, and that, " Every company will give that special treatment to those that give them that special love back and I understand that." Every post you have made in this thread outlines special treatment (or at least perceived special treatment) that was not afforded to you, including making the leap to charge that this is the way Panther treats "MOST of their drivers", leaving anyone reading that to conclude that most of the drivers are not treated well and that the ones who are treated well are the favorites. There is nothing twisted in my interpretation of your statements here.
As to your driver data, there is much information missing that needs to be considered before one can come to any conclusions. For example, why were you not in service 100% of the time for those 14 days? Usually when people go home for the weekends they take themselves out of service on Friday afternoon or evening, thereby taking themselves out of availability to get those last loads on Friday or on Saturday for Monday delivery. And when they come back in service on Monday, they come back well down the list on whatever board they are on. You can be in service on Monday but be so far down on the board that it may be Tuesday or even Wednesday before you are offered your first load of the week. This is particularly true is you come back in service right there in the middle of the freight lanes (upper middle midwest - northern IL, IN, OH and southern MI) where there are thousands of trucks and most of the loads are short runs within those same freight lanes.
The numbers you posted, the ones you blame on Panther, are absolutely classic. People who go home every weekend are off Saturday and Sunday, and for the vast majority of Friday and Monday, as well. They generally miss out on those last load opportunities on Friday, and then the first load opportunities on Monday, which effectively has them working 3 days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And they wonder why they aren't getting any miles and are making no money, and they blame Panther.
I have spent many a weekend at the Flying J in Hopkinsville rather than driving the 45 minutes from there to the house, because I know that if I stay there I'll be first out on Monday morning, and if I go home and then come back out I'll be 3rd on a board that only averages a load a day. People say I'm crazy, but then again, those people are the ones who blame Panther 'cause they're broke.
Other things to consider is where did the loads that you accepted take you? Did they take you to a location where there are also many more trucks than loads, where you are likely to have to sit yet another day or two while you work your way up the board again for the next load? If so, why did you accept the load?
Also, what is your percentage of deadhead of all miles driven? Did you use the Macro 8 to at least find out where the boards are, and how many loads a day that come out of those boards (that's the only things Macro 8 is good for), and do you deadhead to the boards with the most loads instead of sitting #2 on a board that does one a day?
You can post your driver and load history all day long, but without knowing why you have those results, it's all meaningless.
It seems to me that you think that this business is mostly putting yourself in service and then you sit back and wait for lots and lots of loaded miles to be handed to you on a silver platter. True enough, unless you have your own authority, your options for obtaining the loads and miles you want are severely limited, but you do have some options nonetheless. You can accept loads that make sense, both on the heels of the load you just dropped off (in terms of total deadhead miles from delivery to the next pickup, as well as the time involved in the deadhead), and taking into consideration of where the load takes you to in relation to getting your next load after that (how much back end deadhead will be required, and/or is the delivery in a place that's saturated with trucks already).
The key is to figure out what went wrong instead of taking the easy way out and pointing the finger at Panther, because there are an awful lot of drivers who somehow manage to do well with them. Why is it that they can, and you can't? If you can figure that out, you'll be much better off regardless of whichever carrier you end up with.
The ironic thing is, this advice is coming to you from someone with very little respect for Panther. There are some good people there, but based on my experiences, I can confidently, and quite comfortably, state that there are far too many utterly incompetent people in key positions.
I am sure that I cannot state with confidence that other carriers employ so many people who are equally as incompetent (man, I hope not!), but I can say that all carriers will do things that you don't like. Con-Way NOW, for example, did things that absolutely drove me crazy. Panther does, too, it's just that they are different things, and they drive me just as crazy.
Bottom line is, I don't care. I don't care how crazy they drive me. I don't care about Panther. The only thing I care about is my business, which is me and my truck. I'll do whatever it takes to make it a success despite (or in spite of) Panther. That means accepting and rejecting loads that make sense overall, it means deadheading smart, it means fighting the smart fight. It means taking care of Panther even though they don't deserve it, and it means taking care of the customer who always deserves it. It means being professional. I can do that.
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop
I like that. Dripple head.