xxiv24
Expert Expediter
That's funny. I don't ever recall a load one honeymoon.
I recall when i started a year ago, a flurry of nothing but short loads for about 5-6 weeks until i started to complain and requesting longer loads. After that it was all good until Oct a year later. I have personally never had any major hububs with dispatch, a couple of minor things but nothing noteworthy.
Over the course of the year, however, there are a few points of interest that i will bring up...mostly because i can.
1. THE ABILITY TO HAUL 3 SKIDS VS 2 SKIDS OR LESS - This happens to be my biggest sore spot. I have been told on a couple of instances that because i have a sleeper that i should be classed as a cargo van. Hmmmm, really? Over the course of a year i have lost maybe 4 loads that would not fit...this usually is because of dimensions being conveyed wrong...often a shipper doesnt include the height of the skid in thier equasion. Also it is not often considered that i can haul 4 skids if they are stacked. But the simple fact of the matter is that the majority of my loads are 2 skids or 1. Now I know some of you are naturally thinking yeah Scott, but they are only bidding what you can haul. True. I have also considered the full size van in my figure based on what others haul when i ask them. Unless everyone that i know lies to me, then what i have observed holds true. They as well haul, on average the majority 2 skids or less. In fact, one driver i know personally, could haul 3 skids and spent a great deal of time sitting around in seemingly good areas for days at a time and still come away with 2 skids or less perhaps with 3 skids or more around 4-5 times in 7 months. Does this constitute better loads with a full sized sprinter? I think not. All this does is grant a full size sprinter more opportunities to get a load based on what he/she can haul.
Based on this, i have to say when i am told that i should be a cargo van and get cargo van rates because of what i can haul, i should respond with then everytime a full sized sprinter hauls 2 skids or less the he/she should get cargo van rates. I do not feel i should sacrifice my comfort on the road for the ability to get an off chance 3 skid load, which i might add pays no more than a 2 skid load. Nor will i be hauling around what should be a straight truck load and trashing my vehicles life span...in the end the owner pays for the damage, not the company.
2.GETTING THE LOAD INFO WITH LITTLE OR NO TIME TO ARRIVE- This gem has been cropping up a bit too much here lately, more so on the delivery than the pick-up. There is nothing like getting the message telling you about the amount of time calculated for you to get the load to the consignee on time only to discover you get to drive 700+ miles with little or no time to spare.
A big mitigating factor in this is the deadhead to the pick-up is not calculated in this time, nor is any delay at the shipper. On a few occaisions dispatch will grant extra time for shipper delays and sometimes not. I have noticed that the longer the load the less time, the shorter the load the more time....isn't that a bit askew somehow?
3. 0 SKIDS 0 WEIGHT - This is a fav of mine as well. This is simply dirty pool by the shipper, a typical nlmi manuever. As owners we all have weight limits on our vehicles and more often than not this dreaded dispatch will likely mean you are going to get more than you bargained for. What this means for the owner is more wear and tear and increased fuel consumption on a 3k plus load...or finding that the load will not fit on you at all, full sized or sleeper...a pot luck load if you will.
Bottom line, shouldn't the dispatcher know what you are hauling? After all as an owner i know that a load of anvils at 3500 pounds is more wear and tear on the vehicle as well as greater fuel consumption, as opposed to a box of cotton balls. Yet this kind of dispatch does not differentiate.
4. PAY INFO- This one is a hot topic of late. Alot of drivers are beginning to agree that it is becoming risky to haul a load before you know what it pays. I agree with them...it is common sense. Who out there wants to pull a load 1600 miles for 900 bucks? Not me and i would be urked at the surprise of it. When dispatched, the load info is entered on the system and sent to the driver. The pay info is done the same. I understand that it is difficult for the dispatcher to juggle all of those calls and get this info out to the driver, but isn't that information a part of the load? Cutting corners cause the increase in driver to dispatch call volume and also seems to be causing an alarming amount of growing distrust. Which brings us to...
5. TURNING DOWN LOADS- Just recently i was told by a reliable fellow that turning down a load less than 200 miles could be done without penalty. The next day a driver attempted to turn down such a load as was promptly told he would be put down to the bottom of the cue if he did so. Now I am a bit confused. Which is it? And that smells like forced dispatch.
After being here a little over a year, i know load ones freight lanes very well and therefor know the difference between a good spot and a bad one.
Recently i got a load to Toledo being told i would get a longer load there. Then got a call to pick up in adrian, mi going to Troy, mi. This load was not the long load i was looking for and so i declined it. Not 30secs later i am called by another dispatcher complaining about the decline and professing how i would be in a "much better" spot for a long load. The much better spot garnered me a 50 mile or so load and the end of my week...mmmmhmmmm. Much better....
Bottom line here, I believe it is my right as an owner to choose if i want the load or not and not have to be harassed by another dispatcher if i so decline a load.
This past Oct is the worst i have ever done in a year. Load One is in a slump, it happens to the best of 'em. All we can do as drivers is to ride the wave and make the best of it....something we should all be used to in this field. I recall my first check for a month at Nations Express was 24.00 and change...didn't think that could happen here, but with repairs fees and fuel on a 312 loaded mile week, my paycheck last fri was a whopping -690.00 and change. I remain optomistic that things will turn about, even if i have to start saying no more frequently to shorties or not, as an owner that ball is in my hands.
Lets get back to the drive less and make more as opposed to the drive less and eat hotdogs right? Or better yet, Load One, not One Load.
You can all find me in a nearby Pilot using my card for dogs, waiting for that elusive load to the moon. Hmmmm perhaps flying lessons and air freight....
Ya'll have a good one!!!
I recall when i started a year ago, a flurry of nothing but short loads for about 5-6 weeks until i started to complain and requesting longer loads. After that it was all good until Oct a year later. I have personally never had any major hububs with dispatch, a couple of minor things but nothing noteworthy.
Over the course of the year, however, there are a few points of interest that i will bring up...mostly because i can.
1. THE ABILITY TO HAUL 3 SKIDS VS 2 SKIDS OR LESS - This happens to be my biggest sore spot. I have been told on a couple of instances that because i have a sleeper that i should be classed as a cargo van. Hmmmm, really? Over the course of a year i have lost maybe 4 loads that would not fit...this usually is because of dimensions being conveyed wrong...often a shipper doesnt include the height of the skid in thier equasion. Also it is not often considered that i can haul 4 skids if they are stacked. But the simple fact of the matter is that the majority of my loads are 2 skids or 1. Now I know some of you are naturally thinking yeah Scott, but they are only bidding what you can haul. True. I have also considered the full size van in my figure based on what others haul when i ask them. Unless everyone that i know lies to me, then what i have observed holds true. They as well haul, on average the majority 2 skids or less. In fact, one driver i know personally, could haul 3 skids and spent a great deal of time sitting around in seemingly good areas for days at a time and still come away with 2 skids or less perhaps with 3 skids or more around 4-5 times in 7 months. Does this constitute better loads with a full sized sprinter? I think not. All this does is grant a full size sprinter more opportunities to get a load based on what he/she can haul.
Based on this, i have to say when i am told that i should be a cargo van and get cargo van rates because of what i can haul, i should respond with then everytime a full sized sprinter hauls 2 skids or less the he/she should get cargo van rates. I do not feel i should sacrifice my comfort on the road for the ability to get an off chance 3 skid load, which i might add pays no more than a 2 skid load. Nor will i be hauling around what should be a straight truck load and trashing my vehicles life span...in the end the owner pays for the damage, not the company.
2.GETTING THE LOAD INFO WITH LITTLE OR NO TIME TO ARRIVE- This gem has been cropping up a bit too much here lately, more so on the delivery than the pick-up. There is nothing like getting the message telling you about the amount of time calculated for you to get the load to the consignee on time only to discover you get to drive 700+ miles with little or no time to spare.
A big mitigating factor in this is the deadhead to the pick-up is not calculated in this time, nor is any delay at the shipper. On a few occaisions dispatch will grant extra time for shipper delays and sometimes not. I have noticed that the longer the load the less time, the shorter the load the more time....isn't that a bit askew somehow?
3. 0 SKIDS 0 WEIGHT - This is a fav of mine as well. This is simply dirty pool by the shipper, a typical nlmi manuever. As owners we all have weight limits on our vehicles and more often than not this dreaded dispatch will likely mean you are going to get more than you bargained for. What this means for the owner is more wear and tear and increased fuel consumption on a 3k plus load...or finding that the load will not fit on you at all, full sized or sleeper...a pot luck load if you will.
Bottom line, shouldn't the dispatcher know what you are hauling? After all as an owner i know that a load of anvils at 3500 pounds is more wear and tear on the vehicle as well as greater fuel consumption, as opposed to a box of cotton balls. Yet this kind of dispatch does not differentiate.
4. PAY INFO- This one is a hot topic of late. Alot of drivers are beginning to agree that it is becoming risky to haul a load before you know what it pays. I agree with them...it is common sense. Who out there wants to pull a load 1600 miles for 900 bucks? Not me and i would be urked at the surprise of it. When dispatched, the load info is entered on the system and sent to the driver. The pay info is done the same. I understand that it is difficult for the dispatcher to juggle all of those calls and get this info out to the driver, but isn't that information a part of the load? Cutting corners cause the increase in driver to dispatch call volume and also seems to be causing an alarming amount of growing distrust. Which brings us to...
5. TURNING DOWN LOADS- Just recently i was told by a reliable fellow that turning down a load less than 200 miles could be done without penalty. The next day a driver attempted to turn down such a load as was promptly told he would be put down to the bottom of the cue if he did so. Now I am a bit confused. Which is it? And that smells like forced dispatch.
After being here a little over a year, i know load ones freight lanes very well and therefor know the difference between a good spot and a bad one.
Recently i got a load to Toledo being told i would get a longer load there. Then got a call to pick up in adrian, mi going to Troy, mi. This load was not the long load i was looking for and so i declined it. Not 30secs later i am called by another dispatcher complaining about the decline and professing how i would be in a "much better" spot for a long load. The much better spot garnered me a 50 mile or so load and the end of my week...mmmmhmmmm. Much better....
Bottom line here, I believe it is my right as an owner to choose if i want the load or not and not have to be harassed by another dispatcher if i so decline a load.
This past Oct is the worst i have ever done in a year. Load One is in a slump, it happens to the best of 'em. All we can do as drivers is to ride the wave and make the best of it....something we should all be used to in this field. I recall my first check for a month at Nations Express was 24.00 and change...didn't think that could happen here, but with repairs fees and fuel on a 312 loaded mile week, my paycheck last fri was a whopping -690.00 and change. I remain optomistic that things will turn about, even if i have to start saying no more frequently to shorties or not, as an owner that ball is in my hands.
Lets get back to the drive less and make more as opposed to the drive less and eat hotdogs right? Or better yet, Load One, not One Load.
You can all find me in a nearby Pilot using my card for dogs, waiting for that elusive load to the moon. Hmmmm perhaps flying lessons and air freight....
Ya'll have a good one!!!
