IS THIS A BOGUS SITE?????????????

nchauler

Expert Expediter
I POSTED A NEGATIVE MESSAGE ABOUT "PANTHER II" A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AND THEN IT JUST MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED FROM THE POSTINGS...THE ONLY CONCLUSION THAT I CAN REACH IS THAT SINCE "PANTHER II" IS A PAID ADVERTISER ON THIS SITE THE NEGATIVE POSTING WAS PULLED...IF THIS SITE IS RUN BY THE EXPEDITING COMPANIES AND IS NOT AN OPEN FORUM FOR OWNER/OPERATERS AND DRIVERS, THEN I WANT NO PART OF IT...PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THE MEMBER LIST...I HAD NO IDEA THAT THE EXPEDITING COMPANIES HAD CONTROL OF THE SITE AND COULD MONITOR AND EDIT THE POST...THAT MAKES THIS A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE.......
 

Lawrence

Founder
Staff member
Nchauler,

It seems the only message you post is negative. I'm very sorry you had a bad experience at Panther II. Your message was archived by myself as I saw little value in airing your unfortunate personal situation. The content of your post offered no help to anyone.

In the our forum and archives you will also find other comments very similar to yours with every carrier under the sun, advertiser and non-advertiser alike, your not the first person who had an issue with a carrier or a fleet owner and I'm sure you won't be the last. Forum members such as yourself will often post one or two messages that blast a company, person or entity. After that one or two posts we never hear from that member again, so we wonder what your motive is in joining our community? Was it just to be your personal platform?.

Our forum is a real, live online community with real people. It is in my opinion rude and offensive when someone who has never participated in our community or offered a comment on the over 1300 message on the forum - comes in with both guns a blaring.

An Open Forum is just like a garden - if allowed to grow with no pruning and/or moderation it will be filled with deadly weeds and choking vines. A garden like that is not only unsightly, but it is of little benefit to anyone else. So our forum must always strive to be responsible and prudent, else we will have no credibility to not only our forum members, but to our readers as well.

Finally, did this carrier have anything to do with my decision to archive your post? Absolutely not! If you believe that, then I can tell you that there are three black helicopters landing in your backyard at this very moment.

If any one would like to read NCHAULER's post you may read it at the link below or just search the topics for PANTHER II.

http://www.expeditersonline.com/cgi...w_thread&om=405&forum=DCForumID2&viewmode=all

FYI in almost four years of being an administrator on this forum, I can count on one had how many times I have taken this course of action.

Lawrence
Expediters Online.com
 

nchauler

Expert Expediter
YOU JUST ANSWERED MY QUESTION...THE SITE IS ABSOLUTELY BOGUS...YOU ARE A PUPPET OF THE ADVERTISERS...I HAVE NOTICED THAT YOU DON'T REMOVE THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT "FED EX", I ALSO NOTICED THAT THEY DON'T ADVERTISE HERE...BY YOUR COMMENTS TO MY POST I SEE THAT I HIT A "RAW NERVE" BUT THE "TRUTH" HURTS, YOU DIDN'T DO YOURSELF ANY FAVORS WITH YOUR ANSWER...LET'S SEE HOW LONG YOU LET THIS POST STAY ON THE FORUM, BEFORE YOU ARCHIVE IT ALSO...

A PUBLIC FORUM IS "NOT" CENSORED...I DID NOT USE ANY UGLY LANGUAGE OR MAKE FALSE ACCUSATIONS...I STATED WHAT HAPPENED TO ME WITH "PANTHER II", I ALSO STATED THAT AS A LONG TIME READER I THOUGHT I SHOULD POST MY EXPERIENCE IN THE "NEWBIE" FORUM SINCE I UTILIZED IT OVER THE PAST 8 MONTHS FOR INFO...MY EXPERIENCE IS JUST THAT, "MY" EXPERIENCE...IN AN OPEN FORUM INSTEAD OF PULLING THE POST AND HIDING IT IN THE ARCHIVES, YOU ALLOW OTHER FORUM USERS TO POST THERE REPLYS...EVERYONE ELSE MAY HAVE HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE AND MAYBE I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD A BAD ONE...IF SO "GREAT" LET THE OTHERS SPEAK...THIS WOULD HAVE SERVED YOUR ADVERTISER BETTER, IF WHAT I SAID WAS AN ISOLATED EXPERIENCE THEN I'M SURE OTHERS WOULD HAVE POSTED STATING THERE "POSITIVE" FEELINGS AND THE FORUM WOULD HAVE BEEN BALANCED..."INSTEAD YOU PULLED MY POST AND SHOWED THAT YOU ARE BOUGHT & PAID FOR BY THE ADVERTISERS"...IF THE ONLY REASON THIS SITE EXIST IS TO MAKE MONEY, THAT'S FINE, BUT SAY SO UP FRONT, THEN EVERYONE KNOW'S WHO THERE DEALING WITH...OTHER'S WILL BE AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH A CARRIER WHO ADVERTISES WITH THE SITE AFTER SEEING WHAT HAPPEDNED TO ME...YOU BLASTED ME WITH DEROGATORY STATEMENTS FOR POSTING A "TRUE" EXPERIENCE...

I THINK YOU HAVE DONE MORE DAMAGE THAN YOU KNOW TO YOU AND YOUR SITES CREDIBILITY...
 

louixo

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I´d like to jump in here with an opinion. Fisrt of all to nchauler. This is NOT a bogus site, as you yourself admitted to using it over a period of time to gleen information.

Secondly to Lawrence. Nchauler has a valid point. When one excercises editorial control, there is no longer a forum. Administrating to ensure non offensive language, or personal attacks is one thing, but to delete valid content is another. Also, I don´t think the number of posts should have any bearing on bieng a member of this community. There are many readers, who "lurk" and don´t post, until they have something to say, or don´t post because they have difficulty with expressing themselves, until some topic motivates them to try. Does that make thier post any less valid? For example, I read other forums, but rarely participate. I went to the link you provided and read nchaulers post, as anyone can, and should if they are interested. So why delete it in the first place? I for one, found nothing anymore negative than has been posted by many others on EO. It appears to me that he honestly recounted his experience as he saw it, and even qualified it, to say that he hoped his experience helps another newbie. If I was going to sign on with Panther, and had read his post, i would definitely ask the recruiter about it.
So, nchauler, now anyone can read your post if they wish, along with your reference to it under this thread. I think it´s over, enjoy EO for what it is, and move on. Lawrence does a good job.
 

nchauler

Expert Expediter
Iouixo,

Thanks for your comments...I agree that calling expeditersonline a bogus site was inappropriate with my limited knowledge and participation on the site...That wasn't very smart on my part and hurt my on case with the long time users who make this site what it is...I appreciate your fair & impartial interpretation of my original post...You were able to communicate my concerns better than I did...Again, sorry about the statement about the site being bogus, but when I saw my post had been removed because I wrote about a negative experience with a large company, that happens to be an advertiser on the site, it raised serious questions about the validity of the site, as least in my mind...It's true, I have been gaining knowledge from this site for 8 months and still consider myself a newbie...I only recently felt I had something worthy to comment on that might help fellow newbie's in making decisions that affect themselves and their families...I, and my family, almost lost everything in the first 2 months after my decision to enter this profession...Only after realizing I had made a mistake, by leasing to the original carrier, and taking immediate action to correct it by researching and leasing with another carrier, did my financial situation change...The past 6 months have been great and I plan to retire as an owner/operator expediting for a living...

The "bogus" statement may prove to have been to strong a statement and I hope Lawrence will prove me wrong by letting this be an "open forum"...Our chosen profession is not an easy one, and shared information without censorship is the best way I know of to help others, new & experienced, be successful...This is my last comment on the subject, and probally my last post, I will continue to learn from others but feel I am a better reader than poster...

nchauler
 

teacel

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I started to write a book to EO. about why this was done! but then I backed off.
I would like to defend both EO and you nchauler,but how?
First of all this isn't a Bogus site, or a company owned site and the companies that advertize on this site know the forum is open and cannot control what people say.
Out of the mouths of babes you said that you liked this site and received alot of good help from it. I know how you feel about what happened to you, and are really hurt about the post being removed to the archives, and you or any one else can still read it. So why vent and cry like a big baby would do. Shake it off and start over, show EO that you are a real person and that you do want to help others. Stick around for us that do need and want your help. You did help someone in your post and it can still be read by anyone that wants to read it. I'm willing to bet that post gets more hits to it than any post on this site, Why! because we all have curiosity in our blood and will read it just because. I told you in the reply to the post how I felt, I hope you better understand EO and stick it out.
I had a talk with Lawrance about why he did that to the post.I now have a better understanding of the whole picture. This forum is just like living next door to the others, or getting on the phone and calling someone to talk to. In a community of any kind that community becomes and takes on the personality of it's members. One of the biggest problems with anything, what ever it is, not only this forum, is negativity. I am guilty of it along with just about all of us on this forum one time or another. Timing may have played another part in why it was done. Eo would very much like to clean up the negativity on this site so all of us can enjoy it more. I know several people that will not join the site and participate in helping us that want thier help, because of the BS that may come with it, or the ridicule from someone. Some people, WELL louixo put it very well about people. I won't say anymore or anything any different than louixo did so I'll end this thread.
Hey nchauler!!! If you really want to help others let us know it!!!
 

Olko

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
I went and read the original post, and it does leave me wondering why it was deleted. I can't personaly verify the posters experiences with Panther, but they are right in line with my experience with this company. One person with a bad experience is one thing, but how many people have the same story. I know when we went thru it, I posted either here or on Joe's forum about it, and I don't remember anything ever being removed/moved. Most of the companies over promise what they can do for you, Panther takes it to the extreme and will out right LIE about anything it takes to get you to sign on with them.
 

JeffJensen

Moderator Emeritus
Hello,

"nchauler" raised some questions in his post which I feel need to be addressed, and I thought that this open letter might clear the air on a few topics.

Lawrence McCord is not only my boss but a long time friend and I hope that speaking from my perspective will add to this discussion.

For those not familiar with what goes into developing and
maintaining an Internet location, it takes outlays of money (quite often, large amounts of money) on a regular basis. From day one, Lawrence has invested his money(and that of investors), his time and effort into developing ExpeditersOnline.com as the premier web site for expediting information, all of which is focused towards the owner/operators and drivers in this business.

At the risk of sounding like I'm trying for points with the boss, I have found Lawrence to be an innovator and original thinker in the realm of the Internet and specifically ExpeditersOnline.com and related sites. I believe that his goal has always been to make this Web destination the best it can be, no matter how hard I have to work. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

Despite the plans of various Internet sites to move to fee-based viewership, we have never discussed the possibility of making ExpeditersOnline.com a pay site, just as our Expedite Expo is admission free.

Because of this, ExpeditersOnline.com is most assuredly advertiser-supported and we make no apologies for that. I'm sure it's understood that if we didn't enjoy the support of our sponsors, there would be no Forum which to read or on which to post comments.

It's quite true that FedEx Custom Critical has taken a number of shots on this Forum as have other expediting companies. It's also a fact that FedEx CC(Roberts) is also just about the oldest and largest company in expediting, so by the sheer numbers of former and present contractors, it would be expected to see the occasional negative comment about the company.

If one monitors the Forum closely however, there have been very positive comments regarding FedEx CC, but those comments typically don't attract the attention as do the negative postings.

To set the record straight, when we have been in discussion with expediting carriers about advertising on ExpeditersOnline.com, they have
occasionally mentioned that they have seen harsh comments about their company on our forums. We have replied to this by telling them that we monitor our forums, but unless we have serious issues about the content of a post, we try to give the greatest latitude possible and not to impose "censorship."

To date, our position has been accepted by EVERY advertiser and we have NEVER been requested to remove a negative post by one of our sponsors.

Our advertisers have proven that they are rational, reasonable people who know that their companies will sometimes receive criticism, warranted or otherwise. We feel that it's to their credit that they have never attempted a "hardball" approach with us by threatening loss of sponsorship over a post on the forums.

Yes, ExpeditersOnline.com's Open Forum is a public forum in the sense that all are welcome to access and read our site, and after registering, post their comments.

We utilize registration and we moderate these forums because, in our Internet experience over the years, we've seen other Internet message/bulletin boards degenerate into "flame" boards with personal attacks towards individuals or personal vendettas against companies.

It is our sincere desire to maintain a sense of community on the forums as well as keeping the discussions on a business-like level. It's always going to come down to a judgment call by a moderator or administrator as to whether a post is pulled or archived. Lawrence stated his reasons why the post was archived, but in the interest of fairness, he relaxed the rule and posted the link to the comments in question.

It's a fine line between what some would term "censorship and responsible administration of a forum; hopefully, we'll make the right call more often than not.

I want to thank the expediters who posted their thoughts about these issues, and whether they are in complete agreement with Lawrence or not, their input is highly-valued.

Thanks also for visiting, posting and being part of the online expediting community!

Jeff Jensen
Editor
 

Lawrence

Founder
Staff member
Forum Members,

Thanks for everyone's input. This issue had to be addressed at sometime and I'm glad we are able to do that now.

I have consulted with our long time Moderators - Weave, Rich and Bill and have asked them for their opinions on this matter. I will post their input and we shall take it from there.

Your emails and messages are appreciated and I sincerely value everyone's input.

Thanks,
Lawrence
Expediters Online.com
 

RichM

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Earlier today I responded to Lawrence!s request about what I felt about this particular post.He may decide to share it or may not,that is his decision. However I want to say that there is absolutely no way that EO or Lawrence would delete a negative post in order to please an advertiser. This forum is far and away the best Expediters site on the internet. I have had many positive comments made to me about it and I talk it up constantly.So lets let this subject rest.
 

Lawrence

Founder
Staff member
NCHAULER,

I have contacted our Forum Moderators and asked for them to review your original post and they have unanimously agreed that the course of action I took may have been overkill.

While I disagree with your post - I trust their judgment and would offer you the opportunity to re-post.

Please refer to my sig file....;-) :eek: :D

Thanks,
Lawrence
Expediters Online.com
 

evilspirit

Expert Expediter
Just to get my two cents worth in. Although I,m a new member to the family, I have been visting EO on a regular basis for over a year and if Lawerence did'nt think it was worth posting, it probably wasn't worth posting. There has been negative comments on PantherII on this site before, just as with every other company, enough is enough. You don't like the company you work for, leave tell everyone why, and get on with your life.}> }>
 

Fr8 Shaker

Veteran Expediter
WOW !!!!! I was just cruising through the posts when i ran across this one and read all the comments regarding nc's post. Sitting here thinking WOW he must of really slammed panther and put them through the ringer. then i clicked on the link you supplied to see what he had to say and again WOW !!! i was SHOCKED to see that it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. actually i didn't think it was bad at all. He was just stating his experience in what i thought was NOT even in a heated tone. i have seen many other posts on here that were really heated and alot directed toward fedex without even a mention that this shouldn't be done. so it does make me wonder if this site is catering to it's advertisers. i feel that as with a site like this if we can't speak our mind GOOD OR BAD whats the point.

P.S.
I have also seen comments made toward other members regarding what they have said in a post, which were sarcastic to say the least. without those being pulled.
 

Big Scooter

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Hello nchauler. Glad to see you'll stick with us and contribute. Many voices in this industry are needed and make a louder noise than just one. While your original input was sound, your "bogus" message was a little....emotional. You may have been right to some extent but please try a different approach and I for one will look forward to your future inputs. EO has been a tremendous help to so many of us and I can't imagine it in better hands than those of Larry and Jeff. Thought for us all....when you run across a green pasture often, sooner or later you get some brown stuff on your boot. You wipe it off and you ought to decide that you don't want anymore of the brown stuff. Slow to a walk and take a look at where you step. Bet you'll see more green pasture. ;-)
 

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Lawrence, just wanted to join in with those who say you dropped the ball on this one. I only post ocasionally, but read on a regular basis and have seen much worse. I found his story to be
consistant with what I've heard from others. Having said that, I think EO is a very useful site and you guys are doing a great job! Are you feeling a little like that statue?
 

kg

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Owner/Operator
the administrators of EO lament the fact that some people using this site do not actively participate, and choose instead to "lurk in the shadows " not willing to commit to print some profound wisdom.

I fail to see how censorship based on the worthiness of content of a given article,will give those non -participants a reason to write anything!

Edit for accepted standards of taste and decorum not for ideas,opinions , and thoughts.

Thanks for your time.
 

knightrider

Expert Expediter
Maybe you can help me? I was married for 9 yrs. to this witch. Well, I drove for Fed Ex C.C., and Panther11, and this witch that I had made me quit both companies. I got rid of the witch, but the companies are giving me bad references. I am DYING to get back on the road. Do you know ANYTHING I could do to get my D.A.C. clean again or do you know ANYBODY that would hire me to drive?? I don't have enough experience to drive solo for Tractor Trailer, but I DO have Class A CDL with HAZ. END.
Thank You,
Scott Knight
[email protected]
 

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Just curious as to why you're getting bad references. If you did your job while you were there and gave proper notice when you left there should be no problem. If you know up front there will be a problem when you apply, include in your resume a brief explanation of what was going on in your life that led to the problem and why it won't happen again. Maybe that will help.
 

knightrider

Expert Expediter
THAN YOU HIWAY STAR!!!! THE PROBLEM IS IS TAT I DIDN'T GIVE ANY NOTICES WHEN I LEFT THESE COMPANIES. MY CRAZY EX-WIFE JUST HAD E WALK AWAY FROM ONE TRUCK. ALTHOUGH WE WASN'T UNDER A LOAD, PANTHER 11 HAS ME DOWN AS " ABANDONING A TRUCK ". I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO GET BACK ON THE ROAD. I HAVE EVEN POSTED A AD IN THE DRIVER AVAILABLE CATEGORY AND OFFERED TO WORK FREE FOR 1 MONTH FOR SOMEONE WHO WOULD GIVE ME A SHOT.
THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT,
SCOTT
 
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