Just Wondering ....... Who do you work for?
- Thread starter lrtexpedite
- Start date
Brisco
Expert Expediter
Well....yeah......
Guess there is more than one way to look at the way he asked the question.
Intent could be "who makes the most $$ from your work". And, that could vary from contractor to contractor, in more ways than could possibly be answered correctly.
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
I really didn't want to hear what carrier you work for ! What i am asking is.... depends on who you work for who your customers are ! And what matters to you is how you service your customers.
Some drivers are out for #1 and some are out for there #1 customer A lot of newer drivers don't know who they work for and tend to think of what's best for them only and as an owner of a company I have to think what's best for my customers to make sure there needs are met ! If i only take the cherry long runs and never help another company out with the short runs then they will not remember me when it comes to the 1200 mile runs. If a company calls me and says John i need help I have a 55 mile run i need to get covered for a customer and i tell them good luck that doesn't work for me ! They will move to the next company till they find one that will help them! you better believe they will be the first one called on the next long run !
I am now trying to teach to my office staff. Work for yourself ! I am your employee But make me your customer instead. When you work,work as everyone around you is your customer and the more your willing to meet your customers needs the more you will invest in your "own company" the more you will grow in return your customer will grow and your investment will become more valuable to yourself !
I am not saying take every crap run thrown at you but think twice about the short runs offered to you ! 1st if you make $100.00 thats $100.00 more than you had when you woke up and thats profit ! But it's the long term affect helping your customer out that will matter ! You may find your self not sitting as long if you take the short run you have no ideal where you may end up! I have had drivers turn down short runs only to deadhead twice as far to relocate and lose any money they could have made !
Sorry if there was no magical answer !
Some drivers are out for #1 and some are out for there #1 customer A lot of newer drivers don't know who they work for and tend to think of what's best for them only and as an owner of a company I have to think what's best for my customers to make sure there needs are met ! If i only take the cherry long runs and never help another company out with the short runs then they will not remember me when it comes to the 1200 mile runs. If a company calls me and says John i need help I have a 55 mile run i need to get covered for a customer and i tell them good luck that doesn't work for me ! They will move to the next company till they find one that will help them! you better believe they will be the first one called on the next long run !
I am now trying to teach to my office staff. Work for yourself ! I am your employee But make me your customer instead. When you work,work as everyone around you is your customer and the more your willing to meet your customers needs the more you will invest in your "own company" the more you will grow in return your customer will grow and your investment will become more valuable to yourself !
I am not saying take every crap run thrown at you but think twice about the short runs offered to you ! 1st if you make $100.00 thats $100.00 more than you had when you woke up and thats profit ! But it's the long term affect helping your customer out that will matter ! You may find your self not sitting as long if you take the short run you have no ideal where you may end up! I have had drivers turn down short runs only to deadhead twice as far to relocate and lose any money they could have made !
Sorry if there was no magical answer !
You began the thread with the title, "Just Wondering ....... Who do you work for?" The answer is, "it depends."
It depends on who you are talking about, the circumstances at the time and the relationships involved. There is no single answer because expediters seldom work for a single person or entity at once.
Regarding an expediter taking short runs, the answer to the question "who do you work for?" is the same. It depends.
It depends on who you are talking about, the circumstances at the time and the relationships involved.
Example: Diane and I used to lease our truck to a large carrier with centralized dispatch (employee dispatchers). We now lease our truck to a large carrier with decentralized dispatch (self-employed agents).
If a dispatcher called us with a 55 mile run on a Friday morning we would likely decline it because the favor we would do would take us out of the dispatch order, diminish our changes for a good weekend run, and the favor would almost certainly not be repaid because the dispatcher has no power to repay it with a good load later on.
If an agent called with the same 55 mile run on a Friday morning, we might very well take it as a favor to the agent because there is no dispatch order and the agent has the power and incentive to repay favors.
It's not about the run. It's about the realtionships. Where favors are returned favors are granted.
Changing the subject just a bit, let me say to new readers that not all short runs are bad. Many short runs pay very well. A short run may be the only money that can be made on a given day.
It depends on who you are talking about, the circumstances at the time and the relationships involved. There is no single answer because expediters seldom work for a single person or entity at once.
Regarding an expediter taking short runs, the answer to the question "who do you work for?" is the same. It depends.
It depends on who you are talking about, the circumstances at the time and the relationships involved.
Example: Diane and I used to lease our truck to a large carrier with centralized dispatch (employee dispatchers). We now lease our truck to a large carrier with decentralized dispatch (self-employed agents).
If a dispatcher called us with a 55 mile run on a Friday morning we would likely decline it because the favor we would do would take us out of the dispatch order, diminish our changes for a good weekend run, and the favor would almost certainly not be repaid because the dispatcher has no power to repay it with a good load later on.
If an agent called with the same 55 mile run on a Friday morning, we might very well take it as a favor to the agent because there is no dispatch order and the agent has the power and incentive to repay favors.
It's not about the run. It's about the realtionships. Where favors are returned favors are granted.
Changing the subject just a bit, let me say to new readers that not all short runs are bad. Many short runs pay very well. A short run may be the only money that can be made on a given day.
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lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
The answer is yourself but your carrier is your customer !
ErieBigDawg
Seasoned Expediter
Apparently, NOT LRT!
John
Would your company do a load, that would cost you money, for a customer that couldn't get his usual carrier to do? Keeping in mind that the customer would call his usual carrier with his profitable loads.
Would your company do a load, that would cost you money, for a customer that couldn't get his usual carrier to do? Keeping in mind that the customer would call his usual carrier with his profitable loads.
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
It's always going to depend on the circumstances ! But you can't live in the what ifs and maybes and hypotheticals Every action has a reaction and when I make a decision I have to think how will it affect, Me , my company my customer and not just the 1 driver involved but what effect it will have on all drivers that i have to report to as well ! There are many times I lower my rate to get a load but the driver will never know it Because it's non of his business and it doesn't affect him , What affects him/her is if I don't lower my rate they may not get that load and end up sitting for another day !
Again it comes back to , We are here to move freight , To give the customer what they need so they will come back to you !
It does affect the contractor if you expect them to run a loser load.
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
And what is a "loser load " to you ?
Brisco
Expert Expediter
This is about to get very very interesting................
Even though I am not in Expediting, I have a strong base of knowledge when it comes to trucking, dispatching, costs, costs per mile, rates, sevicing customers, making a profit, etc......
I already see exactly what LRT is getting at, and it probably derived from a certain driver turning down a load that LRT needed covered. It could of been profitable to LRT, but not to the driver. They are in a disgareement over it, and LRT is here mildly venting. (use of "!" a lot
)
Like I said, this thread is about to get very very interesting. I'm especially wanting to hear LRT explain in more detail his "that's $100 more than you had earlier" quote in post #23.
Even though I am not in Expediting, I have a strong base of knowledge when it comes to trucking, dispatching, costs, costs per mile, rates, sevicing customers, making a profit, etc......
I already see exactly what LRT is getting at, and it probably derived from a certain driver turning down a load that LRT needed covered. It could of been profitable to LRT, but not to the driver. They are in a disgareement over it, and LRT is here mildly venting. (use of "!" a lot
)Like I said, this thread is about to get very very interesting. I'm especially wanting to hear LRT explain in more detail his "that's $100 more than you had earlier" quote in post #23.
paullud
Veteran Expediter
I already see exactly what LRT is getting at, and it probably derived from a certain driver turning down a load that LRT needed covered. It could of been profitable to LRT, but not to the driver. They are in a disgareement over it, and LRT is here mildly venting. (use of "!" a lot
I'm not saying LRT did this as I have no knowledge of it but I never got why companies do this. The shipper/receiver is a 3rd party customer for the driver so running a load that pays very little or is not profitable is a very bad decision for the driver. If the carrier is interested in running a "loser load" to impress a client then the carrier shouldn't make a thing or absorb the loss on their end. The carrier will have the most to gain from this by picking up a new customer and having a happy driver, those are the cornerstones of a successful company. If the carrier isn't willing to operate at a loss why should the driver, it is just an idiotic selfish way of thinking.
Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
A loser load is one that the carrier would like me to DH a 100 miles for less than it costs me to operate the truck and than take a run of 200 miles at $1.35all in.
Here is how I figure this.
100 miles at .50 =$50
200 miles 1.35=$270
Total income $320
Cost of runinng truck @ .85 per mile= $255
Profit $65
Profit per mile $.24 per mile
Time to drive 300 miles 6 hrs
30 mins at shipper 30 mins at consignee= 1 hour
7 hours for $65 or $9.28 hr
and then I am 50 miles from a truck stop where I can take a shower.
What do you call discounting your rate?
Here is how I figure this.
100 miles at .50 =$50
200 miles 1.35=$270
Total income $320
Cost of runinng truck @ .85 per mile= $255
Profit $65
Profit per mile $.24 per mile
Time to drive 300 miles 6 hrs
30 mins at shipper 30 mins at consignee= 1 hour
7 hours for $65 or $9.28 hr
and then I am 50 miles from a truck stop where I can take a shower.
What do you call discounting your rate?
Regardless of numbers, the economy and the way expediting has evolved over the last couple of years, one might say the owner operator is becoming the customer of the carrier.
"Sins of the past" are starting to creep into a lot of carriers. When you have larger carriers making millions and yet operators are running at rates from 10 years ago, something has to give.
It eventually reaches a threshold where your operators become your competition and you then broker your uncovered freight for considerably more than you would pay a contracted lease driver. Seeing more and more of that.
Greed can be a fascinating thing really.
Some get it, and some keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
As for me, the answer would be no. No interest in cheap loads.
Short loads are ok, but we won't do them at any kind of bargain rate. Good customer service is expensive.
Pretty much the same as if we have a repair. I would not expect the carrier to pitch in with some additional cash for it to get done because it might be expensive.
"Sins of the past" are starting to creep into a lot of carriers. When you have larger carriers making millions and yet operators are running at rates from 10 years ago, something has to give.
It eventually reaches a threshold where your operators become your competition and you then broker your uncovered freight for considerably more than you would pay a contracted lease driver. Seeing more and more of that.
Greed can be a fascinating thing really.
Some get it, and some keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
As for me, the answer would be no. No interest in cheap loads.
Short loads are ok, but we won't do them at any kind of bargain rate. Good customer service is expensive.
Pretty much the same as if we have a repair. I would not expect the carrier to pitch in with some additional cash for it to get done because it might be expensive.
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lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
Agreed that would be a loser load !
lrtexpedite
Active Expediter
No the load That got me thinking was a short load that the driver made $2.00 a mile on it took him 2 hours to do it. It was a great help to me , I was happy ,customer was happy and driver made money ! I just was asking who do you see as your customers ? Yet everyone keeps looking at this in so many different ways it is becoming distorted, it was a simple question , let it be simple !
This is the best post I have read in a very long time. From my viewpoint, cheap carriers are about to enter a new dimension of struggle.