In another thread, cheri1122 spoke of a mix up with a CSA card where she had it but dispatch thought she did not, and clarifying things resulted in her getting a load she otherwise would not have had.
Her story brings up an important point. For whatever reason, information on file at carriers sometimes becomes inaccurate. It pays to keep tabs on the info they have about you and your truck.
We once took our reefer (not the truck) out of service because it was not working well. After getting it fixed, we notified dispatch and the person we talked to "re-flagged" our reefer. A couple weeks later, Diane said out of the blue, "We haven't had a reefer load in a while." I had not noticed, but sure enough, she was right.
We called dispatch and learned that our reefer had not been re-flagged at all. The records still showed it out of service. Lesson learned.
Another time, we were parked next to a reefer-equipped D-unit driven by a team brand new to FedEx. They were curious about reefer loads since they had not had one yet. It struck us as odd that they had been on board a few weeks but had hauled no reefer freight. We told them our reefer flag story and they immediately called. Sure enough, their reefer had not been flagged.
Having learned our lesson, we now DOUBLE check our truck and driver credentials from time to time. The FedEx contractor web site shows some of our credentials. We call our contractor coordinator to have her read off the rest from time to time.
Of course, since we started doing that, we have flushed out no errors. Nevertheless, it seems like a good precaution to take.
Her story brings up an important point. For whatever reason, information on file at carriers sometimes becomes inaccurate. It pays to keep tabs on the info they have about you and your truck.
We once took our reefer (not the truck) out of service because it was not working well. After getting it fixed, we notified dispatch and the person we talked to "re-flagged" our reefer. A couple weeks later, Diane said out of the blue, "We haven't had a reefer load in a while." I had not noticed, but sure enough, she was right.
We called dispatch and learned that our reefer had not been re-flagged at all. The records still showed it out of service. Lesson learned.
Another time, we were parked next to a reefer-equipped D-unit driven by a team brand new to FedEx. They were curious about reefer loads since they had not had one yet. It struck us as odd that they had been on board a few weeks but had hauled no reefer freight. We told them our reefer flag story and they immediately called. Sure enough, their reefer had not been flagged.
Having learned our lesson, we now DOUBLE check our truck and driver credentials from time to time. The FedEx contractor web site shows some of our credentials. We call our contractor coordinator to have her read off the rest from time to time.
Of course, since we started doing that, we have flushed out no errors. Nevertheless, it seems like a good precaution to take.
