Thanks Turtle, I always enjoy reading your posts. I hope your'e just kidding about the 16 hour clock for vans w/Panther.
Nope. The only thing I was kidding about was that you'll love the new boards. You won't.
"If it's true, it will be a huge impediment for me to overcome."
Might not be as bad as you think.
"When I am at home I often run to the store or post office or doing errands in my van. Are you saying if I move around my hometown on my own time that this counts against this 16 hour clock???"
Yes. Your van must remain motionless for 5 hours before the clock restarts. Just like the straights and big trucks, dispatchers (or at least supervisors, anyway) can now see right on the screen how many hours you have left of the 16.
"If I put myself out-of-service and drive around in my van does that also count against the clock?"
I don't know. My guess would be that it would.
"What if I am deadheading home, does that count?"
If you are deadheading home without your van, probably not. If the van is moving, it's gonna count.
"this is very confusing."
It's really pretty simple, tho. Definitely easier than having to deal with logs and all that crap. Basically, they don't want you driving more than 16 hours without a reasonable break, 'cause driving more than 16 hours without a break is (a) stupid, and (b) unsafe for you and everyone on the road. It's also a huge liability for the carrier. If you get into a wreck, someone will go after the deep pockets, and that's Panther.
After a 16 hour day, they require a 5 hour break. That's pretty lenient when you consider the HOS rules that others have to run under. If the timing of the load doesn't allow you to get a 5 hour break, they'll swap it out. But at least now you know the rules going in, and they aren't arbitrary like the used to be. You know up front (or at least have a very good idea) if that 1000 mile run is gonna swap or not, because the rule is anything over 900 miles or 16 hours is gonna swap. The only time it won't swap is when there is enough time built into the load to get a break.
Like the one I'm on right now, picked up in Mobile,AL on Friday afternoon, delivers to Boston, MA on Monday 0500, 1403 miles. Plenty of time for breaks. Had one last week for 1500 miles, but had 40 hours to get it there.
If the load is going to swap, the rule also is that the Swap Desk needs to maximize the miles for both drivers, split it down the middle, if at all possible. If you have a ton of deadhead, keep that in mind, cause on some loads if the split it down the middle, suddenly the deadhead percent isn't worth the loaded miles revenue. Either turn the load down, or ask them to work with you here on making sure your deadhead percentage isn't nuts, that you get enough miles to make it worth taking at all. If they play dumb (redundant, I know) and/or won't work with you, turn the load down, it's not worth the headache.
"I will not be held hostage to someone else's dictates."
Nor will I, and that's my main complaint about how swaps are done now, as it is. They offer a load, with the stated terms and conditions of the load, and I can accept it or reject it on those terms. After the pickup, they change the conditions of the load, something that I cannot do. Not only do they change the loaded miles of the contracted load, they tell me when and where it will swap, effectively putting them in the position of being able to dictate to me when and where to go (for the swap), and you can't do that with an independent contractor. And to add insult to injury, they change the contracted conditions unilaterally without so much as a phone call to explain why they want to make the swap. That's pretty rude, if ya ask me.
The swap itself isn't the issue, as I can do a 900 mile run today and tomorrow, or I can do 500 today and another load for 400 tomorrow. Miles are miles. I don't care. The issue is being treated like an employee instead of being treated as an independent contractor. It's being told what to do and how to do it, like it lump it.
If you want to swap the load, fine, tell me up front so I can make my decision based on actual information. If you don't know for sure where it will swap or about the other driver's availability yet, that's fine, I'll work with you. Just be up front and honest with me about it. Be professional about it.
But, with the rules as they are, on 900 mile loads, if you are offered a 900 mile run with a 50 mile deadhead, you can calculate the 16 hours from the time you move the van, as to when you'll have to take a 5 hour break, and you should be able to know up front if you can take the load, and the break, without swapping it out. Safety uses 55MHP for a van when figuring for a swap. 900 miles divided by 55 is 16 hours, which is how they came up with that one. So, if the delivery time isn't 16 hours plus at least 5 for the break from the time you moved your van (to deadhead to go get it), it'll swap, count on it.
From what I've seen so far, they're being pretty consistent, and fair, with these 900 miles / 16 hour rules. I've had a couple of 900+ mile runs where I was able to deliver it before the 16 hours were up, anyway. It just depends on where it's going, time of day and the routing. Through the midwest at 65 MPH or less, it's difficult, so you're better off swapping it out, anyway. Across I-20 from the Carolinas to Texas, it's pretty easy, as a 900 mile run can be done through there in about 14 hours or so.
Don't make it out to be more of a big deal than it is. Swaps used to be far more arbitrary than they are now. As a result, there are actually fewer swaps. And when you do get swapped, it won't be much of a surprise when it happens.
Still, they'd better give me a call before I get a new load receipt that states I have agreed to the following yada, yada, yada, that not only did I
not agree to, but I wasn't even informed of.
Since they've started these new rules, I've only had one swapped from me. St Louis to Laredo, 1006 miles, they swapped me out in Dallas after 583 miles. I went to bed and the next day I got the second leg of a swap that went to Laredo. Same miles, two different loads. I don't care (except the second load had a FSC that was twice the one they took away from me
).
That one never should have been taken away from the other driver, cause it was scheduled for delivery at 10PM at one of the freight forwarders, and they aren't even open after 4:30PM. So not only did I get the load, I got 9 hours of detention on top of it. The first driver could have gotten an extra 8 or 10 hours sleep on that run and would have been fine. He even told them that the place was gonna be closed. But, hey, confirming delivery times are beneath a CSR. They don't have time for such shenanigans. Fine by me, cha-ching.
