Not Happy like many of You

[OntarioVanMan]

No that's not why.

Here is the deal.

I take a load from an agent who has a customer. I get there and it is the same scenario as I posted, instead of one skid, there is three skids and instead of it being 300 lbs, it is 2500 lbs. Oh and it is all hand load, not pallet break down but hand load with a pallet jack.

So because this is a customer of the agents, he/she can go back to the customer and explain the problem then recalculate the cost.

Got it?

So I accept an agent's offer and the same scenario but now I have a bit of a problem. They bid on the load, got the load because out of 10 bids he/she was the lowest and I may get the omnipresent dispatcher statement "I will cover you on the next load" and get to hear how this will help the company out, yada yada yada trying to talk me into taking it as I agreed to it.

The second situation may not happen a lot but it does.

That's the difference.

I've had things like that happen and not once have a taken it on the chin...I call customer service that handles things like that and wait for the approval to go ahead...either the customer agrees to pay or E-1 takes it out of their own pocket..I have yet to drive away empty.

 

[RLENT]

I just set it up and was showing her how to post.

Oh ..... well ....... then nevermind .....

 

[nightcreacher]

Whats the big deal here?If a van can take a 2500 lb load,it doesnt matter if it weights 1 lb or 2500 lbs,its still a van load.The only thing that changes,is the hand load and unload.This should raise the price of having fun.If the carrier can't adjust the pay,then to me its a reason for turn down.

 

[Dynamite 1]

as for calling in, in a case like this, that is the proper thing to do. the only problem with it is you are getting the backdoor about 80% of the time. the only time i consider the negotiations legit is when im on a conference call. the rest of the time you call in tell them the problem, they put you on hold or tell you they will call you back, come back on the phone and the situation is resolved or worse case do it or dry run. most of the time they should just simply say hang on and let me see if they will allow me to give up any more of our profit. the money is there most of the time already without bothering the customer. which in hindsite brings us around to the old ? if this is so then why cant you give me a better rate from the get go. does it really matter what you call the money when you are on the dock trying to load. its either a dime more a mile up front or 50 bucks addition after the fact. not to say i agree with shippers changing the load, it does happen but this goes both ways. we often p/u much less than we are told, so should that be taken into consideration and money taken away. NO as a rule as long as the difference is not huge and it doesnt require much effort i will take care of it myself. if it does then i play the game, and pretend to think im getting something.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It has worked in reverse for me many times..told it was a sprinter load and it was a CV load...did I call in and ask for LESS money? Don't be absurd! ....Yes it does work both ways....Dare I say common sense comes into play...

 

[jaminjim]

It has worked in reverse for me many times..told it was a sprinter load and it was a CV load...did I call in and ask for LESS money? Don't be absurd! ....Yes it does work both ways....Dare I say common sense comes into play...

OVM you and common sense is like oil and water!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

OVM you and common sense is like oil and water!

And I thank you for that observation Sir...

 

[nightcreacher]

ok im a tractor but Ive been in a similar situation,it has worked both ways
1st i went after a D load,i go out to the dock and find they filled my trailer,I called dispatch,they put me on hold,and when they came back on the phone,gave me a dry run and said tell them to unload you,paying customer wouldnt pay tractor rate.Had it happen the other way too,went after ligt load,they raised the weight to tractor weight,customer paid the extra money,I got the load.As far as hand unload or load,always make the phone call before you do it,when customer finds out the charges,they will do the work

 

[geo]

ceva in richmond va we have great dispatcher they know what loads we will take and what we won't do and they never offer us anything they know we won't take
they make money and we make money
hear at ceva i run everyday that i want to and take off when i want

what most people don't due is look at the end of month firgure, then look at where did i go wrong firgure out how to fix it

when i was with fedexcc i had a run every 2.5 days for 11 years
took good with the bad and did ok you have know how to play the system
when they ask you at the pickup or delivery to do this and that there are other charges that should be paid for
and if you go ahead and do that extra service you are cheating yourself out of alot of money
we do alot of home delivery's and customers pay for curb service and want it to 2nd floor, if they won't pay isn't going to happen by me

 

[fortwayne]

With the very opening comment of 'low acceptance rate' - you might want to consider something it took me awhile to learn.

YOU TAKE THE BAD TO GET THE GOOD.

You help the company help their customer and the company will then help you.

It's that simple.

Sure I didn't want to take some 125-mile run from CT to JFK Airport but I did and I am glad I did afterwards.

It was followed by a 585-mile run and a 650-mile run.

The really good companies remember and reward those "good ole' boys" who take the short runs - and give them the long runs when they come available.

 

[layoutshooter]

IF, there was often a "titfortat" it would be a good idea. It happens these days, but rarely. Example:

We took a run the other day, bad run, short, paid only ok. It was soon followed up by a better run. While talking with dispatch I mentioned that since we were going to be on the west coast we could really use a run to WA state to see our son who just returned from Afghanistan. Next morning the same dispatcher called to ask if we wanted to be taken off load one, to take a load that took us within 200 miles of where our son was at. The second load paid a bit less but it was worth it to see our son and granddaughter. Thanks to "M" at FedEx for looking out for us.

NOTE TO ALL CARRIERS: IF you did more to look out for us contractors like "M" did in this case YOUR crummy loads MIGHT just get taken care of more often!!!

I know that business is the name of the game, BUT, a little humanity goes a LONG WAY!! Independent contractors ARE PEOPLE!! So are carriers. We ALL need to remember that.

 

[guido4475]

Probably just a sales pitch to claim that they can offer it to customers. They should have jumped in when Panther did. Might be a little late. If they go in with the intent to beat the price point, it will have little affect.
Why? Not many lined up to buy a 150K reefer only to run it at reduced rates. Or, they will have to subsidize those trucks with taking another dime from the vans
On a side note, haven't seen a E1 reefer truck anywhere. Maybe someone has?

I honestly think that there may be an agreement between the carrier mentioned and the large fleet owner with the red KW's to supply the carrier with white-glove equipped trucks. They are the only ones that I can see that can afford to buy new loaded trucks at the cost of $189,000. One of those is on this websites classifieds for that, new.Ridiculous.Just my thought.

 

[guido4475]

I might of missed this in one of the post but there is a big differance between vans and regulated trucks such as me .I am in a straight truck and if I take a load lets say 150 miler. this starts my clock and if I do not get another load then I am done for the day and I have made about 200 to 225 dollars of revenue for the day.thats half of my goal for the day. I will not start my clock for loads like that...seems like when you take a short load they never back it up with another short run. I have begged them for a mini after running a 200 mile load.if I was in a van it would be easy to maintain a 90 percent or higher ratings with out having to worry about hours of service..

awesome point that many companies/dispatchers do not take into consideration.

 

[Scuba]

I feel your pain.I have the same problem at times with this company.It does help to call and talk to driver relations and have some of the refusals removed. I have had better luck talking to 3rd shift. let them go over the last 30 days. just tell them some of these load offers where over 40 percent deadhead..
This needs to be changed as this is forced dispatch. with this rating of maintaining 67 percent acceptance you would have to accept 7 out of 10 loads. where is the driver council when we need them!!

Where is the Drivers Council when you need them? Well how often have you reached out to your council rep? then when something happens that you don't like you complain about the Drivers Council. Panther owns Panther they can set any policy that they want to they did this without us we got a heads up about a week before the rest of the fleet and asked what we thought. But in the end they can do what they want to do period if you don't like it maybe you need to look for another company to lease on with. But i am sure all of the other companies have policy's in place that not everyone likes. Face it the only people that complain about the 67% are the few that cherry pick. Hey it's your truck run it the way you want but if you don't keep your numbers up you will run it from the bottom of the list.

 

[bludragon13]

this has been a very good discussion,the panther policy was well described by turtle,however the most telling thing is the original poster has not been back which prolly means that his lack of attention to detail has put him in the fix he's in at panther. it is always your responsibility to cya,if you don't, then don't whine when you get screwed by mistakes made at dispatch. it can always be fixed if you are not accepting below rate, over 40% dh,more then 8hrs in advance etc. call in and get those fixed . of course he's not paying attention so he'll remain at the bottom of the boards. hopefully others will be helped by the info that has been provided .

 

[Desperado]

we just getting the spring new dispatch lol better watch everything ps andy clark on west coast

 

[bdmj989900]

Face it the only people that complain about the 67% are the few that cherry pick. Hey it's your truck run it the way you want but if you don't keep your numbers up you will run it from the bottom of the list.

Scuba i totaly agree with you on this.

And almost always its the dispatcher that makes the mistake and counts it agianst you when they shouldn't. You just have to double check every time you turn down a load.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

If a driver is just following a fleet owners instructions on what to turn down...the driver shouldn't be punished...punish the fleet owner where the blame really is...if the owner pays the fuel they could take say .05 off the FSC and that would only hurt the owner...not the driver

 

[iceroadtrucker]

Get right down to the Truth of what U just said you don't keep your numbers up then that's really saying Those Companies that push that rule are in a way really forcing dispatches on you. But they Say that there's no Forced dispatch. (That is what I'm getting out what U have said here).

If this be the case then those companies might as well make U an Employee vice a Contractor.

What difference should it make if you don't do a load because of Price. Ya say no It's no. Unless they want to make a deal with ya to do the load. U Just said U get punished for saying no. and go to the Bottom of the Board so to speak That's wrong.

But you say the Companies say that don't happen. HMMM

Just because one person can take a truck that's paid for and Run for lets say 1.00 a mile the next guy might not be able to do that, Because of Fuel ect.

Example if your an owner and are Paying 2 drivers in a Truck and Your paying the fuel and have a Truck payment well You can't run freight for that Cheap. Where as if you own the Truck free and clear no payment and are in it and have a CO driver with you well then you can run Freight Cheaper than the above (Sometimes). agree you should.

Since its many companies Policies to have team's in the Truck Then they need to really look at the Prices they bid on freight before they try to get the Contractors to take the Freight. Companies Rates seem to fall because of all the high competition. (Price Wars)

So They want to run cheap freight then what they need is cheap trucks to run that cheap freight.

If one owns a Truck free and Clear and All you had to do is pay Fuel and A Co Driver then you could most certainly run Freight a heck of allot cheaper than lets say someone who's got a Truck Payment and Paying a Co Driver Fuel ect ect ect.

Now back to the Numbers Game

Hm mm

Good only if your a Company Driver. Ya they only drive.

For a Contractor Nope too much overhead.

You have the right to agree or disagree.

How you pick depends which side of the fence Ur on.

The Company or the Contractor.

The other day I paid 3.25 a gallon for fuel. This is outrageous and I'm told it's going up but the Price of freight seems to be dropping. HM

Something got to give some where. Food Clothing ect is on the rise along with parts ect. Not to mention everything else. INS, WC ect. Everybody got their hand out. Costs the Contractor more but Freight going down so it seems.

Americas the land of opportunity!!!! ???

I am beginning to wonder now.

Point is Choice. The right to choose with out Punishment or recourse.


Cant run a business in the red.

Think about it. Stop the price wars the only one its hurting is the contractors.

Without contractors well then the Company wont be able to stay in business. unless they hire employees to drive the freight. HM

Stats for Company Drivers yup for Contractors nope.

Take care.

 

[jaminjim]

Get right down to the Truth of what U just said you don't keep your numbers up then that's really saying Those Companies that push that rule are in a way really forcing dispatches on you. But they Say that there's no Forced dispatch. (That is what I'm getting out what U have said here).

If this be the case then those companies might as well make U an Employee vice a Contractor.

What difference should it make if you don't do a load because of Price. Ya say no It's no. Unless they want to make a deal with ya to do the load. U Just said U get punished for saying no. and go to the Bottom of the Board so to speak That's wrong.

But you say the Companies say that don't happen. HMMM

Just because one person can take a truck that's paid for and Run for lets say 1.00 a mile the next guy might not be able to do that, Because of Fuel ect.

Example if your an owner and are Paying 2 drivers in a Truck and Your paying the fuel and have a Truck payment well You can't run freight for that Cheap. Where as if you own the Truck free and clear no payment and are in it and have a CO driver with you well then you can run Freight Cheaper than the above (Sometimes). agree you should.

Since its many companies Policies to have team's in the Truck Then they need to really look at the Prices they bid on freight before they try to get the Contractors to take the Freight. Companies Rates seem to fall because of all the high competition. (Price Wars)

So They want to run cheap freight then what they need is cheap trucks to run that cheap freight.

If one owns a Truck free and Clear and All you had to do is pay Fuel and A Co Driver then you could most certainly run Freight a heck of allot cheaper than lets say someone who's got a Truck Payment and Paying a Co Driver Fuel ect ect ect.

Now back to the Numbers Game

Hm mm

Good only if your a Company Driver. Ya they only drive.

For a Contractor Nope too much overhead.

You have the right to agree or disagree.

How you pick depends which side of the fence Ur on.

The Company or the Contractor.

The other day I paid 3.25 a gallon for fuel. This is outrageous and I'm told it's going up but the Price of freight seems to be dropping. HM

Something got to give some where. Food Clothing ect is on the rise along with parts ect. Not to mention everything else. INS, WC ect. Everybody got their hand out. Costs the Contractor more but Freight going down so it seems.

Americas the land of opportunity!!!! ???

I am beginning to wonder now.

Point is Choice. The right to choose with out Punishment or recourse.


Cant run a business in the red.

Think about it. Stop the price wars the only one its hurting is the contractors.

Without contractors well then the Company wont be able to stay in business. unless they hire employees to drive the freight. HM

Stats for Company Drivers yup for Contractors nope.

Take care.

Who posted that?