arkjarhead
Veteran Expediter
One question. How does your skill help the freight pop up for you? Couldn't some one with a weeks experience and no skill get a load out before you?
Shamed by Newbies
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greg334
Veteran Expediter
Hold the presses...... Phil doesn’t believe in luck!
Well from that long monolog, I am going to assume a few things about the ‘L’ word and you -
1. You are clairvoyant... ah.... I mean you are claircognizance. I would say that you have some sort of precognitive skills but truthfully if that was the case, you would not be doing this but rather playing the stock market and gambling making billions and buy FedEx. I may be wrong in this assumption though, you may have some sort of precognitive skills.
2. You have some connections within FedEx where you are the preferred team in the entire company. I doubt this but again anything is possible because … never mind.
3. You know the customers and they give you a call before they give FedEx a call to make sure you are aware of the up coming load so to get you into position to capture that load offer, but again doubt it.
4. You take the information that you have accumulated and move your truck to a location that will give you the best opportunity to receive a load offer and depend on customer’s needs to be fulfilled.
I think it is the last point that has something to do with that ‘L’ work and very close to reality. I mean that you have absolutely no control over a customer and FedEx (or should not have any within the company) needs, you can not determine what these needs are until you get that call and that all depends on where you are at and what you are doing at the time.
Sorry Phil, I admire your fortitude trying to make the point that it is only your work that make you successful but in reality, it is the luck you have being at the right place at the right time.
That nasty ‘L’ word!
Well from that long monolog, I am going to assume a few things about the ‘L’ word and you -
1. You are clairvoyant... ah.... I mean you are claircognizance. I would say that you have some sort of precognitive skills but truthfully if that was the case, you would not be doing this but rather playing the stock market and gambling making billions and buy FedEx. I may be wrong in this assumption though, you may have some sort of precognitive skills.
2. You have some connections within FedEx where you are the preferred team in the entire company. I doubt this but again anything is possible because … never mind.
3. You know the customers and they give you a call before they give FedEx a call to make sure you are aware of the up coming load so to get you into position to capture that load offer, but again doubt it.
4. You take the information that you have accumulated and move your truck to a location that will give you the best opportunity to receive a load offer and depend on customer’s needs to be fulfilled.
I think it is the last point that has something to do with that ‘L’ work and very close to reality. I mean that you have absolutely no control over a customer and FedEx (or should not have any within the company) needs, you can not determine what these needs are until you get that call and that all depends on where you are at and what you are doing at the time.
Sorry Phil, I admire your fortitude trying to make the point that it is only your work that make you successful but in reality, it is the luck you have being at the right place at the right time.
That nasty ‘L’ word!
>One question. How does your skill help the freight pop up
>for you? Couldn't some one with a weeks experience and no
>skill get a load out before you?
I have no power over the freight and no skill that makes it pop up. We do not produce freight. Shippers do. If the freight does not come to us, we go to it. Where that is, we never know for sure. So we do our best to figure it out and act on the information we develop.
At this moment, it is entirely possible that while Diane and I sit in Spokane, a brand new expediter is sitting in Portland and will be dispatched on a nice load just a few minutes from now.
It's not about the newbie (or anyone else for that matter) being luckier than us. It is not about us being luckier than others. It is about us, sitting where we are right now, doing our best to position ourselves for the next load.
It is not complicated. Based on our experience, we believe that if we picked a load up in an area before, we are likely to do so again. If we find ourselves without a good load offer 24 hours after a delivery, we go to the closest express center where we have received multiple offers before.
We know where that is by looking at our run journal. Once in an express center (usually a large metro area), we more-precicely position oursleves by looking at the zip codes in the area where we have picked up before. More than once, that technique has got us dispatched out ahead of other trucks that are waiting in the express center but further away from the freight.
>for you? Couldn't some one with a weeks experience and no
>skill get a load out before you?
I have no power over the freight and no skill that makes it pop up. We do not produce freight. Shippers do. If the freight does not come to us, we go to it. Where that is, we never know for sure. So we do our best to figure it out and act on the information we develop.
At this moment, it is entirely possible that while Diane and I sit in Spokane, a brand new expediter is sitting in Portland and will be dispatched on a nice load just a few minutes from now.
It's not about the newbie (or anyone else for that matter) being luckier than us. It is not about us being luckier than others. It is about us, sitting where we are right now, doing our best to position ourselves for the next load.
It is not complicated. Based on our experience, we believe that if we picked a load up in an area before, we are likely to do so again. If we find ourselves without a good load offer 24 hours after a delivery, we go to the closest express center where we have received multiple offers before.
We know where that is by looking at our run journal. Once in an express center (usually a large metro area), we more-precicely position oursleves by looking at the zip codes in the area where we have picked up before. More than once, that technique has got us dispatched out ahead of other trucks that are waiting in the express center but further away from the freight.
>Phil, Even after typing all of that....as I said before,
>luck still has a place in this business. No amount of
>planning, spreadsheets, past history or looking into the
>crystal ball will tell a person that a load is going to
>cancel. That's luck..good or bad
Not believing in luck, I respectfully disagree. In your scenario, yes, a load canceled, and yes, there is no way to forsee that ahead of time, plan for it, or otherwise avoid it. But luck has nothing to do with it.
Luck did not cause the load to be canceled. The shipper took action to cancel the load for reasons that made sense to the shipper. The fact that YOU happened to be on the load is no more your bad luck than it is the good luck of everyone else who was not on the load. The load canceled because of what the shipper did, not because of what luck did.
While luck is a convenient and popular shorthand to describe and interpret certain events, it is not a causal force that exists in the real world.
>luck still has a place in this business. No amount of
>planning, spreadsheets, past history or looking into the
>crystal ball will tell a person that a load is going to
>cancel. That's luck..good or bad
Not believing in luck, I respectfully disagree. In your scenario, yes, a load canceled, and yes, there is no way to forsee that ahead of time, plan for it, or otherwise avoid it. But luck has nothing to do with it.
Luck did not cause the load to be canceled. The shipper took action to cancel the load for reasons that made sense to the shipper. The fact that YOU happened to be on the load is no more your bad luck than it is the good luck of everyone else who was not on the load. The load canceled because of what the shipper did, not because of what luck did.
While luck is a convenient and popular shorthand to describe and interpret certain events, it is not a causal force that exists in the real world.
Man am I good then...We were as one says positioned at the Loves just outside Decatur, Mississippi when a load order was processed for a Sprinter in Decatur. And I thought I was lucky.
maybe_driving
Seasoned Expediter
Well Good Luck to all I'm on vacation
arkjarhead
Veteran Expediter
Phil,
I was just pickin on you man. Altough there is a lot of ltl freight up there right now. Just maybe not much expedite. It's obvious you're doing something right. I just like to pick from time to time.
I was just pickin on you man. Altough there is a lot of ltl freight up there right now. Just maybe not much expedite. It's obvious you're doing something right. I just like to pick from time to time.
Pappy
Expert Expediter
I was in a business at one time where i actually nurtured a young couple. I gave them all the inside secrets and trade secrets. I even went so far as to disclose pertinent ifrormation in my contracts with customers.
Little did I know that they would soon become my biggest competition.
I was happy to see them succeed and some what dissappointed when they used some of the information I'd shared with them to persu some of my biggest customers.
That presented an entirely different challenge! I really understand now that it is truly a dog eat dog world.
However, when I sold my business, I still had all of my original customers and re-newed 5 year contracts for the new owners!
The couple that I'd helped so much only caused me to wonder about one thing---and that was "Did I really practice what I had preached"?
Pappy
Little did I know that they would soon become my biggest competition.
I was happy to see them succeed and some what dissappointed when they used some of the information I'd shared with them to persu some of my biggest customers.
That presented an entirely different challenge! I really understand now that it is truly a dog eat dog world.
However, when I sold my business, I still had all of my original customers and re-newed 5 year contracts for the new owners!
The couple that I'd helped so much only caused me to wonder about one thing---and that was "Did I really practice what I had preached"?
Pappy
Broompilot
Veteran Expediter
Phil You stated (I do not believe in Luck?)
Come on Phil, that statement is just not the best Post I have seen you make.
This is BOTH a dose of skill and luck. Examples all over the place, guy takes a load from L.A. up to Yellowstone, before he unloads is asked willing to DH to Casper and take one to El Paso? I suppose that was planned on his part? Or could you have done better than that?
You have no choice on customer base since you are Leased onto a Company. You can say NO - YES, sure I believe you have some customers who would prefere you but it would only be LUCK if your there available when they need the freight moved.
Not believing in luck, is BRAGGING here Phil. Yes your smart, just not as smart as you think you are. No insult just facts when you quote something like I do nt beleive in luck.
Thank God for luck, as if most of us (me including) had to depend soley on ones knowledge we would all be in a whole heap of trouble. Example=Lee Iococa sure the man was Brilliant, but his luck and timming for his products even he admits was pure luck. Mustang in 64 and Mini Van in 80 or 81. The Country was prime for both of these releases, as luck would have it was 10 times more successfull than planned.
Now you can refere back to the headline on the post RE: Shamed by XXXXX
Come on Phil, that statement is just not the best Post I have seen you make.
This is BOTH a dose of skill and luck. Examples all over the place, guy takes a load from L.A. up to Yellowstone, before he unloads is asked willing to DH to Casper and take one to El Paso? I suppose that was planned on his part? Or could you have done better than that?
You have no choice on customer base since you are Leased onto a Company. You can say NO - YES, sure I believe you have some customers who would prefere you but it would only be LUCK if your there available when they need the freight moved.
Not believing in luck, is BRAGGING here Phil. Yes your smart, just not as smart as you think you are. No insult just facts when you quote something like I do nt beleive in luck.
Thank God for luck, as if most of us (me including) had to depend soley on ones knowledge we would all be in a whole heap of trouble. Example=Lee Iococa sure the man was Brilliant, but his luck and timming for his products even he admits was pure luck. Mustang in 64 and Mini Van in 80 or 81. The Country was prime for both of these releases, as luck would have it was 10 times more successfull than planned.
Now you can refere back to the headline on the post RE: Shamed by XXXXX
Broom your example would called more of an anomoly or coicidence in the business then luck in Phils world.
Planning, chance and Luck.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
If I'm in Vegas..............
Its got to be LUCK.
On the road, I like to think of it as.....Timing.
Dave
D6847
FCC WG
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
If I'm in Vegas..............
Its got to be LUCK.
On the road, I like to think of it as.....Timing.
Dave
D6847
FCC WG
Timing?? hmmmmm that works....trying to time when you and the freight will meet in a mutual location.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
>I do not belive in luck, and suggest that expediters that do
>degrade the quality of their business decision making, and
>thereby reduce their opportunities for success.
>
couple yeras ago i loaded a tractor load,pittsburgh ex center.load was going to british columbia,and I told the dispatcher that my truck couldnt go into canada as was to long with 53 ft trailer,she said no matter,she'd get a carrier up there to take the trailer to delivery.Now here is where the luck starts,and this was luck.After delivery our layover was san jose california,so I asked this carrier if he had anything going south,and guess what,he had been talking to Fed ex about load going to bakersfield ca.He wasnt sure he was going to ship with the fed or put on his own trailer,so there was a truck stop next to his yard,he tpold us to go there and he would call me in couple hours.yep your right,fed ex called,wanted to know if we wanted load to california,it was a c load,yep we took it,now here comes t he luck,turned out while we were on way to california,a D truck was cought over weight with load going to south carolina,so we were offered the load,we gave this D unit my C load and we took his D load that turned out weighing 22000 lbs,yes it was bumped to E rate,and this week ended up paying over 13000 dollars,yes this was luck.
>degrade the quality of their business decision making, and
>thereby reduce their opportunities for success.
>
couple yeras ago i loaded a tractor load,pittsburgh ex center.load was going to british columbia,and I told the dispatcher that my truck couldnt go into canada as was to long with 53 ft trailer,she said no matter,she'd get a carrier up there to take the trailer to delivery.Now here is where the luck starts,and this was luck.After delivery our layover was san jose california,so I asked this carrier if he had anything going south,and guess what,he had been talking to Fed ex about load going to bakersfield ca.He wasnt sure he was going to ship with the fed or put on his own trailer,so there was a truck stop next to his yard,he tpold us to go there and he would call me in couple hours.yep your right,fed ex called,wanted to know if we wanted load to california,it was a c load,yep we took it,now here comes t he luck,turned out while we were on way to california,a D truck was cought over weight with load going to south carolina,so we were offered the load,we gave this D unit my C load and we took his D load that turned out weighing 22000 lbs,yes it was bumped to E rate,and this week ended up paying over 13000 dollars,yes this was luck.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Timing is luck.
You can not control your timing of an event as much as you can control the timing of being at the right slot machine at the right time to hit the right wheels to win the top payout - all luck!
I stand firm that luck in any way, shape or form has a lot to do with this business for most of us who are contracted to a company.
You can not control your timing of an event as much as you can control the timing of being at the right slot machine at the right time to hit the right wheels to win the top payout - all luck!
I stand firm that luck in any way, shape or form has a lot to do with this business for most of us who are contracted to a company.
>I stand firm that luck in any way, shape or form has a lot
>to do with this business for most of us who are contracted
>to a company.
Stand as firm as you wish, you lucky fellow you! I don't believe in luck so have nothing to defend, hapless no-luck man am I.
>to do with this business for most of us who are contracted
>to a company.
Stand as firm as you wish, you lucky fellow you! I don't believe in luck so have nothing to defend, hapless no-luck man am I.
Steve, what made a D unit attempt to load 22,000. Those folks must have been desperate for a run. If you are in the hit or miss expediting industry luck along with experience and proper planning all come into play. Luck can be a major factor in your bottom line. To say that it doesn't is egotistical juvenile thinking.
But when do you have total control if you are leased to a company. You can be deadheading some where and a shipper books a load in your area. You don't know it but your company does. Now the dispatcher may look at it and say this can wait 4 hours before I offer it out and you merrily deadhead along not being aware of this load. But the dispatcher may decide to covr the load early and they see you chugging along. So he/she offers it to you and you accept and think"man that a nice piece of luck to get this load".
You had the good luck to be in the right place at the right time.
You had the good luck to be in the right place at the right time.