Changing delivery times from straight through, to next day, or even later, have long been a point of contention among Roberts Express and then FedEx Custom Critical (FCC) drivers. Understanding the reason behind these changes has helped us maintain our sanity and lower the level of frustration we used to feel.
Expedite customers pay a premium price to have their freight picked up at a specified time and delivered door to door. When the booking customer is the Shipper, or a third party, they don’t often know the receiving hours of the consignee. What they do know is that they want their freight picked up as soon as possible. The FCC Customer Service Agents and the Dispatch Agents work together to get the load, and get the truck on which to put the load. When time permits, they also call the consignee to get a confirmed delivery time. They are often met with telephone recordings asking the caller to leave a message, so a confirmed delivery cannot always be provided at time of dispatch. Without the consignee’s time specific delivery, the FCC computer will populate the delivery time as showing a straight through delivery.
We get our run offers in one of two ways, telephonically or over the Qualcomm. On the QC, it is simple; the run offer shows a confirmed field, CNF Y or CNF N, meaning the run times have been confirmed or not confirmed with the customers. Confusion enters the picture when the Dispatcher offers the run over the telephone. Each dispatcher has his or her own style when providing information pertaining to a run offer. Most of them nearly always say “this load delivers straight through.” Some will say “This run is confirmed for straight through”, but they seldom say “This run is not confirmed for straight through.”
A driver should always consider that delivery times received during a telephonic offer are not confirmed unless the dispatcher says confirmed. A driver should always ask so they won’t be disappointed when the Delivery Confirmation message arrives with a time that differs from the original run offer time. This is particularly important on run offers received on a Friday, where an undesirable Monday delivery is possible.
Finally, a consignee occasionally changes a confirmed delivery time. If the change is significant, a driver should call dispatch to discuss available options, including detention pay.
Expedite customers pay a premium price to have their freight picked up at a specified time and delivered door to door. When the booking customer is the Shipper, or a third party, they don’t often know the receiving hours of the consignee. What they do know is that they want their freight picked up as soon as possible. The FCC Customer Service Agents and the Dispatch Agents work together to get the load, and get the truck on which to put the load. When time permits, they also call the consignee to get a confirmed delivery time. They are often met with telephone recordings asking the caller to leave a message, so a confirmed delivery cannot always be provided at time of dispatch. Without the consignee’s time specific delivery, the FCC computer will populate the delivery time as showing a straight through delivery.
We get our run offers in one of two ways, telephonically or over the Qualcomm. On the QC, it is simple; the run offer shows a confirmed field, CNF Y or CNF N, meaning the run times have been confirmed or not confirmed with the customers. Confusion enters the picture when the Dispatcher offers the run over the telephone. Each dispatcher has his or her own style when providing information pertaining to a run offer. Most of them nearly always say “this load delivers straight through.” Some will say “This run is confirmed for straight through”, but they seldom say “This run is not confirmed for straight through.”
A driver should always consider that delivery times received during a telephonic offer are not confirmed unless the dispatcher says confirmed. A driver should always ask so they won’t be disappointed when the Delivery Confirmation message arrives with a time that differs from the original run offer time. This is particularly important on run offers received on a Friday, where an undesirable Monday delivery is possible.
Finally, a consignee occasionally changes a confirmed delivery time. If the change is significant, a driver should call dispatch to discuss available options, including detention pay.
