Toyota - Evansville, Indiana

[RobZip]

I encountered a situation I thought I'd pass along at Toyota in Evansville, Indiana. I picked up a load bound for there last Friday night, due for delivery at 6:30 local time Monday morning.

I arrived and parked at a local Flying J Sunday night. Noticed several other expedite rigs of various sizes from a few different companies. Monday morning rolls around and we were all at Toyota to unload. There were probably 20 expedite rigs in the staging lot.

The Transfreight crew did a fairly timely job of getting everybody dock assignments and unloading. We were free to unload then do what we do best - hurry up and wait. So it was back to the Flying J for breakfast.

Of the 9 expedite rigs there, all but one had delivered to Toyota. I'd always heard that Evansville was a good place for outbound expedite freight but it was obvious there was going to be a substantial wait with this many trucks in the area. Several of us got together to swap war stories, etc and the discussion immediately turned to our current situation. One guy said this mass assembly of expediters has become almost a weekly thing at Toyota and the wait time for outbound loads has been as long as Wednesday or Thursday after unloading on Monday am.

Evansville is not such a large area that it would generate enough hot freight to get us all out any time soon. After the Monday delivery I was 3rd out in my size unit with my company. It was not until late Tuesday night that I floated up to next out. Some had decided to deadhead out and locate elsewhere. I actually left early Tuesday am while still 3rd on the dispatch order.

After sharing this experience, I'd like to ask if any of you have experience with other areas that seem to be congested with trucks after a mass assembly of expediters and do it on a fairly regular basis. Would you suggest avoiding these areas or any alternative layover destinations?

 

[BULLRUSH]

HI, YOU SAID THAT EVANSVILLE ISN'T A LARGE ENOUGH AREA TO PRODUCE ALOT OF HOT- FREIGHT. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW AN AREA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FREIGHT PROTENTIAL. IT BEGINS& ENDS WITH THE COMPANY FOR PROTENTIAL LOADS. THERE MIGHT BE AN AREA THAT HAS ALOT OF COMPANYS THAT USED EXPEDITED FREIGHT OR A SMALL AREA THAT HAS 1 COMPANY BUT PUMPS OUT 4-6 LOADS A DAY.

 

[Weave]

Set yourself a waiting threshold. Mine is 24-36 hours, regardless of how "hot" an area is or how many other trucks I see there. After that amount of time if I am not moving I head somewhere else. Be sure to ask your dispatchers how much stuff they have been bidding on for you, and if it isn't much, tell them you are heading out, and ask them where a the nearest place is where things have been moving better.
-Weave-

 

[paperback1]

My drivers wait no more than 18hrs, then they move if they don't get a load. Thank goodness, they usally don't sit more than 8-12 hrs.

 

[RobZip]

>HI, YOU SAID THAT EVANSVILLE ISN'T A LARGE ENOUGH AREA TO
>PRODUCE ALOT OF HOT- FREIGHT.

At that particular time, that was the situation. Too many trucks in the area, not enough moving to get anybody out. This was not just speculation based on the looks of the place.

The judgement call I made was based partly on the physical size but more on the fact that there were close to 20 trucks of various size in the area that had unloaded at the same place. Also factored into all this was a meeting among several of us. A few of these guys shared the experiences they had in previous weeks and it didn't sound very promising to get a good dispatch out in a reasonable time. After sitting Monday and leaving early Tuesday I called dispatch from home and checked the dispatch history. I still would have been 3rd out in my size unit.