TriState & Caterpillar

Yesteryear · Mar 7, 2009

Slo-Ride said:
All Im new and confused,,ya say carrier,, I say dispatch or load planners to me carrier is the name on the door,,dispatch or load planner is a empoyee of the carrier..I find that when proplems arise the carrier (front office isnt even aware) its dispatch most times that dont do their jobs by digging up frieght to move the trucks instead,letting em sit and waiting for the high dollar freight to come into them.

I think you hit this one on the head.

Slo-Ride said:
Lows runs? ya mean short or local p-up and drops..
I take em most of the time if they think they can turn me right away.doesnt take many local runs to make a 400-500 dollar day
with out doing the 400-500 miles.but then again it maybe only 200 day
Back to the good with the bad theory,hoping tommorow is better..

On this one I think 'low runs' means few, not short or mini.
The reason a lot of us Tri-State drivers, 'cherry pick', turn down the mini loads is because unless it is taking us to a better location it is detrimental as we know it will be our only load for the day or possibly week-end if it is a Friday. I think we Tri-State drivers would be a lot more willing to take minis if we knew there would still be a chance of getting a better load after the mini load was completed. But with Tri-State, whoa-la the carpet pretty much rolls up at 5 pm (17:00 hrs). If you don't have a load by then, real good chance your not getting one. If its Friday, more then likely your s.o.l.

Wingnut · Mar 7, 2009

As for ANY dispatcher at ANY expedite company to know ahead of time when & where the loads will come in...they would need a crystal ball. Sure, ALL expedite companies have some pre-booked loads, but they, like alot of freight, is getting to be a thing of the past. Expedite is a gamble.....it doesn't matter who the expedite company is or who the driver is...there is a gamble for everyone involved. We all play the 'guessing' game of "if I take this mini load, will I get another load shorly after I drop?" or "if I don't take this mini load, will I get a bigger & better load?".
WHITEWOLF: as for detroit used to being a good load area & now it isn't, that's the way expedite is. What is a good load area today could turn around to be a cold area tomorrow or next week. That's expedite. It changes all the time. It sounds like you are very unhappy about something or someone at tri-state. Did you try to talk to your CC about what your problem or concern is? If you'd like to PM me, I can give you the names of some other people you can talk to at tri-state if you'd like to discuss your concerns with them.
While the EO forums are for all of us to discuss what's on our mind, express our concerns, ask questions, etc...it is NOT for people to fight, argue, or to get nasty with each other. Yesteryear meant no harm or disrespect to you but was just stating their opinion, like you have been doing, and asking you questions to get a better understanding of what is bothering you so that they might be able to offer some helpful suggestions. This is what EO is all about. Talking about stuff & offering helpful ideas or insights to each other.

Yesteryear · Mar 7, 2009

My apologies Whitewolf. I truely did not mean to upset you or make lite of your concerns.

layoutshooter · Mar 7, 2009

Yea, Detroit is pretty bad right now. I think in the 4 years we have been at this we have delivered or picked up maybe 10 loads total that could be called "Detroit Loads" IF you really streched the area to get them included. Most of the time when we are home we end up getting loads out of Columbus, OH or Chicago to get back into it. Layoutshooter

gjmcclain · Mar 7, 2009

If freight is so slow as these places (various carriers) then why don't they start thinking outside the box?

Instead of using a 22-foot truck to move 1-4 skids, 'double load' the truck and move 5-10 skids, toss the ole' exclusive use of the truck policy out the door.

Look if you have two loads going the same 'general direction' - the first load is say 4 skids and the second load is 6 skids, why not book the loads on the same truck.

You can offer both customers a 'discounted rate' for them, but still make a solid profit for the carrier and the truck owner.

Just a thought.

PalletJack · Mar 7, 2009

Great idea mclain. It's nothing new in trucking, its called LTL freight and its done all over the country. Now you want to double load an exclusive use truck to put some expediters out of work then discount the low freight rates to bargain rates.

maybe your new secret company that has all the freight will lower the rates for you so you can stay busy seven days a week. Keep the BS flowing like you always have

gjmcclain · Mar 8, 2009

PalletJack said:
Great idea mclain. It's nothing new in trucking, its called LTL freight and its done all over the country. Now you want to double load an exclusive use truck to put some expediters out of work then discount the low freight rates to bargain rates.

maybe your new secret company that has all the freight will lower the rates for you so you can stay busy seven days a week. Keep the BS flowing like you always have

And the personal insults and attacks begin - nice job there PalletJack.

You lost the point. I said drop the exclusive use of the truck to offer lower rates to the customer and double or triple load the truck. So instead of a carrier charging a customer say $1.60 they could offer a rate of $1.30 and the same for the second and third customer. Thus your truck is bringing in $2.60-$3.90 per mile. The carrier in turn provides you say 70% of that rate so you would be bringing in $1.82-2.73 per mile. I did not say anything about putting expediters out of business PalletJack, if anything I am bringing up a widely used method by LTL companies that are taking some of our business away from us. If we would expand our thought outside of the box we could maintain our presence and maybe even expand our avenues of revenue. While this method MAY eliminate some expeditors it would not eliminate any more than what we are already losing via competition from LTL trucking companies. So PalletJack if you think that is BS - fine, but you will find very few, I think that would agree with you. Just my thoughts.

buckeyewildman · Mar 8, 2009

gjmcclain said:
If freight is so slow as these places (various carriers) then why don't they start thinking outside the box?

Instead of using a 22-foot truck to move 1-4 skids, 'double load' the truck and move 5-10 skids, toss the ole' exclusive use of the truck policy out the door.

Look if you have two loads going the same 'general direction' - the first load is say 4 skids and the second load is 6 skids, why not book the loads on the same truck.

You can offer both customers a 'discounted rate' for them, but still make a solid profit for the carrier and the truck owner.

Just a thought.

and you wonder why you could,nt make a go of it on your own

Wingnut · Mar 8, 2009

Most customers who ship their freight expedite do NOT want someone else's freight on your trucks. That's one of the customer's 'perks' for shipping expedite.

Wingnut · Mar 8, 2009

My trucks have had loads like that fairly often. The shipper has freight going to 2 or more drops and are willing to put those loads onto 1 truck. I don't know if all expedite companies do that, but I do know that FECC and TS do. The driver gets paid for all the loaded miles plus an extra for each drop. One of the companies I'm on with pays the truck $25 per extra drop.
Landstar is one of the companies out there that allows you to haul more than 1 customer's freight on your truck. I'm not sure if any of the others do that.

BillChaffey · Mar 8, 2009

I have only been at this for about 18 months, and that has not been a steady 18 months. That being said I fail to understand why a Solo or Team would stay with any Carrier if they felt the Carrier was not doing everything in their power to get loads. Common sense Say's if the Carrier's trucks are not moving the Carrier isn't making money either. Plus it's a pretty good bet the Carriers overhead is a lot larger then yours whether your a Solo or Team.

Crazynuff · Mar 8, 2009

bearcat44 said:
I have only been at this for about 18 months, and that has not been a steady 18 months. That being said I fail to understand why a Solo or Team would stay with any Carrier if they felt the Carrier was not doing everything in their power to get loads. Common sense Say's if the Carrier's trucks are not moving the Carrier isn't making money either. Plus it's a pretty good bet the Carriers overhead is a lot larger then yours whether your a Solo or Team.

But the carriers don't own the trucks so how is their overhead a lot larger ? Expedite service depends on truck availability . To have trucks available you have to have so many trucks sitting waiting . That's why carriers don't own the trucks .

PalletJack · Mar 8, 2009

vanman...you should read your own stuff. you want to discount rates and put extra loads on one truck then you complain that the rate sux.

You seemto have two positions on every subject

You complain about favoritism then gloat about your carrier that you have said engaged in favoritism

you applaud you company because they are so busy and successful that they bought first class expedite then you say that e1 is just another dog and pony show

TeamCaffee · Mar 8, 2009

One of our best qualities is the fact we take very good care of our customer’s freight. If they did not want that special treatment they could ship by FedEx Ground and save money.

Once we have locked our doors, the customer has seen how their freight is secured they know it will look the same way when we deliver and no other freight has been near it nor has a fork lift. One of the reasons we get the rates we do is because we are exclusive use. If we decide to go LTL then we create even more competition for ourselves as there is A LOT of companies all ready doing this.

TeamCaffee · Mar 8, 2009

We sometimes do pickup at one location with many drops and that is at the customer’s request. We do not though without the customer requesting this service put someone else’s freight with theirs. They are paying us a premium to take care of their freight the way they specify.

Big difference in one customer with several drops and LTL with many different customers freight.

BillChaffey · Mar 8, 2009

For crazynuf,
How does the Carrier, any Carrier pay for Lights, Taxes, building maintenance, employee payroll, insurance,? If that's not over head, what is overhead. I clearly don't know much about this business, but I seriously doubt Expediting is a secondary income for Panther, Tri State, Fed Ex or very many if any of the major companies in this business.

inkasnana · Mar 8, 2009

Wingnut said:
My trucks have had loads like that fairly often. The shipper has freight going to 2 or more drops and are willing to put those loads onto 1 truck. I don't know if all expedite companies do that, but I do know that FECC and TS do. The driver gets paid for all the loaded miles plus an extra for each drop. One of the companies I'm on with pays the truck $25 per extra drop.

We are on a load like that now. One shipper, three different drop locations and cons in and around Minneapolis. We are getting paid extra for the two extra drops.

whitewolf · Mar 8, 2009

Yesteryear said:
My apologies Whitewolf. I truely did not mean to upset you or make lite of your concerns.

Are many concerns that bothers me..like..when you run a mini you'll get your idle time not even 1st out on that board when you drop..and I am on Detroit board and if I'll get a drop in Pontiac I'll end up for sure not 1st...and to get back in Detroit where I live I'll be at the bottom of the list...so is no point to take a mini..next..when we sign up with TS was 80 cpm and when they change the contract was 65% minimum 75 cpm..now all the freight is 75 cpm and I was forced to sign the new contract otherwise they put me out of service?..I was with Panther and what I signed was forever...They change the rates to get more freight but from my experience they got less than before and less money for us

Good luck and see you guys on the road

Roadpig · Mar 9, 2009

whitewolf said:
Can you please mind your own business...I'll tell the truth even if you don't like it. That's why I live in US because I believe in freedom..and if you don't like it what are you doing here?...this site is expeditersonline...is a site for expediters to share their experience with another drivers...what is your problem?

Try not to be so bitter, man. I work for TS and although I haven't been running well, I can tell you that I have complete confidence that if my coordinator or dispatchers had any say over the situation they would keep all of us loaded.

I was talking to dispatch over the weekend and they have had their hours cut in this crap economy. So they have a vested interest in getting us running again. Like Wingnut said, 90% of this business is a guessing game and a dispatcher or manager is only going to give you the best information that they can. You sound like you're looking for something to rage against since the forces working against all of us are intangible.

Does anyone remember The Grapes of Wrath? Remember that this guy in a tractor was about to tear down this family's house and the father is pointing a gun at the guy behind the wheel of the tractor. The guy behind the wheel states that he's just doing a job to feed his family. The father with the gun asks the driver who his boss is and the driver tells him but that his boss is also just "working for the bank", the man with the gun asks "who is the bank" and the tractor driver states that he wishes he knew.

The farmer is rightfully scared, but he is raging at the wrong person. The events that are changing his life are intangible and something he can't point a gun at.

That is what us drivers are wont to do at times, point the gun at the guy driving the tractor.

I'm sure wingnut can tell you that her experience at her company (Fedex?) is probably similar.