What I like about Panther...

[tblount]

What I like about Panther is they gave me a job. I had applied to dozens of other expedite companies / trucking companies and even though I had driven commercially for many years, since my experience wasn't current, I only heard back from Panther.

Now it seems that everyone wants me to come to work for them. FedEx Customs Critical has called me a few times, another expedite company called Prestige wants me to drive for them... suddenly I'm hot.

But, I'm suspicious about everyone's claims now. Panther promised 2000 miles a week. I average about half that and pay for over 20% of my fuel... and I suspect that all these companies are like Panther... they love to make deductions and hold money for escrow, and they probably can't give you the miles they advertise.

I think I'll start pulling around my travel trailer... my spreadsheet shows I average less than 4 hours driving per day. I may as well be at home the other 20 hours a day.

 

[Falligator]

I have been driving for Panther off and on for 2 years now....It's a love/hate relationship.....I get an awesome week...(which doesn't happen all the time) and I love it. Get a bad week....I'm in the dumps.....Guess that's the territory with all expedite companies. I like Panther because they've offered me the opportunity to drive for them again after I had quit with them in the past. They're a pretty good company all the way around. Mileage wise; I drive a cargo van and have been getting about 1000-1,500 miles per week. I factor in my cost and it would be a bit more than driving a big rig; minus the comforts of a sleeper birth and health benefits. Not to mention that I tell me what to do not some dispatcher telling me I "have to accept this load or that one." Out of all the companies, it's probably the best...that I've seen....so far. They got the loads. The only gripe I've had is lots of vehicles. If you need some info on anything send me a pm I'll try and give you a heads up. Thanks.

Shawn F
formerly 11997....now 12382.
Panther

 

[tblount]

My check this week was $14 ...only had one load on it. I have had loads about 5 days out of the last 4 weeks. I've just been sitting in my truck waiting on load offers. I sat in Alabama 8 days total, 8 days straight in Texas, 3 in Kansas, and 2 in Lousiana. I can't stay out any longer at this rate. There is no money to send home and just enough to survive on the road.

What do they do when you quit? Do they keep money? Refund your escrow? I have a feeling I'll be getting bad news. My recruiter already said it was my fault for not finding freight on my own. I though that was the reason for running for a company.

 

[Turtle]

Well, there's not a lot of freight that runs out of Alabama, depending on where you were. West Texas can be real hit and miss, especially over the 4th of July period when nothing is coming out of there. There is very little freight that ever comes out of Kansas, and even less in Louisiana.

Expediting is like fishing, you have to be where the fish are to catch any. If everyone else on the lake is catching fish and you're not, you're doin' something wrong. You need to find another fishin' hole. Otherwise, you've gotta dive down in there in the muck to find your own loads and scrounge around for some muscles or something.

 

[moose]

Expedite is like fishing...
right now, Expedite with panther is not !
as they tell you witch river to go and find fish !!!
they have way too many trucks , and Hit a driver for rejecting a load ,
if ya sit on the Mississippi ,and a load offer will take you west , you have to take it , or you will sit for 2 more days , and they will not pay the DH back or firs out .
it cannot work for a single driver.
to cover it ,panther sometime pay more per mil. so you dont need to run as match.
the driver is not Panther costumer , the shipper is.
so they hire many trucks to feed the shipper need , and shift the costs to the O/O.

panther dose not promise mil. per week , i had recruiters mention anywhere between 1,200 to 2,300 ,
with 1,800 to 2,100 as a very good base line , ...
ya" right...

Panther also will not give away turn-over-rate (wonder why), stating that most of the orientation class is a fleet owners drivers...


Moose.

 

[LDB]

Pretty much all of LA, AL and KS are no fly zones unless there's a follow up outbound job offer sent by qc along with the inbound job offer or there's enough bonus in the job to cover deadhead out to a better area. If I didn't live in Texas, most likely it would be the same. If I took a job to one of those places, I'd deliver and use the Panther login for getloaded.com to see what was available, if anything, going to a better area. Then I'd take my 10 hour break to get my hours back and check getloaded again. Just like clams, there are a few pearls in there from time to time. If I didn't find something good I'd give it a day or at most 2 days. Then I'd use the bonus money to move to a better area.

 

[jwc]

allmost everything compared to outher exp co's we've worked for //are they perfic no no //but i don't have to do discount freight // good weeks bad weeks good dispachers some return favors some need to be taken out behind the barn [ your guess on what needs to be said to them] but overall your not running for 1.12 with .26 fs // but the main secert to panther is your attitude if you feel there's a silver linning after the next load you'll find it more times than not