40% on delivery is an advance ???

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
I read a Panther II ad saying they have a program where they will pay a 40% " advance " on delivery rather than have you wait a couple of weeks . This is something else former general trucking drivers would have a hard time adjusting to . I always interpeted advance money to be money paid when picking up a load . There have been times when I have agreed to haul a short load in return for being given a long haul on completion of the short load . When I got my advance on my Comdata card when picking up the first load , it was for 50% of both loads . When I deliver a load a settlement is made to my account within a couple of hours of me faxing signed bills and a settlement statement is e-mailed to my wife . Before I complete any load I know the previous load has been paid . No , this isn't expediting . It's RV hauling .
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I think most would prefer to have their comdata advance on the front end of a run. I think this is an area that I would be in favor of some policy change. I am not exactly sure why it is on the end?
Davekc
 

merkurfan

Expert Expediter
From what I was told they do this because they had troubles with drivers getting the money, withdrawing it before doing the run and not doing it. Beats me, but I guess it makes sense.

The reason Panther does not pay the full amount on completion is the Qualcomm. They are very expensive (so they say) and if you where paid in full when completing the run they would never have any money owed you and would require a deposit for the qualcomm make sure you brought it back.

When I started with Panther last week I had a full tank of fuel and 200 dollars in cash in my pocket. With the 40% advance I still have most of that 200 bucks, and 300 dollars left on my comdata card. I ran almost 2000 miles (loaded and empty) last week and I already have a 1 am pickup load on my qualcomm. The 40% advance seems to work well for me.

I have yet to see a run with out a FSC either.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
It's primarily semantics. It's an advance of future payroll. It doesn't seem unreasonable to require the delivery to be made prior to the money being loaded. I've heard of people getting the money up front and never finishing the job. I just wish they'd close the job and put it into the payroll pipeline when you QC delivery instead of waiting on the paperwork to come in.

Leo
truck 4958

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 

merkurfan

Expert Expediter
There is only one problem with the putting in to payroll when the QC sends in delivered... There is nothing to make sure the lazy driver will send in the paperwork. Hence the no paperwork, no pay. Panther uses trippak so I send in my paperwork almost nightly. I just wish there where more trippak locations.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
The reason Panther does not pay the full amount on completion is the Qualcomm

They are still holding 60 percent of that run, assuming you collected your 40 percent advance.
If that is their stated reason, I think they are stretching.
I think it is an item that they should probably revisit.
Secondly, how many people are taking advances, and not completing the run? Probably some, but I doubt it is in any large numbers.
Davekc
 

merkurfan

Expert Expediter
I hear ya. I don't understand it completely either. But they made it very clear before I signed the dotted line so it was not a suprise to me. It is the way they operate and others don't. That is why it is important to call everyone and pick the carrier that fits you best ;)

If I owned a company, even a small number of failures would not be acceptiable. So I can understand their policy.
 

miko

Expert Expediter
When I think back, trying to find a solution to my company not offering direct deposit, and paychecks not beeing deposited fast enough in my account in order to pay bills, nobody mentioned this kind of payment. I have never heard of such thing as advance pay before, seems to me like the ultimate solution.

Now that Panther is praised milehigh, does this company really have the freight, or is it just some particular locations to run out of?
What about the Milwaukee/Chicago area???

My company, which I thought higly of, prepared for the Louisville Truck Show last week, and let out some surprising news, which almost knocked me as a o/o out of my socks and shoes. Since the last couple of days I am thinking to look into some other options.

Some good advice anybody?
 

merkurfan

Expert Expediter
Been with Panther just over a week, so this is based on little experiance. I have never had trouble getting a load, period. Chicago should not be a problem. Got to Greenville SC Friday night, figured I would be here all weekend. Got a load Saturday, to bad the shipper kept screwing up and it just got loaded on my truck :( Come on over, you'll probably like it. Also panther uses the comdata card for your paycheck. It gets loaded on to the card, you call a 800 number and with in a day or so it ends up in your checking acount. All funds on your card are avaliable at fuel desks, atms and walmart (and others) but they fee ya to death. (1.50 a transaction. best just to flush the money to your checking account)
 

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
I was having dinner one night with another driver and his wife and mentioned using ComData at WalMart . His wife's eyes lit up " WalMart ?? " I could tell he hadn't informed her of this use of a ComData card . To make things worse , we were parked at a WalMart shopping center for the night .
 

theoldprof

Veteran Expediter
Hi Merkurfan,

Can you explain more fully the trippak? I know it is used to send the paperwork back to the carrier. Who pays, where do you drop it off, etc.

Thanks. :+ :+
 

terryandrene

Veteran Expediter
Safety & Compliance
US Coast Guard
Prof: We sure enjoyed the brief visit with you and John at MATS; I enjoyed meeting so many and putting faces on the screen names.

Tripak is a service to which many of the carriers subscribe. They have yellow, reasonably secure dropboxes at many of the major and some minor truck stops. The box is cleared every day by a driver from DHL, formerly Emery, and sent to a location where the ppwk in the tripak envelope is scanned and stored. The carriers receive all of your necessary Bills of Lading and other run info electronically that evening or the next day. Less paperwork for the carrier means more money for you. Or is it more for them; I get so confused.

My carrier gives a 40% (30% to vans) advance on the run pay, into your Comdata account, after the load is on the truck. The rest is sent within two weeks to you by check or within about a week by direct deposit to the bank of your choice. We get ours every thursday, like clockwork.

I think I heard somewhere that Federal Regulations require a carrier to pay the O/O within two weeks of delivery of the goods. If that's the case, my carrier has been in compliance, in our case, ever since we've been with them.

Terry
 

theoldprof

Veteran Expediter
Terry,

It was also nice meeting you and Rene'. I also met Dave, I think was his name. What is his EO screen name?

Is there a charge to the driver for the Trippak service? I assume this info is delivered to a central location such as Trippak R Us. Is this service used by different carriers?

Thanks. :+ :+
 

merkurfan

Expert Expediter
panthers goes to their office in ohio. anything in by noon monday is paid 15 business days later. there is no charge for trippak.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Just for clarity, Panther does not charge the driver anything for using trippak. There is a fee of $12 per envelope I believe. Personally, I'd rather buy rolls of stamps and put a couple on each envelope and have Panther credit me $12 for each envelope I mail in that they don't pay trippak for. That would be good for an extra $100 a month to me at least. When I was at Express-1 they used the mail and there was never a problem.

Leo
truck 4958

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Just for clarity, Panther does not charge the driver anything for using trippak. There is a fee of $12 per envelope I believe. Personally, I'd rather buy rolls of stamps and put a couple on each envelope and have Panther credit me $12 for each envelope I mail in that they don't pay trippak for. That would be good for an extra $100 a month to me at least. When I was at Express-1 they used the mail and there was never a problem

Unless they just changed something, I don't believe there is any charge for trip pak or the envelopes? I have never seen that on a statement.
Davekc
 

ConfusedMuse

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
we drove for an owner with PantherII. While Panther was for a time great, the owner wasn't. We got nickled to death with the $150.00 fuel advance,( we used 3 advances in 1 week) the gas hog we drove was dreadful on mileage had to have been a passenger van in it's youth. They gave us awesome runs for about 3 weeks. As for our pay being loaded on a com-data card, we never got that we had Com-checks.
What reasoning is for an advance AFTER you run the load, seems that they would call it what it is. And any driver who takes an advance,and doesn't deliver I guess is out of a job. Anyone interested in the owners name so they can avoid them feel free to email us.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
There is no charge to Panther drivers. Panther pays the fees. The last time I paid attention the box I used said $12 for next day delivery. Some companies do charge something to the drivers. One of the fairly large companies charges their drivers $4.95 per week for trippak. I don't know for certain Panther pays $12 per envelope. They may have a bulk rate contract. I have no idea. All I know is whatever they are paying I'd like to have in my pay and would gladly buy stamps and put the envelope in the mail and wait a few days longer if it put more money in my pocket in the long run.

Leo
truck 4958

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
It isn't just the money issue , it's keeping up with settlements . I just got in for the week . I made 3 runs . The first two runs had payment in my account the day after delivery . The delivery I made this morning had the payment in my account by noon . With payments like this I often don't take advances . I use my business Visa and avoid Comdata charges . Most of my fuel is Flying J pay at the pump and I bring enough cash starting out to cover meals and expenses during the week . Comdata fees add up .
 
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