a bad and costly trend....Detention time

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

Because out of competition, some carriers extended the time frame to charge for our time...they almost give us away as a free commodity...it is like our time is not a chargable item.....and yet do carriers realize what a profit center it could be if they did?.....so pretty much I expect hand unload to be abolished as well....they'll tell us it is included in the rate..... WTH???? IMO once they contract us the meter is running it is all on them.....

when I first started it was the 1st hour free....then it creeped to 2 hours....NOW 3 frickin hours.....and some I hear rumors won;t bill for it at all....
Excuse #1....We don't like to nickle and dime our customers!

anyone notice the wait times getting a little longer?...as shippers realize they have us for free....

xiggi · Apr 2, 2014

Honestly 99% of the time in and out pretty fast. I can't say I have seen wait times getting any longer than they ever were. Sure once in a great while there is that extended wait but in reality its fairly rare. I think people just have a habit of remembering bad experiences more.

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123

layoutshooter · Apr 2, 2014

It will only get worse.

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

xiggi said:
Honestly 99% of the time in and out pretty fast. I can't say I have seen wait times getting any longer than they ever were. Sure once in a great while there is that extended wait but in reality its fairly rare. I think people just have a habit of remembering bad experiences more.

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123

could be so Xiggi.....sometimes we can go months with no problems and them bam we hit a string of them.....you know how that goes....

the whole point is still about the $$$$$$ or lack of it when we do experience these delays.....

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

layoutshooter said:
It will only get worse.

and some carriers have no problems charging O/O's for broken equipment or having a charge back for a service failure....

xiggi · Apr 2, 2014

I will say I've been hauling less auto freight that seems to help.

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123

billg27 · Apr 2, 2014

Had a 5 hour delay at a pick up in WI. Broker refused to pay anything extra. Fortunately my carrier kicked in some extra money so I did very well. But then, the broker wants to know why I'm running late and not going to make my protect time! Duh.

And that was right after that recent huge pile up on the Ohio Turn Pike, road icy, snow covered and closed to thru traffic. Even after the traffic detour and bad weather I still made it in the allotted time frame. I left 5 hours late and delivered less then 5 hours late.

layoutshooter · Apr 2, 2014

You know the "Primary Rules of Expediting". Those rules have been in place since day one and will ALWAYS be in place.

RULE ONE:

If the carrier makes a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

RULE TWO:

If the shipper or consignee makes a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

RULE THREE:

If you make a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

We are little more than cannon fodder for carriers. The days where superior custom service, and superior equipment, being valued are over. At least in the short term. All shippers/carriers and consignees are concerned with it CHEAP. That will, sooner or later, come back to bite them on the butt. In the mean time, a lot of good contractors will be forced out of, or just leave the business, due to these kinds of things. Even the best farm field in the world can only have so much manure spread on it before it goes bad.

Tennesseahawk · Apr 2, 2014

Selling our time for pittance is not usually an issue. Sell the company's time, however, and that won't go cheaply.

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

billg27 said:
Had a 5 hour delay at a pick up in WI. Broker refused to pay anything extra. Fortunately my carrier kicked in some extra money so I did very well. But then, the broker wants to know why I'm running late and not going to make my protect time! Duh.

And that was right after that recent huge pile up on the Ohio Turn Pike, road icy, snow covered and closed to thru traffic. Even after the traffic detour and bad weather I still made it in the allotted time frame. I left 5 hours late and delivered less then 5 hours late.

Great your carrier did that for you....BUT if they charged the customer as they SHOULD be....IMO of course.....they wouldn't have to take it off their bottom line......

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

layoutshooter said:
You know the "Primary Rules of Expediting". Those rules have been in place since day one and will ALWAYS be in place.

RULE ONE:

If the carrier makes a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

RULE TWO:

If the shipper or consignee makes a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

RULE THREE:

If you make a mistake, it's your fault and you have to pay for it.

We are little more than cannon fodder for carriers. The days where superior custom service, and superior equipment, being valued are over. At least in the short term. All shippers/carriers and consignees are concerned with it CHEAP. That will, sooner or later, come back to bite them on the butt. In the mean time, a lot of good contractors will be forced out of, or just leave the business, due to these kinds of things. Even the best farm field in the world can only have so much manure spread on it before it goes bad.

I think the owner/president Spencer of AllState made that point clear one day right here.....when he claimed expediting business model was all about VOLUME, the MILES....and we O/O's were a COMMODITY......a commodity?.....like pork bellies?....

billg27 · Apr 2, 2014

OntarioVanMan said:
Great your carrier did that for you....BUT if they charged the customer as they SHOULD be....IMO of course.....they wouldn't have to take it off their bottom line......

They tried charging the broker. They refused and I'm thankful my carrier stepped up.

xiggi · Apr 2, 2014

Ovm billing does not mean the customer will pay and you know that. Just to play devils advocate what if a carrier gets a hundred grand in business from a customer a year and they refuse to pay delay on the occasional load. Would it not be smart on the carriers part to throw the driver some extra out of pocket rather than lose that customer?

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123

layoutshooter · Apr 2, 2014

OntarioVanMan said:
I think the owner/president Spencer of AllState made that point clear one day right here.....when he claimed expediting business model was all about VOLUME, the MILES....and we O/O's were a COMMODITY......a commodity?.....like pork bellies?....

Unfortunately, for many of us, pork bellies may be a far too accurate description.

We are worth very little to carriers. Just about any warm, semi-intelligent butt, is all they are looking for. Fair equipment is good enough. They believe that there is an acceptable level of failure and that offsets the cost of maintaining quality contractors with quality equipment.

OntarioVanMan · Apr 2, 2014

xiggi said:
Ovm billing does not mean the customer will pay and you know that. Just to play devils advocate what if a carrier gets a hundred grand in business from a customer a year and they refuse to pay delay on the occasional load. Would it not be smart on the carriers part to throw the driver some extra out of pocket rather than lose that customer?

Sent from my - Fisher Price ABC - 123

guess thats my point...as you know there are some customers that are nearly always late loading....they should be the ones paying NOT the carrier....I understand for what you say tho...if that same carrier is spending millions with us for example....where is the line in the sand?....

layoutshooter · Apr 2, 2014

"Would it not be smart on the carriers part to throw the driver some extra out of pocket rather than lose that customer?"

The same can be said about not losing a a quality contractor. Showing that a contractor's time is worth something is just as important, assuming a carrier it able to think past the end of their nose.

letsdrive · Apr 2, 2014

Did a run last week were was detained a few extra hrs not sure though if it was customer or carrier paying for my time

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KickStarter6 · Apr 2, 2014

At Tri State if you aren't loaded in about 30 minutes they'll beep you on Qualcomm and or call to find out what's the hold. Unless they say something about it they tell you to request it from the dock worker, of course I almost always forget to ask

Murraycroexp · Apr 2, 2014

Many factors I imagine.
Does the carrier give a hoot about the driver and relations going forward?
Does the carrier give a hoot about the customer/broker and relations going forward?

I learned long ago that sometimes, in business, you have to take a loss, or don't profit, and just MOVE ON.
It's soooo very easy to get caught up in all the BS that is involved with these loads. Many if them have just way too many people/layers in the mix/pie to get any clear or easy answers. It's not uncommon for loads I run to have these layers....
1. Original customer calls nationwide freight conglomerate.
2. Nationwide freight conglomerate hires nationwide broker or forwarder to handle the expedite.
3. Nationwide broker hires regionally strong broker to put the load out for bids.
4. Regional broker hires my carrier.
5. My carrier sends my truck into the shipper.
6. Shipper is NOT the customer but could very well be where the detention is generated.

So it's not uncommon for detention approval to have to go through 5-6 steps to get approved for payment. Yes, it's a pain in the arse. But a necessary evil since the big shippers don't just call Tom's Trucks that happens to have a terminal down the street.
Cest la vie.