Ability to See Your 'Pals' on a Board

[pjjjjj]

I can't post in the thread where this is being discussed, so here I am!
I don't want to ruffle any feathers by having something to say about something that affects a carrier we are not with..
but as a general comment..
Don't you think that has great potential for mis-use/abuse?
For example, Chefdennis (who yes, is NOT with Panther, but as I said, I'm posting a 'general' comment relating to the concept, and not specifically to the carrier) posted a thread about hearing a rumor that he was getting more/better loads.. blah blah..
If someone, or some people, have thoughts of certain others getting better/bigger/brighter/bolder loads, those people are likely to follow those certain others on the screen to see where they are, what they're getting, how many miles they've gone, etc., at any given time.. and could potentially create a lot of problems when they start whining about it to their carrier. In fact, isn't that (almost) exactly what happened with another carrier, who subsequently took away the ability for others to do such monitoring of others?
If people want to communicate with their pals, I'm thinking they should probably do it here, or communicate via icq or something, to post their locations, if they want.

 

[Scuba]

1 they can opt out 2 no one will be able to see what loads you got or how far it went only that you are no longer on the board you will only be able to see trucks on the board or in this case the vt that you are on. so there is no way to "track" what someone else is doing

 

[pjjjjj]

Ya but..
Say I'm Henry-the-Favorite, (but I don't know I'm a favorite)..
And say there's Joe-Blow who's been sitting for 4 days, with a preconceived notion that I am a favorite.. Joe's got nothing better to do than to look and see where I'm sitting.. first he sees me in Detroit.. then I'm gone.. next time he checks, I'm in Texas.. Joe puts 2+2 together and determines I got a great run; meanwhile he sat idle.
Joe calls the carrier to complain..
What's to stop this behavior?

 

[LDB]

They can do it the right way or the wrong way. If they consult me they'll do it the right way because I told the IT department how to do it two years ago.

The wrong way. Setting it up so if Joe Blow in unit 8765432 turns it on it shows every other truck what board he's sitting on. Everybody doesn't need to know and it will cause problems, complaints and friction.

The right way. Setting it up like a messenger system that recognizes other units. Joe's friends are A, B, C, D, E and F. Joe invites those 6 to be his buddies. They say yes. Now it shows Joe's location to those 6 trucks and only those 6 trucks. At any time Joe can add G to the list and/or delete D from the list. Presumably no B'ing and moaning because the only people potentially monitoring Joe are his buddies and they aren't going to squawk if Joe gets some good runs.

 

[x06col]

In theory, transparency is a good thing. In practice (because of human nature) - it is not. Way too many people don't handle too much information very well, and the other thirty percent don't get the message. Whomever devised this program, will find they have opened a LARGE can of worms.

 

[FIS53]

It appears the board will make it easier to connect with buddies. But having that ability means that the info of who got what runs will come out into the open (or at least to a circle of brokers). Remember that Joes buddies which include Harry are not necessarily all of Harries buddies and we can assume that Harry might spill the beans to other buddies. Hence the can of worms of everyone learning that you're a favored son.
Rob

 

[60MPH]

Leo has the right idea, let me guess they shot you down because it was to simple right???

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I have to agree with the Col on this one.....I already have a circle of friends on my cell phone...other van drivers same carrier....let me tell ya....there is such a thing as too much info...especially when we get too close together and get to see how dispatch works....and then theres the..."I shoulda turned left factor...they get loaded, I didn't because I went over there instead of over there....It adds a degree of frustration....it does add that things are moving but a simple call to load planning and get the days load count does the same thing...

If you can handle the frustration that comes with this info...then thats ok as well...

 

[Scuba]

Ok so we have proved that some here can read but not understand what they are reading. The idea is you will only see the other trucks when they are on the same board that you are. Once you leave the board no one but you will know where you went unless you tell someone. This crap of Bob will see that Joe got a 1200 mile run is just crap. Now I have said this before but failure to understand what I wrote is just mind boggling. Again once a truck leaves the vt it is no longer seen by anyone. But h*ll I give up you people just added to my belief that expediters are the most unfriendly drivers out there. Everyone is so afraid that their super secret plan will get out if they actually talk to someone. I have been in trucking for over 20 years and I haven’t ever seen anything like the drivers in this field. Everyone worried about what someone else is doing. As an o/o with other companies when you were at a terminal or a truck stop we used to hang out and shoot the bull. Not so in expediting 90% of the time if I don’t approach another driver they wouldn’t even talk to me. I can’t count the number of times that I have talked to a new driver and he will say I have been here 2 or 3 months and you are the first guy I have talked to. So I am sorry that my thought has brought so much heartache to so many

 

[greg334]

In theory, transparency is a good thing. In practice (because of human nature) - it is not. Way too many people don't handle too much information very well, and the other thirty percent don't get the message. Whomever devised this program, will find they have opened a LARGE can of worms.

I agree but I want to take this a step further

It leads me to ask

Is this an RVing club or a business?

I don't want my carrier to be the center of social networking outside of meetings and gatherings they sponsor, either allow me to have all the information so I can figure out what's going on so I can make proper business decisions or nothing. Anything in between seems to take the business aspect out of the equation and add in something to soften the blow from the let down due to too high of expectations that a lot of people have when entering this business.

FedEx is a good example of convoluted LIMITED information, they allow you see a bit of it which is inaccurate most of the time because there is too much going on within their system and nothing is defined to what information is needed and what isn't while leads to just generalized the information so it can be handed to the contractor.

There are two prominent attitudes that seem to be built into a lot of people in this niche market, the jealousy factor or a need to boast. Most of it has to do with the former and they are the one's who seem not to handle knowing what is going on around them. If they had all the info, they could not handle it and would be on the phone complaining about things. Their rational seems to be "I deserve" and when they don't get what they feel is a deserving run, they cry.

If I want my 'friends' to know where I am at, I can call them and tell them but I operate on the idea that no one needs to know except my wife and the carrier because it is not important to them what I do.

It seems some of this stuff lately is getting to be a marketing ploy towards the children of this business. Outside of a fleet owner knowing where their trucks are, there is a lot more IT departments can be doing and the money spent can be used in better business related ways on other projects that are business related - like a system to extract load info and other financial data through the website in say Quick Book format so one doesn't have to type in all the data. I don't think there is a carrier out there that does that yet and it may help a lot of people out but again the Twitter attitude is there thanks to the RV club of this niche market.

 

[Scuba]

well i dont twitter and im not an rv'er its plain and simple i dont call people daily and there have been times that when i talk to a buddy i find out that we were in the same town at the same time. It would have been nice to know that i do agree the jealousy factor is a big thing in this field. I for one don't care where you go or how many miles you get i only care about what my truck is doing. I hope everyone is doing better than i am if not there are a lot of guys in trouble.

 

[chefdennis]

Scuba wrote:

Everyone is so afraid that their super secret plan will get out if they actually talk to someone.

There is a "Super Secret" to this business!?!? And here i thought it was the "Cheesecake" that i baked and delivered to te office staff!!! Not taking a shot at you scuba, it is just funny what those that think they are getting crap runs while others are moving are somehow "choosen"....anyhow, I hope all of you have a great week, and a better week after that...as for me, I'll take what i get and run it, well unless it is at $.41-$.48 a mile............

 

[LDB]

I have friends I only talk to about once or maybe twice a month. Funny thing but in this business sleeping comes at all sorts of odd hours and calling on the phone can ruin someone's best sleep. We don't call too often out of respect for that. If we could know we were within a few miles or maybe even a few tenths of a mile of each other we'd obviously call.

Transparancey is two edged. I don't think it would be a good idea to be visible to everyone at all times. I have no problem being visible to a half dozen people of my choosing at all times. It would be user determined and user changeable at will.

I would like to see all my friends all the time. If I see Joe coming out of Texas and I'm sitting in Memphis I'll check to see where he's headed in case we can have dinner or something at least. If I can't see or be seen under load I'll miss opportunities to see friends. If I can only be seen within a small radius I'll miss opportunities to see friends.

 

[mjolnir131]

obviously a business if it was an RV club we would all have cool matching jackets and 2 dollars off at the national parks

 

[x06col]

I have friends I only talk to about once or maybe twice a month. Funny thing but in this business sleeping comes at all sorts of odd hours and calling on the phone can ruin someone's best sleep. We don't call too often out of respect for that. If we could know we were within a few miles or maybe even a few tenths of a mile of each other we'd obviously call.

Transparancey is two edged. I don't think it would be a good idea to be visible to everyone at all times. I have no problem being visible to a half dozen people of my choosing at all times. It would be user determined and user changeable at will.

I would like to see all my friends all the time. If I see Joe coming out of Texas and I'm sitting in Memphis I'll check to see where he's headed in case we can have dinner or something at least. If I can't see or be seen under load I'll miss opportunities to see friends. If I can only be seen within a small radius I'll miss opportunities to see friends.

Absolutely!! The social networking aspect is prolly, entirely what the idiot that devised this program wuz tink'in about. When I first started with contractors, and all warm n fuzzy bout em, i'd a figgured tis'd be a good deal too. Buttt, then reality set in. Bout folks.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

ok problem. when your loaded, you cant check board position, will you still be able to see your friends???
and point 2, it seems to be quite regular that someone starts a new where are you at thread here every month. there is my space, face book, my year book, expediters online, twitter instant messengers, email, text messaging, and cell phones. why would we want to have the company distracted with our social lives rather than finding freight???
im pretty neutral on this and don't really care either way, but we seem to have gotten a lot of interest in something so redundant it isn't even funny. this web site could do the same thing that you want company to take care of for you??? i just want them to find me a load.

A few of us stay in contact via phone and if one or so is not under load we check ahead for the van under load as a favour.... if the carrier won't do it....find a way....network.

 

[jujubeans]

When your loaded you have no board position... you are 0.

A few of us stay in contact via phone and if one or so is not under load we check ahead for the van under load as a favour.... if the carrier won't do it....find a way....network.

Yup...you can take a Canadian out of Canada, but you can't take the u out of his favoUr...*lol*

 

[Scuba]

Well ill discuss this in the Panther thread not in this one any longer. It seems to me that most of the complainers here aren’t even leased to Panther. So don’t take it personally but i am only concerned with what the Panther people think because they are the only ones affected by it if it would change

 

[babs3361]

I can't believe what I'm reading. Something so simple becomes so very stupid with the comments. Leo, Scuba, I like both Ideas and both would work without a problem. As for everyone else, they do not have a clue on how our system works and they are just blowing smoke. That is why this was posted in the Panther area not on the general board. It has nothing to do with any other company. I like the Idea of being able to look at the board I'm on and see if anyone I know is close by. It can pass the time rather nicely. Heck Leo, Ken, coffee is on me next time we meet up.

 

[Twizted1]

ambigously gay