One thing this thread (and a few other recent threads) has done, finally, is give those outside looking in a more honest and bigger picture of Load 1. Some have said we should never air our dirty laundry in public. Well, that's dishonest. The same cheerleaders here would
absolutely not accept such tactics from a recruiter, yet they are doing just that in a recruiting guise here on EO, whether they realize it or not. If only pristine laundry is presented to those who may be considering moving to Load 1, if the only information they get is from cheerleaders at the pep rallies, then they come to Load 1 with inaccurate and unrealistic expectations. For example, on rates, when someone (I won't mention any names, Dennis
) posts the fantastic rates they get for this or that load, but fail to mention (or dramatically play down) low rates, they present a highly skewed picture of Load 1, they (again, no names, but... Dennis
) are performing an unfair disservice to others who might be interested in our carrier.
All carriers have warts. To pretend Load 1 doesn't have them is disingenuous. It is true,
absolutely, that Load 1 has
far fewer warts than most, and they are generally located in places that don't matter much. Plus, Doc Elliot is fast and furious with the wart remover (which is an important point).
Guido's post in #12 above is spot-on honest and presents a highly accurate picture of our carrier. Our dispatchers indeed do not
us out, which, despite the unseemly imagery, is a far more important statement than many people may realize. Most carriers do just that,
their contractors out, use them as tools to perform the task of making money for the carrier, and everything else is secondary. Not so at Load 1, where the entire philosophy is turned on its head.
For most carriers, it's first and foremost about the health and success of the carrier, at the expense of the fleet (a van or truck on every corner ring a bell?). At Load 1, it's about the health and success of the fleet, often at the expense of the carrier, which in-turn ensures long-term success for Load 1. If the fleet isn't healthy, nothing else matters, as those on the road and in the office are just spinning their wheels going nowhere. If the fleet is healthy, turnover is lower, service is higher, and Sales has a better product to present to customers. Many carriers provide mere lip service for teamwork and partnership, but at Load 1 teamwork and partnership is the critical key to their, and our, success.
Now back to the important point about Doc Elliot and his famous Wart Remover Cream (lovely mental image, that one). When people with a skewed picture and unrealistic expectations come to Load 1, and they encounter warts and other issues, their first reaction is, "Here we go again, same ol', same ol'," and they get defensive or combative and jump to conclusions and make assumptions. They think the mistakes and misunderstandings are routine, that they aren't mistakes or misunderstandings at all, and that all things are done solely to benefit the carrier at the expense of the contractor, that's just the way it is, because that's been their experience in the past. They don't question it or address it, because their experience has taught them it's a waste of time to do so. But all you have to do is make ol' Doc aware of the problem, and he'll slap some cream right on it. It's really that easy.
He can't fix everything, but he's honest about that, too. Load 1 isn't perfect, despite the cheerleader's earnest efforts to portray it as such. Load 1 is comprised chiefly of people, and people aren't perfect. But unlike many carriers who operate under the principle of "Do unto others
before they do unto you," Load 1's operating philosophy (de facto, whether they've ever stated it or not) is "Do under others as you would have others do unto you." Once you know that going in, the warts don't seem nearly as ugly as most. It also, unfortunately, makes it easier to dismiss the warts, or pretend they don't exist, when informing others about Load 1.
Because Load 1 really is so different than most and is a good carrier to be associated with, a natural tendency for some is to not only become defensive about it when people point out warts, real or imagined, but to actually become combative over it. That smacks of snooty and snotty. Don't do that.
I'm very happy at Load 1. I'm not
delusional happy, so I won't try and delude others about it, but I'm happy. Very happy. Well, uhm, to be honest, I ordered half a dozen Load 1 shirts a few weeks ago, and they're not in yet, so I'm a little unhappy about that. But other than that, I'm very happy.
A very wise man once said, "we might not always like or agree with the out come, but you have to respect the efforts to get answers....and thats whats really important...."
