Firerescue20
Rookie Expediter
My load offers are the worst I've ever seen. Little to no pay, 2 crummy load offers every two days. Its either take a crap load op or sit for 3 days. I can't be the only one here....right?
Anyone else struggling with fedex critical?
- Thread starter Firerescue20
- Start date
How about precise info of your last 4 "crummy" load offers? Maybe "crummy" ain't so "crummy".
Slo-Ride
Veteran Expediter
Maybe its auto freight and crummy could be getting crummier then we got now.
Things have kinda been crummy all year for almost everyone I know running auto freight.
Hang in their Fire as long as you aint writing the carrier a check to run the load you just maybe doing better then others. Seen some stuipt stuff lately with ppl saying at least Im moving. Ppl do desperate things in desperate times.
Are you taking freight into a slow area? Have you asked for a relocate if in a bad area? Sometimes when we balance out the "crap load" to get us out of a bad area or when we take into consideration what we need per day to pay our bills the crap load might not look so bad.
Have you been in Expediting very long? If you are new it might good if you could find a mentor that has a very similar operation to what you have.
zorry
Veteran Expediter
We've been running well.
Last Sat another driver told me our carrier had slowed down.
We had our best week ever 2 weeks ago.
Short on hours we took a short load. Then another short load. Ended up with five short loads in 5 days for another good week.
We sat from Sat until Mon w/o a load. Had a so/so week driven by a dry run that got pushed back 24 hours by a shipper's error and choices made to position myself for a windshield repair.
The bottom line is we're doing well, and better than any other carrier we've talked to.
We had one plan B, a carrier that we thought we could move to if we "had to".
Talked to two of their o/o's and The one in the paid off truck was having a hard time making enough to eat. If I was doing what the second was doing I'd would have had to leave expediting already.
You didn't say what you are driving.
Talk to others here. I don't know vans. If you're in a straight there are many things you can do to increase your earning potential.
There's a great clue in Friday's Weekly Bulletin.
Hang in there. Better days are coming. Just a tough start to the year.
Last Sat another driver told me our carrier had slowed down.
We had our best week ever 2 weeks ago.
Short on hours we took a short load. Then another short load. Ended up with five short loads in 5 days for another good week.
We sat from Sat until Mon w/o a load. Had a so/so week driven by a dry run that got pushed back 24 hours by a shipper's error and choices made to position myself for a windshield repair.
The bottom line is we're doing well, and better than any other carrier we've talked to.
We had one plan B, a carrier that we thought we could move to if we "had to".
Talked to two of their o/o's and The one in the paid off truck was having a hard time making enough to eat. If I was doing what the second was doing I'd would have had to leave expediting already.
You didn't say what you are driving.
Talk to others here. I don't know vans. If you're in a straight there are many things you can do to increase your earning potential.
There's a great clue in Friday's Weekly Bulletin.
Hang in there. Better days are coming. Just a tough start to the year.
What kind of truck? Team or solo? We have been doing pretty good. Rates are not what they were last year but still workable. Drop me, or other FDCC drivers a pm and I can see if I can help. Our truck is team/WG/TVAL so we can help in that area best.
When we were with FedEx Custom Critical, it happened almost all the time that a friend might be stuck in a slow streak while we were running hard. And it happened that when we were stuck in a streak where we could not buy a load, friends were running their wheels off.
At Landstar Express America, the dispatch system is fundamentally different and, working with agents over time, an individual can work one's way into the kind of running he or she wants to do.
In the last few months, we have been in a routine where we may do just one or two loads a week and make $5,000 to $10,000 doing so. Our pay per mile rate is higher than it has ever been and the number of miles driven is lower. It has been a long time since we have done a short run of any kind.
In calendar year 2012, we drove over 100,000 miles and our revenue per all miles driven (odometer start to odometer end) was the best we have had in 10 years of expediting. In other words, we drove less and made more. That means sitting more too but our big sleeper is very comfortable and we have outside interests that keep boredom from setting in.
While we could run more by putting lower-paying (not bad paying) freight on the truck, doing so makes us unavailable for any great paying load that may come along. We are now networked deep and wide enough in the Landstar agent network that we can pretty-much count on one great load a week.
Our agent marketing efforts have paid off. We have done business with over 50 agencies and well over 100 agents regularly receive status updates from us when we are available. While no one agent uses us a lot, our group of agents knows us to be a reliable and high-rate-worthy team because of the marketing we have done. When we've been sitting for two or three days, we are content to sit more because it is likely that one of our 100 will come through.
At Landstar Express America, the dispatch system is fundamentally different and, working with agents over time, an individual can work one's way into the kind of running he or she wants to do.
In the last few months, we have been in a routine where we may do just one or two loads a week and make $5,000 to $10,000 doing so. Our pay per mile rate is higher than it has ever been and the number of miles driven is lower. It has been a long time since we have done a short run of any kind.
In calendar year 2012, we drove over 100,000 miles and our revenue per all miles driven (odometer start to odometer end) was the best we have had in 10 years of expediting. In other words, we drove less and made more. That means sitting more too but our big sleeper is very comfortable and we have outside interests that keep boredom from setting in.
While we could run more by putting lower-paying (not bad paying) freight on the truck, doing so makes us unavailable for any great paying load that may come along. We are now networked deep and wide enough in the Landstar agent network that we can pretty-much count on one great load a week.
Our agent marketing efforts have paid off. We have done business with over 50 agencies and well over 100 agents regularly receive status updates from us when we are available. While no one agent uses us a lot, our group of agents knows us to be a reliable and high-rate-worthy team because of the marketing we have done. When we've been sitting for two or three days, we are content to sit more because it is likely that one of our 100 will come through.
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The other responders are either WG or WG/TVAL. We're neither. That being said, we're a team, and have a lift gate. That plus our security clearance have done well for us. I keep preaching to surface truck folks the need for more qualifications. The more you have, the better you'll be.
Just a guess, but I bet the OP is a solo in a straight. Met a guy a few months back who was struggling, but had nothing to offer the carrier but a plain dry box, no accessories inside, no Canada, no IAC, and never more than one day's drive from home. Oh, and DH home every weekend he was without a load. Tried showing him what has worked for us, but, "Those convinced against their will, are of the same opinion still."
This is the worst week we've had since we got the truck back in January, and it's way better than I like our minimum to be. March was maybe our 4th or 5th best in a little over 4 years.
Feel free to PM me. We'll be available this afternoon through Monday afternoon to chat. I'd bet there are some real easy things you can do to make you/your truck more 'attractive' to the DVA system.
Just a guess, but I bet the OP is a solo in a straight. Met a guy a few months back who was struggling, but had nothing to offer the carrier but a plain dry box, no accessories inside, no Canada, no IAC, and never more than one day's drive from home. Oh, and DH home every weekend he was without a load. Tried showing him what has worked for us, but, "Those convinced against their will, are of the same opinion still."
This is the worst week we've had since we got the truck back in January, and it's way better than I like our minimum to be. March was maybe our 4th or 5th best in a little over 4 years.
Feel free to PM me. We'll be available this afternoon through Monday afternoon to chat. I'd bet there are some real easy things you can do to make you/your truck more 'attractive' to the DVA system.
As mentioned, at least part of the "combination" to the magic lock is qualifications and flexibility. If you have IAC, hazmat etc. and you are willing to go to Canada, stay out a while including weekends etc., have plenty of straps, pads, maybe a pallet jack etc. you should find yourself loaded and rolling more often than those lacking those numbers on the combination.
zorry
Veteran Expediter
We have everything available. Although T-Val we don't run a lot of T-Val. Pretty good mix of everything else.
It helps that we'll go short, we'll do labor like non-adjacent delivery, haz-mat.
It doesn't matter.
Throw us a good rate and it averages out in the wash.
Had a great surface load last week by being patient and in the right place.
I avoid dead zones. I've done well in areas some think of as dead zones.
And sometimes I take a goofy load just for the hell of it . I guess I like to laugh at my own decisions.
The end result has been very satisfying.
It helps that we'll go short, we'll do labor like non-adjacent delivery, haz-mat.
It doesn't matter.
Throw us a good rate and it averages out in the wash.
Had a great surface load last week by being patient and in the right place.
I avoid dead zones. I've done well in areas some think of as dead zones.
And sometimes I take a goofy load just for the hell of it . I guess I like to laugh at my own decisions.
The end result has been very satisfying.
In other words, no, you're not struggling with FedEx Custom Critical. Got it.
The above quoted response reminds me of computer tech support forums, where someone will post a question about fixing a problem with their Windows 7 PC, and some yahoo will invariably respond with, "Get a Mac."
Or buy a gym.
Getting out of trucking to embark on a new career by owning a gym is almost like abandoning some career to drive a truck.
Except the olfactory experience is quite different.
BigCat
Expert Expediter
I'm scratching my head too. Back to topic, I was struggling with FedEx while I was solo there. Not as bad when I was team though but that didn't last long.
All carrier are slow right now, it's just not FedEx Custom Critical. I have always said this over the years. You spend the first six months of each year kissing you're carrier butt for freight and the second six months of the year they are kissing yours to move freight. Freight just hasn't broke loose yet this year. I hope it does soon as we may see a lot more people changing carriers. I already heard a few have.
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If you were TVAL and had a T&T and single you could turn good money just got to know how run and where. & you got to put your self out not sit in truck stops. In other words pack a lunch and you dont need big house and all that. A plug in cooler a microwave and Case of Water & some Can goods & those non ref Dinners micro wave Denty moores and Your good to go. Those Box instant tea packets and Case of pretizels. When the 10 hour driving rule comes into effect it may be harder but then again maybe not. peace.
FedEX you can make money Solo and Team just got to know how to do it.
They work with ya.
FedEX you can make money Solo and Team just got to know how to do it.
They work with ya.
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