anyone getting loads?

[Suds43]

BTW. Chef, Rlent, and Jack...........ditchwitch isn't 'new' to Bolt. She's been with them for a couple years.....

 

[x06col]

A couple a years?? Suds I gotta put this ball back in your court.

How long do YOU think it will take??

Thinning of the herd? Now there is a novel approach.

 

[chefdennis]

Yeap Mark got it, to take a paid move and lose any waiting hours is just nuts, so when i move it is on my dime, not bolts. I was #2 in dayton with 38 hours when i went to bed, the next morning i was #3, someone from another board moved in between me and the #1 guy. So I beat feet for another board, I was # 2, as i write this, I am #1 with 62 hrs. I figure i am here till monday and then i should get loaded out.

As for ditchwitch, Yea, i heard that the ither day Mark, seems she has been with Bolt awhile, and just might have turned down a few "short runs" also.............

 

[RLENT]

if you accept an empty move, and take their whopping .10/mile, you lose your board position and automatically go to the bottom of the list on whatever board your moving to.

Hmmm ... "whopping" eh ? .... well ... I dunno there Sudsy .... what's the fuel cost per mile these days on say a cargo van ? On a Sprinter ?

On the EM's, I'll take them some times, other times not .... depends ......

Of course, when you are talking to whoever is doing the empty moves, a relevant question to ask might be:

"How many are within 100 (or 200, or whatever) miles of _____ (wherever you are looking at getting an empty move to) and are there any units in route ?"

And then make a decision on whether to take the EM money or not.

I learned this one time when the individual who was doing the EM's for the day pointed out that I would lose my dwell time if I took the EM being offered (first time I had ever heard that) ..... I thought about it for a second ("Gee, I don't want to do that .....") and told her "No .... that's ok - I'll pass"

After having this conversation I called back a friend who I had been talking to when she called and was remarked to him about the "losing the dwell time" aspect that was being pushed and he said "Well ..... how many units were on the board you were going to .....?"

..... Doh ....... I dunno .... I didn't ask ..... so I told him: "Lemme call ya back in a minute"

I called the individual who doing the empty moves back and asked her "How many other units are in ______ ?"

Her answer: "Well ..... none ......"

At that point I told her I had changed my mind and would take the empty move ..... she was not pleased ..... apparently she had talked everyone out of taking an empty move that day ...... and was about to email her boss about the amount of money she had saved the company .... and I ruined her "perfect day"

She got over it tho' ......

Someone has crept in behind them with a #1 from another board and basically stole a load out from under them.

It isn't really a #1 per se, it's the time (in hours) since your last arrival ("LA" on Fleetvision)

That means "arriving" whenever you are on a Travel Order (whether it's a load or empty move), or coming back into service.

You'd never even know they were there unless they parked next to ya............

Or unless you asked ....... .... like I said in my PM ..... paying attention to what's going on in one's general vicinity has it's benefits ......

 

[x06col]

HOOAHH. Ya mean paying attention to something besides a comphy parking spot counts for something? Wow!!

 

[RLENT]

Hard ta 'magine ain't it col ?

 

[RLENT]

If Bolt Express and other companies like Panther did not have a van parked on every street corner you wouldn't have to drive all over the map just to find a load.

Well, I can't speak to Panther - never drove with 'em - but I've managed this past week to find a few corners here and there where Bolt didn't seem to have any other units (and judging from some of the carrier names on the BOL's for the freight I picked up, some other companies apparently didn't either .....)

And BTW, Bolt doesn't decide where to park the vans .... the O/O's do .....

 

[Falligator]

Hmmmmm.....okay beginning to look at websites for jobs in Florida.....just like the load boards.....nothing.

 

[x06col]

No rlent it's not! I've experienced many of em. Fortuneately, I somehow developed a survival strategy that allowed me to see thru some of the bone, and many didn't even get started to dish out the heartburn.

 

[nightcreacher]

Left home last monday, the 5th,have hauled 4 loads and $3289,and little over 1300 miles,running solo,co driver off til the 16th jan.Im number 2 in newark nj, with the number one being a team,ill get loaded on monday.

 

[TeamCaffee]

7 Loads for 2008 up to Jan 11th average length of load 628 miles 1.61 for loaded miles

5 Loads for 2009 up to Jan 11th average length of load 483 miles 1.74 for loaded miles

This is a very short slice of time and would be better looked at on the 31st of the month to do a comparison.

 

[ditchwitch55]

Thank you to all of you that have replied. Let me help y'all clarify a few things. I'm new to EO but I have been with Bolt as an O/O for 2 years. Now, this is in response to the Chef, I take any thing and every thing that is offered to me. My turn down rate is slim and next to none. I'm in service 24/7, so I really don't know how you got the information that I turn down short runs. If it was up to me, I would prefer 5 100 mile short loads per day. I merely wanted to know if it was only Bolt that is slow, or every one is slow. I'm very pleased with Bolt, or else if I wasn't, I'd be looking elsewhere.

 

[RLENT]

Chris,

Let me apologize to you for at least myself - I didn't read your post closely enough and assumed that you were new with Bolt - had I paid a little more attention, my answer would have been more appropriate to your original question.

I think freight generally is slow all over, but that doesn't mean there is no freight to run. As I'm sure you know, the guys and gals in Load Planning work pretty hard to get us loaded and keep us running - obviously the company makes zilch if we aren't.

Are you getting calls from LP asking you if you want them to bid on various loads ? If no, I'd be calling someone (Scott, Brian, Rene, or Erik) and asking them what's going on, and if there is anything you can do to rectify the situation.

 

[chefdennis]

Chris,

I won't apologys because the fact is freight is slow for everyone and nothing said here was in the negative. That being said, if you had said you were with bolt for a while and not new, yea, some points might have been made differently by most people posting.

As for my comment about turning runs down, the key word in the sentence was "heard", and it was from a very reliable source.. I don't care what anyone runs , i don't care if anyone likes their job, likes their carrier or goes broke. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but i certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it. So if what i heard was wrong, my bad, it happens....but has long as you have been with bolt, i'd have figured you had figured the system out by now and would have been moving to another area as to not be one of 11 vans sitting in toledo....

 

[ditchwitch55]

Chris,

I won't apologys because the fact is freight is slow for everyone and nothing said here was in the negative. That being said, if you had said you were with bolt for a while and not new, yea, some points might have been made differently by most people posting.

As for my comment about turning runs down, the key word in the sentence was "heard", and it was from a very reliable source.. I don't care what anyone runs , i don't care if anyone likes their job, likes their carrier or goes broke. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but i certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it. So if what i heard was wrong, my bad, it happens....but has long as you have been with bolt, i'd have figured you had figured the system out by now and would have been moving to another area as to not be one of 11 vans sitting in toledo....

I never said I was new or old for that matter, and your so called reliable source is not very reliable. So if I was you, I'd change my reliable source. I've come to the conclusion, and based on your previous posts in this forum that you seem to like to get into other people's business. If you really want to know the real me, then PM me. Oh, and by the way, I live in Toledo too.

 

[drivingmecrazy]

Straight truck team here with Panther- we had a good week but did change up the way we usually do buisness. First we took a load to Arizona, turned down a load to Las Vegas, they came back with "What will you do it for" so we made a good deal with them... dead headed to Los Angeles, turned down a few, one going to Seattle,Wa and a few 200 or so loads in California... got an offer to Montana- NO WAY !!!! But they came back with an offer that was to good to turn down and covered our dead head to Minnisota and plenty left in our pocket and it delivered on a Friday - so we had the weekend to get to our next load board. Normally we have tried to stay east of 35, but sometimes you gotta switch up. Even if Arizona had alot of miles going there, we would have used to turn that down- but now long runs are few and far between... so we took our chances and it worked out. But won't go to Washington cause have never heard anything good about that area!

 

[chefdennis]

Your right, you didn't say new or old, my source told me that you were with bolt I got it before mark said it here. I am not getting into a
****ing contest with you, so this is my last post to you on this topic. As I said, my source is reliable and no one here would question it, but thats neither here nor there. As for living in toledo, so what. other then cheaper to be home, if there are 11 vans in one location and i am lower then 3 , im moving its that simple......

PS: When you post here or on any other internet board, you open yourself up to others opinions...Like it or nit, but then again we all know about opinions and what they are like , now don't we....

 

[RLENT]

if you had said you were with bolt for a while and not new, yea, some points might have been made differently by most people posting.

Yeah, we should have caught it chef ..... her unit number was in her original posting ..... that would have told us that she's been there awhile.

 

[chefdennis]

Yea RELENT, you are right it is right there and i didn't see it until you mentioned it. That being said i was in the "yard" a few weeks ago on a tues, they were finishing a new "orientaition" and there were a few vans there, they had #'s lower then mine. not in the 200's, but lower then the 441 i have. I think they may be using #'s of those that have left and moved on..........So one nevers knows just by the #. But i still think you are right, a 200 # would still indicate someone thats been there a while.....My Bad for not noticing...

 

[Suds43]

HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMM, 13 vans sitting in Toledo, and that's only Bolt vans. Alot of others are sitting, all companies, not only Bolt........and yet they keep putting more and more vans on.......I remember in orientation how Brian said Bolt doesn't put more trucks on than they could keep busy.
Granted, some leave. But why replace them if you have alot of drivers sitting and sitting waiting for a load??
Doesn't make sense to me!!!

Col, I"ve never found a 'comfy' parking spot yet. Comfy is sitting home in the lounge chair after being out for 2 months! And yes, before you come back with one of your patented smart a** remarks, I've been out for 2 months at a time many times!!!
And with that, I'm taking my dog out of this fight!!