Back Office Support ???????

[Turtle]

Teflon, I'm with ya. The inefficiencies can drive ya crazy. I can only winder how many additional loads the company could have hauled if they didn't have so many hours wasted by trucks deadheading and then sitting and doing nothing while waiting to pick up non-existent freight.

As for border crossings, a dedicated team in the office for that is a must. Panther, and probably other companies, often have a misplaced sense of urgency at times. You get a load from South Carolina to Chicago and the pester the pee out of you the whole way, god forbid you stop for fuel or something and they want to know if everything is alright cause you're ignition is showing as off.

But, get a load that crosses the border, a load that demands a great sense of urgency and attention, and they are remarkably casual, disinterested, detached, unresponsive.

That's because, at 47 miles an hour, you're not running late. And that's the problem with having normal dispatch handling a critical load like a border crossing, where a sense of urgency is crucial.

An awful lot of money is at stake with each and every border crossing. If, as a carrier (and for that matter, a driver) you can routinely cross the border in a timely fashion without any problems, then there is plenty of money to be made there. On the other hand, it's a place where a simple mistake can cost thousands in fines, not to mention lost customers. One would think that the utmost sense of urgency and an anal attention to detail would be the standard operating procedure on border crossings.

There should be a dedicated Border Crossing Team in dispatch to handle border crossings exclusively. And there should be at least one person on the team for each shift that knows the procedures cold. There should also be a single person on the team assigned to a given load, making sure everything is in order. When I accept a load offer that involves a border crossing, then any QC communications from me should be directed specifically to the computer screen of the person who is assigned my PRO, and any replies I get will always be from the same person, who is on the same page as me, and will see all of the messages between us in context. No more wasting time having conversations with 4 different people, 3 of whom are lost in Qualcomm translation.

The efficiencies of such a method cannot help but to increase revenue, both in more time available for trucks for loads, as well as more people wanting to take loads that cross the border due to the lack of hassles normally associated with it, or at the very least, a much reduced level of driver stress associated with crossing the border.

Driver Council - get to work on that right away.

 

[redhotxpress]

what just kills me is when you've waited at the shipper way past your p/u time but your delivery time isn't changed in hopes that you can still make original delivery...it would be nice if they'd send an ammended ETA so you're not stressing and dispatch doesn't send those showing delay msg. we have never been late for p/u or delivery but every so often we get that "showing delay msg" that is just plain annoying usually along with the "please respond" msg. so you either ignore it, pull off and answer it, use your cell phone minutes to answer it, wake your team member up to answer cause you can't type on qc and drive at same time.
once when driving solo w/plenty of time left to deliver load, i stopped to let dog out and when i got back in truck i had msg that i still had 1 hr left to drive before my 14 was up so i needed to wait to take a break after that....that didn't go over well with me!! obviously withh 100% on time, we have things planned out fairly well. but on the other side of the coin, i know dispatch has to deal with drivers that are chronically late and that's their job to keep up on the loads.

 

[Teflon]

Turtle...

You made some great points and I hope there are people reading these post who will listen to those like you who have experience and understanding of the problems and take some action. Sometimes there seems to be a disconnect between people with "boots on the ground" and operational support.

 

[Turtle]

I think somebody at Panther reads these boards. But I don't think they read my messages.

Otherwise, I'd have been in hot water long ago. :+

 

[Teflon]

Maybe the "squeaky wheel" doesn't get any grease. It just get released.

 

[slfisher45]

I have read several threads with turtle and teflon praising each other about their great points made and their good ideas.
I don't understand (yet) why so few have so many problems in this expediting business. Now the big problem is crossing the border. There is a procedure for picking up freight, checking paperwork, processing paperwork, proceding to the border and following the border guards directions. Everything is set for consistency to elimate too many variations. To expect the leasor to have a staff set up exclusively to guide contractors through border crossings would be counter productive and cost prohibitive. All a driver has to do is learn the business and know it will change and learn the changes. I was surprised with a little plastic barcoded tag I had to attach to the back of my truck. My paperwork had already been cleared through the broker, yet I had to stop at the Windsor warehouse to get barcoded. Oh well.........

 

[Turtle]

>I have read several threads with turtle and teflon praising
>each other about their great points made and their good
>ideas.

Really? Several? Threads? Really?

Okaaay.


>I don't understand (yet) why so few have so many problems in
>this expediting business. Now the big problem is crossing
>the border. There is a procedure for picking up freight,
>checking paperwork, processing paperwork, proceding to the
>border and following the border guards directions.
>Everything is set for consistency to elimate too many
>variations. To expect the leasor to have a staff set up
>exclusively to guide contractors through border crossings
>would be counter productive and cost prohibitive. All a
>driver has to do is learn the business and know it will
>change and learn the changes. I was surprised with a little
>plastic barcoded tag I had to attach to the back of my
>truck. My paperwork had already been cleared through the
>broker, yet I had to stop at the Windsor warehouse to get
>barcoded. Oh well.........

I'm really glad that you have never experienced any glitches or problems at the border, and I hope you never do.

I gotta ask ya about one thing, tho. OK, two things...

[/i]To expect the leasor to have a staff set up
>exclusively to guide contractors through border crossings
>would be counter productive and cost prohibitive. [/i]

Neat little catch phrases there. Sounds good. Like you know what you're talking about. So, please, explain, exactly, how setting up a dedicated Border Crossing Team would be counter productive. The reason I ask is, and pardon me if I sound ignorant on this point, the whole purpose of a dedicated team would be to double check things and to catch and resolve any problems before they become bigger problems, to reduce and/or eliminate any errors in paperwork, procedures and communications, follow up and communicate with the broker to ensure no unnecessary delays. It seems to me that reducing or eliminating unnecessary delays would be productive, not counter productive. And since a dedicated team would be doing border crossings full time, they would be more likely to catch any mistakes, large and small, quicker and more efficiently than a driver who crosses the border a few times a year would catch them.

As for being cost prohibitive, just how much cost would it take for it to be prohibitive? If you can reduce or eliminate unnecessary delays with border crossing runs, get more trucks across the border in less time, then you will have more trucks available for more loads sooner, and if you make it so that it's less of a hassle so that more drivers will choose to take border crossing runs, you will be able to take even more loads across the border. Unless I'm missing a whole lotta costs that I'm not thinking of, the added efficiency of smoother crossings and more trucks for more loads, even a couple of extra loads a day, should more than offset the prohibitive costs of paying a small team of dedicated dispatchers who specialize in border crossings.

Incidentally, I've seen just such a setup at more than one carrier. Didn't seem counter productive, nor cost prohibitive to me. That's why I'm asking.

 

[slfisher45]

Turtle responded,

"I'm really glad that you have never experienced any glitches or problems at the border, and I hope you never do. "

I have experienced problems and they were my fault. Learning curve.


"I gotta ask ya about one thing, tho. OK, two things..."

To expect the leasor to have a staff set up
>exclusively to guide contractors through border crossings
>would be counter productive and cost prohibitive.

"Neat little catch phrases there. Sounds good. Like you know what you're talking about. So, please, explain, exactly, how setting up a dedicated Border Crossing Team would be counter productive. The reason I ask is, and pardon me if I sound ignorant on this point, the whole purpose of a dedicated team would be to double check things and to catch and resolve any problems before they become bigger problems, to reduce and/or eliminate any errors in paperwork, procedures and communications, follow up and communicate with the broker to ensure no unnecessary delays. It seems to me that reducing or eliminating unnecessary delays would be productive, not counter productive. And since a dedicated team would be doing border crossings full time, they would be more likely to catch any mistakes, large and small, quicker and more efficiently than a driver who crosses the border a few times a year would catch them. "

Three shifts 24-7-365. How many in a team would one require to do the job drivers are suppose to do? Complete paperwork and contact the broker. Did they receive the paperwork and is everything ok? If not explain to me how a dedicated team will represent you at the border when the border guard says go to the warehouse or go to the broker. A third party is ( in my experience) necessary only when I can't do my job. But that only happens once. Each experience is a tool for learning.
AS stated earlier, Greg334 took resposibility to increase his knowledge in border crossings, and I am sure he is not the only one. There are other respondents in this thread that share the feeling that astaff is not the answer.
It is the resposibility of the driver to do the job and know the job.
I am not convinced a dedicated staff is the answer for bungled border crossings.
Turtle, you say you know of companies who have a dedicated staff for border crossings, name them.
I don't know why this has to be said, but I am not attacking you, I just don't understand some of these problems people have.

 

[Turtle]

"Three shifts 24-7-365. How many in a team would one require to do the job drivers are suppose to do?"

Kind of a trick question, since those on the team wouldn't really be doing the job that the drivers are supposed to do. They would be assisting the driver with any problems as they come up, in a timely and expedient manner. But you're the one who said is was cost prohibitive, and I can only assume from that that you know some or all of the costs involved, or have experienced such a team's failings. That's why I asked for you to explain it.

But, to sort of answer your question, depending on crossing volumes, somewhere between one and three on a given shift should be plenty. Most of the time they wouldn't be doing anything any differently than regular dispatch, merely monitoring the progress of the run. So a single person could handle many loads at the same time.

"Complete paperwork and contact the broker."

That's easier said than done. We're now using the ACE program and everything is going through Adminserve, and all communications other than the initial fax between the driver and Adminserve is to go through dispatch. WHen regular dispatch who knows nothing of border crossings is handling things, additional problems can, and have, cropped up.

"Did they receive the paperwork and is everything ok?"

Don't know. Dispatch only knows that.

"If not explain to me how a dedicated team will represent you at the border when the border guard says go to the warehouse or go to the broker."

Obviously, they can't represent a driver at the border, but if dispatch can catch any potential problems and difuse them before you get there, then the border experience is likely to be a lot more pleasant, and quicker.


"A third party is ( in my experience) necessary only when I can't do my job. But that only happens once. Each experience is a tool for learning."

If the customer were contacting me directly for the load, then you're right. But the carrier has access to the customer, whoever that may be, be it the shipper, the consignee, or a third party who is paying for the shipment, and access to information that I don't have. There may be times when I need access to that information in order to do my job, even if it's something as simple as a contact name. Experience is a valuable learning tool, as are mistakes, which is what gives one the experience. But a team that will double-check to help prevent mistakes, especially for drivers who don't cross the border frequently, drivers who are more likely to make a simple mistake, can be invaluable in preventing the types of costly mistakes that happen at the border, not to mention wasted time.

"AS stated earlier, Greg334 took resposibility to increase his knowledge in border crossings, and I am sure he is not the only one. There are other respondents in this thread that share the feeling that astaff is not the answer."

I've invested a great deal of time educating myself with border crossings, including many conversations with both US and Canadian border personnel. I'm well versed in the procedures, including the new ones at the bridges in eastern Ontario that were just instituted, and am quite comfortable crossing the border, and do so on a regular basis. But that doesn't preclude problems arising which are out of my control, particularly those which originate with the carrier and the fact that an inexperienced dispatcher has made a mistake or some miscommunication.


"It is the resposibility of the driver to do the job and know the job."

Can't disagree with that at all.

"I am not convinced a dedicated staff is the answer for bungled border crossings."

For any and all carriers, as a blanket statement, I'm not either. For Panther, however, I am.

"Turtle, you say you know of companies who have a dedicated staff for border crossings, name them."

No

If I wanted to name them I wold have already, and I'm certainly not going to name them because you wish it. I will say that Con-Way had one, and it worked flawlessly. Beyond that, for current carriers, that's up to them.

"I don't know why this has to be said, but I am not attacking you, I just don't understand some of these problems people have."

I'm not attacking you, nor do I feel attacked. You state that you don't understand some of the problems, yet at the same time state that the cost of such a team is prohibitive, and more so, counter productive. I'm really failing to see how a dedicated team would be counter-productive. Help me understand. Even if the team did nothing other than what regular dispatch did, or for that matter nothing at all, how could that be any more detrimental than what happens now?

 

[nightshift]

I had to reply to this thread. Since running with Panther we have hit every border crossing in and out of Ontario and a couple in and out of Quebec. Learning the system doesn't work. The procedure at the borders seems to change with each crossing location and with each shift. Not only that but the broker that is being used makes a difference also. Not all personnel at the brokers know what they are doing either, especially the ones that are working the late shift. We have had problems with brokers not processing paperwork but being told that we are cleared, we have had problems with broker codes being changed and the broker not being able to do anything about it until morning when someone else finally showed up to work, and we have had problems with different border crossings wanting different paperwork for MT crossings. We are told at orientation that we need to have an inward cargo manifest showing we are empty except for freight handling equipment when DH'ing back into the US. Well cross at Port Huron and they look at you like you have 3 heads, cross at Lake Champlaign and not have one and they threaten to fine you $5000, OK, which is it? We go through the expenses and time to get the FAST cards but get told by Panther that we need the transponder before we can use them and that they will order it for us, well still no transponder but that's OK, the border guards don't know either, cross at one point and they ask why you aren't showing your FAST card when MT, cross at another and they say they don't need it, cross loaded at another and they ask for it even when it's not a FAST load. Sorry but border crossing loads just aren't worth the extra few dollars they pay for the agravation, stress and time loss when trying to do it right. As for a driver learning the border crossing rules, how can we when they don't know them themselves. As for a company having experts on hand, I think it's a great idea, with the rules changing as often as they do it's hard for someone on the road to keep up with them. Sorry but I am one of the those that believes a driver should drive and be responsible for the freight when it's on his truck, the permit department should be responsible for required permits and guess what, that should include what is required for a driver to cross the border.
Yes I still will go to Canada, but I'd rather not, it's just a hassle.

Don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense being late.

 

[nightcreacher]

Just another reason my truck is to big to cross the border,at least it is with a 53' trailer

 

[greg334]

You know what I did was not just talk to CBP but started to study for a brokerage license. There is a lot more to this than emanifest, ACE, and Fast paperwork.

The biggest problem I found out is the CBP don’t always get the right information about changes made by the congress or the DHS. Some CBP officers are too arrogant to follow the rules and the DHS must have a memo that says that they are to hassle Americans coming into the states and let the middle east people through without questioning (yes this has happened to us a few times).

Beside that, I agree with most of what everyone says but I don’t agree that this is the driver’s responsibility; it really is the carrier’s responsibility to ensure that the load gets through customs. The driver has the responsibility that they have the proper paper work filled out properly and initially faxed or transmitted to the broker. The company needs to be on top of the paper work, find out if the there is a road block or a lazy bunch of people at the brokers (Livingston?).

There is a two part cure.

One would be having small staff, not just dispatchers (I tend to think that dispatchers would not be the right group to give the responsibility to) who I have said are either licensed brokers or former brokers – someone who has had some proper training and experience to get right answers and knows the short cuts to get things fixed. Three FTEs can handle this in a small company like Panther; FedEx may require 5 to 7 FTEs would be the minimal. So what that they would be sitting a little, I think that the work load could be balanced the foreign shipments with other non-critical work to justify the small cost of employing them.

The other thing is to have everything faxed to the company and the company go through the entire process of faxing it to the broker, do the follow up and to ensure that the driver is cleared to go with one person and only one handing this. There have been times where I requested the company to check on the status of the paper work only to be ignored or get three people answering my inquiry. I think that having the company do some of the work would not cause me to wait three hours only to find out that I need to go to the broker to watch them sit in front of their computer, finish everything in 2 minutes and walk out with the customs clearance numbers to get into the states.

There are very few companies (actually two) that can handle the entire process, from pickup to clearing it through customs and delivering it. These are UPS and FedEx, which brings up something that bothers me with FedEx. It is that Custom Critical and Trade Network should work together to get the stuff cleared. I think that this would be a great revenue generator; exclusive door to door service with customs services, FedEx are you listening?

 

[redhotxpress]

"It is the resposibility of the driver to do the job and know the job.

we do the job and know the job and still have to wait for hours, as do many other drivers i've spoken with, for the ACE load to clear. that specific problem isn't with dispatch, it is with the ACE system.
I find dispatchers try their best to be helpful and answer a question but often if they are new they just haven't had that question before. before ACE, however, we had problems such as being told the wrong broker and paperwork at the shipper not being exactly what it needed to be. very seldom have i had a situation that i couldn't straighten out myself, as was said, experience is the teacher, but when i have, it's very frustrating if you have to go through a number of different people to try to get the problem resolved. i believe part of this is due to turnover in dispatch and not being able to get back to the same person if you need to call back. Dave F. mentioned to us once that they were working on having a group of people (team) to handle canandian issues. i myself think that would be workable, after all they have NLM and they handle their load issues. i am in hopes that evenutally the ACE and other border crossing issues will go easy, but about that time then some new system will be established.

 

[slfisher45]

"But, to sort of answer your question, depending on crossing volumes, somewhere between one and three on a given shift should be plenty. Most of the time they wouldn't be doing anything any differently than regular dispatch, merely monitoring the progress of the run. So a single person could handle many loads at the same time."

You were advocating DEDICATED BC dispatchers. In the prior quote you are now talking about dispatchers MULTI-TASKING.
Big difference....

Done with this rubber ball thread.

 

[Turtle]

"But, to sort of answer your question, depending on crossing volumes, somewhere between one and three on a given shift should be plenty. Most of the time they wouldn't be doing anything any differently than regular dispatch, merely monitoring the progress of the run. So a single person could handle many loads at the same time."

"You were advocating DEDICATED BC dispatchers. In the prior quote you are now talking about dispatchers MULTI-TASKING.
Big difference...."

Nope. Multi=tasking only in the sense that they could handle multiple border crossing loads. The Border Crossing Team would not handle non-crossing loads. They'd be doing the same as regular dispatch, but doing it solely with border loads.


"Done with this rubber ball thread."

And after all this without explaining how it would be cost-prohibitive and counter-productive? I'm shocked. ;-)

 

[highway star]

I think some multi-tasking would probably occur in the interest of keeping everyone busy and helping things run smoothly in general. But, people with the primary task of border issues absolutely makes sense. I only had a very small handful of problems crossing, but, when I did, guess who I called? To suggest this kind of support isn't necessary is just wrong. Of course, I only have 7 years of frequent border crossing experience to draw from, so maybe I'm all wet.

 

[BigBuzd1]

I have picked up Hazmat in Windsor and rerouted to Port Huron and Panther has ALWAYS paid the extra mileage and bumped the delivery time. I dont want to use the ferry and it has never been suggested that I do, by panther or by the owner of my truck.
This new ACE program was shaky at 1st, but the last 8 out of 10 Canada to U.S. loads have gone so smoothly it's unreal. I was no more than 5 miles from shipper...200 miles from the border and my QC was beeping asking for my PAPS #. Within 20 to 30 miles after giving them the # we were told not to cross yet...by the time I got within 100 miles of the border I had my entry #.

Hint for drivers using ACE...on the sheet needing your identification #'s and other personal info...keep it and just white-out the pertinent info of the previous load you used it for...it saves you time filling it out and having to get all that info together again and again.
Until this happens...this is from Panthers FAQ section:
ACE is a clearance process that ties the driver, the truck, the customer, Panther and the load to a single clearance number. This is a very labor and data intensive process and any error will result in a driver being held up at the border and fines. To eliminate this we have asked Adminserve, who is simply an administrator of the process for Panther, to build a database of drivers and trucks that have sucessfully cleared using ACE. In a very short period of time we will be able to shorten the fax coversheet to one page for those who have had a sucessful ACE load. Until them they are using subsequent data to validate thier database.

 

[pelicn]

> In a very short period
>of time we will be able to shorten the fax coversheet to one
>page for those who have had a sucessful ACE load. Until
>them they are using subsequent data to validate thier
>database.

Wonder how many years that will take?

 

[Turtle]

Instead of messing with white out, I just took the pages that require ID numbers and stuff and filled in the required information, and then took those sheets and made copies of them to use. Now, when I pull out the sheets, the only thing I need to fill in for each load is the load-specific information.

 

[sucbadriver]

1 Panther gets the customs broker info from the customer so if it’s wrong it’s the customer's fault.

2. They are training dispatchers on the ACE system which is a stupid program if you ask me.

3. I run into and back out of Canada weekly I am always routed through Port Huron when I have a hazmat they always pay the miles to run it that way.

4. No matter who you drive for document who tells you anything that has to do with money /name/date/time/amount

5. Why would customs fax anything to a broker when there is a broker's office at every crossing?? If there is a problem you just go to the broker and make them fix it Panther can’t fix it they are not the broker

6. Some US customs officers are making there own rules if you cross through Alexandria Bay you must fill out an inward manifest if your empty no one else has ever made me do that just them.

7. Because I didn’t have one filled out I was x rayed and searched that is a first for me in 1.75 years of crossing the boarder.

8. I have never been held up for more than an hour at the boarder and then its because of a lazy driver on the first leg of the trip that didn’t clear the load and I had to walk it through