In other words they reward us for running our business badly??
It depends on the specific award/reward, I think. Our carrier recently announced $50 bonuses for trucks that successfully complete level one roadside inspections. As it happened, Diane and I were called into one and passed. The day after we submitted the paperwork $50 was added to our fuel card.
The bonus did not reward profitability but it did reward safety and keeping our truck well maintained, which supports profitability in the long run. In safety and truck maintenance our interests and our carrier's are clearly aligned.
On the other hand, we knew for weeks that the award was out there and that our chances of winning the $50 could be enhanced by voluntarily going through scales and asking for inspections. We did not do so because of a previous experience we once had.
The $50 we won was not intentionally sought. It was only won because a scale cop pulled us in and our paperwork and truck were in good order. Had she given us the choice, we would have declined the inspection and gone on our merry way.
The previous experience happened when a fleet owner whose truck we drove at the time directed us to go in for a voluntary. The scale cop was irritated by our request for a level one inspection and dinged the truck for a loose U-bolt that attaches the box to the frame. He told me the loose bolt was in a place where it could not be easily seen. That part was true because when I later looked, no loose bolt could be seen.
That meant nothing. The fleet owner now had a violation to clear before the truck could be again dispatched. He told me to take it into the shop and have them re-torque the U-bolts. It cost over $300 by the time the shop busted the rusty bolts loose and re-torqued them, plus the down time to get it done.
Another time, we got $50 when a carrier-hired survellaince vehicle followed our truck and determined that we were driving safely. There again, the carrier's interests and ours are clearly aligned.
The amusing thing (to us) about these two awards is that it mattered not to us if they were out there to win or not. We drive safe and maintain our vehicle not because our carrier wants us to, but because it is good business and very much in our own best interests to do so.
Another example of a well targeted award was not part of an announced award program. It was a case where a team was given a carrier-awarded gift card because of an outstanding performance review I sent in.
Diane and I did a rescue load for this team as their truck had broken down. The circumstances and the performance of the team were such that I believed they deserved special recognition and high praise, which I gave by putting it in writing and sending to our carrier. On the books, the team was charged with a service failure, mechanical. In our carrier's eyes, their performance was award-winning and duly recognized.
