CharlesD
Expert Expediter
While we're on the topic of companies doing all sorts of things they shouldn't do, here's another one.
I got a call from a new customer last night asking if we could cover a hot load they had from Illinois to Connecticut. We didn't have any trucks in the area, but since this is a new customer and I want to make a good first impression, I posted the load on Sylectus, got a bid, marked up my margin, quoted my customer, and got the load. This load was a 1000 mile direct delivery straight truck load, requiring a team.
The carrier that told me the truck was a team got the load and they picked it up last night on time. I never got a call during the night and when I spoke with them this morning the truck was still on schedule. Then I get a call from the driver at 11:00 this morning that he had been shut down by the DOT at a rest area in PA. He's telling me that the cops are just harassing trucks, bla bla bla. I spoke with the cop and it turns out that the truck only had one driver and is a day cab. So this carrier told me they were sending in a large straight team and they sent a day cab truck with a solo driver who was trying to run illegal. Now I had to scramble to find another truck off Sylectus that could come and recover the freight for me, at considerable cost I might add, and the shipment is delayed more than two hours by the time the other truck can make it in there and the freight can be swapped.
Are things getting so bad that people are lying just to get a decent load, even to the point of driving illegal and risking any chance of getting more freight in the future? This business is built on good business relationships and providing good service to one another, all the way up and down the chain. If one link in that chain is weak, it can screw up the whole thing. I gave my customer a certain expectation of service and now that expectation is not being met because of a moron the next step down the chain.
Ok, my rant is now over. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I got a call from a new customer last night asking if we could cover a hot load they had from Illinois to Connecticut. We didn't have any trucks in the area, but since this is a new customer and I want to make a good first impression, I posted the load on Sylectus, got a bid, marked up my margin, quoted my customer, and got the load. This load was a 1000 mile direct delivery straight truck load, requiring a team.
The carrier that told me the truck was a team got the load and they picked it up last night on time. I never got a call during the night and when I spoke with them this morning the truck was still on schedule. Then I get a call from the driver at 11:00 this morning that he had been shut down by the DOT at a rest area in PA. He's telling me that the cops are just harassing trucks, bla bla bla. I spoke with the cop and it turns out that the truck only had one driver and is a day cab. So this carrier told me they were sending in a large straight team and they sent a day cab truck with a solo driver who was trying to run illegal. Now I had to scramble to find another truck off Sylectus that could come and recover the freight for me, at considerable cost I might add, and the shipment is delayed more than two hours by the time the other truck can make it in there and the freight can be swapped.
Are things getting so bad that people are lying just to get a decent load, even to the point of driving illegal and risking any chance of getting more freight in the future? This business is built on good business relationships and providing good service to one another, all the way up and down the chain. If one link in that chain is weak, it can screw up the whole thing. I gave my customer a certain expectation of service and now that expectation is not being met because of a moron the next step down the chain.
Ok, my rant is now over. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
