cat bashing

[guest]

Is very simple..last year Panther had around 1200 loads every day now they have 700-800..and 1700 trucks..that's the problem with Panther..they have more trucks than enough...plus every truck is paying 35 $ every week for QC..so..they are paying their expenses with our money..do they care?? no

 

[ATeam]

Greg,

No, I cannot answer the outstanding question, as it was asked of expediters that have been in the business 8 to 10 years. I have been in the business 4 years.

Dave,

You said the rate used to be double what it is today. To help me make sure I understand what you are saying, help me with this. A not uncommon rate in expediting today is $1.50 per mile. So as to not get tangled up in specific amounts, let's say $1.25 to $1.75 per mile. When you say rates were double, do you mean that rates used to be $2.50 to $3.50 per mile?

 

[arkjarhead]

these companies are really smart. they seem to be steadily adding on trucks but not business for the trucks. then after those trucks have been sitting for awhile they'll agree to haul a load for cheeper and the company pockets the difference. These o/o who haul cheap freight saying well it'll get me home, or it'll pay the fuel are really shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[x06col]

Waitaminute Ark. Are you typing that if ya gotta absolutely hafta, gotta be home for some agenda, (birthday party, football party, race your car, pay the rent, etc.) that you'd dead head a few hundred rather than load a fuel plus a few bucks load?

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

plus every truck is paying 35 $ every week for QC..so..they are paying their expenses with our money..do they care?? no


lol.....ok Panther has never had an average of 1200 loads a day...the current load count is surpassing last years on some days and either matching or coming ##### close the others. And no.....I have seen load count reports with my own eyes.


Have you ever even considered Panther's bill for QC? that statement is so misinformed that all I can do is laugh and then be dumbfounded that a business person such as yourself cannot discern between costs and charges.....


Let's just talk about the yahoo's that lease on to Panther and leave after 2-3 weeks because we all know you can figure a company out in that time period and know how to make money there....then they take off with the qc and everything else.....as well as the fuel advances they needed to take their first loads.


I have restrained myself from saying this in a while but please...if you think panther is that horrible to you and screwing you over so bad....please LEAVE. And if by some chance you were one of the people that could not find a way to make it work.....I understand but do not blame PANTHER.....their system is not for everyone.


Freight is the issue, not the carriers growth. It is quite simple, you want to get more freight opportunities then have more trucks able to carry the freight.


This quarter loks like a repeat of last year....what does that mean to us? Well possibly the market is shifting to the 4th quarter not being the most profitable, but rather the 2 and 3rd quarters taking over. We look at the financial picture and make adjustments.

Panther has been good to us, and vice versa, both as single unit truck owners and now as fleet owners.....Do I wish it were busier atm...of course, BUT I am doing something about keeping my trucks loaded and not putting it all on the carrier I am leased to.....




anyway.......I am back to chuckling about Panther covering their costs with my qc pmts



-Charlotte

 

[davekc]

I would say that 2.50 is a pretty close average for a WG truck at that time. That is why you had so many seasonal drivers. Many at that time really only ran seven to eight months out of the year. Taking most of the winter months off. We didn't run all of our trucks at that time either.
There were numerous time you would inch into the 4.00 range, but that wasn't the norm. I might have done better to rephrase it as total compensation. Looking on a balance sheet, that would be accounting for motel rooms,deadhead, and other expenses as well.

With regards to QC charges, Panther and other carriers collect additional monies from the leases. That is much different than whether they realize a profit from it. Not quite sure where the 1200 load count came from. Never heard it that high. I don't believe they would have enough trucks in service to even cover that amount.











Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[fastrod]

You are mostly right Ark but from what I am seeing the company is not pocketing the difference, they are cutting the rate to gain market share.

 

[greg334]

"Have you ever even considered Panther's bill for QC? that statement is so misinformed that all I can do is laugh and then be dumbfounded that a business person such as yourself cannot discern between costs and charges....."

"With regards to QC charges, Panther and other carriers collect additional monies from the leases. That is much different than whether they realize a profit from it."

Qualcomm charges a flat rate to carriers like Panther and FedEx and they can have X amount of units, not trucks, active on the system at any given time. In some cases, the equipment is owned by the company and cost them nothing except maintenance and replacement. When they are upgraded, the value of the used stuff is figured into the cost of the new stuff and the overall cost to the carrier is returned quicker than they want to admit. On the other hand there are carriers who lease everything and they even get a good break on the cost. I think that once they reach 500 units, the cost drops substantially.

Does Panther/FedEx make a profit from our $35 a week? Yes, there is no doubt that they do. The cost is for the mobile units is close to $20 to $30 a month (not week) to have the system on line.

But there is something else to consider, the cost of sending messages and having an integrated system with the carriers system or a connection - this all costs an additional fee which is not as expensive as other services. I was contracted to one carrier who constantly complained that I used full words because they got charged by the character and they didn't like it.

Still being charged $35 a week ($140 a month) is a profit.

 

[davekc]

I think Charlotte was implying that there is money made, but the gains are moved to cover losses from new people not lasting past several weeks.
Unless you seen a balance sheet, it would be hard to really know.
I would think the same with Fedex and others. On the other side of that, if they are making money from it, why is that a problem?








Davekc
owner
23 years
PantherII
EO moderator

 

[guest]

If you are so smart..panther web page..track shipments..look for pro#..and you'll see...there are no more than 800 pro's every day mr Smart..and 3 yrs ago they had at least 1000 with maybe 900 trucks now they have 1700 trucks

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

The charges were not just the charges for the unit I was referring to, but the message charges as well. We never get yelled at for the length of messages or told not to use qc.....I am certain the profit margin if at all is slim and I am still willing to bet that they are losing money because of the people who take off owing etc...



-charlotte

 

[greg334]

Well I left the quotes there by mistake and seeing you all replied, I won't edit them out.

Overall they make money, I think it is not as thin as one would think. Talking to Qualcom and even visiting the place, there is a lot more to this than the people at the carriers are willing to talk about.

As for the equipment walking off with the equipment, how many times does this actually go on? They can take the lost and not really effect their bottom line or damage their margin - remember we are talking about 1200 to 1500 units in the field. What can someone do with the equipment? To use it you have to have an account and be able to register the unit with Qualcom and they won't if it stolen.

Oh Dave, I am not complaining about the money they make, others on the other hand seem to think that a company is there to provide work for them.

 

[FAMILYEXPDT]

I have seen many times they lost equipment...plus at panther now we have the omnivision...which is a much different unit than standard qc. Anyway I think the 3 of us agree that no one pays their bills off the charges that we incur.


-charlotte

 

[greg334]

charlotte
your right about that.

I pulled my QC out of my van this past weekend and I can't wait to get rid of it at Green if I ever get out of here.

 

[pelicn]

Omnivision....I just wish they'd change her voice. LOL

I'd much rather be charged a flat fee, than being asked to use shorthand for character count.
I agree with Charlotte, if you think the company isn't treating you right, or you aren't getting miles, or whatever...let your fingers/truck do the walking and find a company that fits you.

 

[LDB]

I have a problem with $35 weekly for QC. I've never denied or hidden that. My problem is partially based on the weekly charge being $25.50 elsewhere with no message length restrictions. To satisfy my curiosity I called QC and told them I was the owner of a SMALL fleet of trucks and interested in their services. I don't remember the name of the man I talked to at QC but the rates for a SMALL fleet are as follows.

QC monthly fee $59.95 or $13.83 weekly
SMS to driver's cell $5.95 or $1.37 weekly

I didn't inquire but I suspect there would be discounts for a fleet of hundreds of trucks, at least on the QC charges. It is very annoying to have to pay $35 weekly and then another $2 weekly for the SMS messages when $25.50 apparently covers the QC. At the very least it would be nice if the SMS was included at no extra charge.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[Tennesseahawk]

>I think Charlotte was implying that there is money made, but
>the gains are moved to cover losses from new people not
>lasting past several weeks.
>Unless you seen a balance sheet, it would be hard to really
>know.
>I would think the same with Fedex and others. On the other
>side of that, if they are making money from it, why is that
>a problem?

One simple reason... they REQUIRE you to have it. I think in government it's called an unfunded mandate? In business, it's called screwing the pooch.

-True independence can only be gained if you're trully independant.

 

[Fr8 Shaker]

UPS's charges for QC are 15.00 a week. also look at the total picture here, 35.00 week x 52 weeks = 1820.00 a year. thats not pocket change. BTW do we get a statement at the end of the year from panther for qc charges for tax purposes?

 

[Moot]

I am sure Panther would tap an owner's escrow account to cover unpaid Q.C. fees.

 

[ATeam]

>I would say that 2.50 is a pretty close average for a WG
>truck at that time. That is why you had so many seasonal
>drivers. Many at that time really only ran seven to eight
>months out of the year. Taking most of the winter months
>off. We didn't run all of our trucks at that time either.
>There were numerous time you would inch into the 4.00 range,
>but that wasn't the norm. I might have done better to
>rephrase it as total compensation. Looking on a balance
>sheet, that would be accounting for motel rooms,deadhead,
>and other expenses as well.

THAT is an amazing number, $2.50 a mile, and with lower expenses too. I have asked before that if the times and money were that good in the so-called good old days of expediting, where are the millionaires? Your information about people taking the winters off helps explain it. I can only say that if Diane and I could earn $2.50 a mile, we would run hard with long-term financial goals in mind and make hay while the sun shines. Of course, that's what we are doing now, just with more effort and less pay per mile than the old-timers enjoyed.