Companies that fine drivers
- Thread starter davekc
- Start date
cableguymn
Seasoned Expediter
I try... they never pay
Have you collected?
Happened to me today. Panther sends order in on Friday. Pickup at Carrier A. Get to carrier A, not here. Call in, Panther says oh, we sent it Carrier B.. Sorry, here is their address. Get to carrier B's address. They moved. Not sure when but they are gone. Call carrier B and get new address. Travel to new address.. Arrive 1 hour in to pickup window. Get to window give my paperwork then sit one more hour waiting for them to load my van.
The drive to the drop was the shortest part of the run. 40 miles.
Dispatch said "we'll see what we can do to get more $ out of them" I said "I don't care what they pay you, it's what your going to pay me for the troubles caused by your customer"
I think I made my point clear.
I try... they never pay
Have you collected?
Always, although not immediately. I get it back in the form of a bonus when they desperately need a load covered. About a month ago I was enroute to Chicago to deliver and got a load offer for the following morning for an airfreight shipment out of Elk Grove Village. I asked for a AWB number and if there was any customer authorized pick up forms needed. I was told no forms needed and an AWB number would be forth coming. Later I was informed that indeed there was some paperwork that I needed. I have no fax capabilities so the paperwork was faxed to a truck stop where I was stopping anyway for fuel. $8.00 out of my pocket for the fax. I scanned the fax receipt with my POD and BOL for the load and never got payed. Last week I got a load that required a bonus because of the delivery location and I tacked on and extra $20 for the fax fees. If they want to borrow my money, they can pay my vig.
Are you back with Panther?
turritrans
Expert Expediter
I don't believe many carriers have "fines in their contract". Allow me to clarify. How would Landstar react if a driver delivered 5 hours late and shut a line down and it was 100% driver error? Should the driver expect to be paid? Say the driver overslept.. Knew what time he had to be there no answer on cell phone; no answer on QC and the carrier didn't get paid on the load, should the driver still get paid?
This is more what I meant by consequences in a contract. I should have been more clear in my original statement. I wouldn't be in business and provide the level of service we do by hiring quality drivers... if I didn't treat my ops with respect and shoot them straight. I don't think holding an op accountable for a major service failure or shutdown is the quality of a crappy company. Do companies abuse these policies? Sure they do... But some avoid deductions at all cost including myself.
turritrans
Expert Expediter
Lol
I can see Beachbum's point. The way I worded it wasn't clear as far as our policy. And too some carriers have gotten and reputation for not dealing with ops in a positive way so I can see where he is coming from. I have also read concerns regarding these type of policies where dispatch maybe didn't push back an ETA because a delay at the shipper, traffic etc. I have seen a lot of that too in my career where dispatch error caused an issue and at no point should that be the fault of a driver or op!
Turri, the agent you loaded for would not load you again and if it happened to many times Landstar would pull your contract. That said here at Landstar you have time to get from point A to b.. We have to average between 45 and 50 MPH on a load. Therefore if I'm loaded 4 hours late then I'll be 4 hours late on the other side. Period and I tell the agents that and if that agent dosen't want to load me again that's his option.
turritrans
Expert Expediter
Your right, all you need to do is recalculate eta after a delay at the shipper. Not rocket science, still don't understand how some customers expect us to deliver at the original delivery time after a several hour delay.
cableguymn
Seasoned Expediter
no.. part time local with american expedite. we do a lot of panther shorts.
cableguymn
Seasoned Expediter
Because customer don't care about "delay" the order taker promised it'd be there by 2 PM!
my run yesterday had a money back delivery time. it was 3 hours after the pickup time at a carrier that is notoriously slow with 2-3 hour waits being the norm (Forward Air).
Once Panther figured out what carrier they sent the freight with and i found out they had moved an hour was spent just getting to the window to request the freight. it was another hour before they gave it to me and 1 hour to the delivery point.
I made it with 2 minutes to spare. I got ETA requests every 5 minutes while in route.
Many times carriers over promise and put the blame on a driver.
Us experienced ones know....being late leaving a shipper is NOT our problem and usually don't get too worked up over it....not a big issue to us vanners....we adjust the delivery time ourselves in our minds and we leave it to the carrier and customer to fight it out...if the customer doesn't like it, they can take the load off me..there is always another load...
Yes...but the topic of this thread is carriers imposing fines on drivers. I understand the need to hold drivers accountable. It is our job to get the freight there on time. My problem with the fines is somebody/anybody sitting in the office deciding whether or not I should be fined for this or that....especially if that fine is going into their, or their employer's, pocket.
I understand that if the customer refuses to pay for the load or deducts part of the settlement for whatever reason that the driver may be responsible. If the problem was my fault, I would understand being held accountable. My problem is....who is deciding it was my fault? With fines being placed in the contract, it seems to me a slippery slope begging for abuse.
I understand that if the customer refuses to pay for the load or deducts part of the settlement for whatever reason that the driver may be responsible. If the problem was my fault, I would understand being held accountable. My problem is....who is deciding it was my fault? With fines being placed in the contract, it seems to me a slippery slope begging for abuse.
I see where you are going with this line of thought...a carrier that has no balls lets a customer walk all over them, doesn't put up a fight and then passes it onto the driver....then the driver has to fight his carrier....
Generally speaking, I have no problems with the concept of fines. It comes down to whether the company is reputable or not. If I were irresponsible enough to not get paperwork done in a timely manner, why shouldn't there be repercussions? If your with an honest company and can do what is truly a simple job, you have no worries.
Because a lot of customers don't know a darn thing about traffic, weather, fatigue, average MPH, and a whole bunch of other factors that go into moving a load in a timely manner. They think you can just whip a 53 footer into their facility, get delayed for whatever reason, and then put the hammer down and still make your delivery on time. I know because I drove a big truck for 2 years before I switched over to expediting.
All of these shippers and receivers need to take a ride with me and see how long they can last pulling 1k miles in 16 and a half hours with two fuel and restroom breaks for 15-20 minutes a pop. I used to run my truck like a drill sergeant in boot camp. I have done many dangerous things throughout my life as a driver - I have even helped Schneider National save one of their accounts because I drove 18 hours direct once. All I ever got was a quick "wow we don't wanna know how you did it, but thanks for getting it there on time!"
It's just part of the job. Driving a rig, straight truck, sprinter, or cargo van is not for the feint of heart. It's oftens time a thankless job. Sometimes I do my best and even come from being behind schedule to beating the original delivery time even though a new delivery time has already been adjusted. No one cares, they seem sort of bewildered and a little bit impressed, but they forget about you just as soon as the freight comes off the back of your truck!
As for fines - there is a time and a place for fines. If a driver oversleeps or is late because of factors within his control "and a breakdown is a factor within a drivers control" because you should have a well maintained vehicle at all times - then when the shipper or broker discounts the load, the driver should be discounted accordingly.
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A decent take, except for the breakdown part. I bought my M2 brand new. A month later, I'm broke down and having to get the freight transferred. Should I have been fined for that? I don't think so. They're machines. Even the well maintained ones can have a problem.
chefdennis
Veteran Expediter
Hmmmm...ive never heard of a "fine" or been fined with either carrier I have been with in the last 5 yrs.....