Downsizing the boards???

Falligator · Apr 26, 2009

Ok here is my question for the day. Anyone out there hear anything else about this board restructuring program? I guess it's supposed to happen tomorrow. I was just wondering if there was anything else to it besides them consolidating and solidifying.....

I hope we will not be driving in the wind out there with nothing to go on....

pelicn · Apr 27, 2009

We haven't delivered our load yet, so I can't look to see if anything has changed.

Tempest · Apr 27, 2009

This has been an ongoing thing for several months and this is just the beginning. When first announced they were talking about getting it down to the 60-70 board range but I doubt if it will go that far. It makes sense to eliminate many of them though. I am sitting in cincinnatti and within a 300 mile radius there are 17 boards with a daily average of zero. Why wouldnt you get rid of them?

Turtle · Apr 27, 2009

Why not call them what they are, tho, instead of coming up with a neet-keen-supercool-and-groovy name that really doesn't even make virtual sense, much less one that's already the common name for online POS Software that allows you to capture and process credit card transactions in real time.

But, does this mean we'll get dispatched by Line Haul Distribution Technicians?

The term was Hot, Hot, Hot, you know, like Hot as a Hot Spot, back in the 90's, but now it's sooo ovah.

Instead of a short, sweet and simple Load Board or Hot Spot, we get a marble mumbling six syllable time-consuming phrase that only a computer geek would love. Go ahead, say it three times fast. Suddenly you've got a real fat tongue.

Just get me loaded, that's all I care about.

Dreammaker · Apr 27, 2009

Considering the number of loads per week, they might get the number below 60 to 70. The appropriate number might be closer to 25 "hot spots". Maybe they will settle on one board near Romulus, Mi.

Scuba · Apr 27, 2009

The load boards as they were wern't working out thus the change. Lets fact it how many times have you looked at your board on the internet to see 20 boards with zero loads a day on them. This will get rid of those zero boards. One thing that should make people happy is that with each board there will be a list of truck stops that you can go to and still be on the board. This isn't as important to the vans as it is to straight trucks and tractors. Vans can hang out "just about anywhere" but for the larger trucks we run into a much larger problem with parking on many of the old boards

mjolnir131 · Apr 27, 2009

oh OK so we get rid of the knowen places we should not be parked to be closer to the loads great thinking, the system is/was very good it told you where and where not to sit with larger boards you can be hours and hours away from the costumer thats good service.. did it in fact change today does not look like it

Turtle · Apr 27, 2009

Exactly! As flawed as the system is currently, when you see all those zero-a-day boards you know exactly where not to go. If they consolidate all those wasteland areas into active boards, making the active boards geographically larger, we could be sitting in a wasteland 100's of miles from productivity just the same. It just depends on how they draw the board boundaries. Louisiana, for example, needs about 3 boards, but every square mile of the state doesn't need to be on a board. Some of it, large chunks of it, need to be marked as wasteland, don't go there. Same thing with Tejas.

They know where the freight come out of, draw a 50 mile circle, bam yer done. Areas that overlap are combined, areas that aren't in a circle are delegated as virtual wastelands.

Bruno · Apr 28, 2009

Service Center would be better. We service the customer, and that sounds better if you ask me.

pelicn · Apr 28, 2009

I would like to see them use better names for the boards. For example, call Charlotte...Charlotte? Has anything changed yet? I look at the board maps and they still look the same to me.

davekc · Apr 28, 2009

Not sure what they changed either other than Texas was mentioned. Our trucks are still on loads so haven't seen anything yet.

Dreammaker · Apr 28, 2009

Turtle said:
Exactly! As flawed as the system is currently, when you see all those zero-a-day boards you know exactly where not to go. If they consolidate all those wasteland areas into active boards, making the active boards geographically larger, we could be sitting in a wasteland 100's of miles from productivity just the same. It just depends on how they draw the board boundaries. Louisiana, for example, needs about 3 boards, but every square mile of the state doesn't need to be on a board. Some of it, large chunks of it, need to be marked as wasteland, don't go there. Same thing with Tejas.

They know where the freight come out of, draw a 50 mile circle, bam yer done. Areas that overlap are combined, areas that aren't in a circle are delegated as virtual wastelands.

I like that: virtual wasteland. It kind of has a ring to it.

xiggi · Apr 28, 2009

I havn't seen any difference in the TN or GA boards. Didn't they say they were going to send out more info on it? I have not seen a qc on it since Friday when they said it would start Monday.

Turtle · Apr 28, 2009

It said on Monday the 27th they would eliminate 120 Hot Spots, most of them being in the Midwest and Canada.

LDB · Apr 28, 2009

The last I knew of Texas had 16 boards. It was 15 after the last change but I made such a pest of myself that Laredo was added to the list. My intent was for the middle of nowhere 112 miles away from Laredo to be dropped and replaced by Laredo not to stay in place and increase board count. Texas should have about 6 or maybe 7 boards for the entire state. The entire nation should be covered by a few dozen boards. Trucks should expect to get within a reasonable distance of the named location and the named location should be the point nearest the most historical freight. Anyone more than xx miles from the board should know they are unlikely to get freight. It's pretty simple overall.

bernieh48 · Apr 28, 2009

Well they did away with some up in the northeast area too. We delivered in Groton, Ct this morning and was showing on Mass board. Came further down I95 to the TA and now showing on the Long Island, NY board with only 1 other board within the 300 mile radius. Not showing anything on truckstops though????

Falligator · Apr 29, 2009

Well....I delivered or should I say, my alternator made me deliver my load and I havn't noticed really any change. Maybe it was just for the internet???

mjolnir131 · May 7, 2009

oh my gods, POded in point of rocks ,Wy came back as 3rd out on the SLC board almost 250 miles away so in theroy you could be 500 miles away and the first out.

There is no positive to this new system outside of moving 300 miles and being on the board but custmer service wise 10 hours until pick up is bad.

MR.SNAPPY · May 7, 2009

We can down size these boards all we want but until the fleet is down sized you are going to have 8 trucks sitting on a board fighting for 2 loads a day average and you can bet out of those 8 trucks some one going to take that cheap reduced freight.........Just wonder how many trucks a week are in orienatation!!!!

davekc · May 9, 2009

Coming out of the gate, it looks like a mess. Had a truck unload in Sullivan, MO 67 miles St.Louis and it showed we were 3rd out on a Topeka, KS board 307 miles away.

They are still working on it this week supposedly, but I am not impressed with what I have seen so far.
Can't comment too much yet until we see what they are calling the final version. On the upside, Memphis is actually called Memphis, rather than Brighton.